Official Newcomer/DLC Speculation Discussion

[Curious Villager]

Something that stood out to me was the fish bowl. What could it mean? Ghost Fish? Tecmo Bowl? If Ryu actually becomes a thing, you're theory is 3/5. Even if that's straw graspy and a coincidence, it could legit work. At the very least, it's not as silly as the belt thing or the S.M.A.S.H. acronym or that DV (sorry, guy who came up with that) one from a couple of pages back.

Fish Bowl you say eh?

Spoiler

Yup, I'm thinking he's in.
We did it Earth Worm lads!

In all seriousness though, Its probably just a coincidence for the most part.

 

[KatKit]

Fish Bowl you say eh?


In all seriousness though, Its probably just a coincidence for the most part.

If that ends up happening, their theory is 100% true and we must give them praise while further analyzing it to the ground for future predictions.

Honestly... I think it's a coincidence, too. But it's so subtle yet on the nose yet just crazy enough to be legit.

 

[Evil Trapezium]

Something that stood out to me was the fish bowl. What could it mean? Ghost Fish? Tecmo Bowl?

No way! Robofish is coming to Smash Ultimate! He's one of my favourite TimeSplitters characters!

 

[Deleted member]

Something that stood out to me was the fish bowl. What could it mean? Ghost Fish? Tecmo Bowl? If Ryu actually becomes a thing, you're theory is 3/5. Even if that's straw graspy and a coincidence, it could legit work. At the very least, it's not as silly as the belt thing or the S.M.A.S.H. acronym or that DV (sorry, guy who came up with that) one from a couple of pages back.

https://banjokazooiewiki.com/wiki/Roysten

 

[Sour Supreme]

Not going to deal with absolutes or patterns here, but. If we pretend there's a deliberate effort to please certain regions with characters, I think its noteworthy just how popular Rayman is in France. I don't really know how Smash does in France. But Ubisoft even partnered with the French Football Federation back in 2014 and suited him up in their jersey. Not saying it means anything, just found it interesting.

 

[KatKit]

Not to sound like a broken record, but if we're talking about regions, then why not showcase the game series that visited dozens of countries from all around the globe and managed to teach people something about them, too?

Shoot, the more I think about it, the more I want it to happen. My girl managed to not only have a fun computer game back when most of them weren't, but she also had fun Edutainment games, which is still a rare thing in general. Want more villainesses? She counts. More heroines? Also counts. Came out forever ago yet never completely faded into obscurity. She also has TV shows better than they have any right to be, and she even has a history with being on Nintendo platforms. She's the prime example of the genre she comes from, which doesn't have playable reps yet. She's arguably one of the most justifiable WTF picks in existence. So, we need to start asking: why in the world is Carmen Sandiego not in this again? When will she get in? And most importantly, where is she?!

 

[KillerCage]

Sorry for derailing the pattern discussion, but if we were to get an Ubisoft rep, what are the chances of the Prince of Persia being that rep?

 

[KatKit]

Sorry for derailing the pattern discussion, but if we were to get an Ubisoft rep, what are the chances of the Prince of Persia being that rep?

I don't know if it was ever officially confirmed, but I know that there were rumors that the reason they stopped making the games was so that they don't have to pay the licensing fee for developing them. Compare it to something like Assassin's Creed where they can make it and profit from the games/merchandise.

With this in mind, I think it's unlikely. They'd probably pick someone they created or completely own.

 

[Michael the Spikester]

What the heck, really?! I don't usually fall for theories, but if a wolf was also on there or something, that's some Sherlock Holmes level stuff y'all figured out. Why didn't this gain traction? It was perfectly hidden in plain sight because of the Joker hype.

I'm about to investigate.

Edit: Okay, so they had a couple of bird themed stages, the witch stage, and at least two dragon stages. That probably wasn't a coincidence. Especially since most of the other levels were blatantly Nintendo themed.

Something that stood out to me was the fish bowl. What could it mean? Ghost Fish? Tecmo Bowl? If Ryu actually becomes a thing, you're theory is 3/5. Even if that's straw graspy and a coincidence, it could legit work. At the very least, it's not as silly as the belt thing or the S.M.A.S.H. acronym or that DV (sorry, guy who came up with that) one from a couple of pages back.

Ryu is also associated with a falcon which is a bird.

OMG bird theory might be right after all!!!! Ryu's also got a sword called the dragon sword.

 

[Sari]

Sorry for derailing the pattern discussion, but if we were to get an Ubisoft rep, what are the chances of the Prince of Persia being that rep?

Pretty low with Assassin's Creed and Rayman/Rabbids being big competition.

 

[NonSpecificGuy]

Sorry for derailing the pattern discussion, but if we were to get an Ubisoft rep, what are the chances of the Prince of Persia being that rep?

Probably, like, 3rd or 4th on the Ubisoft list to be honest. Around Brawl days though? He would've been 1st or 2nd place.

Oh how times change.

 

[Michael the Spikester]

Imagine DLC fighter 5 being Travis Touchdown.

Also before you say his creator deconfirmed him. Remember what Kirkhope said about

Plus he's another character people would had been sleeping on as they did withand Terry.

 

[Al-kīmiyā']

Sorry for derailing the pattern discussion, but if we were to get an Ubisoft rep, what are the chances of the Prince of Persia being that rep?

The Prince from Prince of Persia using the daggertail. I would advocate for him more, but so much of his game is about crazy parkour-type stuff that mostly wouldn't apply in Smash, and his time-controlling abilities would be hardware intensive and have a fair chance of pissing opponents off. I mainly want him for the daggertail, but I want Smash fighters to be true to their games.

 

[Sour Supreme]

Sorry for derailing the pattern discussion, but if we were to get an Ubisoft rep, what are the chances of the Prince of Persia being that rep?

I know Ubisoft is a company with a sizeable portfolio. But I'd be so dissappointed if we got a rep from them that wasn't Rayman.

He has such a legacy and he's just begging to be in Smash.

 

[N3ON]

Not going to deal with absolutes or patterns here, but. If we pretend there's a deliberate effort to please certain regions with characters, I think its noteworthy just how popular Rayman is in France. I don't really know how Smash does in France. But Ubisoft even partnered with the French Football Federation back in 2014 and suited him up in their jersey. Not saying it means anything, just found it interesting.

The pattern for DLC seems to be pleasing Japan, and then occasionally remembering the rest of the world exists.

 

[Evil Trapezium]

Imagine DLC fighter 5 being Travis Touchdown.

Also before you say his creator deconfirmed him. Remember what Kirkhope said about

Plus he's another character people would had been sleeping on as they did withand Terry.

Travis Touchdown would be pretty dope but I think Suda 51 was being honest with us. He could be lying but he keeps bringing him up every new game to Sakurai and he always turns him down. https://www.eventhubs.com/news/2018...n-next-super-smash-bros-game-nintendo-switch/

 

[SKX31]

Not going to deal with absolutes or patterns here, but. If we pretend there's a deliberate effort to please certain regions with characters, I think its noteworthy just how popular Rayman is in France. I don't really know how Smash does in France. But Ubisoft even partnered with the French Football Federation back in 2014 and suited him up in their jersey. Not saying it means anything, just found it interesting.

There's quite a lot of characters with major European influence (Crash, Doomguy, Layton, AC etc.) so it's a bit of a crapshoot. One could count B-K as EU since Rare's originally British, and Bayo got in partly because of a significant EU presence.

The pattern for DLC seems to be pleasing Japan, and then occasionally remembering the rest of the world exists.

Wouldn't exactly call 2 out of 4 (Hero and Joker. Terry's arguably more prominent in LatAm / China) as just pleasing Japan.

 

[N3ON]

Wouldn't exactly call 2 out of 4 (Hero and Joker. Terry's arguably more prominent in LatAm / China) as just pleasing Japan.

To be blunt, I don't think LatAm played a big role in Terry being chosen. That's probably just a favourable side-effect. Maybe China, but only because Nintendo is trying to break in there. Regardless, I don't think Terry would've been chosen were he of American/Euro levels of appeal in Japan.

I count it as 3/4.

 

[Sour Supreme]

To be blunt, I don't think LatAm played a big role in Terry being chosen. That's probably just a favourable side-effect. Maybe China, but only because Nintendo is trying to break in there. Regardless, I don't think Terry would've been chosen were he of American/Euro levels of appeal in Japan.

I count it as 3/4.

I dunno. You should see the way Latin America reacted to Terry. Dudes **** their pants. I think he's more of Sakurai than a Japenese one.

 

[N3ON]

I dunno. You should see the way Latin America reacted to Terry. Dudes **** their pants. I think he's more of Sakurai than a Japenese one.

I'm not saying he isn't extremely popular over there, but that doesn't mean he was chosen because of them. I just don't think Nintendo prioritizes that territory... well... ever, and this is no exception. I think even if the SNK games never had released in those regions, Terry would still have been included.

And frankly, the only reason I think China might be a factor is because, unlike LatAm, Nintendo is actually going to actively start trying to appeal to that market. But again, that doesn't mean I think Japan wasn't a factor.

 

[Sour Supreme]

I'm not saying he isn't extremely popular over there, but that doesn't mean he was chosen because of them. I just don't think Nintendo prioritizes that territory... well... ever, and this is no exception. I think even if the SNK games never had released in those regions, Terry would still have been included.

And frankly, the only reason I think China might be a factor is because, unlike LatAm, Nintendo is actually going to actively start trying to appeal to that market. But again, that doesn't mean I think Japan wasn't a factor.

That's fair. I knew RareWare was from the UK so Banjo's support was mostly from there and the U.S. Just didn't know if Smash had a following in France or if there were any characters that had ever had such as strong of a tie to the country.

 

[SKX31]

To be blunt, I don't think LatAm played a big role in Terry being chosen. That's probably just a favourable side-effect. Maybe China, but only because Nintendo is trying to break in there. Regardless, I don't think Terry would've been chosen were he of American/Euro levels of appeal in Japan.

I count it as 3/4.

That probably didn't play into Sakurai's reasons, no, but I could imagine Furukawa placing at least some value in that. Furukawa's a marketing guy, after all. I do agree that ultimately it's a favorable side-effect. But it might be a major sideeffect because Furukawa has openly talked about expanding Nintendo's reach where it's possible.

Yes, Sakurai has the final say - I do believe that Furukawa's input is a major factor. He is Nintendo's President and - as Ultimate's Executive Producer - the guy (at least technically) above Sakurai. Furukawa was probably deeply involved with the Tencent talks - that resulted in the Switch getting an official Chinese release next year.

That's fair. I knew RareWare was from the UK so Banjo's support was mostly from there and the U.S. Just didn't know if Smash had a following in France or if there were any characters that had ever had such as strong of a tie to the country.

As for the France thing? AFAIK Smash does have a significant French presence - the top tier Wario main Gluttony is probably its most visible member. Nothing truly conclusive (I'm an outsider in this context), but most signs are pointing to Smash being a major thing there.

 

[N3ON]

That's fair. I knew RareWare was from the UK so Banjo's support was mostly from there and the U.S. Just didn't know if Smash had a following in France or if there were any characters that had ever had such as strong of a tie to the country.

I don't think it's necessarily accurate to ascribe Banjo's European popularity solely to the UK, simply because of his origins there. Just because he was made there doesn't mean he wasn't popular past there.

To that end, I don't really think breaking up Europe into chunks to examine popularity is particularly viable. Not simply because at that point Nintendo would be trying to target a smaller and smaller market, when it makes sense to target the biggest ones, but I don't think there are any real examples of a character popular in one area of Europe that isn't at least fairly popular elsewhere as well. For example, Rayman might be more popular in France, but it's not like he's unpopular in other European areas, and North America. So were he included, saying it was because of France wouldn't really be accurate.

 

[Cutie Gwen]

I don't think it's necessarily accurate to ascribe Banjo's European popularity solely to the UK, simply because of his origins there. Just because he was made there doesn't mean he wasn't popular past there.

To that end, I don't really think breaking up Europe into chunks to examine popularity is particularly viable. Not simply because at that point Nintendo would be trying to target a smaller and smaller market, when it makes sense to target the biggest ones, but I don't think there are any real examples of a character popular in one area of Europe that isn't at least fairly popular elsewhere as well. For example, Rayman might be more popular in France, but it's not like he's unpopular in other European areas, and North America. So were he included, saying it was because of France wouldn't really be accurate.

Tbf France was big enough to get Square to cave to fan demand for the DQ8 3DS remake and is consistently a bigger Nintendo region than most in terms of gaming

 

[Sour Supreme]

That probably didn't play into Sakurai's reasons, no, but I could imagine Furukawa placing at least some value in that. Furukawa's a marketing guy, after all. I do agree that ultimately it's a favorable side-effect. But it might be a major sideeffect because Furukawa has openly talked about expanding Nintendo's reach where it's possible.

Yes, Sakurai has the final say - I do believe that Furukawa's input is a major factor. He is Nintendo's President and - as Ultimate's Executive Producer - the guy (at least technically) above Sakurai. Furukawa was probably deeply involved with the Tencent talks - that resulted in the Switch getting an official Chinese release next year.




As for the France thing? AFAIK Smash does have a significant French presence - the top tier Wario main Gluttony is probably its most visible member. Nothing truly conclusive (I'm an outsider in this context), but most signs are pointing to Smash being a major thing there.

Glutonny is the only top player I know of from France. But I suppose having any top players is something and that indiviual being the best playing their character in the world means there must be a dedicated fandom there.

 

[N3ON]

That probably didn't play into Sakurai's reasons, no, but I could imagine Furukawa placing at least some value in that. Furukawa's a marketing guy, after all. I do agree that ultimately it's a favorable side-effect. But it might be a major sideeffect because Furukawa has openly talked about expanding Nintendo's reach where it's possible.

Yes, Sakurai has the final say - I do believe that Furukawa's input is a major factor. He is Nintendo's President and - as Ultimate's Executive Producer - the guy (at least technically) above Sakurai. Furukawa was probably deeply involved with the Tencent talks - that resulted in the Switch getting an official Chinese release next year.

But then again, if Furukawa saw value in appealing to the LatAm crowd, you'd think, given he's the president, that would actually extend into Nintendo's overall practices, and not just one instance of DLC in one game with a character that conveniently also has appeal elsewhere. When I say that Nintendo doesn't prioritize LatAm, I do mean Nintendo, not Sakurai. I mean, I don't think Sakurai does either, but Furukawa's reach is much greater than his.

If Furukawa took over and you saw a boom in trying to court that market, I'd be putting two and two together, but clearly that's never been a region of the utmost importance to them. Like I said, if they're going for any atypical market with Terry (and I'm not convinced they are), it'd be China - because you can actively witness them gearing up to go after that region, like you mentioned.

I think Terry appealing to the Latin American crowd is undeniable, but ultimately incidental. As I said, even if he wasn't endeared among that demographic, I still think he'd be in the game. At the end of the day he's not devoid of Japanese popularity. Were he, I'd be putting him in a different category, but I still think, of all the regions, Japan was as big a factor as any in his inclusion.

 

[yeet123]

But then again, if Furukawa saw value in appealing to the LatAm crowd, you'd think, given he's the president, that would actually extend into Nintendo's overall practices, and not just one instance of DLC in one game with a character that conveniently also has appeal elsewhere. When I say that Nintendo doesn't prioritize LatAm, I do mean Nintendo, not Sakurai. I mean, I don't think Sakurai does either, but Furukawa's reach is much greater than his.

If Furukawa took over and you saw a boom in trying to court that market, I'd be putting two and two together, but clearly that's never been a region of the utmost importance to them. Like I said, if they're going for any atypical market with Terry (and I'm not convinced they are), it'd be China - because you can actively witness them gearing up to go after that region, like you mentioned.

I think Terry appealing to the Latin American crowd is undeniable, but ultimately incidental. As I said, even if he wasn't endeared among that demographic, I still think he'd be in the game. At the end of the day he's not devoid of Japanese popularity. Were he, I'd be putting him in a different category, but I still think, of all the regions, Japan was as big a factor as any in his inclusion.

I'm sorry.... who's Terry?

 

[GoodGrief741]

With how people talk online, you'd think King of Fighters is as famous as Mario down here in LatAm. I think its popularity has been severely overstated.

 

[Cutie Gwen]

I'm sorry.... who's Terry?

The guy who would adopt you if your parents are abusive and treat you well. He adopted Red and Ness already, let Terry be your dad

 

[N3ON]

Tbf France was big enough to get Square to cave to fan demand for the DQ8 3DS remake and is consistently a bigger Nintendo region than most in terms of gaming

That doesn't really change anything I mentioned, though. There aren't any characters exclusively popular to France, and even if there were, it'd be pretty questionable to break down the European market to that extent. Or, for that matter, the western market.

 

[Deleted member]

Tecmo Bowl?

Yo shoutouts to someone remembering Tecmo Bowl.

 

[RoboFist]

I'm not saying he isn't extremely popular over there, but that doesn't mean he was chosen because of them. I just don't think Nintendo prioritizes that territory... well... ever, and this is no exception. I think even if the SNK games never had released in those regions, Terry would still have been included.

And frankly, the only reason I think China might be a factor is because, unlike LatAm, Nintendo is actually going to actively start trying to appeal to that market. But again, that doesn't mean I think Japan wasn't a factor.

Well, Nintendo is a business with a global reach, so saying that they're not at all considering regional popularity when choosing the DLC is kinda naive.

Maybe it's not the one singular reason why characters are being chosen, but I have no doubt in my mind that Nintendo is trying to boost it's audience with this Pass. Because honestly, it would be super dumb for them not to.

Considering a lot of their games and third-party partners hail from Japan, why is it so far-fetched to believe that they're picking popular characters with Japanese origins that ALSO just so happen to have huge fanbases outside of Japan and the US?

I have a buddy who grew up in Honduras who, no joke, went out and bought a Switch the week after Terry was announced. He was planning on getting one eventually, maybe a year or two down the road, but Terry's trailer got him too damn hyped. Maybe he's an outlier, sure, but he's still living proof that appealing to regional demographics is a solid business strategy.

 

[Calamitas]

Tbf France was big enough to get Square to cave to fan demand for the DQ8 3DS remake and is consistently a bigger Nintendo region than most in terms of gaming

Well I'm from Germany, and I want more first-party characters, so when is Sakurai/Nintendo going to cater to me personally, huh???

I joke, of course

I'm sorry.... who's Terry?

Terry Pratchett, author of the Discworld series. Passed away about four and a half years ago. Clearly the only Terry we'd be talking about here.

 

[Nemuresu]

With how people talk online, you'd think King of Fighters is as famous as Mario down here in LatAm. I think its popularity has been severely overstated.

Not here in Mexico. KOF XIV's matches at EVO were broadcasted in TV here, there's been many places I've been to where there's at least one KOF arcade inside (usually 2002), and also, a lot of cosplayers do SNK characters, even live-action parodies.

 

[Us3inMN]

Alright, generic question time: who would you love to see as a WTF fighter, and not as a joke. Like one you want to see and would make no sense at all.

Mine would be Cooking Mama. That would give us a Taito rep, and Taito is another classic game company who deserves to be in Smash.

 

[KatKit]

Not here in Mexico. KOF XIV's matches at EVO were broadcasted in TV here, there's been many places I've been to where there's at least one KOF arcade inside (usually 2002), and also, a lot of cosplayers do SNK characters, even live-action parodies.

Also, Evoga worked closely with SNK and did play testing for KoF back in the day.

Alright, generic question time: who would you love to see as a WTF fighter, and not as a joke. Like one you want to see and would make no sense at all.

Mine would be Cooking Mama. That would give us a Taito rep, and Taito is another classic game company who deserves to be in Smash.

Nope, not me. I've never been vocal about WTF characters.

 

[SneakyLink]

Alright, generic question time: who would you love to see as a WTF fighter, and not as a joke. Like one you want to see and would make no sense at all.

Mine would be Cooking Mama. That would give us a Taito rep, and Taito is another classic game company who deserves to be in Smash.

Agitha from Twilight Princess.

She has the bugs...

 

[Al-kīmiyā']

Alright, generic question time: who would you love to see as a WTF fighter, and not as a joke. Like one you want to see and would make no sense at all.

Mine would be Cooking Mama. That would give us a Taito rep, and Taito is another classic game company who deserves to be in Smash.

No one.

 

[Deleted member]

Alright, generic question time: who would you love to see as a WTF fighter, and not as a joke. Like one you want to see and would make no sense at all.

Francis York Morgan because Deadly Premonition is 1 of the best worst games to ever exist. This game looks and runs poorly, yet it still has 1 hell of a story and a cult following behind it.

Like legit I ****ing lost my **** when I saw Deadly Premonition 2 being announced on the latest direct. I can't even imagine how I'd feel if I saw York in Smash.

 

[RealLuigisWearPink]

Alright, generic question time: who would you love to see as a WTF fighter, and not as a joke. Like one you want to see and would make no sense at all.

Mine would be Cooking Mama. That would give us a Taito rep, and Taito is another classic game company who deserves to be in Smash.

Wouldn't mind seeing Kunio-kun/my boi from River City Ransom make an appearance