I understand that no one wants to get their hopes up. However, I think some people are looking some signs and beginning to doubt. Let's think over a few facts here:
In terms of Matt Bozon and the Super Mario Maker costume:
Let's remember that, despite the overhaul of fame he received, Shovel Knight did not receive a costume in Mario Maker, either. So, just because Shantae did not get one? Does not mean Nintendo is outright ignoring Matt Bozon, or WayForward's wishes on that front. Heck, the only inclusions that weren't Smash characters that stuck out most? Was Hello Kitty, and Hello Kitty is HUGE in Japan.
Keep in mind, not every Smash character got in there, either. Fire Emblem characters were never added, for example. They likely stopped caring so much about additional content for Mario Maker, too, because they were transitioning to the Nintendo Switch thanks to the Wii U's under performing sales.
Matt's talk about Smash Bros.:
Yeah, Matt TALKED about Shantae being in Smash and how excited he would be. So, why does that immediately debunk her character?
Let's look at Yacht Club Games very own Sean Velasco who spoke with GameRant about Shovel Knight's possible inclusion of Shovel Knight in Smash Bros. back in 2017, shall we~?
Source:
https://gamerant.com/shovel-knight-super-smash-bros/
Sean Velasco: “I think there is a .01% chance that Shovel Knight will appear in a Smash Bros. game,” Velasco told Game Rant in an interview earlier this week. “If he were in it, of course, he would be the best character, well, aside from Mega Man. No one beats the Blue Bomber, not even the Blue Burrower!”
So, we have well into a year gap between Matt Bozon's interview and Sean Velasco's interview, yes? Now, naturally, Assist Trophies do not take too long to make given they only have a certain number of animations and moves. So, likely by this point, there was no NDA and Sean could freely speak on his inclusion of Shovel Knight's AT status. Likely, because by the time of this interview, Shovel Knight was probably not yet an AT in the works.
However, there's a time gap between these interviews, nonetheless.
Now, onto the project of Smash Ultimate's proposal and development:
Sakurai made it clear the proposal was to bring "everyone back" as playable characters. That was the MAIN focus for the project. "Everyone is HERE!" Tagline and focus. While I am certain that WayForward was potentially talked to, no final decision might have been made for Shantae's (possible) inclusion at the time of Matt's interview. Matt also mentions in his interview a few key facts, and I quote:
"It was all Fan-driven! Once Nintendo announced the Smash Ballot, our inboxes became
flooded with emails asking if we were going to be in the running, or if we knew anything special about the campaign. We didn’t of course. For all we knew this was Nintendo’s way of measuring fan interest in cameos, or maybe which brands crossed over in the minds of fans. Or, maybe they had some completely different motive, measuring the reach of certain brands by territory. Or maybe the whole thing was just for promoting Smash in general. We weren’t sure. But when we saw how much effort Shantae fans were putting into promoting Shantae’s inclusion in Smash, it seemed crazy to not back them up as much as possible!"
"Well, we do have daily contact with Nintendo for our day-to-day goings on, but we avoided this topic altogether. In years past, we’ve mentioned plenty of times that we’d like to see Shantae make an appearance as a Trophy or something… any kind of first party inclusion that would excite our fans. So we didn’t want to formally ask. They know we’re insufferable Nintendo fans over here, Just remember that until recently Shantae was
unknown in Japan. But now she is
known all over the globe! So, maybe something like this could still happen when the time is right!"
So, Shantae was at the peak of her popularity around this time! Let's also look at the time of Pirate's Curse (3DS) release in Japan:
Shantae and the Pirate's Curse
JP: November 19, 2015
Now, as we know, Shantae did well in Japan! Like, really well! At a time where Indies were viewed as the "Black Sheep" in the Japanese market! Her sales have likely only grown! Shantae's first physical release was also IN JAPAN! Meanwhile, Shovel Knight released back in June of 2016 and did okay selling at around 6'000 units overall! I know, sounds depressing when compared to Half-Genie Hero selling around 3,000 Units in Japan? But, hear me out:
Yacht Club Games also commented the game did not sell to their "wildest expectations and dreams" and we also know Shovel Knight has officially tanked in Japan's market. Yet, we always hear, Shantae is doing well in Japan? Enough to get her TWO Charagumin Figures, a bunch of merch, and even had her most recent game ported to Japan! TWICE (referencing to HGH: Ultimate Edition)!
It's also known that WayForward also does not always update on sales numbers and digital sales are hard to keep track of. But, given that Shantae's sales have likely only increased (potentially digitally) over in Japan, while Shovel Knight never took off the ground there? It's clear that she has only grown in popularity. You'll occasionally even see Japanese tweeters talking about Shantae if you're following Shantae's hashtags enough. The point is? Shantae has only grown as people talk about her more and more!
Yes, Shovel Knight likely had a strong (maybe still at the time stronger) following than Shantae. But, let's keep ONE THING in mind. Shantae's game got ported to Japan FIRST. Not Shovel Knight, the character people praised as the opus of Indies, but Shantae's game. BEFORE Sakurai had finalized the ideal concept for Smash Bros. Ultimate. Think about that...
Yeah, I know Nintendo did not PUBLISH the Japanese release like they did Shovel Knight. HOWEVER, they would still have to get approval from Nintendo to release it in Japan regardless since it would be on their console.
All these signs could point to nothing, but, I think it's clear that Shantae has seen growth over the years. Maybe more than we realize. Yeah, given the recent pie chart, Shantae has been shown to be # in NA/EU. WOW, right? We're talking about a character the entire internet said had NO CHANCE of making it into Smash Bros., and now, plenty of people are tipping that scale into an even 50/50! That's incredible!
No matter what comes of this whole matter? Whether she was added or not? We accomplished something greater; we encouraged more people to play, love, and appreciate Shantae the way most of us and many others out there did before and do now. That's the true victory here.
I STRONGLY support Shantae for Smash and my facts here lead me to believe there is a good chance! But, if she doesn't? I'm willing to accept the facts and move on! Campaign for her as DLC, if DLC is being considered! But, I think there's hope to be be had. :3
P.S.: Sorry for the long read.
Shame you can't download it anymore though...
