Official Newcomer/DLC Speculation Discussion

[Jassassino]

Here is my list of predictions/guesses for what's to become of DLC in the future (if there's supposedly more Fighter Passes):

#77 - Jin Kazama (Tekken)

If either Jin or Kazuya get in, they better have a meter mechanic or something to let them transform into their Devil versions for more damage and different moves. Similar to Joker and Arsene.

 

[Leotsune]

Does this means people can shut up about "Sakurai picks" now?

People should shut up about promotional picks, because according to what we know, Nintendo chose Joker, Terry and Banjo even though:
-Persona 5 isn't coming to switch and Scramble is also coming to PS4.
-KOF XV just started development for Terry to be consedered a "promotional pick".
-Sakurai literally told us to play Banjo-Kazooie on Xbox.
Maybe Hero is the only exception, but even then, DQ started the RPG formula as we know it on the NES, it had to happen.
Nintendo is putting real care in characters that have been chosen, and I think Sakurai did have some influence in the final selection (Didn't he said he went to Atlus personally to talk about Smash or something like that?).
My point being, stop using the promotional pick argument, its more silly than the "Sakurai picks" one.

 

[Michael the Spikester]

Its clear thatand Terry were picks by Sakurai. He liked Persona having played it and a fan of King of Fighters which was one of Smash's inspirations. I can say we'll probably get a few more picks by him but otherwise mostly fan requests.

Among those I see is Steve since he's a fan of Minecraft having played it and given how buddy-buddy Nintendo and Microsoft are so the latter wouldn't object in giving another of their rep.

 

[NotLiquid]

People should shut up about promotional picks, because according to what we know, Nintendo chose Joker, Terry and Banjo even though:
-Persona 5 isn't coming to switch and Scramble is also coming to PS4.
-KOF XV just started development for Terry to be consedered a "promotional pick".
-Sakurai literally told us to play Banjo-Kazooie on Xbox.
Maybe Hero is the only exception, but even then, DQ started the RPG formula as we know it on the NES, it had to happen.
Nintendo is putting real care in characters that have been chosen, and I think Sakurai did have some influence in the final selection (Didn't he said he went to Atlus personally to talk about Smash or something like that?).
My point being, stop using the promotional pick argument, its more silly than the "Sakurai picks" one.

It's pretty clear that Nintendo puts the onus on Sakurai to get in touch with the companies as it's a greater show of respect to have such a famed creative voice in the Japanese game industry reach out to their partners rather than a bunch of suits. It shows that they're way more serious about getting things done.

Also, "promotional" picks as a sentiment only really fails to hold up in a vacuum, Nintendo's selection has clearly worked off of active beneficial partnerships as of present, which could translate to a game releasing in proximity, but doesn't have to. SNK got a spot because the company is an iconic arcade giant that has experienced a huge resurgence in the last couple of years, and has also been one of Nintendo's biggest third party supporters (even ignoring KoF, SNK Heroines and SamSho, you can find virtually every SNK classic on eShop under the ACA banner) - even the trailer flirts with the idea that Terry wasn't necessarily the "guaranteed" pick in this situation because they got so many iconic characters. Microsoft got a spot because they've been an unprecedented close-knit partner with Nintendo over the years, and most likely all people knew that if Microsoft got a spot it had to be Banjo (Phil Spencer himself wanted it to happen). Atlus got a spot because with the exception of the Persona series they've been a close Nintendo third party, especially on handheld platforms - it probably just so happens that they went with Joker because it's by far the most recognizable character Atlus has in present, which yeah, translates it to a pretty promotional pick despite Persona only being tangentially on a Nintendo platform. Finally you got DQ which, even setting aside it being the biggest franchise represented of the DLC lot, is a franchise that Square and Nintendo have been wanting to turn big in the west for a long time now. The intentions behind the pick are still as clear as day, even if it's serendipitous that the collaboration happened right before they managed to get the DQXI port out.

 

[Flyboy]

To be honest that just shows to me that we needn't be so scared of "promotional" picks and just ride the wave. "Promotional" and "fan favorite" do not need to be mutually exclusive.

 

[osby]

Its clear thatand Terry were picks by Sakurai. He liked Persona having played it and a fan of King of Fighters which was one of Smash's inspirations. I can say we'll probably get a few more picks by him but otherwise mostly fan requests.

Among those I see is Steve since he's a fan of Minecraft having played it and given how buddy-buddy Nintendo and Microsoft are so the latter wouldn't object in giving another of their rep.

Characters aren't divided as fan requests and Sakurai picks. Just because Sakurai played a game doesn't mean it has no merits on its own and Nintendo can't pick it by themselves.

 

[CroonerMike]

I had no idea that Fate/stay Night started out as a video game...


5. Yeah!
1. Meh.
2. Yeah!
3. Meh.
4. Yeah!
5. Meh.
6. Hell yeah!!

Literally my thoughts exactly minus my own bias towards sparkster lol

 

[dezeray112]

Sakurai seemingly affirming that wave 2 is also Nintendo selections, and that they both seem to want to push more collaborative inclusions.

There was a problem fetching the tweet

I'm pretty much fine with more collaborations for Smash.

 

[Nekoo]

More Collaboration for Smash?
**** yes. Give me more, they're always fantastic and Crazy!

And in my personal opinion, way more hype than First party. Imagining which other game world can and will enter the world of smash is exciting and thrilling, to see which serie that changed the video game history will join the big boy at Nintendo.

 

[Curious Villager]

I'm very happy to hear that they want to be doing more collaborations. I'm hoping we will be seeing many new companies join the roster.
Dearly hoping now that Level-5 will have a chance to join in with the prof....

 

[YoshiandToad]

More collaboration only or are we getting mix and match?

If the former I can breathe easy knowing there's little that'll interest me coming up apart from a Resident Evil rep or shock appearance from Lara Croft related to Japanese companies and focus on other pursuits.

There's plenty of western IPs I love, but the chance of Valve, Gearbox, Activision of even Ubisoft getting someone is looking a little shaky right now.

 

[OrpheusTelos]

Honestly I'm super excited over the prospect of more collaborations. While there are a few first parties I'd love to see such as Byleth or Elma, the idea of expanding the crossover even further and introducing even more franchises sounds awesome! Nintendo has done such a great job with the character choices that I can't wait to see who comes next.

 

[Opossum]

I really can't shake the feeling that we'll get Ezio.

Like there's objectively nothing pointing toward it, but it's just a feeling I have.

 

[osby]

I'll always take new third party franchises over nth characters from old series. I'm hopeful about the next DLC.

 

[kirbsmash]

I'll always take new third party franchises over nth characters from old series. I'm hopeful about the next DLC.

I'm honestly with osby on this one. There's not much I can think about who I want from first party.

 

[Deleted member]

I am taking everyone, third party or not.

In the end we are still getting more characters, and even if Crash isn’t present I will for sure try to buy each single one of them after seeing how much effort Sakurai had behind the Metroid and Dragon Quest content.

I think it is the best I can do to thank him for all that work.

 

[ze9]

Sigh. I just wanted Dixie Kong...
90% of possible 1st party choices don't appeal to me much at all though, so that's not necessarily a bad news.

 

[ROBnWatch]

Seeing as how only 1 of the current 4 Fighters Pass characters was a character I knew/recognized, I’m going to say the next batch of DLC will probably be in the same boat if they’re going for more collaborations. Really hope they decide to mix in some first parties (1-3 maybe) but if not then I guess the current cast of Nintendo characters is pretty great as is. Hopefully there will be more characters I recognize, if not I can’t say I’m too thrilled about where DLC is (supposedly) headed. Will feel very underwhelmed if they add in 3-5 new characters after the pass that I just know nothing about. Hard to get excited for things you don’t recognize/feel anything towards. Even harder when any hype or mystery that may have existed gets killed by leaks.

Oh well, the game is great as is and Sakurai has really outdone himself. If nothing else, he deserves our thanks and a long vacation after DLC is done.

 

[Flyboy]

As much as I'd love characters like Chun-Li, M. Bison, or Eggman, the prospect of new game worlds entering the fray is so exciting if just for the fanart and headcanon possibilities. Give me Professor Layton, Travis Touchdown, 2B, whoever!

I really can't shake the feeling that we'll get Ezio.

Like there's objectively nothing pointing toward it, but it's just a feeling I have.

I've had that same feeling. It just feels right if they're going for Ubisoft. Would be pretty awesome if Soulcalibur V proved anything.

 

[Calamitas]

I know I'm in the absolute minority here, but I don't care for third parties. If future DLC continues the way that the Fighter's Pass has gone so far, that's just more DLC I won't be buying.

 

[Just a random scrub]

More collaboration only or are we getting mix and match?

Yeah, I feel this is an important question. We still don't have the full context of the column yet, and I'd rather wait for it before I start speculating.

 

[Opossum]

As much as I'd love characters like Chun-Li, M. Bison, or Eggman, the prospect of new game worlds entering the fray is so exciting if just for the fanart and headcanon possibilities. Give me Professor Layton, Travis Touchdown, 2B, whoever!


I've had that same feeling. It just feels right if they're going for Ubisoft. Would be pretty awesome if Soulcalibur V proved anything.

If he got in his trailer would absolutely need to reference the Mario joke.

 

[YoshiandToad]

I know I'm in the absolute minority here, but I don't care for third parties. If future DLC continues the way that the Fighter's Pass has gone so far, that's just more DLC I won't be buying.

Ideally a mix would be good.

Something for the people who got into Smash due to it's strong premise as a celebration of all things Nintendo and then some fighters for those who are all about the third parties.

That Piranha Plant is our only Nintendo DLC is a little lame honestly, and that's coming from someone who laughed like a drain at his inclusion.

 

[merchantofsalt]

I don't think we'll be getting more first-party characters. A DLC character has to be hype enough for people to choose to buy it, alone or as part of the pass. Smash 4's first-party DLC was returning veterans that people would remember and be excited about. I dunno if that would be the case for Impa, Rhythm Girl, another Pokemon....

 

[osby]

I don't think we'll be getting more first-party characters. A DLC character has to be hype enough for people to choose to buy it, alone or as part of the pass. Smash 4's first-party DLC was returning veterans that people would remember and be excited about. I dunno if that would be the case for Impa, Rhythm Girl, another Pokemon....

I think another Pokemon can easily be marketable if it's one that's on recent public memory aka a Sword and Shield Pokemon. Same with Astral Chain, Three Houses etc.

I don't expect random additions to pre-existing franchises for the sake of rounding up their representation, though. Characters with very loud fanbases are might be fair game, however.

 

[SKX31]

If he got in his trailer would absolutely need to reference the Mario joke.

Also, if he got in I feel like they'd pull a "Why does this strange hedgehog sound a little like me?" too.

 

[NurpNurp]

I don't think we'll be getting more first-party characters. A DLC character has to be hype enough for people to choose to buy it, alone or as part of the pass. Smash 4's first-party DLC was returning veterans that people would remember and be excited about. I dunno if that would be the case for Impa, Rhythm Girl, another Pokemon....

There is value in long time requested characters like Dixie and Geno though. Both of them seem very important to Nintendo and it's fans. I can't really think of any 1st party characters myself, but I'm sure there are more than enough to add that would be interesting

But if they wanted to add a really interesting third party... I'd argue maybe someone like Ahri from League of Legends, but she is absolute Joker tier of "out of left field" because nothing LoL related has ever been on a console, but at the same time, no MOBA has been represented in Smash. I wouldn;t ever say it's likely, but given how out of nowhere some of these picks are, at this point nothing seems out of reach

 

[osby]

Also, if he got in I feel like they'd pull a "Why does this strange hedgehog sound a little like me?" too.

They missed that chance with and , so I expect nothing.

 

[SKX31]

They missed that chance with and , so I expect nothing.

Crud. Forgot about those. Touché.

But if they wanted to add a really interesting third party... I'd argue maybe someone like Ahri from League of Legends, but she is absolute Joker tier of "out of left field" because nothing LoL related has ever been on a console, but at the same time, no MOBA has been represented in Smash. I wouldn;t ever say it's likely, but given how out of nowhere some of these picks are, at this point nothing seems out of reach

Tencent (who also owns LoL) literally ported their own LoL ripoff onto the Switch. If Riot games is okay with it (or a spinoff like that fighting game) I do suspect they'll find a way.

For the record I'd be fully okay with Ahri.

 

[Deleted member]

I am pretty happy with Third party only picks as I really dont feel the need to round up representation on many franchises that are very well represented already. Ultimate is on its way of becoming the most massively big crossover and I couldn't be less happy about it.

Really the only shame is regarding officer Howard from Astral Chain which I would love to see in the game.

 

[Guybrush20X6]

I would be surprised if there's no Gen 8 Pokemon. I wonder if Sakurai already knows which one Ash (or the new protagonist...?) is gonna pick

 

[Nquoid]

There was a problem fetching the tweet

The quote from Furukawa is pretty damning. This DLC season is all about expanding Smash Bros beyond the normal fan base. Not sure how many IPs Nintendo have that are big enough/would bring an audience not already invested in the game.

Expect a lot more reps from age demographics/genres/regions where Nintendo doesn't have a strong foothold I'd say.

 

[NurpNurp]

I would be surprised if there's no Gen 8 Pokemon. I wonder if Sakurai already knows which one Ash (or the new protagonist...?) is gonna pick

The precedent is there of course, but I'm really burnt out on Pokemon in Smash, and this is coming from someone who's been playing Pokemon for 15+ years. Just adding a new starter from each generation is so boring to me seeing as we got interesting additions like Mewtwo, Trainer, and Lucario previously. The speculation for a Gen 7 rep left me especially disinterested because despite the appeal Decidueye, Lycanroc, and Mimikyu just didn't work for me, and even Incineroar had me groaning for a few weeks

 

[Deleted member]

]

The quote from Furukawa is pretty damning. This DLC season is all about expanding Smash Bros beyond the normal fan base. Not sure how many IPs Nintendo have that are big enough/would bring an audience not already invested in the game.

Expect a lot more reps from age demographics/genres/regions where Nintendo doesn't have a strong foothold I'd say.

Does this means Fortnite Jonesy Time?

 

[Flik]

I would be surprised if there's no Gen 8 Pokemon. I wonder if Sakurai already knows which one Ash (or the new protagonist...?) is gonna pick

The best thing to do in my opinion is to wait 'til at least mid 2020 to see which new pokemon becomes popular. They can (and should) take the time with a new pokemon pick.

 

[SKX31]

There was a problem fetching the tweet

The quote from Furukawa is pretty damning. This DLC season is all about expanding Smash Bros beyond the normal fan base. Not sure how many IPs Nintendo have that are big enough/would bring an audience not already invested in the game.

Expect a lot more reps from age demographics/genres/regions where Nintendo doesn't have a strong foothold I'd say.

Validation is one of the strongest emotional drugs known to the human species.

And right now, I'm just basking in it. I knew Furukawa was underrated, but not to this extent.

Still, it's glorious.

Does this means Fortnite Jonesy Time?

I felt a great disturbance in the Smashboards... as if thousands of users suddenly cried out in terror, and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened.

(Seriously though, if it's actually happening, then bring it I'd say)

 

[Nquoid]

Does this means Fortnite Jonesy Time?

I imagine Sakurai will still have the most sway, and I've never been 100% sold on the idea of western avatar/default skin characters. I know we have stuff like Villager. But it's first party and I still imagine a recognisable character (rather than the idea of something recognisable) goes a long way to how easy something is to put into smash.

 

[KatKit]

I've had that same feeling. It just feels right if they're going for Ubisoft. Would be pretty awesome if Soulcalibur V proved anything.

An Assassin never crossed my mind. Imagine if they got the Hero treatment (I just want Aveline de Granpre and Altair, darn it!)? I didn't play the games like that, but Ezio was SO fun in Soul Calibur 5. Now I kinda want it to happen. I don't know if anyone could possibly be mad at this. I Imagine their falling animation being a dramatic downward dive. Make them Backslash: the character or something. Weaker from the front but always deal more damage from behind. Fast and acrobatic and stylish.

Also, give us a Venice Rooftops remix like this:

 

[Slime Scholar]

Best to wait until the full translation is out but I don't think any individual quotes are worth reading into too much.

Still expecting mostly, if not all third party characters for the DLC though.

Does this means people can shut up about "Sakurai picks" now?

 

[Flyboy]

There was a problem fetching the tweet

The quote from Furukawa is pretty damning. This DLC season is all about expanding Smash Bros beyond the normal fan base. Not sure how many IPs Nintendo have that are big enough/would bring an audience not already invested in the game.

Expect a lot more reps from age demographics/genres/regions where Nintendo doesn't have a strong foothold I'd say.

I love how they're trotting out the same **** I've been quoting for months and pretending it's new. lol

This is positive on my end because it means more possibilities for genres like puzzle or visual novel or shoujo to be repped along with wackier andnwilder third parties. Everything is on the table now.