Dear GamePro Editors:
As I know you are all aware, December 3rd has been announced as the official release date for the next edition of the Smash Brothers series. Over the course of the last two years, many hundreds of thousands of fans have speculated and predicted and estimated and all other manner of things about who will be considered “worthy” to appear in the game. There are, of course, the fan favorites, that is to say characters who are considered to be guaranteed slots, such as Diddy Kong, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Midna. And, like yin to yang, there are those who are considered so outrageous that they have no chance in…well, you get the idea, such as Mach Rider, Balloon Fighter, and Viewtiful Joe. And, although there is nothing wrong with speculation as it creates hype and hype creates sales, these hopefuls are nothing but that…speculation from the fans.
I want an insider’s (or, as the case may be, several insiders) opinion. As the editors of such an important magazine to the gaming community, you guys are more knowledgeable about the games than most (I didn’t say all) of the gaming community put together. So GamePro editors, I offer a challenge to you.
I challenge you all (as a group) to come up with a list of forty characters that you believe to be the most likely Smash Brothers final roster, that is to say the complete roster with all hidden characters revealed. The most commonly accepted (and expected) number of characters in the final roster is forty, so we’ll use that as the maximum allowed characters in this challenge. There could be more, there could be less…but, for this challenge, there are only forty. Simple, right? Don’t forget to follow all of Sakurai’s rules, at least one character from Melee will not be returning, and to include all of the confirmed (as of today’s date, August 14th) characters as well. Also, keep in mind that it is very likely that (if you decide to include this letter in an edition of the magazine [I‘m not holding my breath]) at least one more character will be confirmed before this letter is published, so don’t forget to include them in the roster as well. Once you have what you (as a group) believe to be the most reasonable list of characters for Brawl’s final roster, put it up for the fans to see (either in the magazine or on the website.)
Naturally, I’m not expecting you to know the full roster anymore than we, the Smash community, do (simply because Nintendo is so tight-lipped about it,) nor am I expecting you to predict it with 100% accuracy…but, your opinions on the matter could help put several fights and wars across the internet to rest…and, who knows, maybe even stir up a few new ones.
Sincerely yours,
Ferro De Lupe
(aka Casey W****** from Tecumseh, Oklahoma)