I got to put this out. Those who believe we are only getting one Direct are crazy. I'm referring to what Sakurai said in the August Direct, "We plan to show every design of each fighter before launch day." So, unless Sakurai is crazy to shove everything in one Direct, how is he going to cover Online, Spirits, Vault, Stages, Characters (including every design of all), Ganes & More, etc. in one Direct? It makes more sense to me to have two Directs to explain all of that stuff.
But then again, Sakurai has surprised us and debunks "fan rules" several times. I guess we'll see.
Only one Smash focused? Cause that's exactly what is going to happen. We're not getting two Nintendo Directs on the same game with such a little amount of time left (47 days as of now, right? Certainly less by the time the actual Direct airs).
Yes, he plans to show every character off before release... And there is not only a possible, but likely reality in which he only has maybe one/two more legitimate character trailers left for newcomers. And that's perfectly reasonable to bookend the Direct with two such trailers. Add in another Echo reveal and that'll be it for characters. He's already revealed basically everything under the Smash tab, and we know all of the stages bar any additional ones (and we will not be receiving more than five, you can be certain of that given that really felt like the final layout of the select screen). We know Classic is tailored to each fighter, so that's out of the way and at best another mention.
He'll talk about online for probably around ten minutes I imagine at most. There isn't much to cover other than how they've set it up this time around/what modes they're including (Do we have a For Glory/For Fun type set up again or what). Games & More can probably be as simple as ten minutes too. Again, we know Classic, and I've a feeling that will be one of the bigger elements of this one since each path is unique. So we'll probably get a confirmation of the usual suspects. Home Run Contest, Multiman Smash, Break the Targets, and a new mode or two here. That's pretty easy to run through with an appropriate amount of detail quickly. Vault doesn't really need much more either, he'll likely mention trophies and how they're obtained this time around in whatever minigame, but he's historically burned through these features pretty quickly. So maybe five minutes? Spirits is probably the new marquee, so maybe 15 minutes to that and a proper rollout/reveal if it's that substanial. Another assist trophy highlight reveal and miscellaneous stuff will make around another 5 or so minutes.
We've had just over 40 minute Smash Directs before, and if you tally everything up (Which could easily be estimating too much time if the presentation or any part of it is the insane shotgun style of 50 Fact Extravaganza), you'd probably be looking at around 45 minutes with my estimations. With as much information as he has revealed about the game (And he has revealed basically everything short of the modes and final new stuff at this point honestly), there isn't actually so much to cover. I know people are hopeful, but I think it's time to face reality when it comes to the Direct situation. At best you can hope for a Smash reveal in a different Direct, but there's pretty much exactly enough content to show off in one final, admittedly long, Smash Direct. I know that scares people because it means there's a very low number of newcomers left, but I really believe that's where we're at.
I don't consider myself to be overly pessimistic, and I'm certainly not here to just bring down the hype about Isaac. But I do want to be real, and I think it's important to be realistic about what's left. We have the precedents for how Nintendo shows off games, and all of them point to one final Smash Direct in roughly the next two weeks. As Isaac fans, that's our last real hope for his inclusion in the base game and that's what we should be hopeful for. There is a slim chance that we'll get either a general or a Pokemon Direct before the release that could offer a place for a reveal, but it's more unlikely the longer we go without an announcement of one. Sakurai clearly intends to reveal all of the characters pre-release to avoid the issues with leaks, so you can basically count the two weeks prior to release as out of the running. And maybe even before then to be completely honest, like when the game goes gold.
So let's just focus on hoping he's one of the last reveals as opposed to being extremely optimistic about the chances of somehow two Directs in the span of like a couple weeks. And if he's not, then the DLC support begins. That's where our energy and support is best spent I believe at this point. He's certainly got a shot for one of the last spots, but with so few left the competition is indeed going to be fierce until the Direct.
