Sunrise, Sunset - Isaac for Smash Ultimate #GoldenSunday

[StrawHatX]

View attachment 180673

I just saw they have one with THE best Digimon. Metalgreymon

Excuse me, Weregarurumon is not in there!

 

[SonicLink125]

Excuse me, Weregarurumon is not in there!

Nah. Everyone knows Magnanon is best Digimon.

 

[JaidynReiman]

Yeah even though I've never played the series much I've fallen in love with Donkey Kong Country and am incredibly glad King K. Rool is in, great series with great protagonists and antagonists that Donkey Kong Country! Apperciate the support from our Golden brothers!

But that aside if Isaac, got in an Echo?

I'd say Felix or Matthew.

Felix definitely works the best. Matthew is really more of alt material than an Echo. He's just too similar to Isaac.

 

[StrawHatX]

Nah. Everyone knows Magnanon is best Digimon.

He just has the coolest voice.

 

[ZelDan]

If Isaac had to get an echo, it HAS to be Felix. Felix is the main from what I consider the substantially better game, and Matthew to similar looking to Isaac I feel.

Also, Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze is probably up there as one of my favorite platformers in recent times alongside Shovel Knight.

 

[GoodGrief741]

View attachment 180668
https://mobile.twitter.com/Stoic_Miiverse/status/1068351728708390912
@StoicSeraph at it again with some amazing artwork of our favorite Camelot Bros. and our fallen brethren. Give Stoic some love on their twitter page!

Now I have the headcanon of ATs being in a sort of chain gang and trying to escape Shawshank style. Somebody should make that into a fanfic or the plot of DLC story mode featuring all AT promotions

 

[Pinguino21v]

Geno is like the one SE character I definitely don’t see happening

I'm in your team on this one. I really foresee a Dragon Quest rep.

Camelot's already made Mario Tennis and I can't see them doing more than one more Mario Sports game on the Switch, be that Mario Golf or something like Mario Sports Superstars

Are Next Level Games doing a new Striker? That game is one of the most liked Mario sport, and it hasn't come back for a while.

 

[hustler713]

If Isaac had to get an echo, it HAS to be Felix. Felix is the main from what I consider the substantially better game, and Matthew to similar looking to Isaac I feel.

Also, Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze is probably up there as one of my favorite platformers in recent times alongside Shovel Knight.

especially Felox is isaacs rival. he kinda feels the villain/antihero role.
e: even though he is the protagonist of the second game

Pinguino21v strikers wasn't developed by camelot.

 

[Isaac: Venus Adept]

Here's a poll asking which Assist trophy should be promoted to playable. Show them the Isaac love adepts!
https://www.strawpoll.me/16932622/r

 

[Rayleigh]

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm, why must you do this to me. Making me choose between Golden Sun and Custom Robo.

...I panicked and hit Spring Man. B-but my vote was going to go to Issac in the end, honest! Ray 01 > Ray MKlll anyways.

 

[N3ON]

Felt remiss to not give this a reply, even if it's no longer the conversation at hand.

Based on what?

Based on what I've been informed of regarding PolarPanda's source.

I understand being skeptical, I almost always am as well, and I usually advocate skepticism when in doubt, so I certainly won't begrudge people maintaining their disbelief. However, given my history of holding reservations even in the face of mounting evidence (such as last month) of which I think at least some of the people here can attest, all I can say is that I'm not vouching for what I've heard offhandedly.

And though I get the incredulity, I'd also advise not to inherently conflate the lack of candidness with a lack of truthfulness, as the two aren't antithetical.

 

[Pinguino21v]

Pinguino21v Pinguino21v strikers wasn't developed by camelot

I know, I mentioned NLG. I was just saying, maybe it could be a serie given to Camelot.

 

[Organization XIII]

They did, they just don't want to admit it yet. If 3DS was getting a successor, it'd have it by now. The 3DS has been dead for years, Nintendo's just throwing the occasional game its way. Switch is the replacement to both lines, and the Switch will get a far more powerful following that effectively does the same thing the Switch does. Act as a hybrid console.

I mean yeah that makes sense if they didn't release a brand new model just last year and since then have been focusing on making the Switch succeed. If a replacement is coming for the 3DS and 2DS line it'll be announced a year or two from now.

 

[Tetiro]

It wouldn't surprise me if the Handheld line gets abandoned altogether to focus on the hybrid console systems. When it comes to portability Nintendo just can't be beat. And the Switch is exceptional on that front. It's like Nintendo have carved their future for many generations to come

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

I'm in your team on this one. I really foresee a Dragon Quest rep.


Are Next Level Games doing a new Striker? That game is one of the most liked Mario sport, and it hasn't come back for a while.

On the other hand, we'll probably get midi music tracks if that happens.

Nah, the new Luigi's Mansion is what they're working on.

 

[Bladebreaker]

I feel like dedicated handheld systems are out, and the Switch's hybrid system is the way to go. It can only be a good thing, as there is no longer the split focus between handheld and console. Especially with advancing technology in tablets and smart phones, dedicated handheld platforms just don't make as much sense as they have in the past.

Keeping the console half of the hybrid relevant, however, is the challenge. I wonder how feasible/practical for Nintendo to release a peripheral that upgrades the plastic dock into something that boosts the Switch's performance. I believe something similar was rumored during the Nintendo NX days. Or have a similar device on the Switch 2.

 

[Jurae818]

I have to chime in once more for you guys. If you truly want Golden Sun to return to the spotlight, you'll have to push for a new game. Based on this article, relevancy still rears its ugly head. Even if you have to get a little loud and obnoxious, it's probably the only way you'll get their attention. I stand firmly that no series should have to settle for glorified events with the character tacked on to give the illusion of a nod or acknowledgement. You may as well google your series and bam - there's your content for Ultimate.

But nonetheless, a new game will be needed in order for Golden Sun and Isaac to be 'relevant' and I have come to despise that word so much in the given context. Hang in there.

 

[Gum-Gum Smash]

I have to chime in once more for you guys. If you truly want Golden Sun to return to the spotlight, you'll have to push for a new game. Based on this article, relevancy still rears its ugly head. Even if you have to get a little loud and obnoxious, it's probably the only way you'll get their attention. I stand firmly that no series should have to settle for glorified events with the character tacked on to give the illusion of a nod or acknowledgement. You may as well google your series and bam - there's your content for Ultimate.

But nonetheless, a new game will be needed in order for Golden Sun and Isaac to be 'relevant' and I have come to despise that word so much in the given context. Hang in there.

I agree with this. I think what Golden Sun really needs is a new game. That's the best way to get more in Smash

 

[NoOtherPersona]

I have to chime in once more for you guys. If you truly want Golden Sun to return to the spotlight, you'll have to push for a new game. Based on this article, relevancy still rears its ugly head. Even if you have to get a little loud and obnoxious, it's probably the only way you'll get their attention. I stand firmly that no series should have to settle for glorified events with the character tacked on to give the illusion of a nod or acknowledgement. You may as well google your series and bam - there's your content for Ultimate.

But nonetheless, a new game will be needed in order for Golden Sun and Isaac to be 'relevant' and I have come to despise that word so much in the given context. Hang in there.

Welp I guess were gonna have to get loud crack some eggshells and get obnoxious to the point were we don't offend people we have to go for the whole golden cake then just settle for the nice strawberry that is smash

 

[TempestSurge]

Welp I guess were gonna have to get loud crack some eggshells and get obnoxious to the point were we don't offend people we have to go for the whole golden cake then just settle for the nice strawberry that is smash

As much as some fans in the Smash community love to tell a series fanbases to be grateful for what they're given i.e. an assist trophy and to essentially shut our mouths and stop complaining over the deconfirmation. According to the source from Nintendo posted a few pages back in this thread, NoA was apparently shocked at the backlash of Isaac's assist reveal, not realizing how much fans wanted Isaac playable.

Essentially, the only way Nintendo would have ever been aware of that, is from fans of the series speaking out against the assist. Just like with Waluigi, expressing your dissatisfaction is an easy way to get Nintendo's attention. Sure, it's nice having Isaac back after skipping a game, but I'm sure not going to give Nintendo the impression I wanted him back as solely and assist and throw praises over his assist reveal.

I don't understand the mentality that Nintendo will magically make Isaac playable next game, so you fans should shut up and be happy for his assist. No, if there's no one expressing their disappointment over Isaac not being playable, they'll think Golden Sun's representation as an assist is enough to appease fans, so why would they go the extra mile and make him playable if all they see is people being happy and excited over his assist?

 

[Bladebreaker]

If the information is truthful, Nintendo of America being surprised raises some red flags. Bottom line, it doesn't speak much for the ballot results if they were unaware of how people want Isaac and Golden Sun.

Possibility A is that Isaac didn't do as well as we thought. Exit polls were unofficial, right? How many illegitimate votes did it get?

Possibility B is that only a very small handful of people (Sakurai + design team, maybe a few executives) have access to the results.

Possibility C is that they only took, what, K. Rool? from the ballot and they actually haven't been using it at all besides that.

We've all been operating on the assumption that "oh, they have the ballot data to look at" in regards to fan wants, but I really doubt that now. Either the results are inflated on our end, or Nintendo is not using the ballot results as much as we thought.

 

[NoOtherPersona]

As much as some fans in the Smash community love to tell a series fanbases to be grateful for what they're given i.e. an assist trophy and to essentially shut our mouths and stop complaining over the deconfirmation. According to the source from Nintendo posted a few pages back in this thread, NoA was apparently shocked at the backlash of Isaac's assist reveal, not realizing how much fans wanted Isaac playable.

Essentially, the only way Nintendo would have ever been aware of that, is from fans of the series speaking out against the assist. Just like with Waluigi, expressing your dissatisfaction is an easy way to get Nintendo's attention. Sure, it's nice having Isaac back after skipping a game, but I'm sure not going to give Nintendo the impression I wanted him back as solely and assist and throw praises over his assist reveal.

I don't understand the mentality that Nintendo will magically make Isaac playable next game, so you fans should shut up and be happy for his assist. No, if there's no one expressing their disappointment over Isaac not being playable, they'll think Golden Sun's representation as an assist is enough to appease fans, so why would they go the extra mile and make him playable if all they see is people being happy and excited over his assist?

I hope I wasn't expressing something I never meant to but I never said we should be happy with this I just said we should go for the larger goal and get our series back smash can be a secondary goal if anything but we need our rock back

 

[Ninjaed]

Again it's likely because Isaac only has a few animations and isn't onscreen very long. I doubt the devs are worried about making him look good so long as he is identifiable and functions properly.

I wouldn't have had a problem with that line of thought if not for one thing... They put Isaac as one of the pieces de resistance in that direct. Not only that, they zoomed like crazy in on him. At least Akira has an excuse for being that blocky, but not Isaac. Even more so when he's one of the biggest AT highlights. It just feels odd that Nintendo would decide to use one of the worst models (not saying it's bad, but it's worse than the others) in such a display.

 

[Nauzgo]

I doubt NoA wouldn't know about Golden Sun's popularity. Those guys know very well how valuable their own IPs are and how popular they are amongst fans and the public. Basically, this is the reason on which franchises they choose to release and show love to. And they certainly know that the last core franchise which is popular and hasn't gotten a Smash character is Golden Sun since it's the last one of those which got titles that sold over a million. The other million seller franchises from Nintendo that are not in Smash are in fact a bunch of casual IPs without dedicated fanbases like Nintendogs, Kawashima, other training games, or the racing games like Excite, which aren't big anymore because just being a bikeracer isn't enough anymore today.

There will be that point of time where all the important franchises have had major releases on the Switch, and then they might turn to those smaller franchises. Look at the big IPs in Smash. Not counting spin-offs, only Pikmin, Wario, Kid Icarus, F-Zero, and Punch Out have no Switch title announced or released yet.

Nintendo is not dumb. It's basically their work to look at the numbers and decide which games sold well enough to get continued. And Golden Sun definitely stands out among the non-Smash franchises. Have hope guys!

 

[SPEN18]

Here's a poll asking which Assist trophy should be promoted to playable. Show them the Isaac love adepts!
https://www.strawpoll.me/16932622/r

Camelot bros. killin it again!

Wish I could vote a second time for my gal Lyndis.

And nice to see they included Saki and Ray on there even though he's no longer an AT (now gimme them Infantry & Tanks!)

 

[SPEN18]

Are Next Level Games doing a new Striker?

No idea. Are they doing Luigi's Mansion 3?

Essentially, the only way Nintendo would have ever been aware of that, is from fans of the series speaking out against the assist. Just like with Waluigi, expressing your dissatisfaction is an easy way to get Nintendo's attention. Sure, it's nice having Isaac back after skipping a game, but I'm sure not going to give Nintendo the impression I wanted him back as solely and assist and throw praises over his assist reveal.

Let's just not go flaming and stuff. But yeah, they didn't give us what we asked for, so it's okay to tell them not to cut corners and "pacify" us with a consolation prize.

-------

Also, at 22:39 in the Direct when Isaac uses Lift on Villager you can see his little sprout on the ground. Is that a nod?

Edit: oops sorry for the double post

 

[TempestSurge]

If the information is truthful, Nintendo of America being surprised raises some red flags. Bottom line, it doesn't speak much for the ballot results if they were unaware of how people want Isaac and Golden Sun.

Possibility A is that Isaac didn't do as well as we thought. Exit polls were unofficial, right? How many illegitimate votes did it get?

Possibility B is that only a very small handful of people (Sakurai + design team, maybe a few executives) have access to the results.

Possibility C is that they only took, what, K. Rool? from the ballot and they actually haven't been using it at all besides that.

We've all been operating on the assumption that "oh, they have the ballot data to look at" in regards to fan wants, but I really doubt that now. Either the results are inflated on our end, or Nintendo is not using the ballot results as much as we thought.

Possibility B seems more likely (welp guess this also lines up with possibility C), I doubt that Golden Sun would even have the amount of rep it's gotten in Ultimate if not for the ballot. Especially since if he was cut in 4, they could have left him cut like the rest of the Brawl assists, Gray Fox withstanding . Honestly what I found odd about the info is NoA thinking Golden Sun is a small group. Okay, cue a reason to remove his assist in 4 (so even with the recent release between Smashes, guess they thought Isaac wasn't popular) and no Mii costume back then either.

But now in Ultimate, they still apparently think Golden Sun is a small group, yet they've not only brought back his assist but finally giving Isaac a mii costume. What changed their mind, aside from a ballot to give a better indication of Isaac's popularity. Either way it's a nice wake up call for Nintendo. Cause no way some 'small group' made enough of an uproar over the assist reveal to get Nintendo's attention.


NoOtherPersona Oh, no not you specifically lol. I was speaking more towards the community at large, when Isaac was revealed as an assist, there was a lot of, 'You're ungrateful, be happy for what you have' talk. If you so much as expressed your disappointment in Isaac being an assist again.

 

[NoOtherPersona]

Possibility B seems more likely, I doubt that Golden Sun would even have the amount of rep it's gotten in Ultimate if not for the ballot. Especially since if he was cut in 4, they could have left him cut like the rest of the Brawl assists, Gray Fox withstanding . Honestly what I found odd about the info is NoA thinking Golden Sun is a small group. Okay, cue a reason to remove his assist in 4 (so even with the recent release between Smashes, guess they thought Isaac wasn't popular) and no Mii costume back then either.

But now in Ultimate, they still apparently think Golden Sun is a small group, yet they've not only brought back his assist but finally giving Isaac a mii costume. What changed their mind, aside from a ballot to give a better indication of Isaac's popularity. Either way it's a nice wake up call for Nintendo. Cause no way some 'small group' made enough of an uproar over the assist reveal to get Nintendo's attention.


NoOtherPersona Oh, no not you specifically lol. I was speaking more towards the community at large, when Isaac was revealed as an assist, there was a lot of, 'You're ungrateful, be happy for what you have talk.' if you so much as expressed your disappointment in Isaac being an assist again.

I mean its still like that and really I hate those people yeah Sakurai works hard yeah I get it I'm still disappointed I'm okay with everything now but we can be I'm tired of the opinion that if your disappointed your not allowed to be because Sakurai worked hard I appreciate the man he created my favorite character but imma be disappointed and I'm not gonna feel bad for that because some losers on Twitter said I should for feeling the way I do

 

[NessAtc.]

No, we know for certain that Isaac did at the very least better than Paper Mario. Golden Sun actually got more spirits than Paper Mario did, and we typically regard that as being in the top 10 pretty much across the board.

 

[TempestSurge]

No idea. Are they doing Luigi's Mansion 3?



Let's just not go flaming and stuff. But yeah, they didn't give us what we asked for, so it's okay to tell them not to cut corners and "pacify" us with a consolation prize.

-------

Also, at 22:39 in the Direct when Isaac uses Lift on Villager you can see his little sprout on the ground. Is that a nod?

Edit: oops sorry for the double post

I think we did pretty good in that regard since Golden Sunday followed shortly after. If they were able to pinpoint specifically the backlash of Isaac's assist reveal in the grand scheme of things, then the Golden Sunday event had to be just as noticeable too with Nintendolife even making an article on it.

Either way I'm sure there was some flaming going on, it's hard to control a group of people on the internet, so pretty unavoidable to not expect that 'one guy' to grill Nintendo for not adding Isaac to the roster. Though I'm sure the fans that reacted that way are more of a minority in comparison.

 

[SPEN18]

with Nintendolife even making an article on it.

Yeah and that was a complete 180 after he said in a video that Isaac was "not Smash material."

 

[GoodGrief741]

If the information is truthful, Nintendo of America being surprised raises some red flags. Bottom line, it doesn't speak much for the ballot results if they were unaware of how people want Isaac and Golden Sun.

Possibility A is that Isaac didn't do as well as we thought. Exit polls were unofficial, right? How many illegitimate votes did it get?

Possibility B is that only a very small handful of people (Sakurai + design team, maybe a few executives) have access to the results.

Possibility C is that they only took, what, K. Rool? from the ballot and they actually haven't been using it at all besides that.

We've all been operating on the assumption that "oh, they have the ballot data to look at" in regards to fan wants, but I really doubt that now. Either the results are inflated on our end, or Nintendo is not using the ballot results as much as we thought.

I think C is pretty much obviously what happened.

 

[Nazyrus]

Possibility C is the most likely scenario unless we actually see high top ballot contenders being added as DLC. If they aren't then yeah, possibility C is definitely what's going on here.

 

[SonicLink125]

The thing that makes me think how conflicting the idea that NoA thought we were a “small group” is the fact that we surprisingly got a lot of GS content in Smash Ultimate (except for a fighter rep, stage and new music). Unless, NoJ is not even communicating with NoA that much which doesn’t surprise me.

The whole argument that “you should be grateful for what you got” is just dumb. I see it as people trying to make sure a highly requested character gets out of the race so that their character choice has a chance to get in instead. No way am I letting Isaac out of the race just yet after how close we’ve gotten.

With that all said, I am grateful for having all the GS content we got (huge improvement from Smash 4 which was a huge disappointment to me). But i am also disappointed that we didn’t get Isaac as a fighter too. I hope we all keep fighting for him while also fight for a new GS game too.

It’s also criminal that Camelot STILL doesn’t have a fighter rep. Waluigi and Isaac are literally perfect for them and are still denied the roster. I personally believe we should STOP requesting 3rd party characters until we can get characters that deserve to be reps that are Nintendo first.

 

[Nauzgo]

If the information is truthful, Nintendo of America being surprised raises some red flags. Bottom line, it doesn't speak much for the ballot results if they were unaware of how people want Isaac and Golden Sun.

Possibility A is that Isaac didn't do as well as we thought. Exit polls were unofficial, right? How many illegitimate votes did it get?

Possibility B is that only a very small handful of people (Sakurai + design team, maybe a few executives) have access to the results.

Possibility C is that they only took, what, K. Rool? from the ballot and they actually haven't been using it at all besides that.

We've all been operating on the assumption that "oh, they have the ballot data to look at" in regards to fan wants, but I really doubt that now. Either the results are inflated on our end, or Nintendo is not using the ballot results as much as we thought.

Possibility D: They only took K. Rool from the ballot for base and use 3-4 others as DLC since requested characters sell better.

 

[Luigifan18]

The thing that makes me think how conflicting the idea that NoA thought we were a “small group” is the fact that we surprisingly got a lot of GS content in Smash Ultimate (except for a fighter rep, stage and new music). Unless, NoJ is not even communicating with NoA that much which doesn’t surprise me.

The whole argument that “you should be grateful for what you got” is just dumb. I see it as people trying to make sure a highly requested character gets out of the race so that their character choice has a chance to get in instead. No way am I letting Isaac out of the race just yet after how close we’ve gotten.

With that all said, I am grateful for having all the GS content we got (huge improvement from Smash 4 which was a huge disappointment to me). But i am also disappointed that we didn’t get Isaac as a fighter too. I hope we all keep fighting for him while also fight for a new GS game too.

It’s also criminal that Camelot STILL doesn’t have a fighter rep. Waluigi and Isaac are literally perfect for them and are still denied the roster. I personally believe we should STOP requesting 3rd party characters until we can get characters that deserve to be reps that are Nintendo first.

Sorry, but you won’t stop me from requesting Bomberman.

 

[SPEN18]

Possibility D: They only took K. Rool from the ballot for base and use 3-4 others as DLC since requested characters sell better.

But Piranha Plant. They believe "recognizable" characters will sell better. I guess you could argue that DLC is for people who already bought Smash, and ballot characters are gonna be more reocgnizable to those who already play the game compared to those that they're trying to convince to start playing (which are the types of people they attract with stuff like PP).
But if we go by the last round of DLC, it doesn't seem like Nintendo subscribes to this mentality. Have they changed? Idk.
So this is possible but not particularly likely to me.

I think the most likely is some combination of possibilities B and C, leaning more heavily towards C. They probably don't share the actual ballot results (as in, the hard numbers of how many votes were counted for each character) with too many people, although I'm sure there's quite a bit of information that gets passed along throughout the company (more general stuff like "character X did really well" or "character Y was top 10"). I'm not sure exactly how high up this insider source is, so it's hard to tell how much knowledge he'd have of the ballot itself.

In terms of PCs, I think it's very likely that they just took K. Rool as the winner and used the rest of the higher-placing characters to determine Assists, Spirits, Mii Costumes, and easy clones. You can read more of the argument for possibility C in one of my earlier posts:

To be clear, Ridley is definitely a "fan demand" character, but he didn't specifically get in because of the ballot. Obviously we don't have the results of the ballot so we can't say for sure, but he was very likely hurt badly on the ballot for already being a stage boss and Sakurai going out of his way to explain why Ridley couldn't be a fighter in Smash 4. This is supported by the exit poll, which has Ridley 15th behind many other first parties like Isaac, Bandana Dee, Paper Mario, and even Krystal. So yes he's popular, but didn't really get added primarily due to the ballot itself.

Simon Belmont is popular and is a gaming icon. But like Ridley, he isn't necessarily due to the ballot. The exit poll has him 28th. Almost surely he wasn't voted on as much as other third parties like Geno, Banjo, Rayman, and Shantae. I've argued in previous posts that Simon is more of a "Sakurai choice" so to speak than a fan pick, though my arguments for that are admittedly a bit less concrete. I will also say that demand for Simon didn't really explode until after the Vergeben leaks and the knowledge that Snake was coming back.

I hesitate to label any Echoes as truly being ballot choices, mostly since they are characters that likely wouldn't be in at all if they weren't easy clones. Daisy is popular among Mario fans but within the Smash fanbase there's no way she placed higher than Waluigi, for example. Dark Samus and Chrom did get some votes on the ballot, but they weren't all that high up according to pretty much all the data we have. And again, I doubt they would've been added without being easy Echoes.

So the short of it is that they pretty much only "used" the ballot when it suited them, whether that be taking the most popular out of the easy clones or citing it whenever it helped them justify an inclusion ("Bayo wun Yurup guyzz"). They also picked a handful of characters that were indeed popular, but Sakurai's knowledge of these characters' popularity would not come primarily from the ballot. So there is an argument that the ballot itself was barely used; the glaring exception is K. Rool, who was likely the winner.

 

[Silo777]

Possibility D: They only took K. Rool from the ballot for base and use 3-4 others as DLC since requested characters sell better.

I think this might actually be the case. I’ve mentioned before that it’s possible K Rool is only in base as a “reward” for winning the whole thing.

 

[hustler713]

Possibility D: They only took K. Rool from the ballot for base and use 3-4 others as DLC since requested characters sell better.

Well the big ones (Waluigi, Isaac, Shadow, Skull Kid) are already disconfirmed except for Geno and BK.

I think they more than likely going for promotional picks and some thirds. Thirds sell well to in the cases we had yet.

 

[Xenigma]

I doubt NoA wouldn't know about Golden Sun's popularity. Those guys know very well how valuable their own IPs are and how popular they are amongst fans and the public. Basically, this is the reason on which franchises they choose to release and show love to. And they certainly know that the last core franchise which is popular and hasn't gotten a Smash character is Golden Sun since it's the last one of those which got titles that sold over a million. The other million seller franchises from Nintendo that are not in Smash are in fact a bunch of casual IPs without dedicated fanbases like Nintendogs, Kawashima, other training games, or the racing games like Excite, which aren't big anymore because just being a bikeracer isn't enough anymore today.

There will be that point of time where all the important franchises have had major releases on the Switch, and then they might turn to those smaller franchises. Look at the big IPs in Smash. Not counting spin-offs, only Pikmin, Wario, Kid Icarus, F-Zero, and Punch Out have no Switch title announced or released yet.

Nintendo is not dumb. It's basically their work to look at the numbers and decide which games sold well enough to get continued. And Golden Sun definitely stands out among the non-Smash franchises. Have hope guys!

I could still see NoA being surprised if they didn't think there was significant crossover between Smash fans and Golden Sun fans, or at the very least Smash fans who thought Isaac would be a good Smash character. There's a difference between being aware of the current overall popularity of Golden Sun and being aware of the current popularity of Golden Sun within the context of Smash. If this source claiming that NoA was surprised by the reaction to Isaac is accurate, then in a sense we've done our job: at least one branch of Nintendo now knows that they underestimated that particular demand, which could lead to them spreading that new knowledge to the rest of Nintendo and the Smash team. After all, if they now believe there is money to be made from implementing Isaac as a playable character, that makes it that much more likely they will do exactly that.