Orange Star's Hyperactive Whiz Kid! - Andy For Smash Ultimate! We'll Live To Fight Another Day...

[clearandsweet]

Ugh Battalion Wars is probably in my top 10 least favorite/most disappointing games of all time. I don't ever want Advance Wars to return in that way, especially not if that's the first thing we've seen from the franchise in... twelve years? JFC it's been 12 years wtf, IS.

In a Smash context as well, Battalion Wars lacks the characters that are integral to representing the franchise.

As a concept, if the turn-based strategy of Advance Wars was healthy and well-established, yeah maybe IS would entertain the idea of a new spin-off with a fresh take on gameplay in that universe. Right now? Bury that game in the Arizona desert.

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

You know at first glance when I read that statement, I almost thought the IGN guy was talking about Battalion Wars until I realized he was talking about Pikmin lol.

But yeah, it seems the two ports Emily Rogers was talking about are SM3DW and Pikmin 3.

Speaking of Battalion Wars, what do you think are the chances of that series doing anything in the future? Kuju Entertainment is all in when it comes to Art Academy so IDK if they would want to do it. Maybe another dev could be up to the task in handling that project?

Almost zippo, if that one's not remembered.

Spoiler

Which is a bit darkly hilarious, considering the fate of the villains in the second game. Imagine being buried alive for decades.

 

[Ura]

Ugh Battalion Wars is probably in my top 10 least favorite/most disappointing games of all time. I don't ever want Advance Wars to return in that way, especially not if that's the first thing we've seen from the franchise in... twelve years? JFC it's been 12 years wtf, IS.

In a Smash context as well, Battalion Wars lacks the characters that are integral to representing the franchise.

As a concept, if the turn-based strategy of Advance Wars was healthy and well-established, yeah maybe IS would entertain the idea of a new spin-off with a fresh take on gameplay in that universe. Right now? Bury that game in the Arizona desert.

12 years indeed my friend. But hopefully not much longer.

I do agree of course. I would be okay with Battalion Wars coming back as long as Advance Wars comes back first. Basically, BW would compliment the core AW franchise like it did before.

Of course with that being said, BW is unlikely in itself given that Kuju is all about Art Academy these days lol.

Almost zippo, if that one's not remembered.

Spoiler

Which is a bit darkly hilarious, considering the fate of the villains in the second game. Imagine being buried alive for decades.

A lot of BW's humor is very underrated if you ask me lol.

Always wondered what a BW game featuring Andy, Sami, and Max would look like tho.

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

A new wrinkle has come up:

https://jackofallcontrollers.com/20...g-new-star-fox-kirby-and-captain-toad-titles/

While Markomoaro's claims look unbelievable, the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon remake seems to have come true. I'm not sure whether it's all true, false, or a mix of both.

It's gonna be a battle between this and the mobile AW rumors...

 

[chocolatejr9]

A new wrinkle has come up:

https://jackofallcontrollers.com/20...g-new-star-fox-kirby-and-captain-toad-titles/

While Markomoaro's claims look unbelievable, the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon remake seems to have come true. I'm not sure whether it's all true, false, or a mix of both.

It's gonna be a battle between this and the mobile AW rumors...

We should be careful. That article is tempting fate in terms of "faithful recreations". Still, at least someone's talking about it.

 

[Ura]

A new wrinkle has come up:

https://jackofallcontrollers.com/20...g-new-star-fox-kirby-and-captain-toad-titles/

While Markomoaro's claims look unbelievable, the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon remake seems to have come true. I'm not sure whether it's all true, false, or a mix of both.

It's gonna be a battle between this and the mobile AW rumors...

IIRC, markomaro has been called out by Hydewell who knows him from another site. While that might be true and all, it's still really noteworthy that he got that right along with some other things that are being rumored right now like Paper Mario 64 Remake.

And now that we know that AW Mobile was a thing that was actually talked about in some insider circles, it makes it all the more believable. That and the Dec 2017 rumor meaning whatever game was in development then was timely enough to be in the Fighters Pass potentially (barring Spirits but i'll talk about that later).

Also, i'm not sure what you mean of there being a "battle" when everything is being reported on by what markomaro said lol.

We should be careful. That article is tempting fate in terms of "faithful recreations". Still, at least someone's talking about it.

Yeah, i've seen these rumors gain quite a lot of steam recently so I wouldn't be surprised if they became widespread sooner or later.

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

I just meant that out of everything, we just don't know how much of the AW and Markomoaro rumors will come true.

But right now I don't really care, I just want to see actual news happen next week, especially considering that I'm not working on Tuesday and Wednesday.

 

[Ura]

I just meant that out of everything, we just don't know how much of the AW and Markomoaro rumors will come true.

But right now I don't really care, I just want to see actual news happen next week, especially considering that I'm not working on Tuesday and Wednesday.

IIRC, the Direct is more likely to be Thursday given the DMC news. That is, if there's a Jan Direct at all.

And yeah I get the sentiment lol. The wait for Fighter 5 has gone for too long and i'm going to be relieved when it's all said and done.

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

As far as folks noticed, there's no definitive gap as to the exact time between Pokémon and general directs, roughly at least from 4-6 days. Not always exactly one week.

If nothing happens next week, a really serious shake-up has happened.

 

[Ura]

As far as folks noticed, there's no definitive gap as to the exact time between Pokémon and general directs, roughly at least from 4-6 days. Not always exactly one week.

If nothing happens next week, a really serious shake-up has happened.

Ehh... I doubt there's any shake-up per se but it would still be very weird to me that Fighter 5 would reveal and release in the same month.

Or, it could just be that Fighter 5 was always intended to release Feb 2020 regardless of circumstances. That would explain why they said "all fighters are expected to release by Feb 2020" right after the Nov 1st, 2018 Smash Direct. Because they were going to end it there regardless of what happened. In any case, it lines up well with what I mentioned before regarding the AW trademark.

Yeah, there is no definitive gaps between regular and PKMN Directs. Last year, there was a PKMN one 2 weeks after the regular one so there isn't any hard rule. That being said, it has happened a lot where TPCi wants to be the ones to reveal any kind of PKMN game in their own Direct before or after the general one so something happening this coming Wednesday or Thursday lines up. That in addition to the DMC news on the 16th I mentioned above.

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

Ehh... I doubt there's any shake-up per se but it would still be very weird to me that Fighter 5 would reveal and release in the same month.

Or, it could just be that Fighter 5 was always intended to release Feb 2020 regardless of circumstances. That would explain why they said "all fighters are expected to release by Feb 2020" right after the Nov 1st, 2018 Smash Direct. Because they were going to end it there regardless of what happened. In any case, it lines up well with what I mentioned before regarding the AW trademark.

Yeah there is no definitive gaps between regular and PKMN Directs. Last year, there was a PKMN one 2 weeks after the regular one so there isn't any hard rule. That being said, it has happened a lot where TPCi wants to be the ones to reveal any kind of PKMN game in their own Direct before or after the general one so something happening this coming Wednesday or Thursday lines up. That in addition to the DMC news on the 16th I mentioned above.

Well I'm not expecting the character to drop immediately after announcement, but when exactly by the end of next month it'll be released. It's possible to be announced in one month, then later be released in the next, never mind the laborious planning for Joker last year. Let's not forget that the character would still need a showcase, and that wouldn't necessarily be in the same Direct, the showcase can always be saved for next month.

On a side note, something came up for Mario & Luigi:

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/20...e_mario_and_luigi_series_is_making_a_comeback

Also, what are the DMC news you talk about, specifically? I can't seem to find the details.

 

[Ura]

Well I'm not expecting the character to drop immediately after announcement, but when exactly by the end of next month it'll be released. It's possible to be announced in one month, then later be released in the next, never mind the laborious planning for Joker last year. Let's not forget that the character would still need a showcase, and that wouldn't necessarily be in the same Direct, the showcase can always be saved for next month.

On a side note, something came up for Mario & Luigi:

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/20...e_mario_and_luigi_series_is_making_a_comeback

Also, what are the DMC news you talk about, specifically? I can't seem to find the details.

From here...

https://techraptor.net/gaming/news/devil-may-cry-3-nintendo-switch-version-will-have-something-extra

I was speaking more towards a Direct being done in Feb and Fighter 5 being revealed/released in the same month. It would be off to me which is why i'm banking on a Direct this Thursday most likely.

I saw the trademark news although it was an NoA one VS a NoJ trademark. Usually, the NoJ ones end up meaning more than their American counterparts but we'll see soon enough.

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

From here...

https://techraptor.net/gaming/news/devil-may-cry-3-nintendo-switch-version-will-have-something-extra

I was speaking more towards a Direct being done in Feb and Fighter 5 being revealed/released in the same month. It would be off to me which is why i'm banking on a Direct this Thursday most likely.

I saw the trademark news although it was an NoA one VS a NoJ trademark. Usually, the NoJ ones end up meaning more than their American counterparts but we'll see soon enough.

Okay, now I get it. It would be certainly odd and against their nature to have a Direct, reveal, showcase and release for a single character, all in the same month. Those dates are very specific for hearing about DMC news, too...

At the very least we might hear something around Tuesday.

No idea if M&L would even get anything new beyond a re-release, but yeah, we'll see.

 

[Ura]

So I alluded earlier in my previous post that I would talk a bit about the Spirit situation with Andy and how he might still be a character on the Pass despite it. While it does seem ludicrous to think that given everyone on the Pass so far has been 3rd party and had no prescence in the base game, I want to explain my rationale in detail. I put Spoiler tags to not stretch the page too much. Give it read and lemme know what'cha think.

Spoiler

- This goes without saying but the Fighters Pass plan wasn't known to Sakurai and his team until sometime between Jan 11th, 2018 and the March 8th, 2018 Direct that revealed Ultimate's existence. What does this indicate? What it means that any Spirit created before that Jan 11th, 2018 date likely had no barring on the Pass regardless of whether they were in or not.

All of the Advance Wars spirits were likely decided before this date and there's a possibility that the team might have not want to cut any Spirits. For the same reason the team didn't want to cut Mewtwo's trophy in Smash 4 becauss there was work put in to it. One could use Plant as a rebuttal but it's really not the same thing given Fighter Spirits have no work put in to them unlike the regular ones that effect gameplay. Speaking of which...

- Andy's Spirit being tied to the WoL map, being involved in the summon for Tails, and accounting for whatever work was done for his Spirit battle might be reason enough to not discard his Spirit from the base game. For this to all happen at once, the team would have to replace Andy's Spirit with a similar-themed Spirit in the Military Base stage in the WoL, find another Spirit to replace him for the Tails summon, discard the work they did for Andy's Spirit battle, and axe the other 3 AW spirits without Andy as a Spirit.

From a development standpoint, isn't it just easier to leave things as is and not spend that extra time scrapping already finished work? Because essentially, there's more dev work and resouces being used doing that which is counterproductive. Seeing as how the team had no problem leaving Mewtwo's trophy in Smash 3DS, I could see the same with Andy's Spirit personally.

- Something people may have overlooked but Andy was noticeably absent in the November 1st, 2018 Smash Direct. Which some might gloss over sure but it is noteworthy when you consider the fact that.

A) It was the Direct that deconfirmed nearly every single main character from non-playable franchises in Smash. One noteable abscence? Andy.

B) Both Eagle & Olaf were highlighted in the Direct yet they chose not to show Andy there. In a Direct as I mentioned that wasn't shy of showing off the fates for every other MC not playable. Why wouldn't they show Andy there but still show-off Eagle & Olaf?

Of course one could argue this is a moot point given Andy still ended up a Spirit but given what I mentioned, it's incredibly particular as if the team didn't want to highlight the character's non-playable role in the event of being playable later. Throwing that out there.

- 1st Party Spirits being less damning compared to their 3rd party counterparts. Because with 3rd party ones, they're negotiated to be in that said role whereas with 1st party ones, they could be changed in an instant if plans changed like with Mewtwo.

- And for that matter, the 3rd parties already in would most likely not have Spirits in the base game anyways. I doubt Nintendo would go to Atlus for Persona Spirits (a franchise tied to Playstation), go to SE of all people and ask for Dragon Quest of all things to be made as Spirits and not a playable character, get something as beloved as Banjo-Kazooie and make them Spirits causing a massive outrage, and Sakurai would never let SNK be relegated to Spirits only lol. Ironically enough, the 3rd party Spirits in the base game were from compaies willing to have their characters featured in any kind of capacity like Ubisoft, Wayforward, and Yacht.

- Vergeben & Sabi not saying Spirits are off the table for Fighter 5 even when both (more so Vergeben) have a huge deconfirm list of characters and companies and it would be so easy for them to say "Fighter 5 is not a Spirit".

- The Infantry & Tanks AT being gone after being in both Brawl & Smash 4. Given how easy it is to port over from Smash Wii U, don't you think it would have been a lock to return in Ultimate? What if the reason they cut the AT was to have it featured in Andy's moveset instead? Food for thought.

- I already talked about this at length but the trademark and Dec 2017 rumor, the major crutches of why I believe Andy has a shot.

 

[CboyC95]

Ugh Battalion Wars is probably in my top 10 least favorite/most disappointing games of all time. I don't ever want Advance Wars to return in that way, especially not if that's the first thing we've seen from the franchise in... twelve years? JFC it's been 12 years wtf, IS.

In a Smash context as well, Battalion Wars lacks the characters that are integral to representing the franchise.

As a concept, if the turn-based strategy of Advance Wars was healthy and well-established, yeah maybe IS would entertain the idea of a new spin-off with a fresh take on gameplay in that universe. Right now? Bury that game in the Arizona desert.

How can you say that? I love Battalion Wars and I love that style of gameplay.

 

[Guynamednelson]

whereas with 1st party ones, they could be changed in an insant if plans changed like with Mewtwo.

Eh...They still need The Pokemon Company's approval for that one.

 

[Ura]

Eh...They still need The Pokemon Company's approval for that one.

True but it's less tricky given PKMN is 2nd party. Maybe Mewtwo wasn't the best example but basically, first parties are much easier to change on a dime. Andy is fully owned by Nintendo even though he was created by Intelligent Systems.

How can you say that? I love Battalion Wars and I love that style of gameplay.

I thought BW was neat as well even though I much prefer AW. Both have their charms to it and are good in their respective right.

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

Seeing as I currently perceive post-base game spirit additions to be definitive passing over, I think we can write another Switch exclusive off.

Starting on 1/17 for 5 days, the #SmashBrosUltimate spirit event "Chain the Future to Spirits!" will be held. Neuron's newest recruits, as well as Kyle and Lappy will invade the Spirit Board! Don't miss out! pic.twitter.com/mXDaRmmPZ4

— Nintendo Versus (@NintendoVS) January 14, 2020

 

[Ura]

Seeing as I currently perceive post-base game spirit additions to be definitive passing over, I think we can write another Switch exclusive off.

There was a problem fetching the tweet

Yeah, pour one out for the Astral Chain peeps.

Gonna be annoying hearing people saying "1st parties have no chance" en loop. Save our souls literally.

Really hoping my boy clutches it out and is DLC before Ultimate closes shop. That Mobile game or whatever can't come soon enough lol.

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

No series is exempted, first or third party. If this keeps up fans will get loony enough to think we're just getting original characters.

In the meantime though this week's currently looking weird in regards to news. We just know we'll hear about something regarding DMC, and have the final base game amiibo released the day after.

 

[chocolatejr9]

No series is exempted, first or third party. If this keeps up fans will get loony enough to think we're just getting original characters.

In the meantime though this week's currently looking weird in regards to news. We just know we'll hear about something regarding DMC, and have the final base game amiibo released the day after.

Yeah. If we don't get a Direct announced tomorrow or Wednsday, we'll all be in an incredibly awkward position...

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

Yeah. If we don't get a Direct announced tomorrow or Wednsday, we'll all be in an incredibly awkward position...

You know what the weirdest thing about this possibility is? They'd have to launch the and amiibo with almost no fanfare, since they're coming out this friday.

At this rate not even the 7/11 pattern would hold up very much.

Edit: This is it, the light at the end of the tunnel...

There was a problem fetching the tweet

 

[Ura]

Welp! Mystery Newcomer Announcement inbound for tommorow.

So it wasn't quite February after all but still not too far off. I gotta say, this format is pretty interesting and hasn't been done since Robin/Lucina in the Smash 4 days. Will be curious to see it now and hopefully no leaks happen in the next 2 days. fingers crossed

I won't lie. I'm awfully sweaty going in to this lol. Hopefully, my analysis regarding Andy comes true and he clutches it out (coinciding with the announcement of Advance Wars Mobile later in the month potentially). Even if a third party is more likely i'm holding on to hope.

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

I won't lie, I miss the days in 4, when we had some character announcements in anything that's not a Direct or super-big events. It must be someone that's relatively low-key, as one would expect for the end of every reveal pattern.

Also, uh, it's on the 16th, not tomorrow. Figures it wouldn't air while I'm on break from work...

Also also, what do you think of PushDustIn 's theory here?

https://twitter.com/PushDustIn/status/1217050591932760066

 

[Ura]

I won't lie, I miss the days in 4, when we had some character announcements in anything that's not a Direct or super-big events. It must be someone that's relatively low-key, as one would expect for the end of every reveal pattern.

Also, uh, it's on the 16th, not tomorrow. Figures it wouldn't air while I'm on break from work...

Also also, what do you think of PushDustIn 's theory here?

https://twitter.com/PushDustIn/status/1217050591932760066

I'm really happy to see Push is a believer in Spirits not having to be the deathblow for the Fighters Pass. Granted, anywhere else you go saying that is the equivalent of believing the earth is flat so it's refreshing to hear lol.

I'm holding on to hope for Andy as I mentioned before but I also acknowledge it could easily still be someone like Dragonborn or KOS-MOS. Here's hoping my analysis pans out.

 

[Guynamednelson]

https://smashboards.com/threads/geno-♥♪-return-of-the-starsend-savior.446378/page-2239#post-23781051
Plot twist: This mysterious dark green comes from...Sami's pants.

 

[Ura]

Good timing actually with the thread bump lol. Here's something I posted elsewhere that you guys will find interesting.

So I don't know if you guys's have seen Gamexplain's latest video regarding the 1/16 Smash Presentation but they went REALLY hard on the prospect of Fighter 5 being a Nintendo and/or Spirit character so much so that they didn't bother talking about any guest characters. Given that GX are in the know for a lot of things, I think that's a pretty big sign for first parties potentially.

Also over on ResetERA, a member named Zippo (whom I believe might also be in the know as well) said he thought KOS-MOS, Arle Naja, and Dante were unlikely to be Fighter 5. And then he goes on to say that he believes Fighter 5 is a Nintendo character (although he says kinda). Which adds up given Andy is technically 2nd party through Intelligent Systems.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/su...same-old-debates.164679/page-13#post-28241454

https://www.resetera.com/threads/su...same-old-debates.164679/page-13#post-28241640

https://www.resetera.com/threads/su...same-old-debates.164679/page-13#post-28241781

I know none of this is confirmed and all but i'm hard pressed to think of any other 1st party that's likely. Rex & Pyra were donezo when Rex was Mii Costume'd (and both spirited), Astral Chain was also donezo just yesterday, Three Houses is kinda unlikely given the Fighters Pass draws from new franchises (not to mention it's critical acclaim/success came way after selection for the pass), and the rest are all goners one way or the other.

Of course, a grain of salt needs to be taken and all but this is incredibly particular if you ask me especially in light of my analysis with the AW trademark & spirit situation. If the first party speculation is actually legit, I honestly think we might be in for a good time my guys. keyword, might

EDIT: He says the character isn't owned by Nintendo but they're basically the reason why they exist. Technically that could refer to Travis but he's still 3rd party. IDK what's up with that but there's at least GX to work off from.

https://smashboards.com/threads/geno-♪-return-of-the-starsend-savior.446378/page-2239#post-23781051
Plot twist: This mysterious dark green comes from...Sami's pants.

That's the wackiest theory i've seen at that's coming from someone who's made out there theories myself lol.

That being said, Sami would be a cool character if she were in taking from Snake & ZSS. Andy should have dibs on the first AW slot, though given he is the face of the series basically.

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

Not much wackier than assuming that someone's fingers means anything...

 

[Ura]

Not much wackier than assuming that someone's fingers means anything...

I mean they're all pretty wack but i'm the same guy that unironically meme'd Peace Sign Theory so yeah lol.

 

[chocolatejr9]

Good timing actually with the thread bump lol. Here's something I posted elsewhere that you guys will find interesting.



Of course, a grain of salt needs to be taken and all but this is incredibly particular if you ask me especially in light of my analysis with the AW trademark & spirit situation. If the first party speculation is actually legit, I honestly think we might be in for a good time my guys. keyword, might

EDIT: He says the character isn't owned by Nintendo but they're basically the reason why they exist. Technically that could refer to Travis but he's still 3rd party. IDK what's up with that but there's at least GX to work off from.

That's the wackiest theory i've seen at that's coming from someone who's made out there theories myself lol.

That being said, Sami would be a cool character if she were in taking from Snake & ZSS. Andy should have dibs on the first AW slot, though given he is the face of the series basically.

Okay, that description is throwing me off. A character not owned by Nintendo... but exists because of them? I could see Crash fitting that, but still, I can't think of much else.

 

[Guynamednelson]

I could see Crash fitting that

While Crash had that "Hey Plumber Boy" commercial, he was influenced by Sonic, as seen with the original name of the game being "Sonic's Ass Game".

 

[chocolatejr9]

While Crash had that "Hey Plumber Boy" commercial, he was influenced by Sonic, as seen with the original name of the game being "Sonic's Ass Game".

Well in that case, I got nothing.

 

[Ura]

Okay, that description is throwing me off. A character not owned by Nintendo... but exists because of them? I could see Crash fitting that, but still, I can't think of much else.

Crash is anything but 1st party. He's the character people associate with Sony so I doubt it's him.

The way he said it made it sound like it's Travis and he is a popular rumor for the past month. Suda51 denied him being on the Pass like Dec 2018 but that could have been a lie for the NDA so who knows. Another possibility is Phoenix (who has all his games on Nintendo platforms) although Dante is looking more likely as the Capcom character.

Regardless of what Zippo said, i'm more hopeful for Andy then i've been in recent times. If it's a legit 1st/2nd party that Nintendo owns, then pack it up boys we may be in luck!

While Crash had that "Hey Plumber Boy" commercial, he was influenced by Sonic, as seen with the original name of the game being "Sonic's Ass Game".

Gotta love how edgy the 90's were eh? Nowadays, I think people would be more cringed then anything else for an advert like that.

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

Chew on this post for a while, I'm going to actually try to pass the time in a sane way until Thursday afternoon.

Spoiler

There was a problem fetching the tweet

 

[chocolatejr9]

Chew on this post for a while, I'm going to actually try to pass the time in a sane way until Thursday afternoon.

Spoiler

There was a problem fetching the tweet

Well, I don't have anything better to do, so chew I will.

Assuming I'm not misinterpreting this whole thing like I did earlier, I would assume it's a third-party franchise that's so closely affiliated with Nintendo, it may as well be first-party. I don't know about you guys, but when I think that, I think Level-5, specifically Professor Layton and Yo-kai Watch. I honestly think they're the most deserving third-party purely for their continual support of Nintendo.

 

[Ura]

Chew on this post for a while, I'm going to actually try to pass the time in a sane way until Thursday afternoon.

Spoiler

There was a problem fetching the tweet

Well, I don't have anything better to do, so chew I will.

Assuming I'm not misinterpreting this whole thing like I did earlier, I would assume it's a third-party franchise that's so closely affiliated with Nintendo, it may as well be first-party. I don't know about you guys, but when I think that, I think Level-5, specifically Professor Layton and Yo-kai Watch. I honestly think they're the most deserving third-party purely for their continual support of Nintendo.

Yeah, he seems to be hardcore teasing Travis (although Phoenix & Layton could potentially fit the build) but he also admitted he wasn't entirely sure and that the character could happen down the line. Granted, I already figured Travis was among the more likely characters for after the Pass but I kinda ruled him out for this Pass.

That being said, we still have GameXplain to go off from who are hardcore teasing a Nintendo/Spirit-promoted character which bodes fairly well for our boy. We'll see tomorrow of course but before then, i'll do a quick summary of things going our way heading in to the presentation.

I won't lie. Seeing everyone debate which 3rd party is getting in the game only for Andy to clutch it out would be pretty sweet I tell ya'. Seeing as how no one really consider's him as a possibility lol.

 

[GoodGrief741]

I think we have a lot to discuss

 

[chocolatejr9]

Well look on the bright side: I think Sakurai referenced Advance Wars when he was talking about what made Fire Emblem different from other SRPGs at the time.

 

[clearandsweet]

Well look on the bright side: I think Sakurai referenced Advance Wars when he was talking about what made Fire Emblem different from other SRPGs at the time.

Ahahaha I noticed this as well and said aloud, "AH SO YOU ARE AWARE THAT ADVANCE WARS EXISTS!"

Like I caught him in a lie and now he has to represent the franchise like it's a fairytale.

 

[Ura]

Okay, I gotta a lot to unpack from this.

First thing's first though (heh heh first)

FIRST PARTIES ARE LIVING BAY-BAY!!! HYPE! HYPE! HYPE!

(breathes)

With that being said, it was a mixed bag all in all. Byleth looks like a cool character and all with the Sword/Axe/Lance/Bow gimmick but I can't say i'm thrilled with more Fire Emblem characters in this game. Sorry to those who are fans but that's my honest opinion. Still think i'll enjoy the character once it's out but yeah.

Now, on to how this relates to Andy.

I'm still shocked that Sakurai actually referenced Advance Wars in this stream. Granted it was an FE retrospective (like seriously I think your audience knows what FE is pretty well lmao) and all but the way he just kinda throwed out "other games that featured tanks & aircraft" was just "huh really?". I'm not sure how to intrepret it really. I'm pretty cheesed that he didn't reference the franchise by it's name but alas, it still got a shoutout. Something not many franchises get aside from Street Fighter in Terry's presentation. On the positive side, maybe he was just highlighting what FE does differently from AW which is fine I guess but like, it made me feel pretty worried the way it was said.

At that point, I was scared half to death that Andy would wound up a Mii Costume given that it would relate to FE's theme but thankfully, that never happened. Andy lives another day wih no FE to compete with, 1st parties still living, among other things.

So with that, what does Andy have going for him right now?

- The Advance Wars trademark from Dec 2018 (wasn't related to Fighter 5 as I hoped for but it still points to something in the works given it wasn't a renewal or related to any expiry date).

- The rumors of AW Mobile which is actually a thing heard in some insider circles and honestly, it really adds up given the above.

- Andy dodging the Mii Costume bullet given how easy it would be to have him in there with it being a 1st party character.

- Sakurai actually referencing Advance Wars even if not by name, something that was only also done with Street Fighter with Terry.

- Spirits from the base game not meaning anything now given the second Fighter's Pass has no bearing on something decided on in 2018.

- Competition from other 1st parties is relatively low although Waluigi & Isaac have their case to be made. More so the former.

- Also something that works in Andy's favor is that Sakurai said the next reveal would take a while longer to happen meaning this next pass will def stretch out to early-mid 2021. Should AW Mobile be true and is happening in 2021, it would give Andy a huge boost given he'll have something timely to promote. As I mentioned many times, Nintendo's mobile business is very lucrative for them so it's very possible Nintendo could go to bat for Andy and help leverage the Advance Wars IP through Smash Bros.

So yeah, only time well tell but let's avoid defeatist mentalities going forward. I know the AW subreddit and other places like Twitter/social media in general are going to be all doom & despair (because that's what the AW sub-reddit does best lol) but there is silver linings here and we shouldn't lose sight of that.

Remember that things are never hopeless until Smash Ultimate DLC closes shop which won't be for another year+ I bet. Keep hope alive my dudes!