News: How Fans Brought Back K. Rool

[Handy Man]

Sakurai himself has confirmed that King K. Rool recieved a lot of support on the ballot.

 

[1FC0]

TBH I find that people are pretty gullible when they believe that people voted for Bayonetta and that that was why she got in. The characters I mostly heard people wanting in Smash were Ridley, King K. Rool, and Geno. I belief that I did not even know who Bayonetta was before I saw her in Smash, and do not remember hearing anyone asking for her. Are there really people here who before the Ballot result came out believed that Bayonetta was more popular than the any of the other 3 I mentioned?

Also Nintendo does not have any evidence of them really caring about the ballot. As far as we know it is just a PR stunt. Personally I am opposed to believing things which have not been evidenced to me and prefer to just admit that I do not know something when I have not seen any evidence to base my beliefs on.

But I guess the huge corporate money making machine called Nintendo is considered to be a god which would never lie for PR or monetary gain. Nintendo is just a corporation, and corporations tend to lie a lot.

Also note I am not saying the ballot was fake. Just that it might just as well be fake as far as I know.

 

[DJ3DS]

It's honestly time to lay the ballot conspiracies to rest.

Maybe Bayonetta was the most popular. Maybe she wasn't. She certainly wasn't an unknown.

Who really cares now? We've got K Rool, and we've got confirmation from Sakurai himself it was because all the fanbase did during the ballot.

 

[Deleted member]

I know King K. Rool doing well on the ballot is basically a "no duh" thing considering how popular of a choice he was worldwide, but I feel like this is important.
The last appearance he had was nearly ten years ago in Mario Super Sluggers and he hasn't been seen since, bar one minor cameo in Tropical Freeze (even then, he wasn't physically in the game). It was from the determination and love from the fans that brought the character back in Smash Ultimate and him doing well on the ballot reflects that.

It's truly inspiring for other fanbases and campaigns for characters and I hope that Smash Ultimate will be the stepping stone to seeing more of him.

 

[Xevious 1]

TBH I find that people are pretty gullible when they believe that people voted for Bayonetta and that that was why she got in. The characters I mostly heard people wanting in Smash were Ridley, King K. Rool, and Geno. I belief that I did not even know who Bayonetta was before I saw her in Smash, and do not remember hearing anyone asking for her. Are there really people here who before the Ballot result came out believed that Bayonetta was more popular than the any of the other 3 I mentioned?

Also Nintendo does not have any evidence of them really caring about the ballot. As far as we know it is just a PR stunt. Personally I am opposed to believing things which have not been evidenced to me and prefer to just admit that I do not know something when I have not seen any evidence to base my beliefs on.

But I guess the huge corporate money making machine called Nintendo is considered to be a god which would never lie for PR or monetary gain. Nintendo is just a corporation, and corporations tend to lie a lot.

Also note I am not saying the ballot was fake. Just that it might just as well be fake as far as I know.

Bayonetta was definitely in the top 10. Her franchise was resurrected by Nintendo and is now exclusive to Nintendo. Bayonetta probably didn't win and there is evidence that they began developing her before the ballot even started. What likely happened is that during or before the ballot, Nintendo told Sakurai that they wanted him to develop a Smash game for the Switch. Which is why the DLC in sm4sh ended abruptly and they had to use a flimsy justification as to how Bayo won the ballot. And when starting development for Ultimate Sakurai knew exactly which characters fans wanted and decided the newcomer roster based on that.

King K Rool is the only newcomer so far that is purely in because of the ballot as Nintendo or Sakurai didn't seem very aware of the characters popularity before the ballot. Inkling was popular, but would have gotten in no matter what due to Splatoon being a popular game. Sakurai has known about Ridleys popularity long before the ballot. Simon was a popular ballot character, but he probably would have gotten in anyway as he is heavily associated with the NES/SNES era like Mega Man.

 

[itsaxelol]

Bayonetta was definitely in the top 10. Her franchise was resurrected by Nintendo and is now exclusive to Nintendo. Bayonetta probably didn't win and there is evidence that they began developing her before the ballot even started. What likely happened is that during or before the ballot, Nintendo told Sakurai that they wanted him to develop a Smash game for the Switch. Which is why the DLC in sm4sh ended abruptly and they had to use a flimsy justification as to how Bayo won the ballot. And when starting development for Ultimate Sakurai knew exactly which characters fans wanted and decided the newcomer roster based on that.

King K Rool is the only newcomer so far that is purely in because of the ballot as Nintendo or Sakurai didn't seem very aware of the characters popularity before the ballot. Inkling was popular, but would have gotten in no matter what due to Splatoon being a popular game. Sakurai has known about Ridleys popularity long before the ballot. Simon was a popular ballot character, but he probably would have gotten in anyway as he is heavily associated with the NES/SNES era like Mega Man.

I agree with everything except your first sentence.

Bayoneta bombed on the Wii u. There's no way people who weren't buying her game were voting for her in mass numbers. A lot of Nintendo fanboys don't own other systems or play other games; they definitely weren't voting for her because of 2009s bayoneta on PS3 and 360

 

[Xevious 1]

I agree with everything except your first sentence.

Bayoneta bombed on the Wii u. There's no way people who weren't buying her game were voting for her in mass numbers. A lot of Nintendo fanboys don't own other systems or play other games; they definitely weren't voting for her because of 2009s bayoneta on PS3 and 360

Bayonetta is like Nintendo's adopted child and she was one of the only bright spots Wii U era. Nintendo fans definately knew about her as Bayonetta 2 was featured in a lot of Nintendo directs. Isaac and Lloyd's games are not exactly brimming with popularity but that doesn't hinder those character support in Smash.

 

[itsaxelol]

Llyod isn't first party. There are about a million other people to vote for before Lloyd would be a significant request

Golden sun is/was definitely popular. They were a big deal when they came out, especially 1. Isaac's popularity has stood the test of time, and he's been had a lot of support since pre brawl. For over a decade he's consistently been a pretty prominent presence during pre releases. The same can not be said for bayoneta.

And yes, Isaac and GS are irrelevant now. But k rool was literally the poster boy for irrelevancy, and his popularity willed him into this game. He seems to be the most loved newcomer we have so far, too

 

[Handy Man]

Are there any updates on Nintendo receiving the physical thank you letter?

 

[BKupa666]

Are there any updates on Nintendo receiving the physical thank you letter?

Not yet. And that's alright. The one time I wrote to Nintendo in 2014, it took a few months for them to get back, which is unsurprising given the volume of mail they must get. And if they don't reply, that's OK too...it's the sentiment that's most important here IMO.

https://okaycool.ca/2018/09/11/how-nintendo-markets-super-smash-bros-ultimate/

A PR representative with Nintendo of Canada did see the letter, though. Here's what he had to say:

Riley: Okay! Did you see the fan-made thank you letter to Sakurai for including King K. Rool?

Andrew: I did, yeah.

Riley: What did you think of that?

Andrew: I thought it was sweet. It’s nice when… every developer gets letters and emails and I think that as a developer – back when I was a developer and working now – we work long hours. And this isn’t supposed to be about us, but when you see something from fans saying about how much they love what you do… it’s brilliant. You know, I love to go to a game store on the day that they’re out and watch people pick it up and buy it. It’s really satisfying. I’ve loved that since I made magazines, and it justifies all those hard hours and the long hours that you put in to know that you’ve created or helped do something which gives people that special moment.

 

[Handy Man]

Not yet. And that's alright. The one time I wrote to Nintendo in 2014, it took a few months for them to get back, which is unsurprising given the volume of mail they must get. And if they don't reply, that's OK too...it's the sentiment that's most important here IMO.

https://okaycool.ca/2018/09/11/how-nintendo-markets-super-smash-bros-ultimate/

A PR representative with Nintendo of Canada did see the letter, though. Here's what he had to say:

That's true, thousands of people know how much King K. Rool returning means to us, with Sakurai and his team putting so much care and passion into his revival and us putting similar amounts of love towards our thank you letter and artwork. I'm sure some employees at Nintendo have seen the letter on their own terms, and while they are not obligated to respond to us, they probably greatly appreciate it.

Just look at how proud the Canadian representative is; if I had a game released into stores, I would love to see it flying off the shelves too as people are so excited to play it. Not many things in life must feel as amazing as seeing something you made being able to bring out the best in others. This is actually why I want to become a video game developer myself; I would love to create video games for the world to enjoy as a career, it would make me and others very happy and people could potentially make a community and legacy out of my product, ensuring it lives on for years. This is exactly what Sakurai is doing with the Smash Bros. games, and including characters like King K. Rool and Ridley after years of neglect shows how much he truly cares about his customers.

I won't keep pestering on updates, because I know it's very difficult to interact with higher ups at large corporations like that. But as long as people all over the world see and appreciate our letter and how much work we put into it, that's all that matters in my opinion. Sakurai seeing it would be a dream come true, but I'm just happy that the reception to our appreciation of King K. Rool has been fantastic all-around.

 

[Deleted member]

That was a nice read, and it's good too see the Canadian, representation is enjoying Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and how it's being made, and the way it's viewed. Waiting for the game has been great, and playing it will be one of the highlights of my year. Esspescially when I unlock and play as that King K. Rool the big tub of lard. Just kidding by the way King K. Rool looks awesome and he always will too me, love his heftiness it's one of the things I dig about him. And will always make him great.

Anyway great stuff awesome interview.

 

[SmashBro99]

I am still betting on Sakurai mentioning in Famitsu that K. Rool was "very highly requested" or whatnot. I doubt he will name the ballot.

He will never go too in depth with the ballot because it was rigged af lol.

Very happy King K Rool made it, He was in my top 3 with Waluigi and Isaac!

 

[Deleted member]

Still awesome that he's in hard to believe.

 

[popemanz]

we freedK.ROOOLL