Official Smash Ultimate Discussion

[The Prankster 16]

I don't know if anyone has mentioned this yet, but SiIvagunner's channel got taken down

 

[CannonStreak]

I don't know if anyone has mentioned this yet, but SiIvagunner's channel got taken down

What?! Man, that sucks!

 

[Cutie Gwen]

And where did it begin on this thread?

On that page instead of this one

 

[Bee Card]

These are all the 13 gifts i got today plus the two from December 25th.

View attachment 185800

View attachment 185801

View attachment 185802


View attachment 185803

I like the jar in the background

 

[Ultomato]

W


What?! Man, that sucks!

That's the vgm Guy right? That really sucks

 

[Wyoming]

Eh I am fine with Sony characters that we get nowadays. I.e: The owns associated with them, but the company doesn't own. The former has much better characters.

 

[Jovahexeon Joranvexeon]

On that page instead of this one

What?

 

[CannonStreak]

That's the vgm Guy right? That really sucks

Yep, that’s him, alright. Really does suck, doesn’t It?

 

[KingBroly]

No joke the first time that happened to me in my playthrough I was like ''The **** I don't want to go back to school and answer questions. I'm an old man. I ain't got time for entertainment making me feel stupid."

Then I realized ''Wait, Google can just solve this **** for me."

Cheating on school work as an adult for a fictional high schooler like a champ.

Spoiler

there's also the Network option, at least on PS4.

 

[Cutie Gwen]

What?

You asked when it happened in this thread to someone who already gave you the answer

 

[Bee Card]

I don't know if anyone has mentioned this yet, but SiIvagunner's channel got taken down

****

 

[Jovahexeon Joranvexeon]

You asked when it happened in this thread to someone who already gave you the answer

No, that question being answered was when it died on this thread. I as asking for when it began, ergo, when it first arrived on this thread page-wise.

 

[Ultomato]

For me.

DLC #2: Geno
DLC #3: DoomSlayer
DLC #4: Banjo and Kazooie
DLC #5: Crash Bandicoot

There would also be a Fighter Pass 2 with...

DLC #6: Spyro the Dragon
DLC #7: Heihachi Mishima
DLC #8: Sub-Zero
DLC #9: Frisk
DLC #10: Kratos (IMO, if we get a MS character a Sony character is completely possible)

With a few bonuses here and there. Chorus Kids would be done like Piranha Plant as a stop gap character with no stage, between seasons.

If we're doing second season too, it's gonna be:

Bonus 1: Plant

Season 1:
1. Joker
2. 2B
3. Lora
4. Sylux
5. Fawful

Bonus 2: Grovyle as Greninja echo

Season 2:
1. Skull Kid
2. Garnhef
3. Madeline
4. Amaterasu
5. Rokusho

After that I go kinda blank but there is a lot more to be done.

 

[Cutie Gwen]

Honestly should it actually happen then I wouldn't really mind Sony characters assuming they're cool. Kratos is lucky Dad of War happened or otherwise he'd be an 'ew' pick

 

[Iridium]

And where did it begin on this thread?

Give me 10 minutes for that.

 

[Jovahexeon Joranvexeon]

I don't get it, you're all asking for a character that represents the horror genre, but Luigi's already in the game.

Precisely! If we're talking about the gameplay genre. Well even the aesthetic one as well. Asking for genre reps is silly enough, but to to suggest something like RE is getting in just because of a genre quota, would be debunked out the gate.

 

[Cutie Gwen]

No, that question being answered was when it died on this thread. I as asking for when it began, ergo, when it first arrived on this thread page-wise.

On... Page 6988? I honestly don't know what you're asking

 

[Jovahexeon Joranvexeon]

Give me 10 minutes for that.

He gets it.

On... Page 6988? I honestly don't know what you're asking

You'll see soon enough.

 

[Wademan94]

If I had complete control over this DLC, the remaining 4 would be:

DLC #2: Octolings
DLC #3: Crono
DLC #4: Yuri Lowell
DLC #5: Dr. Eggman

That'd get a nice 11/10 for me with Joker and included.

Eh, why not, if I had complete control...
DLC #2: Ryu Hayabusa
DLC #3: Rayman
DLC #4: Shantae
DLC #5: Banjo-Kazooie

Season 1:
1. Joker
2. 2B
3. Lora
4. Sylux
5. Fawful

Appreciate that choice.

Season 2:
1. Skull Kid
2. Garnhef
3. Madeline
4. Amaterasu
5. Rokusho

Wait from Celeste? I love that game and would love to see it represented in Smash one way or another but I doubt she’d make a good fighter.

 

[Wademan94]

Double post. Delete this please.

 

[Ultomato]

Eh, why not, if I had complete control...
DLC #2: Ryu Hayabusa
DLC #3: Rayman
DLC #4: Shantae
DLC #5: Banjo-Kazooie

It's funny that the amount of Ryu Hayabusa supporters has like quadrupled since that leak put a spotlight on him. That only means more people are gonna be sad when he doesn't get in.
If, however, he does get in, that would be cool. I never played Ninja Gaiden but it looks cool and seems to be on Golden Sun levels of "deserving more love".

 

[Jovahexeon Joranvexeon]

Or Nemesis busts out of a wall and blasts everyone with his rocket launcher.

Right after Phoenix Wright? Yes please!!

 

[Wademan94]

It's funny that the amount of Ryu Hayabusa supporters has like quadrupled since that leak put a spotlight on him. That only means more people are gonna be sad when he doesn't get in.
If, however, he does get in, that would be cool. I never played Ninja Gaiden but it looks cool and seems to be on Golden Sun levels of "deserving more love".

I mean in my case I’ve legitimately been supporting him before this leak. But I’m glad a lot more people are supporting him as well regardless of the leak.

 

[fleshdude.gov]

Or you could go with Alex Roivas from Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem. A first party character from a game that desperately needs more love.

They're a Spirit, actually! Which is progress, considering it's the first time Nintendo's acknowledged the series in over a decade.
I'd personally prefer Pious Augustus as an Eternal Darkness representative if only because I would generally prefer the horror rep to be a monster (and I just prefer their design) but that's just me. Then again, Pious might also be better as an assist trophy which induces a random Sanity Effect from Eternal Darkness...


Also, I've been thinking, and I've come to the conclusion that we're getting either just the Fighter's Pass and a DLC Stage (the more likely option), OR 3 sets of 5 DLC Characters.

10 More characters (outside of the ones in the Fighter's Pass) and 10 more stages would perfectly smooth out the CSS for both the character selection screen and the Stage Selection Screen (taking into account the presence of the Random Button). 15 characters would fill out the currently uncompleted 6th row and fill out an entire 7th row. 10 DLC stages on a separate "More DLC Stages" button on the empty slot would form 2 rows of 5 with a random button and a Base Stages beneath.

Also, this would fit with the stated theme of the Fighter's Pass: All New Characters. (If the 5chan leak is real, then it's really "all 3rd party.")

The Second DLC pass, then, would likely be all Nintendo Characters. This would most likely consist of Edelgard, Sylux, Porky, Waluigi, and Poochy. Mostly safe and promotional picks, with a couple "big hitters."

The final DLC pass, then, would be "never-evers" - characters that were either considered and then cut, or very highly requested characters. This would be a mix of first and third party characters. Waluigi could be in this set, instead, but I feel like he would be more likely to be put in the second set to help increase DLC sales.

If the leak is real, then announcing all of the current Fighter's Pass characters by E3 makes sense - Nintendo could then announce the Second Fighter's Pass later in the year, with their characters leaking into 2021. The Third and final Pass would last them through 2021, and potentially leak into early 2022.

If they wanted to (and the leak is real), Nintendo could even have it so Doomguy and Steve are announced at the Bethesda and Microsoft E3 conferences, with the second Fighter's Pass (and its first character) being revealed during the Nintendo E3 Direct.

There are a few main reasons why I think we're only getting one set of DLC though. Firstly, Sakurai probably would not want to work on Smash DLC for another 2-3 years. Secondly, if all 3 DLC sets are $24.99 each, that brings the price of all the DLC to significantly higher than the original game. Sure, it'd be a substantial amount of content, but the concept of DLC more than doubling the game's price if you want the complete experience does not sit well with me. Also, if the DLC characters bring spirits, and they continue to release promotional Spirits, I could easily see the amount of Spirits in Smash Ultimate getting past 1500 (depending on how many spirits each DLC character brings).

 

[Cutie Gwen]

It's funny that the amount of Ryu Hayabusa supporters has like quadrupled since that leak put a spotlight on him. That only means more people are gonna be sad when he doesn't get in.
If, however, he does get in, that would be cool. I never played Ninja Gaiden but it looks cool and seems to be on Golden Sun levels of "deserving more love".

I checked out some Ninja Gaiden stuff to get more familiar with the franchise as I know it's a LOT bigger than I know and searched "Ryu Hayabusa smash". The first videos that pop up had 2k views and is 4 months old. Another video that's 3 years old has 1.5k. Seems like a Belmont situation with popular demand but the vocal fans aren't in the typical Smash bubbles

 

[TMNTSSB4]

Man forums are dumb.

You’re dumb...but so am I

I don't know if anyone has mentioned this yet, but SiIvagunner's channel got taken down

That’s been gone for quite some time (due to the whole “Smash Ultimate music leaks” thing that went on back in November). Videos slowly started being taken down before it was finally put to rest

 

[Deleted member]

You’re dumb

How dare you.

 

[Darkmoone1]

OPINION: Master Chief would be a better Microsoft rep than either Banjo or Steve.

• Minecraft wasn't developed by Microsoft at all, just bought by them years into its lifetime.
• The same applies for Banjo and Kazooie.
• The B&J franchise hasn't gotten a game in over a decade, I doubt Nintendo's target audience really knows who they are.
• Master Chief is the face of Microsoft, after all and would be the best crossover figure they could get.
• Halo: Infinite is going to release....sometime, and it would be nice for him as DLC to coincide with that.

I'm saying all of this in terms of crossover value. I personally think Chief would be the best representative of Microsoft since he was with them since day 1 rather than being bought into them and Halo is still very relevant today.

The problem with supporting a character like Master Chief is you also have to provide counter arguments for Doom Slayer. These are both Sci-Fi Marines with FPS backgrounds. Nintendo would deem it redundant for both and ultimately would have to include one or the other.

 

[osby]

How dare you.

Don't take it personally, it's like Wonderland, we're all dumb in here.

 

[ErenJager]

Steve and Doom Guy have their merits as video game characters to be deserving of a spot in Smash.

With that being said, and despite the leaks and rumors. I don't think they'll actually be in Smash.

The reason being they're western owned IP's. I simply won't believe it until I see it.

Smash has existed for what? 20 plus years and has nearly 80 characters, and not once a western owned IP has become playable? I'm not saying this is a rule or it's impossible... I'm saying this is a bit ridiculous.

I don't know, but I think past behaviour is a good indicator for future behaviour. With Rayman, Shovel Knight, and Shantae getting curbed into non-playable roles... Idk all I'm saying is the proof MAY be on the pudding here.

 

[Ultomato]

EDIT: accidentially quotes the wrong post here and can't seem to fix it. This was about the Celeste thing
Yeah, I ran out there and went for "game that needs representation" instead of something logical.

But defend her:
There is not much to work with except excellent platformer movement to use. That movement alone is already more than, for example, Villager had and Sakurai made him work very well.

I'm not saying she's realistic, but I'm saying she's not an insanity pick.

Now in the mean time I thought up a much more detailed wishlist so next post coming in hot.

 

[Dee Dude]

Reread the November Direct pages out of curiosity.

Yikes...didn’t expect Smashboards of all sites to get salty over the Direct, I normally expect anger out of YouTube/Gamefaqs but man, y’all were pretty disappointed about the leak being fake too.

....I felt the exact same way at that time, I was streaming it with another site.

 

[Robertman2]

Steve and Doom Guy have their merits as video game characters to be deserving of a spot in Smash.

With that being said, and despite the leaks and rumors. I don't think they'll actually be in Smash.

The reason being they're western owned IP's. I simply won't believe it until I see it.

Smash has existed for what? 20 plus years and has nearly 80 characters, and not once a western owned IP has become playable? I'm not saying this is a rule or it's impossible... I'm saying this is a bit ridiculous.

I don't know, but I think past behaviour is a good indicator for future behaviour. With Rayman, Shovel Knight, and Shantae getting curbed into non-playable roles... Idk all I'm saying is the proof MAY be on the pudding here.

Because Rayman, Shovel Knight and Shantae are nowhere near as big as Minecraft or Doom

 

[ZAHÍRITΣiΚΛ]

Reread the November Direct pages out of curiosity.

Yikes...didn’t expect Smashboards of all sites to get salty over the Direct, I normally expect anger out of YouTube/Gamefaqs but man, y’all were pretty disappointed about the leak being fake too.

....I felt the exact same way at that time, I was streaming it with another site.

Of course we were. The last two characters were Ken and flipping Cat Pokémon I keep forgetting the name of.

The leak had a lot of people's most wanteds, mine included. Ken was in that leak too but idgaf about Pokémon. Should've ended off with Ridley or K. Rool. Would've actually been hype.

And World of Light is still a disappointment. It's just event mode on steroids.

All I do now is play online or with my housemates because there is literally nothing else to do.

This game is Ultimate in roster alone, nothing else.

 

[Professor Pumpkaboo]

You are welcome.

Are you going for them on a plane or on a cruise?

*lifts finger up*
....
*remebers I dont have money to do either of those*
You're luck today

 

[Cutie Gwen]

Reread the November Direct pages out of curiosity.

Yikes...didn’t expect Smashboards of all sites to get salty over the Direct, I normally expect anger out of YouTube/Gamefaqs but man, y’all were pretty disappointed about the leak being fake too.

....I felt the exact same way at that time, I was streaming it with another site.

We've had people here try to humiliate me going "LOOK AT HER! SHE THINKS BANJO KAZOOIE IS BORING! SHE THINKS ****ING MINECRAFT STEVE WOULD BE MORE EXCITING FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIC!" Hell, one dude put me in their sig specifically to go "THIS PERSON IS THE TOXICITY OF SMASH BROS!"

 

[Deleted member]

Of course we were. The last two characters were Ken and flipping Cat Pokémon I keep forgetting the name of.

The leak had a lot of people's most wanteds, mine included. Ken was in that leak too but idgaf about Pokémon. Should've ended off with Ridley or K. Rool. Would've actually been hype.

And World of Light is still a disappointment. It's just event mode on steroids.

All I do now is play online or with my housemates because there is literally nothing else to do.

This game is Ultimate in roster alone, nothing else.

I swear if I had a cent everytime someone acts like they understand how marketing works when they clearly don't I could have bought the Fighter Pass already

 

[Dee Dude]

Of course we were. The last two characters were Ken and flipping Cat Pokémon I keep forgetting the name of.

The leak had a lot of people's most wanteds, mine included. Ken was in that leak too but idgaf about Pokémon. Should've ended off qith Ridley or K. Rool. Would've actually been hype.

And World of Light is still a disappointment. It's just event mode on steroids.

All I do now is play online or with my housemates because there is literally nothing else to do.

This game is Ultimate in roster alone, nothing else.

Oh trust me, the final Direct is still disappointing to this day.

If that stupid Grinch leak never happened, the blow would’ve been softened but it’s still baffling that Nintendo’s marketing would stupid enough to tell us how many newcomers were left with the Box theory.

And while it wasn’t Sakurai’s behalf, PP definitely felt like a middle finger to the people who’ve been requesting so many characters for year especially after the AT massacre, it’s still a harmless bonus though so you shouldn’t be too mad.

I admit that WoL is kinda boring.

Either way the game is still great and we have a 70 character roster where everyone is her so it’s still “Ultimate” in a sense.

 

[DaybreakHorizon]

The Case for Minecraft Steve and the "Smash Bubble" Effect​

Hello, and welcome to the fourth in a series of speculation posts written by your's truly. In this post I will be arguing about why Steve from Minecraft is likelier than many think, and why people are so quick to underestimate his chances. Lets jump into it:

Spoiler: Acknowledgements

• Per the usual, this is nothing more than speculation. I know nothing more than anyone reading this, and I am not an absolute authority nor will I ever claim to be one. I'm simply a fan with a good mind for speculation who enjoys putting it to use.
  • As part of this, this is only speculation. I will not be addressing leaks of any sort. While I'll admit the serious idea of Steve was brought to me via leaks, I will be arguing for his likelihood outside of leaks.
• I'll also acknowledge my own bias towards Minecraft. Yes, I like Minecraft. Get your laughs out now if you have any. That being said, I have no personal stake in a potential Microsoft representative, and I believe that any of the three speculated choices (Steve, Banjo & Kazooie, and Master Chief) are amazing choices. I simply believe that the former of the three is more likely.

Spoiler: What is the "Smash Bubble?"

One of the most prominent arguments against Steve is that he's not a popular choice among fans, with speculators citing fan poll after fan poll to prove this. One GameFAQs user even said of polls like this,

There doesn't need to be a dozen debates about who's popular and who isn't when we have tons of objective data. Popularity isn't an opinion.

Oh GameFAQs how you never cease to amuse me.

All of these polls fall into the same trap of being contained within the "Smash Bubble" as myself and others have coined it. What exactly is the "Smash Bubble" though? If I had to define it, I would as such:

Smash Bubble
noun
The portion of the Super Smash Brothers fandom contained to websites such as Smashboards, GameFAQs, Reddit, 4chan, and other focused websites

While the contribution of these focused fans isn't to be ignored, as evidenced by K. Rool's immense Ballot presence in part due to the Kutthroat's Ballot Campaign and Sakurai's statements on Ridley and Geno, a flaw of the fanbase at large is a general insistence that those within the Smash Bubble are the only Smash Bros. fans and that by not catering to them specifically, Nintendo is making a mistake. This sentiment completely ignores other fanbases outside of the core fanbase which gave us picks such as Isabelle and Simon Belmont.

"But tehponycorn" you say, "Simon was a popular pick! Sakurai even said so himself!" Take a look at the many fan polls listed above and tell me how many Simon prominently appears on. The answer is 3. While 3/12 may seem like modest popularity, his votes total less than 1,000, and he's listed among many other, more popular third party characters. That hardly lines up with Sakurai's statement of Castlevania being "popular in player polls." So, there's a disconnect between what fan polls show and actual popularity? Why is this?

I propose an explanation in two parts:

First, all fan polls by nature fall prey to Voluntary Response Bias, defined as:

In survey sampling, voluntary response bias occurs when sample members are self-selected volunteers, as in voluntary samples. The resulting sample tends to overrepresent individuals who have strong opinions.

Every Smash fan poll cited majorly falls within the Smash Bubble because those within the Smash Bubble are most inclined to vote on polls like these. Granted, even the official Smash Ballot itself falls prey to this, and indeed those within the Smash Bubble would be much more inclined to vote in an official poll like this, but any bias within it is made up for by the Law of Large Numbers, defined as:

The law of large numbers, in probability and statistics, states that as a sample size grows, its mean gets closer to the average of the whole population.

The official nature of the poll and the advertising conducted for it extended the reach of the poll to even casual fans, which is why it's so important to establish this disconnect. The largest, most recent Smash fan poll as of right now is the Reddit Smash Ultimate Tourney randomized poll, with over 50,000 votes. In comparison, the Smash Ballot collected 1.8 million votes (360 times more votes), making it much closer to the wants of the entire Smash Bros. fanbase, hence why picks like Simon Belmont can float by the core fanbase largely undetected.

Second, there exists a strong, silent majority of fans outside of the core fanbase that has sway in character picks. People tend to forget that Nintendo tries to market Smash Bros. for everyone, or at the very least, the largest amount of people possible. It doesn't matter if you're a child whose mom bought him a Switch for Christmas or someone who's been with them since the NES, so long as you're a fan of Nintendo you might as well be considered a part of the Smash Bros. fanbase. Naturally, the wider Nintendo fanbase is largely varied, and outside of the Smash Bubble exists many different demographics with different character desires. This is how we end up with picks like Isabelle, who caters to the larger, more casual fanbase who see Isabelle often.

Returning to the Reddit Smash Ultimate Tourney randomized poll, you'll notice that Sora and Phoenix Wright scored better than they typically do in other fan polls, taking 5th and 8th place respectively, and garnering a total 20,883 votes, equal to around 40% of votes in the final round. This is impressive for two characters usually overlooked within the Smash Bubble in favor of other, more popular speculation picks. The poll includes this interesting fact about them:

The characters with the most brigaders were Sora (more than half his voters came from non-reddit referrers) and Phoenix Wright (a third of his voters came from non-reddit referrers)

If a larger reddit fan poll was able to attract people outside of Reddit's r/SmashBros, then a poll as massive as the official Ballot would be able to attract people from all over, giving a skew towards the silent majority, as anyone could vote on it, even people outside of the regular Nintendo or Smash Bros. fanbase.

To make a long story short, there is a silent presence outside of the Smash Bubble. It is large and it is more powerful than many think. While our Smash Bubble is a prominent part of the fanbase, Nintendo has a much wider fanbase to appeal to as well, and the Smash Bubble isn't indicative of Smash Bros. fans in general.

Spoiler: Why a Microsoft Character?

Nintendo and Microsoft are closer than ever before as evidenced by both's positive stance towards Cross-Play through titles like Minecraft and Fortnite among others.

Hey @Xbox, since we can play together in @Minecraft now, did you want to build something? pic.twitter.com/LIylWy3yXZ

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) June 21, 2018

Our bodies are ready. What are we building?

— Xbox (@Xbox) June 21, 2018

While I have previously argued that Tweets from Nintendo of America mean little in the grand scheme as Nintendo of Japan is the one ultimately calling the shots, the most important thing here is Xbox's side and the interaction itself. From Xbox's side this is as official as it gets, and is evidence of a much wider business relationship between Microsoft and Nintendo that's been developing over the years. Phil Spencer has been very transparent about this as well, going on record in 2016 and 2018 to describe the positive relationship between Nintendo and Microsoft, to the point where he went to lunch with people from Nintendo during E3. Either that's pretense for negotiations, or Phil Spencer is legitimately close enough with Nintendo to get lunch with them casually.

Additionally, Phil Spencer (bless him for being so open) has been similarly transparent in his (and by association, Xbox's) willingness to get Banjo & Kazooie, another Microsoft character, into Smash Bros. in 2015 and 2018. While this is about another Microsoft character, it's not unreasonable to believe that similar sentiments would be extended to other Microsoft characters, Steve being included.

Nintendo and Microsoft have a good business relationship, and as far as we know the doors are open at Microsoft, so all Nintendo has to do is come to them for negotiations. The ability to bring in a Microsoft character would likely garner a reaction similar to when Sonic was revealed for Brawl, as both characters would be from competing console makers. The three main choices for a Microsoft character, being Banjo & Kazooie, Steve, and Master Chief, each carry their own merits and would be smart picks for DLC from a business and fan pleasing standpoint.

Spoiler: Why Steve from Minecraft?

It's Minecraft. 'Nuff said.

Being serious, My reasoning as to why Steve is more likely than the other two prominent Microsoft characters is simple: Minecraft is overwhelmingly popular Minecraft is the second best selling game of all time, selling 154 million copies and over the summer of 2018 had 91 million active players, which is more than what Fortnite had in September of the same year. Minecraft is also incredibly popular in Japan, topping the charts multiple times and selling over a million copies on the Playstation Vita, a fact that should really speak for itself. For a game that has legitimately been around for almost 10 years, Minecraft has withstood the test of time and proved itself to be a cornerstone of gaming culture as a whole (there's an entire section on Minecraft's cultural impact on its Wikipedia page). For one, Minecraft is a prominent example of indie gaming, originally being developed by one person on his own and gradually becoming bigger as its popularity increased. I would even say that Minecraft could arguably be considered the indie game, and at the very least shaped the basic structure of indie games releasing in beta versions and gradually becoming more complete since it was the first game to prominently do so.

The widespread appeal of Minecraft can't be understated. There's endless Minecraft merchandise including that of popular Minecraft Youtubers (imagine getting toys made after you for playing a video game). Minecraft is even used for education for some reason and it works, which is hard for edutainment games. The game's also received two prominent spin-offs, Minecraft Story Mode, made by TellTale Games at their peak, and Minecraft Dungeons, which is indicative of the series' wider popularity. Minecraft is also one of many prominent series to have it's own fan convention, MineCon, which regularly attracts thousands of fans and garners hundreds of thousands of millions of views online. I also can't fail to mention the many clones of Minecraft or unofficial merchandise that attempt to cash in on the popularity of the original game. Some of these get modest success, such as the Minecraft clones made for Wii U before the official release came out.

"But tehponycorn" you say "Steve isn't a popular character!"

One, refer to "What is the Smash Bubble?" as to why that argument isn't as valid as you think it is Two, you're wrong. At a Q&A at MineCon 2018, someone asked Minecraft developers if they thought Steve would be in Smash Bros., and a Mojang PR person who happened to be part of the panel responded, saying:

We actually don't have any news on that, but we do know that there is lots of folks in the community who have actually, on the feedback site, they have put in a request for it

So, demand exists within the Minecraft community. Furthermore, Steve gained a reputation as a popular "meme" pick due to the high amount of requests for him by children on Miiverse, Nintendo's Social Media experiment platform. Returning to the idea of silent parts of the Smash fanbase existing outside of the Smash Bubble, I would say that there certainly exists a sizable group of people outside of core speculation websites that supports Steve and would voice said want given official outlets such as the Smash Ballot. It's important to consider the massive fanbase Minecraft has because by extension this means that Steve, in theory, has a massive fanbase behind his inclusion in Smash Bros. Steve is a safe bet from a business/sales standpoint as his inclusion could easily rope in sales of Switch consoles, Smash Bros., and/or DLC because Steve is in the game and there are a lot of people who would want to see him go against Mario and other iconic video game characters. There is a demand for Steve. It is underestimated by many, and that is a mistake.

What about the good old argument of "Sakurai bias?" Would Sakurai be inclined to include Steve if presented the idea of him by Nintendo or would he go out of his way to negotiate for him? I believe the answer to both of those questions is yes.

Let's take a look at the example of Joker. It's no small fact that Sakurai was a large fan of Persona 5, writing an entire article in his Famitsu column praising its UI (something that shows within the game itself as the menus are similar to Persona 5's alongside the cut-ins of a character's render whenever they perform a Final Smash similar to when characters in the game use skills or conduct an All Out Attack) and attending the Persona Super Live P-Sound Bomb!!!!! 2017 at the invitation of Atlus, which he later wrote about in another article of his column. While Sakurai has written many different columns about many different games, I believe that Sakurai's interactions with Minecraft are worth noting.

To start, he played Minecraft in a 2016 Livestream, so at the very least Minecraft is on his radar. More notable is the article he wrote about Minecraft, "The Potential of Simple Actions" wherein he says this:

Yoiko’s Minecraft Survival was an interesting show, so I decided to start playing Minecraft. I don’t usually go back to games after I’ve completed them, but when something piques my interest, it can’t be helped. Wait a second. This time I’m going to be playing on the Nintendo Switch

Sakurai plays a lot of different video games and doesn't revisit games often, so when does decide to replay a game it's important because he took time from playing a newer game to revisit an older game assumably because he likes it that much.

Additionally, Sakurai has recently appeared on Yoiko's Minecraft Survival three times for Yoiko's Super Smash Brothers Ultimate Lifestyle, a bit related to the main show (they even use little Minecraft avatars to show who's who at the beginning of the episodes). Sakurai also tweeted back and forth with the show, saying "That's cool!" in response to a clip of the second episode, and a similarly positive message that I can't translate in response to a link of the fourth episode.

Sakurai also notes Minecraft's Japanese popularity within another article, saying:

Outside of Japan, games like Mario Odyssey and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe…did not take the number one spot. Minecraft…didn’t get it either. Somehow, it was Stardew Valley!! Minecraft, which was number one in Japan, came in at number two. What the heck is going on. I can’t believe it.

I think Sakurai's surprise at that Stardew Valley taking the number one spot on the Japanese charts instead of Minecraft is another fact that speaks for itself. Yes, Minecraft is just that popular.

Spoiler: Closing

Steve is severely underestimated within the Smash Bubble for a wide variety of reasons, most of which are little more than excuses to bar his and Minecraft's inclusion. A positive relationship between Nintendo and Microsoft and Microsoft's willingness to work with Nintendo combined with Minecraft's overwhelming popularity, an underestimated fanbase supporting Steve, and some good old Sakurai bias could create a perfect storm that leads to Steve's inclusion. I believe that Steve is one of the most likely characters for inclusion as a DLC character; at the very least I wouldn't count him out of the running, nor would I overlook him.

Spoiler: Postscript

This will likely be my last speculation post for a good while as I resume College classes tomorrow, and will become substantially more busy than I have been during my break. I hope you all have enjoyed these pieces as much as I enjoyed writing them, and I also hope that I was able to convince people as to why I believe in these characters so much. If I have time in the future or if a topic really piques my interest I might consider writing another, but I'll be worrying more about essays and assignments for my classes instead of essays and posts here. Don't worry though, because I'll still be around to argue and annoy all of you for the foreseeable future. Here's to more "leaks," ****posts, and speculation!

 

[Ultomato]

Damn I put way to much time and effort info this...

Update to my original updated "If I were in control of DLC" post.

Bonus 1: Plant

Season 1:
1. Joker
2. 2B
3. Lora
4. Sylux
5. Amaterasu

Bonus 2: Grovyle as Greninja echo

Season 2:
1. Doomslayer
2. Garnhef
3. Madeline
4. Porky
5. Rokusho

Bonus 3: Rundas as a Sylux echo

Season 3 would have a theme: "That's the Spirit!" You can guess what that means:
1. Fawful
2. Waddle Dee
3. Dixie Kong
4. Geno
5. Wonder Red

Season 4 would be named "From Hero to Zero!" And will open with the Hero from Drawn to Life, followed by Zero and four other assist trophies being upgraded. Each would het An appropreate model-replacement for their assist trophy.
1. Hero
2. Zero (AT replacement: Megaman Zero (yes, that's a different character))
3. Skull Kid (AT replacement: ???? Noone seems like a good fit. Honestly, you can throw this assist trophy away.)
4. Shadow (AT replacement: Silver would be appropreate but Infinite would piss people off more so I'm leaning towards that.
5. Isaac (AT replacement: Felix)
6. Girahim (AT replacement: Zant? Would need his moves to be reskinned too...)