Akari Hayami: Chances 5%
Appearances: 1080, 1080: Avalanche, Wave Race Blue Storm
I think from interviews and actions, Sakurai has indicated a new openness in this game to non-combat characters. I believe that 1080, despite being inactive for the wii generation, would be a prime choice for a non-combat character for a few reasons. And Akari Hayami would be the best choice as a rep in that case.
First, the original game was developed by Nintendo's famous EAD team. Secondly, like many other series represented in Smash, it also has input from the legendary Shigeru Miyamoto in its first game. Miyamoto served as the game's producer. The list of characters worked on by Miyamoto is vast: Mario, Link, Fox, Captain Falcon, Donkey Kong, Yoshi, Kirby, Captain Olimar, etc. When you consider the fact that both two retro characters had Miyamoto for their first games: Ice Climbers and Pit, you can see a trend in Smash. Thirdly, the game is a classic, well received by both Nintendo's audience and critics. It won awards the year it came out. She would also serve as a representative for Nintendo's sports franchises, as well possibly representing both the Wave Race and 1080 series. The Wave Race series has also been very important to Nintendo history. It was a GC launch title in the form of Blue Storm. For Wave Race, it was also developed by Nintendo EAD team and produced by Shigeru Miyamoto for both its original GB title, the N64 sequel, and Blue Storm. Both the Wave Race and 1080 series received trophies in Melee, and 1080 received music in Brawl. Akari Hayami herself appeared as a sticker in Brawl, along with some others.
If you look at sales as a metric, the 1080 series itself stands up pretty well in comparison to the other series. Wave Race also stands up well. But if you combine them together (because of their shared continuity), then they rank above just about every other series not currently represented (aside from Duck Hunt and the Excite Racing series).
3.6 million - Wave Race
>2.0 million - 1080 Snowboarding
2 + 3.6 = approximately 5.6 million sales for both series
4 surrounding series:
28.3 million - Duck Hunt (was part of a bundle though)
6.2 million - Excite racing games
3.6 million - Golden Sun
3.1 million - Pilotwings
Sales are important because they are the greatest popularity poll you can find. They are basically show that people are willing to make an economic decision for a series or character. Sakurai mentioned reviving bring back old characters. A decade is practically a lifetime in gaming. If you remove the concept of retro, a 1080 or Wave Race character like Akari Hayami could easily fit in Sakurai's description of reviving a character.
Why her, over other snowboarders/wave racers? The simple fact she appears in both franchises is enough. Kensuke Kimachi maybe the main guy in 1080, but he only appears in that series. Having her would allow representation of both series, and a moveset reflecting that. She is also the sister of Ryota Hayami, the main protagonist of the Wave Race series. That gives her the advantage over Ricky Winterborn and Rob Haywood. Adding another female to case would be a positive, and I think her design would be the most dynamic of the bunch. And she appeared as a sticker in Brawl, in both her Wave Race and 1080 forms! No other character received that treatment.
She would truly be a WTF character.
Want: 100%
I love the original 1080 and bought it as soon as it came out for the Virtual Console. I think Wave Race: Blue Storm was an amazing game as well, and really solified the different type of game you could play the GC. I think the fact that many didnt even recognize Akari Hayami as a 1080 character rather than a Wave Racer means that both series should get a second look from Nintendo.
Eternal Representation:
Chances: 5%
I don't think ED fits Smash's style and its from a second party that Nintendo would prefer not talk about or work with.
Want: 100%
That game was so awesome. Imagine a stage with a Sanity Meter!
Predictions:
Legendary Heropon Riki: 2.73%
Geist Person: .93%
Nominations:
Phoenix Wright Trophy x5
In addition, she was included as a character in the third installment of the Wave Race franchise, and she shares her last name with a longtime racer of that franchise, Ryota Hayami. I unfortunately have no idea if they're actually related.
Akari Hayami and Ryota Hayami are brother and sister.
if I known than it was from a Nintendo franchise I would give a higher chance score to my prediction yesterday. It's a Nintendo universe and BTW deserves to be represented in Smash Bros. Because the franchise only has one pre-Brawl game a playable character from the game is pretty much impossible IMO, and a stage seems unlikely. An assist trophy, or just a trophy, on the other hand, seems not that unlikely, given Sakurai's tendency to reveal assist trophies for characters from forgotten franchises like, said above, Takamaru, Prince of Sablé, or the Brawl veteran AT Saki Amamiya. So if a stage or character is highly unlikely, an AT or just a trophy is not that unlikely IMO. Again for want, I don't have any connection with the franchise, so I abstain.
