Smash Bros Direct on April 8th, 3pm PST!!

[hypeconductor]

i hope this does not disappoint like the pokemon direct in sept. oh and guys i have a feeling they will announce something like mario kart tv. smash tv i also think it will be 10 minutes long

 

[Snakeyes]

GameCube.

The two consoles were so similar to each other that they may as well be the same. TS was also released close to three years after Melee, so it made sense to include him in the following installment.

 

[Louie G.]

I have even more evidence to back up my "Takamaru and Palutena" claim.

Takamaru is a great counter for Little Mac. Mac's popularity was tremendous in the West, being a boxer from the Bronx. Takamaru is a samurai who has some great popularity in the East. A boxer and a samurai? It's such a great contrast. (Plus, "The punch is mightier than the sword")

As for Palutena, she compliments Rosalina very nicely. They both have that graceful and caring goddess persona going on.

We haven't seen Rosa or Mac being shown off by Sakurai himself yet, in the vein of the other newcomers, so I feel that Sakurai may show off two more newcomers that can be shown off easily alongside these two.
Then he explains how they work.

 

[Guybrush20X6]

If we're debating popularity then let's try to quantify it. Looking at the character boards by replies:

Ridley: 19,304
Fire Emblem (Whole Series): 8,148
King K. Rool: 7,172
Palutena: 2,636
Pac-Man: 2,368

This is more a measure of controversy than popularity because Krystal isn't far below and most of the posts are variations on calling her supporters furries.

 

[Creo]

In terms of character reveals in this upcoming direct, I still find myself leaning towards (and wanting) a Shulk, Mewtwo or K.Rool reveal, along with at least one returning veteran (as I am not placing Mewtwo under that category). If I may be very hopeful, though I find it to be unlikely, perhaps we'll get an additional veteran confirmation on the Monday prior (or anything that isn't complete throw-away would suffice).

I would like to point out that Shulk, while not of course certain, does have a small thing or two going for him to be revealed Monday or Tuesday (so Tuesday, ha ha). For one, SorayaSaga has just tweeted about the Smash Bros. direct coming up. For those not in the know, her tweets usually hint around upcoming information regarding to her / Monolith Soft's related games. As I've also recently stated in the Shulk character support thread, Xenoblade Chronicles' 2 year (North American) anniversary is April 6th, which would be this Sunday (or tomorrow). Now I understand that anniversaries aren't always relevant, one outside of Japan at that, but it is still something to take note of. That, along with things such as Sakurai's picture of the Monado, Xenoblade's critical (worldwide) acclaim, and his character popularity being fairly prominent both East and West, we could be gearing up to see Shulk in action very soon (and as my personal most anticipated newcomer (along with K.Rool, Mewtwo, and anything related to new character material for the Zelda franchise) , I for one would find myself very pleased with that).

The things that I personally would be interested in seeing and hearing from the direct range from subtle to more "significance":
- Menu / Character select screens and navigation
- At least one newcomer and one veteran reveal
- A couple of new stages (A Xenoblade Chronicles and new Final Desination stage reveal come to mind)
- Perhaps a full match of gameplay, along with further video of new stages we don't quite comprehend fully
- Online features (MiiVerse, recording gameplay and anything akin to leader boards, lobbies and voice chat would be incredible)
- A further look or explanation into new gameplay mechanics (the modified edge guarding, etc.)

 

[Cap'nChreest]

If Shulk was the only newcomer revealed on Tuesday I would be sad...

 

[Guybrush20X6]

In terms of character reveals in this upcoming direct, I still find myself leaning towards (and wanting) a Shulk, Mewtwo or K.Rool reveal, along with at least one returning veteran (as I am not placing Mewtwo under that category). If I may be very hopeful, though I find it to be unlikely, perhaps we'll get an additional veteran confirmation on the Monday prior (or anything that isn't complete thow-away would suffice).

I would like to point out that Shulk, while not of course certain, does have a small thing or two going for him to be revealed Monday or Tuesday (so Tuesday, ha ha). For one, SorayaSaga has just tweeted about the Smash Bros. direct coming up. For those not in the know, her tweets usually hint around upcoming information regarding to her / Monolith Soft's related games. As I've also recently stated in the Shulk character support thread, Xenoblade Chronicles' 2 year (North American) anniversary is April 6th, which would be this Sunday (or tomorrow). Now I understand that anniversaries aren't always relevant, one outside of Japan at that, but it is still something to take note of. That, along with things such as Sakurai's picture of the Monado, Xenoblade's critical (worldwide) acclaim, and his character popularity being fairly prominent both East and West, we could be gearing up to see Shulk in action very soon (and as my personal most anticipated newcomer (along with K.Rool, Mewtwo, and anything related to new character material for the Zelda franchise) , I for one would find myself very pleased with that).

Oh yeah, didn't Next level games tweet to watch the direct and that lead to Little Mac?

 

[TumblrFamous]

If Shulk was the only newcomer revealed on Tuesday I would be sad...

I would be thrilled for any newcomer.

 

[Jason the Yoshi]

I personally don't care who gets in as long as we get at least Yoshi

 

[Cap'nChreest]

I would be thrilled for any newcomer.

Yea... I'd be happy at the moment of reveal sure. But after a while its just another newcomer that I don't really care about. None of them so far are very interesting imo.

 

[D-idara]

Yea... I'd be happy at the moment of reveal sure. But after a while its just another newcomer that I don't really care about. None of them so far are very interesting imo.

We're following the same game right? The game that has Villager, Wii Fit Trainer, Rosalina, Little Mac and Mega-****ing-Man as newcomers, right?

 

[Radical Bones]

Yea... I'd be happy at the moment of reveal sure. But after a while its just another newcomer that I don't really care about. None of them so far are very interesting imo.

I think the mechanics of Rosaluma and Mac are interesting. Both are unique in gameplay. The character alone might not be interesting (I think they are but many disagree), but their playstyles set them apart. Ridley could be the anti-Mac, a primarily air fighter.

 

[MopedOfJustice]

Mewtwo is a massive hype generator and deal breaker so Sakurai is going to use him when most advantageous. Japan is literally going nuts over getting Mewtwo (and Roy) back into the game.

So... That could mean that Mewtwo is more likely to be revealed if the game is coming out soon?

 

[chronomantic]

I'd love if Mewtwo were to be in but I think it will be best to save the veterans' reveal for Potd or something like it.

I so want Bayonetta in the game. Maybe they can tone her down a bit for the T rating and still be faithful to her cheeky (um to say the least) nature

 

[Trick or Treat]

We're following the same game right? The game that has Villager, Wii Fit Trainer, Rosalina, Little Mac and Mega-****ing-Man as newcomers, right?

Personally I never cared for WFT or Mega Man, but I know that most people do (at least Mega Man), so I'm glad they're in.

 

[Louie G.]

Mewtwo deserves to be treated as a newcomer because of the hype that his return would bring.
It wouldn't be wise to reveal MEWTWO of all people through a PotD.

 

[Admiral Pit]

Two things
First, Sakurai wants to have the representation spread out. From his 2008 GDC Speech
Additionally, new additions to the roster had to improve the balance of series representation -- you don't want half of the roster from the Mario series, or Zelda.
The most popular characters from Nintendo will be from the biggest series, but not all of the characters will come from there. Remember that no one knew who Lucas was outside of Japan. All of the additions will not be ones everyone knows.

Second, Palutena is the next most important character in the series besides Pit himself. She's who you rescue at the end of the first game and she is the next most important character in Uprising. She also has the next most screen time. Not to mention the series is named after her in Japan.

Don't forget that Palutena's also the only other character that's been in all 3 KI games, having major roles in each. Even Medusa hasn't been in OM&M. Plus, the Goddess of Light is in almost every chapter in Uprising as well.

I may get pummeled for this, but I beg to differ.
Is she E3 material? Admittedly not. But she's probably just as popular, if not more so, than Ridley. It's just that Ridley's fanbase is obnoxiously loud about their support.
(Myself included, so I can say that)
While Palutena's fanbase isn't as vocal, it is just as large, especially considering Ridley's lacking popularity in Japan.
Palutena doesn't have too much of a hatebase, either. Ridley has a ton of detractors while Palutena seems to be one of those characters most people can agree on at this point.

Ridley is certainly E3 material due to his large popularity in the West, though.

The thing bout Palutena is that she's definitely popular in the West, but more-so in Japan, with little hate. We're usually silent compared to the other mainstream characters, which is also why she doesn't get much hate compared to others. We'll see in the future of the fate.

 

[Cap'nChreest]

We're following the same game right? The game that has Villager, Wii Fit Trainer, Rosalina, Little Mac and Mega-****ing-Man as newcomers, right?

Yup. The same game. I don't really care for any of those characters.

I think the mechanics of Rosaluma and Mac are interesting. Both are unique in gameplay. The character alone might not be interesting (I think they are but many disagree), but their playstyles set them apart. Ridley could be the anti-Mac, a primarily air fighter.

Yea their gameplay mechanics are definitely cool. But the characters themselves are what I don't particularly care for. Just my opinion. I feel like they're kinda running out of nintendo characters that I care about though. Brawl added pretty much everyone besides a couple. Then again I didn't know who Falco was before smash and he's my favorite smash character. Maybe the same could happen with this game.

 

[Trick or Treat]

Mewtwo deserves to be treated as a newcomer because of the hype that his return would bring.
It wouldn't be wise to reveal MEWTWO of all people through a PotD.

Why? I understand that people are rioting over Mewtwo and all, but unless he's changed drastically from Melee, he's not 'new'. He's a veteran who just happened to skip a game, if he's even in Smash 4.

 

[MasterOfKnees]

Mewtwo deserves to be treated as a newcomer because of the hype that his return would bring.
It wouldn't be wise to reveal MEWTWO of all people through a PotD.

Thing is that Sakurai and co. probably don't see him as that, in the development process they'll be treating him like any other veteran, even if he needs a bit more of a facelift than the Brawl vets. Just because a character is more hyped by the fanbase than others shouldn't give them special treatment, I'm not expecting Ridley or K. Rool to get a better treatment by Sakurai than any of the currently announced newcomers got.

We're following the same game right? The game that has Villager, Wii Fit Trainer, Rosalina, Little Mac and Mega-****ing-Man as newcomers, right?

I can see where he's coming from personally, the only newcomers I'm interested in are Little Mac and Mega Man currently, and neither of those are main material for me either. The newcomer pool isn't that strong atm.

 

[Louie G.]

Why? I understand that people are rioting over Mewtwo and all, but unless he's changed drastically from Melee, he's not 'new'. He's a veteran who just happened to skip a game, if he's even in Smash 4.

That's just it: Mewtwo would definitely come back with some changes.
We've had 4 generations of Pokémon since then, he's got a lot more to go off of (and a few sucky moves to get rid of).
Plus revealing Mewtwo through a normal PotD isn't doing him justice. He's a hyped character, plain and simple. Revealing him through a trailer, even if it's just a Sonic-esque trailer, at least gets the news out there that Mewtwo is back.

And wait a sec.

if he's even in Smash 4.

Seriously?

 

[Lozjam]

I'd love if Mewtwo were to be in but I think it will be best to save the veterans' reveal for Potd or something like it.

I so want Bayonetta in the game. Maybe they can tone her down a bit for the T rating and still be faithful to her cheeky (um to say the least) nature

I really don't think she will be in, the third party characters are the ones that define videogames. I mean, metal gear solid practically defined stealth gaming(even wind waker took some hints from that), Sonic and Megaman made platformers what they are today, and they are all classic characters that have been around for a long time. They need to have a legend and legacy that can stand up to Mario's and Links. Bayonnetta doesn't cut the bill. I could be wrong though, who knows what Sakurai is thinking.

 

[Trick or Treat]

That's just it: Mewtwo would definitely come back with some changes.
We've had 4 generations of Pokémon since then, he's got a lot more to go off of (and a few sucky moves to get rid of).
Plus revealing Mewtwo through a normal PotD isn't doing him justice. He's a hyped character, plain and simple. Revealing him through a trailer, even if it's just a Sonic-esque trailer, at least gets the news out there that Mewtwo is back.

The only major change I can think of is really just Mega Evolution. Otherwise, I'd expect him to have pretty much the same moveset as Melee. He's a hyped character, sure, but he's also a character we've had before. He's not a newcomer, and shouldn't be treated as such. Maybe a really quick trailer, but anything more is unnecessary.

And wait a sec.

Seriously?

Seriously. Too many people think he's a lock.

 

[AustarusIV]

I may get pummeled for this, but I beg to differ.
Is she E3 material? Admittedly not. But she's probably just as popular, if not more so, than Ridley. It's just that Ridley's fanbase is obnoxiously loud about their support.
(Myself included, so I can say that)
While Palutena's fanbase isn't as vocal, it is just as large, especially considering Ridley's lacking popularity in Japan.
Palutena doesn't have too much of a hatebase, either. Ridley has a ton of detractors while Palutena seems to be one of those characters most people can agree on at this point.

Ridley is certainly E3 material due to his large popularity in the West, though.

Ridley has 15 years of support behind his back. Compare that to Palutena, whose popularity is stemmed from the release of Kid Icarus Uprising, which was released about 2-3 years ago. Sorry, but I have a hard time imagining that a character to minor franchise, who in a couple years back would've been a bizarre choice for SSB4, would suddenly have way more supporters than an iconic, and controversial Nintendo villain.

Not that I'm against her inclusion mind you, but I felt as though I had the need to jump to the Space Pirate Leader's defense.

 

[Jason the Yoshi]

As far as Ridley and Palutena, I'd expect Ridley at E3 rather than the Direct, Palutena might be revealed at the direct because she's not as big shot as Ridley. It's the big shot characters coming to E3 over the other characters.

 

[Vintage Creep]

Jesus ****ing Christ why did Sakurai announce this four days before... EVERY SINGLE DIRECT gets announced 24 hours before the airing and the best part is that the excruciating hype is short, at least. BUT OBVIOUSLY NOT FOR THE SM4SH ONE.
NO.
IT HAD TO BE ANNOUNCED FOUR DAYS EARLIER THAN USUAL.
SO EVERYBODY CAN GO **** HIMSELF AND SUFFER OUT HERE WAITING.

THANK YOU, SAKURAI.

YOU'RE ALWAYS ONE STEP BEYOND IN MAKING YOUR FAN HURT.

THANK YOU.










AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

 

[Tree Gelbman]

Jesus ****ing Christ why did Sakurai announce this four days before... EVERY SINGLE DIRECT gets announced 24 hours before the airing and the best part is that the excruciating hype is short, at least. BUT OBVIOUSLY NOT FOR THE SM4SH ONE.
NO.
IT HAD TO BE ANNOUNCED FOUR DAYS EARLIER THAN USUAL.
SO EVERYBODY CAN GO **** HIMSELF AND SUFFER OUT HERE WAITING.

THANK YOU, SAKURAI.

YOU'RE ALWAYS ONE STEP BEYOND IN MAKING YOUR FAN HURT.

THANK YOU.










AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

This post is so fitting with your avatar.

 

[Louie G.]

Not that I'm against her inclusion mind you, but I felt as though I had the need to jump to the Space Pirate Leader's defense.

Dude, I'm a big Ridley supporter.
I'm not putting him down, I'm just saying that him and Palutena are on equal footing at this point.

 

[Tree Gelbman]

Dude, I'm a big Ridley supporter.
I'm not putting him down, I'm just saying that him and Palutena are on equal footing at this point.

Palutena might have a slight edge from being a character Sakurai has worked with and the fact of her potential leak.

Ridley has a little more doubt simply because of the stage hazard element. Though the fact the direct is geared toward a more western time zone might lead one to believe if a newcomer is revealed they'd be a western favorite. This happened with Little Mac after all.

 

[Starcutter]

Calling it now.


Ridley and Layton revealed Tuesday.

 

[Louie G.]

Alright, let me settle this now.

I love Palutena and Ridley.

Popularity wise? Around here, probably equal.

Likeliness? Palutena has a very sharp edge. Everything points to her inclusion. Ridley is very likely but not to the extent of Palutena.

I think they will both make great characters.

 

[Vintage Creep]

This post is so fitting with your avatar.

Technically though the avatar is a mask so the girl who's wearing it could be calm.
It's actually even more fitting now that I think about it, since I'm not really this messed up in real life.
I'm actually a very calm dude.

 

[Lozjam]

In my recent hype for Palutena, I changed my Avatar, let's hope I am right! Let's all change our avatars to characters we will think will be revealed, it will be fun!

 

[Vintage Creep]

In my recent hype for Palutena, I changed my Avatar, let's hope I am right! Let's all change our avatars to characters we will think will be revealed, it will be fun!

You have a very interesting perception of fun.

 

[Louie G.]

In my recent hype for Palutena, I changed my Avatar, let's hope I am right! Let's all change our avatars to characters we will think will be revealed, it will be fun!

Already done.
Switching it to Takamaru tomorrow just so I can show that I expect both of those characters.

 

[Lozjam]

You have a very interesting perception of fun.

I am very very special! Jk, but seriously, it's the way to tell the universe/Sakurai, which ever term you prefer, what character(s) should be revealed.

 

[Superyoshiom]

If we have to have a newcomer like Mii revealed, we need a hype inducing newcomer like Palutena's unveiled as well.

I'm sorry, I just feel so strongly against Miis being in this game, though I understand some people would want them.

 

[Muster]

The two consoles were so similar to each other that they may as well be the same. TS was also released close to three years after Melee, so it made sense to include him in the following installment.

Snake was apparently asked to be included in melee, but the game was already pretty much finished and it was too late.

And the "excuse" about not including GZ on the wii u is completely valid. Kojima Ported mgs3d to the 3ds and instead of just some watered down port, he updated EVERY model in the game, added a stunning 3d display as well as adding features from later games in the series, and also found a way to use pretty much every 3ds feature sans streetpass. The man is strange in how he goes about things, but if he makes a game for the Wii U he's going to do it right.

Seriously. Too many people think he's a lock.

Sonic was the most popular character on polls, and they pretty much cut out mewtwo and roy to bring him in.
Now Mewtwo and Roy are the most popular characters on the polls.
I guess you can't please anyone.



Edit: the number one thing that would make cutting Snake okay is Shulk. I'd still be mad, but shulk would be awesome in turn.

 

[TumblrFamous]

I will say any of the following in terms of likeliness:

1. Palutena: Most Likely. She has so much going for her right now.
2. Mii: Decent chance of being shown, Miis are pretty likely at this point.
3. Chrom: Why not? I just want the leak to be disproven or proven.
4. Pac-Man and/or Snake: A third-party reveal would't shock me, but it would if that was all we got. A third party IMO won't be shown off over these four above.
5. Mewtwo: Eh, save it for E3... still some chance since it's a Smash-based Direct I guess

 

[papagenos]

Oh yeah, didn't Next level games tweet to watch the direct and that lead to Little Mac?

Yes they did