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Regarding The "Relevancy" Argument

pap64

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For starters, I don't want to single anyone or start trouble, and mods, if you think this thread might instigate a strong argument feel free to lock. But there is something that has been bugging me since the Direct aired yesterday, especially those that wanted Isaac, Geno, Banjo et.all in the game, and that is this...

"Bah, your character of choice is not relevant compared to Ken and Incineroar, those are legacy characters that matter more!"

Not to create strawmen out of these people, but whenever someone expresses their disappointment that their character of choice was not revealed, people are quick to say "your character is not relevant", and to that I say...

When the first Smash Bros came out on the N64, very few remembered who Ness was or where he came from. Earthbound had indeed been released but was not a huge commercial success. Captain Falcon was more of a vehicle than a character. So you could argue that neither of them deserved to be in the roster because they were not relevant. And yet here we are; they are staples of the Smash franchise, and thanks to it Earthbound has become a cult classic that has inspired many developers, and the lore of F-Zero was pretty much shaped thanks to Smash.

Then we have Melee...No one outside the US knew who Marth and Roy were because their games had never been released elsewhere. And Mr. Game and Watch was so obscure they had to dig out the history books to remind people that he was one of Nintendo's first "character". Oh and the Ice Climbers? They've never had a game beyond the first one. Years later, Fire Emblem is a massive success for Nintendo, and people would be upset if Mr. Game and Watch or Ice Climbers were to be cut (regardless if they mained them or not).

Brawl was up next, and Pit is announced. While he was requested, he only had two games under his belt, and the reason he was requested was because many grew up on the original games and felt he would be a great choice. Years later, his whole franchise got rebooted and now has a personality of its own.

And now Smash 4 brought us Duck Hunt, a character that celebrates the NES Zapper games that we forgot at some point.

So TL:DR; Character relevance does not matter and is not a good counterargument regarding someone being upset over the characters and roster. While fan requests can play a role, a lot of it deals with what the SSB roster needs and what Sakurai and team want to do. King K. Rool has not been in a proper DK adventure game since DK 64, relegated only to spin-off appearances. So why can't Geno and Isaac be in the roster? Relevance is not the issue. You can argue that the character is hard to make into a full character. You can argue that there are a lot of licensing issues that prevent them from being in the game. You can even argue that they are not interesting. But using the "relevancy" card doesn't work on the grand scheme of things since SSB has given life to old franchises, and even if they didn't get new games because of it (like Cpt. Falcon after GX and Ice Climbers), they at least kept being remembered and inspired people to seek their games of origins.
 
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S_B

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Yeah, character relevance clearly doesn't matter when we have a generic Mario enemy for a playable character.

Not that it doesn't look fun to play, but it doesn't even have a hat like Hat Goomba.
 

pap64

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Oh and I forgot to mention...

- People wanted Sonic in Smash NOT because his games were good (yeah, the Genesis classics were great), but because it would be a great piece of nostalgia for those that grew up in the console wars of the 90s and see two heroes who harshly antagonized each other come together. By the time he was in Brawl, Sonic 06 had been pandered as being the worst Sonic game, nay, the worst game ever made. Sonic Adventure had not aged well at all. Sonic and the secret Rings gained mediocre reviews AT BEST. So by the "relevance" logic, he should not be in Smash because he is just a relic of a bygone era where Sonic was "too cool for school". And he is in THREE Smash games...and two Disney movies.

- Snake is nowadays associated with the debacle that was the fallout between Konami and Kojima. People wanted him back not just because of the nostalgia of the PSone games but because they loved him in Brawl, and the roster felt "incomplete" without him.
 

FirestormNeos

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Sonic Adventure had not aged well at all.
graphically, yes. gameplay, however, it's still alright. minus the fishing levels, which were never good to begin with.

And he is in THREE Smash games...and two Disney movies.
hold up, two disney movies? I know Wreck-It Ralph, but... what's the other one?
 
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pap64

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graphically, yes. gameplay, however, it's still alright. minus the fishing levels, which were never good to begin with.



hold up, two disney movies? I know Wreck-It Ralph, but... what's the other one?
Ralph Breaks the Internet. A clip confirms his return where he once again serves as the exposition character explaining that the "WEEFEE" is actually the internet.

As for Sonic Adventure, I still think it has not aged that well. I think Sonic Adventure 2 has aged the best of the two games.
 

FirestormNeos

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Ralph Breaks the Internet. A clip confirms his return where he once again serves as the exposition character explaining that the "WEEFEE" is actually the internet.
ah, neat.

As for Sonic Adventure, I still think it has not aged that well. I think Sonic Adventure 2 has aged the best of the two games.
What? No! SA2's treasure hunting levels were terrible thanks to the gimped radar, the Mech levels don't feel nearly as fluid as Gamma's did, and Sonic's stages were made way too linear and have the same problem a lot of mario games do where literally everything was mapped to one button, turning things like the light-speed dash into a dangerous leap of faith.

To avoid getting completely off-topic, yeah the "relevancy" argument is dumb.
 

Mariomaniac45213

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Which is exactly why the "relevancy" argument was always the stupidest argument ever. I've said it on here but the people who hammer "irrelevancy" are either:

A. kids who don't know anything about gaming history and just want characters within the last 3-5 years because "since I don't know that character therefor he can't be cool!" Even though some of these characters will ALWAYS remain "relevant" like K.Rool due to re-releases. You can get versions of the DKC trilogy on GBA, Wii VC, Wii U VC, SNES Classic (well at least the original), New 3DS VC, hell DS is backwards compatible with GBA games. Nintendo ALWAYS gives you the opportunity to experience their classic catalog but kids on the internet always overlook that aspect because "They don't have teh mod3rn graphicz so dey aren't fun to play anymor3!"

B. Sakurai butt kissers who will hound at how a character like K.Rool can't make it to Smash because he hasn't appeared in a game in 10 years and is "fat and ugly and a Bowser knock-off" but then when us K.Rool fans tell him how they're wrong and how ACTUALLY K.Rool is totally different personality wise from Bowser they laugh at us. But as soon as Sakurai adds him to the game finally they want to change their tune and like "K.Rool looks awesome they should add him to another DK game!"

C. Shareholders for Nintendo who need to see Quarterly results and fear if Sakurai adds a character like K.Rool or Geno or Isaac, "nobody will know who they so no one is gonna buy this version of Smash and all pre-orders will be cancelled because of it"

If we're going by "relevancy" half the veterans would be cut:

:ultlucas: - Hasn't appeared in a game outside of Smash or Japan since 2006. IRRELEVANT!
:ulticeclimbers: - Had one game on the NES (a ****ty one at that) back in the 80's. IRRELEVANT!
:ultness: - Hasn't been in a game outside of Smash since 1994. IRRELEVANT!
:ultgnw: - A character that hasn't had a new system/series of games since the 80's. With a couple Club Nintendo exclusive DS compilations in 2007. IRRELEVANT!
:ultlittlemac: - His last game was in 2009. IRRELEVANT!
:ultrob: - An 80's toy/videogame peripheral not even an actual character. IRRELEVANT!
:ultduckhunt: - A character that had one game in the 80's. IRRELEVANT!
:ultroy: - A character who appeared in one game in 2003. IRRELEVANT!
:ultdarksamus: - A character who last appeared in 2007. IRRELEVANT!
:ultsimon: - IRRELEVANT!
:ultrichter: - IRRELEVANT!
:ultfalcon: - Last Game was in 2004. IRRELEVANT!
:ultsnake: - IRRELEVANT! Simply due to the fact we will never get a new Metal Gear game from Konami without Kojima in the near future.
:ultike: - Last game was in 2007. IRRELEVANT!

Now here's the characters that border on irrelevancy:

:ultsheik: - If it wasn't for the 3DS Ocarina remake in 2011 and Hyrule Warriors she would be IRRELEVANT!
:ultdarkpit: - Will probably never appear in a game again outside of Smash, give it a few years and he will be... IRRELEVANT!
:ultmiifighters: - Mii's are a dying breed, a relic of the Wii era. Nintendo rarely uses them anymore and they are literally tucked away in the Switch menu. If it wasn't for Smash and Mario Kart they would be... IRRELEVANT!
:ultwiifittrainer: - There won't ever be another Wii Fit game, a relic of the Wii/Wii U era give it a few years and she will be... IRRELEVANT!
:ultyounglink: - Like Sheik if it wasn't for the 3DS remakes of Ocarina and Majora as well as Hyrule Warriors he would be... IRRELEVANT!
:ultganondorf: - While Ganondorf in Smash represents "Ganon" as a whole the actual humanoid embodiment version hasn't been used in a main Zelda game since twilight Princess in 2006. If it wasn't for the HD remaster in 2015 and Hyrule Warriors he would be... IRRELEVANT!
 

Uffe

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Which is exactly why the "relevancy" argument was always the stupidest argument ever. I've said it on here but the people who hammer "irrelevancy" are either:

A. kids who don't know anything about gaming history and just want characters within the last 3-5 years because "since I don't know that character therefor he can't be cool!" Even though some of these characters will ALWAYS remain "relevant" like K.Rool due to re-releases. You can get versions of the DKC trilogy on GBA, Wii VC, Wii U VC, SNES Classic (well at least the original), New 3DS VC, hell DS is backwards compatible with GBA games. Nintendo ALWAYS gives you the opportunity to experience their classic catalog but kids on the internet always overlook that aspect because "They don't have teh mod3rn graphicz so dey aren't fun to play anymor3!"

B. Sakurai butt kissers who will hound at how a character like K.Rool can't make it to Smash because he hasn't appeared in a game in 10 years and is "fat and ugly and a Bowser knock-off" but then when us K.Rool fans tell him how they're wrong and how ACTUALLY K.Rool is totally different personality wise from Bowser they laugh at us. But as soon as Sakurai adds him to the game finally they want to change their tune and like "K.Rool looks awesome they should add him to another DK game!"

C. Shareholders for Nintendo who need to see Quarterly results and fear if Sakurai adds a character like K.Rool or Geno or Isaac, "nobody will know who they so no one is gonna buy this version of Smash and all pre-orders will be cancelled because of it"

If we're going by "relevancy" half the veterans would be cut:

:ultlucas: - Hasn't appeared in a game outside of Smash or Japan since 2006. IRRELEVANT!
:ulticeclimbers: - Had one game on the NES (a ****ty one at that) back in the 80's. IRRELEVANT!
:ultness: - Hasn't been in a game outside of Smash since 1994. IRRELEVANT!
:ultgnw: - A character that hasn't had a new system/series of games since the 80's. With a couple Club Nintendo exclusive DS compilations in 2007. IRRELEVANT!
:ultlittlemac: - His last game was in 2009. IRRELEVANT!
:ultrob: - An 80's toy/videogame peripheral not even an actual character. IRRELEVANT!
:ultduckhunt: - A character that had one game in the 80's. IRRELEVANT!
:ultroy: - A character who appeared in one game in 2003. IRRELEVANT!
:ultdarksamus: - A character who last appeared in 2007. IRRELEVANT!
:ultsimon: - IRRELEVANT!
:ultrichter: - IRRELEVANT!
:ultfalcon: - Last Game was in 2004. IRRELEVANT!
:ultsnake: - IRRELEVANT! Simply due to the fact we will never get a new Metal Gear game from Konami without Kojima in the near future.
:ultike: - Last game was in 2007. IRRELEVANT!

Now here's the characters that border on irrelevancy:

:ultsheik: - If it wasn't for the 3DS Ocarina remake in 2011 and Hyrule Warriors she would be IRRELEVANT!
:ultdarkpit: - Will probably never appear in a game again outside of Smash, give it a few years and he will be... IRRELEVANT!
:ultmiifighters: - Mii's are a dying breed, a relic of the Wii era. Nintendo rarely uses them anymore and they are literally tucked away in the Switch menu. If it wasn't for Smash and Mario Kart they would be... IRRELEVANT!
:ultwiifittrainer: - There won't ever be another Wii Fit game, a relic of the Wii/Wii U era give it a few years and she will be... IRRELEVANT!
:ultyounglink: - Like Sheik if it wasn't for the 3DS remakes of Ocarina and Majora as well as Hyrule Warriors he would be... IRRELEVANT!
:ultganondorf: - While Ganondorf in Smash represents "Ganon" as a whole the actual humanoid embodiment version hasn't been used in a main Zelda game since twilight Princess in 2006. If it wasn't for the HD remaster in 2015 and Hyrule Warriors he would be... IRRELEVANT!
Classics will always be relevant. Ness and Lucas will never see another game because Shigesato Itoi doesn't even want to make a fourth game. Even if he did, it probably wouldn't have Ness or Lucas, anyway. Still, Ape and HAL Laboratories developed EarthBound, so maybe the series holds dear in Sakurai's heart somewhere. We'll probably never see another F-Zero game because Nintendo doesn't know where to take that series. Blame Konami for Metal Gear. Simon and Richter Belmont have been in more Castlevania games than any other Castlevania character. Alucard as well. Totally relevant. Dark Pit is relevant because Sakurai basically brought Kid Icarus back to life after so many years, so chances are he'd keep him or even Pit around. Sheik can go. Link can be based off his current incarnation, and Ganondorf will most likely remain no matter what because he's the main antagonist, even if he's in Ganon form. Miis are most likely around because people wanted their favorite character in the game, and some even wanted Reggie Fils-Aime as a playable character. If people were only joking, Sakurai probably saw it as something people actually wanted.
 
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