The Half Genie Protector of Scuttle Town, Shantae for SSB4 (WayForward wants her in Smash)

[DiagonalSpy07]

Ness came by to play Shantae Half Genie Hero at #PAXPrime2015 #nindies booth! pic.twitter.com/k12fOzMm9T

— WayForward (@WayForward) August 29, 2015

Apparently he had a growth spurt too lol.

 

[smashkirby]

You have Mario, Sonic, Mega Man, and Pac-Man in business suits and shades, sitting at a round table, in a dark room with a single lightbulb, determining who should get in.

"She must-a-be tested! She seems more worthy than most of the suggestions."

You have Mega Man and Pac-Man nod, with Sonic saying something corny.

Corny line? HA! Classic Sonic!

 

[TheRickyWill]

HA! Classic Sonic!

Which means he said it in a Jaleel White voice.

 

[smashkirby]

Which means he said it in a Jaleel White voice.

Eeeeeeeeeexactly!

 

[takai]

I want to say I'll more than likely be getting the Shovel Knight amiibo, because I enjoyed the game and I like to collect. But, I feel like the reason behind his popularity for the ballot isn't because his game was well received, but because popular Youtubers like Egoraptor, Game Grumps, and so on are supporting him instead. Which in turn, makes their fans want to support him. Sort of an unfair advantage if you ask me.

Honestly, if any Nindie deserves an amiibo, it's Shantae. When I saw SK's amiibo revealed I thought to myself, "oh crap". I feel like this is almost a confirmation for the character. Sure, he doesn't have a Smash base, but he doesn't necessarily need one to function with the game. Look at how Smash amiibo worked with other games, like Mario Kart 8 for instance.

 

[TheRickyWill]

I want to say I'll more than likely be getting the Shovel Knight amiibo, because I enjoyed the game and I like to collect. But, I feel like the reason behind his popularity for the ballot isn't because his game was well received, but because popular Youtubers like Egoraptor, Game Grumps, and so on are supporting him instead. Which in turn, makes their fans want to support him. Sort of an unfair advantage if you ask me.

Honestly, if any Nindie deserves an amiibo, it's Shantae. When I saw SK's amiibo revealed I thought to myself, "oh crap". I feel like this is almost a confirmation for the character. Sure, he doesn't have a Smash base, but he doesn't necessarily need one to function with the game. Look at how Smash amiibo worked with other games, like Mario Kart 8 for instance.

Yeah, Let's Players play too big of a part.

Shovel Knight gets an Amiibo, and FNAF gets an upcoming box office flo- I mean movie.

It really is unfair. Shantae took 13 years to make it to where she is now, and Shovel Knight and FNAF made it past that within a year.

 

[dangeraaron10]

Maybe request prominent Let's Players to do Shantae games? If HGH didn't take so long to come out they could have done that game easily.

 

[Manic Rykker]

Hey everyone! Those "arguments" were definitely funny XD (Poor Isaac..)

Let me respond to some of em..

Ridley's too big for Smash.

But if I had to keep it Shantae, too much of a "sex object" for Smash, despite this and this being in the game.

You know I think what makes Shantae kind of a notch above those examples is that, well, she actually seems to be enjoying herself and having fun when she's ""sexy""

I'm so used to the bland, stone dead, emotionless faces of characters who are clearly just there for sex appeal. ZSS has atrocious posing, yeah, but even one subtle smile during an animation could've made her at least feel close to a person and not this oddly bendable doll. Shulk kind of but not really because he was animated with actual clothes in mind.

Shantae is always smiling and being playful while she's dancing, it makes it easier to see her in those clothes because 1. They're really not that bad when you think about it, and 2. It feels like she's enjoying herself just as much as anyone who could be watching. And besides, it's innocent anyway. It's certainly not on a level like *shudders* that new R. Mika...

Ah Samus... You know, when I think about it, I sometimes wonder about her character a bit. To me, at this point it definitely seems like it would be difficult to give her a personality... (as we saw what happened the last time Nintendo tried to give her one...)

I think that some of them might be a bit turnt off by that reaction they got from "that" game... and I think they are almost afraid to give her even what looks like a glint of personality at this point XD


The main issue is, the clashing of fan perceptions of her.. Many have different takes of her.

Some see her as a stone cold bounty hunter. Really, I can understand this actually. Being raised by the Chozo, and having what seems to be limited human interaction during her childhood (She did have that time with her parents... which was cut short by a certain purple alien dragon we all know of..).. but other than that... eh. Would she really have the compassion for humanity?? This is really hard to look into, as we RARELY see her out of that suit. A lot of times we didn't even know what was going on under that helmet.. We don't know how she was reacting to everything she has encountered (the monsters, the tragedies...)...

And, at this point, if you're not going to consider that game, we may never know... Maybe "that" is the reason Zero Suit Samus always seems so cold... either that is the way she is, or Nintendo is afraid to give her a personality at this point... who knows.

Dumbest arguments against a character I like?

"Shantae is too slutty for Smash" even if no one but a total prude would think Shantae is inappropriate. We already have ZSS and Shulk. Grow up. Deal with it. This isn't Bayonetta here.

"K. Rool would be garbage tier" because every character needs to be Melee Fox or Brawl Meta Knight. If K. Rool is a projectile/trap based character like Snake, like everyone wants and asks in the ballot section, he has a good shot at being mid or even high tier.

I would say "Mii Costume deconfirms K. Rool" but I can't say for sure what their reasoning behind that is, but the "trash tier" one takes the cake on dumbest arguments against K. Rool.

And basically Sakurai's entire address on Ridley.

Because Ridley is down for the count, I'm counting on either K. Rool and/or Shantae to make it in Smash, the characters I actually voted for. I also want Wolf in, because he should have been in already along with Lucas (still can't believe Roy got in but not Wolf).

You of course already saw what I had to say in terms of Samus.

I think most are just trying to find ways to dumb down K. Rool, due to how big of a force he has always been in the ballot to be honest.. (I've brought up the "fear of stolen slot from <character>" shtick time and time again XD)

About Pichu that he is too weak for return.

Pichu hurts himself when he attacks, so...

I actually think Pichu could be quite interesting in a Smash 4 environment. Back in melee, there was no real benefit to the self-damage gimmick...

However, last time I checked, Sm4sh has something we all know as "Rage". (where the fighter deals more and more knockback as their percentage of damage goes up.. starts at 30%, and caps at 150%) Considering Pichu's high speed of attack, if the fighter could manage to keep from getting heavily hit by the opponent, that high increase in knockback could prove to be dangerous to the opponent if they aren't careful...

 

[dangeraaron10]

Off the topic of Shantae and briefly on that of Pichu, I would like to see an Aura mechanic times 3 for Pichu. As Pichu damages himself and gets hurt more, not only will his electrical attacks become far stronger, they will have larger hitboxes and larger reach, possibly even becoming disjointed. Perhaps Pichu surges with power, becoming even faster and no longer taking damage from his own attacks.

I think all that would make Pichu a very terrifying adversary, even if it's basically a playstyle that balances on the edge of a knife. Sounds pretty awesome actually. One good swat and you lose a stock at that %, but you have speed AND killing power like no other in that state.

Edit: Do I like Pichu? Yes I do. I started playing him instead of Pikachu after unlocking him in Melee. I really had to fight for my kills and killing as Pichu was the sweetest of kills. Do I want him for Smash 4 DLC? Not really. There are plenty of other characters I would like to see first. K. Rool and Shantae for example. Pichu has a chance. He's a veteran with a surprising amount of Japanese popularity. But he's incredibly divisive in the West and plenty of people would absolutely RAGE at his inclusion. Part of me wants to see that rage, and I would definitely pick up Pichu as a secondary if he makes it in, but I have several characters I want to see before Pichu.

Namely K. Rool, Shantae, and even Wolf.

 

[Children0fTheStars]

It really is unfair. Shantae took 13 years to make it to where she is now, and Shovel Knight and FNAF made it past that within a year.

Well, I had figured that FNaF was more a fad/meme than anything else. Facecam jump-scares and all.

But was Shovel Knight really that much of a success? Yeah, it's been flavor of the month, but that's just kind of what happens when there are breakaway indie titles. I think the same thing might have happened with Fez on a smaller scale (putting aside the fact that Phil Fish is a smug tool, which honestly might have damaged that game's legacy).

Because, remember, even the first game in Shantae's series did get enough of a following to become a cult classic in spite of not selling thanks to the timing of release. And Risky's Revenge made a positive impact on one of Nintendo's digital software platforms as well.

Maybe request prominent Let's Players to do Shantae games? If HGH didn't take so long to come out they could have done that game easily.

For what it's worth, it was known that SomeCallMeJohnny covered the series, and Etika has voiced his support for the Shantae games and also uploaded two videos discussing the topic of her possible Smash inclusion.

I would try to bug Cobanermani456 about it, but I couldn't even get his attention with repeated questions about Rayman 3 having known him to be a Rayman fan. He wants his playthroughs to have guaranteed traffic (Sonic series, Mario, etc.) anyway... And even then he's basically not doing those playthroughs at all now for the time being. He thinks his Youtube channel is in need of restructuring.

 

[Manic Rykker]

But was Shovel Knight really that much of a success? Yeah, it's been flavor of the month, but that's just kind of what happens when there are breakaway indie titles.

Hmm.. I don't think I ever really truly touched upon Shovel..

I personally think some of the main things that made Shovel so successful, was the game's comedic, yet adventurous gameplay, along with it's retro theme, which harkens back to the 8-bit days.. The game manages to capture that charm of the NES days, while still being it's own thing, and offering a unique experience.. (and I say all this from not even playing the title myself XD. I've really been wanting to try the game, and plan on getting it in a few months.)

Shovel has definitely been the star of the indie world. And really, Shantae isn't the star of the indie world.. Shovel is. (Not beating up Shantae here guys XD.. I still don't really see Shantae as much of an indie, due to her various circumstances... I have always seen her as a lost Nintendo star myself.. one that deserves more praise than she gets, even now.. but if we have to go with something, I guess "Nindie" would be the best term.. and she "would" be the star of that world, that is for sure.)

A lot of times now, when I think indie, I think back to the kickstarted Shovel Knight. The Shovel Knight that took the world by storm, and brought us back to an era many of us miss..

I personally think Shovel deserves his fame. He's very well earned it.


As for Shantae, I still hope that her true fame will hit someday, and she'll be the next big name out there. She's already rising in popularity so.. maybe it might be soon. Especially if she gets in Smash ^_^

 

[TheRickyWill]

Well, I had figured that FNaF was more a fad/meme than anything else. Facecam jump-scares and all.

But was Shovel Knight really that much of a success? Yeah, it's been flavor of the month, but that's just kind of what happens when there are breakaway indie titles. I think the same thing might have happened with Fez on a smaller scale (putting aside the fact that Phil Fish is a smug tool, which honestly might have damaged that game's legacy).

Because, remember, even the first game in Shantae's series did get enough of a following to become a cult classic in spite of not selling thanks to the timing of release. And Risky's Revenge made a positive impact on one of Nintendo's digital software platforms as well.



For what it's worth, it was known that SomeCallMeJohnny covered the series, and Etika has voiced his support for the Shantae games and also uploaded two videos discussing the topic of her possible Smash inclusion.

I would try to bug Cobanermani456 about it, but I couldn't even get his attention with repeated questions about Rayman 3 having known him to be a Rayman fan. He wants his playthroughs to have guaranteed traffic (Sonic series, Mario, etc.) anyway... And even then he's basically not doing those playthroughs at all now for the time being. He thinks his Youtube channel is in need of restructuring.

BrainScratchComms, which Somecallmejohnny is associated with, played through the entire series.

I don't think it made much of an impact.

 

[Manic Rykker]

I think one of the biggest issues with Shantae, is the position she is in.. Let's look at some other Indies out there, and some of the things that make them noticeable.. Lets see.. already talked about Shovel so uhh...

Since many consider Shantae an indie character, (or as of late now, a "Nindie" character), That puts her in a very large group...

There's a lot of faces in the misfit-riddled Indie world.. some of them fell into the shadows.. some were one hit wonders.. and others became big faces in the indie world. Lets look at some of them, and see why. I'll look at some that haven't left their mark in the indie industry yet either. Feel free to add any points for them if I missed anything

Quote, of Cave story - Cave story, like Shovel Knight, is a homage to many of the classic games, like Metroid.

Steve, of Minecraft - While many will question Steve as a character himself... the game he is in, is definitely big. It's a massive sandbox, with many possibilities. One of the few games out there with a massive modding community that is actually encouraged.. at least 99% of the time XD

Slenderman - Though somewhat having fell into the shadows, ol' Slendy was definitely the first of the big time indie horror game characters to leave a mark on the industry. The guy spawned hundreds of clones, and got lots of attention during it's time. (Especially from the youtubers. lol)

Freedom Planet - One of the big things going for this title, is how it harkens back to the classic sonic games.. while at the same time, offering it's own fresh experience, and fun gameplay.

Beck, of Mighty Number Nine - Though whether or not this title will live up to what it promised, this title was shown to be a throwback to the old Megaman days.. something a lot of Megaman fans have wanted.

Yooka and Laylee, of the upcoming Yooka-Laylee - Though yes, this title isn't in the picture, and isn't out yet, it is also going to be a throwback to a classic for many N64 fans: Banjo-Kazooie.

You might notice a pattern here. Many of the big faces in the indie world offer something people love. Either harkening back to a gaming era long gone, or offering fun/intuitive mechanics, or in some cases both, they all offer something that catches everyone's eye, that set them apart from many of the lower grade titles out there..


I think Shantae's main problem, is the fact she wasn't born into this world. She came onto the scene in an old Nintendo handheld... (one that was near the end of it's days, might I add.)

This puts her in a weird position. You have ALL of these indies I mentioned, and all of the familiar faces you see in that picture up there. They have all gotten a firm ground in their industry, and have gotten the attention of their audience nearly since the beginning.

Then we have Shantae... What exactly is she? She had her start on a console... yet is considered indie. Her big issue, is the fact that she caught on fairly late. She became a cult classic.. which is nice.. but that doesn't change the fact that after the first title, she disappeared for eight years... If you remember, she resurfaced after the first game in 2010, when her sequel came out... which I would say is around the time many of the big Indie names started to pop onto the scene as well... When the genre really got up front. This was when the likes of Minecraft, and Super Meat boy's debut.. and many more would soon follow.

Shantae, at this point, is that foreign exchange student of the indie world. She is technically an indie, by the terms of being created by a small dev team.. yet at the same time, she is considered by many to be associated with Nintendo.. albeit in a lost classic light. She is sorta straddling the fence actually. On one hand, she does fairly well as an indie, and somewhat fits... then on the other, she is still considered a lost Nintendo All-star..

In a way it kinda parallels to the fact she's a half-genie. At this point, she's half Nintendo, and half Indie...


She has a lot to deal with.. and I feel that one of the main things that is going to push her up to the top, is either making it in one of the two worlds she is associated with...

The Indie side 1. Half-Genie Hero catches everyone's eye, and she becomes an indie star

The Nintendo side 2. Shantae makes it into Smash, gets noticed, and starts getting praised for the Nintendo classic many consider her...

Who knows what the future holds for the half-genie.. she may very well make it big. The question is.. on which path will she find her fame? Either way, it will mean either getting closer to her roots, or abandoning them all together.... I, personally.. hope it's the former.

Edit: All in all... Where do you think Shantae would be if she were just in either world? What would she be like if she appeared later, as a true Indie? What if Nintendo had gotten into a partnership with Wayforward, and she became a second party... I can only wonder how things would have been for her. Would she still be in the weird position that she is in today, and has been struggling with since her debut?...

 

[TheRickyWill]

I'VE DONE IT!

I FINALLY FOUND AN AD FOR THE ORIGINAL SHANTAE!

Also that Christina Aguilera reference

 

[Manic Rykker]

I'VE DONE IT!

I FINALLY FOUND AN AD FOR THE ORIGINAL SHANTAE!

She doesn't seem very amused by their genie jokes.. XD

"Shantae: Grr.. I'm a "half" genie you idiots >_<"

 

[TheRickyWill]

She doesn't seem very amused by their genie jokes.. XD

"Shantae: Grr.. I'm a "half" genie you idiots >_<"

Granted, that wouldn't make much sense to the general public, as it's something Shantae and only Shantae has came up with, and you wouldn't get the concept unless you've played the game.

 

[dangeraaron10]

I think one of the biggest issues with Shantae, is the position she is in.. Let's look at some other Indies out there, and some of the things that make them noticeable.. Lets see.. already talked about Shovel so uhh...

Since many consider Shantae an indie character, (or as of late now, a "Nindie" character), That puts her in a very large group...

There's a lot of faces in the misfit-riddled Indie world.. some of them fell into the shadows.. some were one hit wonders.. and others became big faces in the indie world. Lets look at some of them, and see why. I'll look at some that haven't left their mark in the indie industry yet either. Feel free to add any points for them if I missed anything

Quote, of Cave story - Cave story, like Shovel Knight, is a homage to many of the classic games, like Metroid.

Steve, of Minecraft - While many will question Steve as a character himself... the game he is in, is definitely big. It's a massive sandbox, with many possibilities. One of the few games out there with a massive modding community that is actually encouraged.. at least 99% of the time XD

Slenderman - Though somewhat having fell into the shadows, ol' Slendy was definitely the first of the big time indie horror game characters to leave a mark on the industry. The guy spawned hundreds of clones, and got lots of attention during it's time. (Especially from the youtubers. lol)

Freedom Planet - One of the big things going for this title, is how it harkens back to the classic sonic games.. while at the same time, offering it's own fresh experience, and fun gameplay.

Beck, of Mighty Number Nine - Though whether or not this title will live up to what it promised, this title was shown to be a throwback to the old Megaman days.. something a lot of Megaman fans have wanted.

Yooka and Laylee, of the upcoming Yooka-Laylee - Though yes, this title isn't in the picture, and isn't out yet, it is also going to be a throwback to a classic for many N64 fans: Banjo-Kazooie.

You might notice a pattern here. Many of the big faces in the indie world offer something people love. Either harkening back to a gaming era long gone, or offering fun/intuitive mechanics, or in some cases both, they all offer something that catches everyone's eye, that set them apart from many of the lower grade titles out there..


I think Shantae's main problem, is the fact she wasn't born into this world. She came onto the scene in an old Nintendo handheld... (one that was near the end of it's days, might I add.)

This puts her in a weird position. You have ALL of these indies I mentioned, and all of the familiar faces you see in that picture up there. They have all gotten a firm ground in their industry, and have gotten the attention of their audience nearly since the beginning.

Then we have Shantae... What exactly is she? She had her start on a console... yet is considered indie. Her big issue, is the fact that she caught on fairly late. She became a cult classic.. which is nice.. but that doesn't change the fact that after the first title, she disappeared for eight years... If you remember, she resurfaced after the first game in 2010, when her sequel came out... which I would say is around the time many of the big Indie names started to pop onto the scene as well... When the genre really got up front. This was when the likes of Minecraft, and Super Meat boy's debut.. and many more would soon follow.

Shantae, at this point, is that foreign exchange student of the indie world. She is technically an indie, by the terms of being created by a small dev team.. yet at the same time, she is considered by many to be associated with Nintendo.. albeit in a lost classic light. She is sorta straddling the fence actually. On one hand, she does fairly well as an indie, and somewhat fits... then on the other, she is still considered a lost Nintendo All-star..

In a way it kinda parallels to the fact she's a half-genie. At this point, she's half Nintendo, and half Indie...


She has a lot to deal with.. and I feel that one of the main things that is going to push her up to the top, is either making it in one of the two worlds she is associated with...

The Indie side 1. Half-Genie Hero catches everyone's eye, and she becomes an indie star

The Nintendo side 2. Shantae makes it into Smash, gets noticed, and starts getting praised for the Nintendo classic many consider her...

Who knows what the future holds for the half-genie.. she may very well make it big. The question is.. on which path will she find her fame? Either way, it will mean either getting closer to her roots, or abandoning them all together.... I, personally.. hope it's the former.

Edit: All in all... Where do you think Shantae would be if she were just in either world? What would she be like if she appeared later, as a true Indie? What if Nintendo had gotten into a partnership with Wayforward, and she became a second party... I can only wonder how things would have been for her. Would she still be in the weird position that she is in today, and has been struggling with since her debut?...

Trying to see how many characters I recognize but...as a Starbound player, I recognize that jerk*** penguin in the flying saucer.

And yeah, this picture is incomplete without Yooka and Laylee, even if I know they weren't around at the time this pic was made.

 

[TheRickyWill]

Trying to see how many characters I recognize but...as a Starbound player, I recognize that jerk*** penguin in the flying saucer.

And yeah, this picture is incomplete without Yooka and Laylee, even if I know they weren't around at the time this pic was made.

I'm just cringing at how weirdly drawn Reimu Hakurei from Touhou is.

Knowing the official art, that may have been intentional.

 

[Lord-Zero]

It was definitely intentional. That Reimu IS the official one drawn by ZUN himself, after all. As for Shantae and she getting an amiibo, it truly falls on WayForward and their proposal to Nintendo to warrant an amiibo of her for the upcoming Shantae game.

 

[TheRickyWill]

It was definitely intentional. That Reimu IS the official one drawn by ZUN himself, after all. As for Shantae and she getting an amiibo, it truly falls on WayForward and their proposal to Nintendo to warrant an amiibo of her for the upcoming Shantae game.

Yeah. Also, as I've pointed out before, Wayforward is also going to have to pay a different company to manufacture the Amiibo, as shown by Shovel Knight's.

 

[Yellowlord]

Well guys... Let's hope we get some sort of news tomorrow (favorably a character reveal or something). Like I have theorized, that Maintenance on Monday is hinting at something.

 

[TheRickyWill]

Hate to be PC, but...

"If you look at all the video game franchises with three or more games, only 12 have women as the main characters. WayForward’s Shantae the half-genie represents a particularly important - if often overlooked - milestone in representation for female characters."

"Created in 1994 by Erin Bell, with some input from her future husband Matt Bozon, Shantae is the first female character to have her own successful game franchise that was always intended to be female and the star, and who wasn’t spun off a male character’s game."

Quote from Matt about the difficulty of pitching Shantae to publishers:
"The female character thing… at the beginning, my goodness, you would not believe how hard that was. We had opportunities to get the Shantae project rolling for a while and there were plenty of conversations. With a young game industry - with people who had some money and would have to make a colossal risk to get the game manufactured and into stores, and they would ask some tough questions like “We gotta ask you… have you considered making it a male character instead? ‘Cause this is a male audience. Gotta put a guy. We don’t know, it’s never been proven that a male-dominated audience will accept a female character. Especially one that looks like this. She’s not tough, she’s just this unsuspecting [belly dancer]!” I think we were taking on too many things at the time that were risky. … It was a female character. It was a dancing game. And when we were pitching this, there was no DDR yet. We were saying we want this to be where you have to have some rhythm and there’s like a beat to it in order to transform. And they were like "Oh, it’s too hard to understand what that’d be like. What if somebody can’t get that concept?” “Well we think we can teach it to them.” “Mm… I don’t know. And it’s a girl?” And a couple of times they were like “If you put a male character and even have it be selectable, you can play as the male character or the female character. Or maybe you unlock the female character!” And we were like “NO. This is what the game is; we want it to be about this. This is her, this is her game."

PERSONALLY, THIS FEELS IMPORTANT.

In a time where female leads, and diversity in general, is becoming encouraged in gaming (heck, Nintendo's been doing it by putting the spotlight more on the Inkling Girl in Splatoon, and the same-sex relationships in FE Fates), Shantae personally seems like a character that can really represent something more than the eShop, Indies,and Handhelds. Shantae is one of the first female characters who started as the hero of their very own ongoing series, and, like Abe from Oddworld, didn't look tough, but held a ton of inner strength and potential, but wasn't afraid of showing it from the get-go.

That sounds like a pretty solid reason to put her in Smash Bros, to me.

Every 3rd party has their proper place.

>Solid Snake added more story elements to games, and made stealth fun.

>Sonic was the one who stepped up against Mario, with a battle that changed the gaming industry.

>Pac-Man brought gaming to a larger audience.

>Mega Man was one of the most succesful 3rd party franchises birthed on Nintendo, and constantly changed and evolved on it as the systems did.

>Shantae will represent the growing encouragement of diversity within gaming, and promote the independent developers who struggle just to bring their vision to life.

 

[Manic Rykker]

Really, its not that these particular characters are being put in the spotlight.. a lot of times, the characters are fairly normal. Even Samus doesn't really do much in her game, if you know what I mean, to warrant how she is often portrayed by her.. fans. lol XD

A video game character isn't sexual, unless they are bluntly portrayed as such by the developer... (Take Bayonetta.). The normal characters only appear that way when their fans portray them like that. (I mean, it's even tough to even google "Shantae", and she's often considered the obscure one... for being so obscure, people sure do like to use that "belly-dancing half-genie chick" thing to their full advantage.. lol XD)

 

[Wademan94]

I'VE DONE IT!

I FINALLY FOUND AN AD FOR THE ORIGINAL SHANTAE!

Also that Christina Aguilera reference

Even though I'm not a fan of the original design, she does look pretty cute with that pose and expression, where did you find this ad by the way?

 

[TheRickyWill]

Even though I'm not a fan of the original design, she does look pretty cute with that pose and expression, where did you find this ad by the way?

I luckily came across it on Tumblr from a blog that posts ads from gaming magazines. Until now, the closest thing I could find was an old animated comic Matt Bozon did for the GBC game's website, made long before it really took shape, as the characters weren't behaving as we know them now, Scuttle Town was named Harbor Town, etc.

 

[DiagonalSpy07]

Hate to be PC, but...

"If you look at all the video game franchises with three or more games, only 12 have women as the main characters. WayForward’s Shantae the half-genie represents a particularly important - if often overlooked - milestone in representation for female characters."

"Created in 1994 by Erin Bell, with some input from her future husband Matt Bozon, Shantae is the first female character to have her own successful game franchise that was always intended to be female and the star, and who wasn’t spun off a male character’s game."

Quote from Matt about the difficulty of pitching Shantae to publishers:
"The female character thing… at the beginning, my goodness, you would not believe how hard that was. We had opportunities to get the Shantae project rolling for a while and there were plenty of conversations. With a young game industry - with people who had some money and would have to make a colossal risk to get the game manufactured and into stores, and they would ask some tough questions like “We gotta ask you… have you considered making it a male character instead? ‘Cause this is a male audience. Gotta put a guy. We don’t know, it’s never been proven that a male-dominated audience will accept a female character. Especially one that looks like this. She’s not tough, she’s just this unsuspecting [belly dancer]!” I think we were taking on too many things at the time that were risky. … It was a female character. It was a dancing game. And when we were pitching this, there was no DDR yet. We were saying we want this to be where you have to have some rhythm and there’s like a beat to it in order to transform. And they were like "Oh, it’s too hard to understand what that’d be like. What if somebody can’t get that concept?” “Well we think we can teach it to them.” “Mm… I don’t know. And it’s a girl?” And a couple of times they were like “If you put a male character and even have it be selectable, you can play as the male character or the female character. Or maybe you unlock the female character!” And we were like “NO. This is what the game is; we want it to be about this. This is her, this is her game."

PERSONALLY, THIS FEELS IMPORTANT.

In a time where female leads, and diversity in general, is becoming encouraged in gaming (heck, Nintendo's been doing it by putting the spotlight more on the Inkling Girl in Splatoon, and the same-sex relationships in FE Fates), Shantae personally seems like a character that can really represent something more than the eShop, Indies,and Handhelds. Shantae is one of the first female character who started as the star, and, like Abe from Oddworld, didn't look tough, but held a ton of inner strength and potential, but wasn't afraid of showing it from the get-go.

That sounds like a pretty solid reason to put her in Smash Bros, to me.

Every 3rd party has their proper place.

>Solid Snake added more story elements to games, and made stealth fun.

>Sonic was the one who stepped up against Mario, with a battle that changed the gaming industry.

>Pac-Man brought gaming to a larger audience.

>Mega Man was one of the most succesful 3rd party franchises birthed on Nintendo, and constantly changed and evolved on it as the systems did.

>Shantae will represent the growing encouragement of diversity within gaming, and promote the indipendent developers who struggle just to bring their vision to life.

I feel like I want to cry of how Inspirational this post is T.T Thank you.

 

[TheRickyWill]

I feel like I want to cry of how Inspirational this post is T.T Thank you.

Gee... I never expected a reaction like that.

You're welcome.

 

[ShyGuy XL]

I'VE DONE IT!

I FINALLY FOUND AN AD FOR THE ORIGINAL SHANTAE!

Also that Christina Aguilera reference

I remember this ad it was in the Nintendo Power where they were showing off Super Mario Sunshine for the first time...damn I feel old now

 

[BigShad]

Hate to be PC, but...

"If you look at all the video game franchises with three or more games, only 12 have women as the main characters. WayForward’s Shantae the half-genie represents a particularly important - if often overlooked - milestone in representation for female characters."

"Created in 1994 by Erin Bell, with some input from her future husband Matt Bozon, Shantae is the first female character to have her own successful game franchise that was always intended to be female and the star, and who wasn’t spun off a male character’s game."

Quote from Matt about the difficulty of pitching Shantae to publishers:
"The female character thing… at the beginning, my goodness, you would not believe how hard that was. We had opportunities to get the Shantae project rolling for a while and there were plenty of conversations. With a young game industry - with people who had some money and would have to make a colossal risk to get the game manufactured and into stores, and they would ask some tough questions like “We gotta ask you… have you considered making it a male character instead? ‘Cause this is a male audience. Gotta put a guy. We don’t know, it’s never been proven that a male-dominated audience will accept a female character. Especially one that looks like this. She’s not tough, she’s just this unsuspecting [belly dancer]!” I think we were taking on too many things at the time that were risky. … It was a female character. It was a dancing game. And when we were pitching this, there was no DDR yet. We were saying we want this to be where you have to have some rhythm and there’s like a beat to it in order to transform. And they were like "Oh, it’s too hard to understand what that’d be like. What if somebody can’t get that concept?” “Well we think we can teach it to them.” “Mm… I don’t know. And it’s a girl?” And a couple of times they were like “If you put a male character and even have it be selectable, you can play as the male character or the female character. Or maybe you unlock the female character!” And we were like “NO. This is what the game is; we want it to be about this. This is her, this is her game."

PERSONALLY, THIS FEELS IMPORTANT.

In a time where female leads, and diversity in general, is becoming encouraged in gaming (heck, Nintendo's been doing it by putting the spotlight more on the Inkling Girl in Splatoon, and the same-sex relationships in FE Fates), Shantae personally seems like a character that can really represent something more than the eShop, Indies,and Handhelds. Shantae is one of the first female character who started as the star, and, like Abe from Oddworld, didn't look tough, but held a ton of inner strength and potential, but wasn't afraid of showing it from the get-go.

That sounds like a pretty solid reason to put her in Smash Bros, to me.

Every 3rd party has their proper place.

>Solid Snake added more story elements to games, and made stealth fun.

>Sonic was the one who stepped up against Mario, with a battle that changed the gaming industry.

>Pac-Man brought gaming to a larger audience.

>Mega Man was one of the most succesful 3rd party franchises birthed on Nintendo, and constantly changed and evolved on it as the systems did.

>Shantae will represent the growing encouragement of diversity within gaming, and promote the indipendent developers who struggle just to bring their vision to life.

As much as I hate PC stuff, too, this chick's literally what should be their dream. An actual character who's a chick, and diverse. Heck, given Nintendo shoving in diversity a lot recently, I'm surprised they aren't using her a lot. Must be the clothes and the occasional lewd undertone. Totally oppressive. :^)

 

[Black-magic13]

Hate to be PC, but...

"If you look at all the video game franchises with three or more games, only 12 have women as the main characters. WayForward’s Shantae the half-genie represents a particularly important - if often overlooked - milestone in representation for female characters."

"Created in 1994 by Erin Bell, with some input from her future husband Matt Bozon, Shantae is the first female character to have her own successful game franchise that was always intended to be female and the star, and who wasn’t spun off a male character’s game."

Quote from Matt about the difficulty of pitching Shantae to publishers:
"The female character thing… at the beginning, my goodness, you would not believe how hard that was. We had opportunities to get the Shantae project rolling for a while and there were plenty of conversations. With a young game industry - with people who had some money and would have to make a colossal risk to get the game manufactured and into stores, and they would ask some tough questions like “We gotta ask you… have you considered making it a male character instead? ‘Cause this is a male audience. Gotta put a guy. We don’t know, it’s never been proven that a male-dominated audience will accept a female character. Especially one that looks like this. She’s not tough, she’s just this unsuspecting [belly dancer]!” I think we were taking on too many things at the time that were risky. … It was a female character. It was a dancing game. And when we were pitching this, there was no DDR yet. We were saying we want this to be where you have to have some rhythm and there’s like a beat to it in order to transform. And they were like "Oh, it’s too hard to understand what that’d be like. What if somebody can’t get that concept?” “Well we think we can teach it to them.” “Mm… I don’t know. And it’s a girl?” And a couple of times they were like “If you put a male character and even have it be selectable, you can play as the male character or the female character. Or maybe you unlock the female character!” And we were like “NO. This is what the game is; we want it to be about this. This is her, this is her game."

PERSONALLY, THIS FEELS IMPORTANT.

In a time where female leads, and diversity in general, is becoming encouraged in gaming (heck, Nintendo's been doing it by putting the spotlight more on the Inkling Girl in Splatoon, and the same-sex relationships in FE Fates), Shantae personally seems like a character that can really represent something more than the eShop, Indies,and Handhelds. Shantae is one of the first female character who started as the star, and, like Abe from Oddworld, didn't look tough, but held a ton of inner strength and potential, but wasn't afraid of showing it from the get-go.

That sounds like a pretty solid reason to put her in Smash Bros, to me.

Every 3rd party has their proper place.

>Solid Snake added more story elements to games, and made stealth fun.

>Sonic was the one who stepped up against Mario, with a battle that changed the gaming industry.

>Pac-Man brought gaming to a larger audience.

>Mega Man was one of the most succesful 3rd party franchises birthed on Nintendo, and constantly changed and evolved on it as the systems did.

>Shantae will represent the growing encouragement of diversity within gaming, and promote the indipendent developers who struggle just to bring their vision to life.

I seen this happen myself , my brother is one of these as* holes . ever since we were little he would never play a game that had a female lead. Wth is with people hating female lead? I don't see any problem in this.

 

[SuperSegaSonicSS]

I seen this happen myself , my brother is one of these as* holes . ever since we were little he would never play a game that had a female lead. Wth is with people hating female lead? I don't see any problem in this.

Either one, unconditional sexism, from old time belief from growing up with family like that. Or just a preference of liking a male character over a female.

But there's nothing wrong with a female lead, but compared to characters like Shantae to the likes of Lora Croft, who was more "Sexy girl with guns" as a focus then a girl with a character compared to Shantae, made female leads in the past also not as well received...

 

[Shadow Novus]

You find the greatest things on Twitter

@WayForward why not Shantae too?? #ShantaeAmiibo pic.twitter.com/cvFz51H9sn

— LinkDoodle (@Link_Doodle) August 28, 2015

If this were real my money would not exit my wallet fast enough

 

[SuperSegaSonicSS]

You find the greatest things on Twitter

@WayForward why not Shantae too?? #ShantaeAmiibo pic.twitter.com/cvFz51H9sn

— LinkDoodle (@Link_Doodle) August 28, 2015

If this were real my money would not exit my wallet fast enough

Ok, I almost thought it was real and I almost passed out.

 

[ShyGuy XL]

You find the greatest things on Twitter

@WayForward why not Shantae too?? #ShantaeAmiibo pic.twitter.com/cvFz51H9sn

— LinkDoodle (@Link_Doodle) August 28, 2015

If this were real my money would not exit my wallet fast enough

Same here I would buy a Shantae amiibo the second I see it hoping we get some Smashing news about her soon

 

[Mikegamer0608]

GIF Animation Korxtendo with Featuring Shantae.
Shantae for Smash!#VoteForShantae #Shantae4Smash pic.twitter.com/VaozNrsrgV

— R.O.A (@eorx_roa) August 30, 2015

 

[TheRickyWill]

GIF Animation Korxtendo with Featuring Shantae.
Shantae for Smash!#VoteForShantae #Shantae4Smash pic.twitter.com/VaozNrsrgV

— R.O.A (@eorx_roa) August 30, 2015

That was really cute.

As much as I hate PC stuff, too, this chick's literally what should be their dream. An actual character who's a chick, and diverse. Heck, given Nintendo shoving in diversity a lot recently, I'm surprised they aren't using her a lot. Must be the clothes and the occasional lewd undertone. Totally oppressive. :^)

I would say clothes (the undertones are just for jokes in Shantae, but you'd be surprised how many undertones Nintendo has put in their games, such as underage drinking in Majora's Mask), but Shantae's outfit is an actual part of her character, rather than just being for show, unlike a large amount of female characters. Shantae's a dancer, it's what she loves. Considering how the game's world is mostly inspired by stories such as The Arabian Knights and Aladdin, it's fine, because that's how dancer's outfits in middle-eastern areas like Arabia actually look.

 

[TheRickyWill]

>People saying that Shantae has no fans in Japan

>Japanese-made posts appear on the Pirate's Curse Miiverse community

We may be getting closer to winning, guys.

 

[BlitzUnleashed]

>People saying that Shantae has no fans in Japan

>Japanese-made posts appear on the Pirate's Curse Miiverse community

We may be getting closer to winning, guys.

I love her face in the top image xD
And the bottom image looks so cute

 

[B.H. and DD]

>People saying that Shantae has no fans in Japan

>Japanese-made posts appear on the Pirate's Curse Miiverse community

We may be getting closer to winning, guys.

So cute! If she became a character, people everywhere would love her!

 

[TheRickyWill]

So cute! If she became a character, people everywhere would love her!

Out of all the western-made characters in the ballot, I can see Japan liking Shantae the most. Her adorable design and personality, as well as unique traits such as using her hair as a whip and dancing to transform into other creatures, not to mention the diverse world and characters within it: zombies, pirates, etc., can easily make her popular. I can see her probably getting around Touhou's level of popularity.

Contrary to popular belief, Japanese gamers can play her games, as Risky's Revenge DX and Pirate's Curse have been released worldwide on PC. Not to mention that other Wayforward titles like Mighty Switch Force and LIT have official Japanese releases, and Wayforward's affiliation with Inti Creates can probably help them when they get other games localized for consoles in Japan.

Meanwhile, we still can't play Mother 3 officially without importing it.