I don't think it was a joke, even I find the denial funny jk lol.. I'm pretty sure he didn't official reveal Ridley as what ever just because he didn't want extreme fan outrage.... and on the off chance that people actually don't buy the game just based on Ridleys status.
Chrom, Takamaru, Dark Samus, Midna, Toad (most likely), Skull Kid and that is not all! So, that is not the reason why not just reveal him like everyone else, straight and without any room for doubts. He said that he dislikes giving false hope.
You're right, but what evidence did you have going for Toon Link at the time, and what evidence do I have going for Ridley now? Lol
Both appeared on the stage ("Toon Link" was shown in the PotD, Ridley's shadow was shown on the stage in April Direct at the end of Yellow Devil section of it), both had their roles unconfirmed until that, both were assumed to be disconfirmed (Toon Link was revealed to be playable once again while Ridley's status is still unknown and he wasn't shown since Brawl, only his shadow and accidentaly his tail).
Can I just ask you guys one question.. Other than fan demand, what does Ridley have going for him?
2nd most important character of Metroid franchise, Metroid still has only 1 character from it playable (2 slots, 1 character), he is also one of the oldest Nintendo villains (25 years or somewhere near that), one of the most popular/requested newcommers, along with K.Rool (no, Mewtwo is not the most popular/requested newcommer and if you will say that he is...then either you forgot something or you're an idiot). Oh, and he isn't a cartoony animal, a pokemon or yet another human. Instead, he is a bada** space dragon.
Why would a character that ALWAYS was a BOSS be teased as a BOSS if that is nothing new? It is as new as Mario being playable. Imagine Sakurai teasing Mario as a playable character. By just showing his shadow and not even saying his name.
Hmm, does Smash Bros. need more villain characters? Just some question. xD
Yes, but first, we need actual Ganondorf instead of Falcondorf or Falcondork we had in Melee and Brawl, but not Hairdorf either. Ganondorf with Hairdorf's moveset would be as good as playable Ridley or K.Rool. But first, we must get one of these 2.