The Official Thread For the Sal Romano/Gematsu Leak

[Pazzo.]

If the leaker got Chrom wrong... hm, I'd say that it's possible, but he's gotten too much stuff right already. The leak is real, but there may be stuff wrong, like Lucas...

I'd like to say he's just going to be DLC, but the character roster was finalized a long time ago. Ergo, there's no need to debate between him and Ness.

 

[Autumn ♫]

If the leaker got Chrom wrong... hm, I'd say that it's possible, but he's gotten too much stuff right already. The leak is real, but there may be stuff wrong, like Lucas...

I'd like to say he's just going to be DLC, but the character roster was finalized a long time ago. Ergo, there's no need to debate between him and Ness.

If the leaker got Chrom wrong, I'd be the happiest man in the world for a short period of time.

 

[Tottenham]

I feel that a lot of people are creating theories to cover the weak points of this leak and it's really easy to get things right by being vague. Just remember that out many "leaks", one might actually get it right by chance. To be fair, the only really good leak by him so far is WFT. That being said, he still got some things right and there is nothing wrong in believing in him at this point.

I can't prove he is right or wrong now, just like no one can. We will only be sure about this guy when we get the full game.

 

[Zacoftheaxes]

Maybe if the guy who gave the second leak is an entirely different person from the E3 2013 leaker and he got fired very early in development (before the roster was completely finalized) since that's the only way it matches up with how the second leak doesn't know Greninja by name but the first leaker knows that Villager, Wii Fit Trainer, and Mega Man would be revealed at E3 2013.

It's possible he got his information early on when the cast was being decided. It's possible he found out the username and password to Nintendo's E3 press site this year (It was up for a couple days and the information was super easy to guess) and he found the "Mii Fighter" information on there. He had previously only called the Mii exactly that until just one day before the announcement. He may have been fired from Nintendo or given a job in a different department but still knew this information, even more likely if he was transferred somewhere else (such as PR).

 

[Captain Fun]

On the topic of Matt Mercer- we heard that he hadn't been contacted to voice Chrom in Smash- this was back in July of last year. Has there been anything more recent than that? Because if there hasn't then I don't think it's significant.

 

[Ryuutakeshi]

Voice acting is one of the last things they do.

 

[Pazzo.]

On the topic of Matt Mercer- we heard that he hadn't been contacted to voice Chrom in Smash- this was back in July of last year. Has there been anything more recent than that? Because if there hasn't then I don't think it's significant.

That could be critical. Someone should look into that... if we can find anything. Has any newcomer ever been leaked by a voice actor?

 

[The Light Music Club]

On the topic of Matt Mercer- we heard that he hadn't been contacted to voice Chrom in Smash- this was back in July of last year. Has there been anything more recent than that? Because if there hasn't then I don't think it's significant.

April 2014 according to this: http://guardianlv.com/2014/04/interview-with-matthew-mercer-sakura-con-easter-weekend/

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

If Chrom wasn't shown off just yet, his voice acting wouldn't be important. They only need the ones for currently playable characters in the versions released to the public at best. It's pretty much useless evidence to take into account if a voice actor was contacted or not. They can't say anything, and they won't mean anything.

 

[The Light Music Club]

I've done a lot of looking into Voice Acting, and at least for Anime, they all do it in one swoop, and I think with the amount of lines Palutena has, she would have to be done at the latest April or early May. Chrom would be done back then too. He would know by April if he was in the game or not especially since the original planned US release was Summer.

 

[Ryuutakeshi]

That is a good point. They'd have to have already scheduled it by now. Unless they are doing it in chunks.

 

[The Light Music Club]

That is a good point. They'd have to have already scheduled it by now. Unless they are doing it in chunks.

Which wouldn't make to much sense, as it's a lot easier for a crew to have all the actors together. I mean it's still possible, but I doubt it.

 

[Zacoftheaxes]

I've done a lot of looking into Voice Acting, and at least for Anime, they all do it in one swoop, and I think with the amount of lines Palutena has, she would have to be done at the latest April or early May. Chrom would be done back then too. He would know by April if he was in the game or not especially since the original planned US release was Summer.

He also likely has a non-disclosure agreement where he is not allowed to say that he's voicing someone in the game. Voice Actors are normally a terrible way of figuring out who is in a game. People barked up this tree during Brawl and found jack.

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

Which wouldn't make to much sense, as it's a lot easier for a crew to have all the actors together. I mean it's still possible, but I doubt it.

If there's a chance any last minute additions are being made(and didn't they say the game was still being worked on regardless?), this could include voices. It's not too hard to believe at this point. Especially after Brawl had a last minute change. Could Smash 4 as well? Yes. I say we have enough reason to believe it's theoretically possible.

Likewise, he'd be under oath to lie, would he not? We can't really take his word into account. Not like another voice actor is impossible too.

 

[Captain Fun]

April 2014 according to this: http://guardianlv.com/2014/04/interview-with-matthew-mercer-sakura-con-easter-weekend/

Thank you. I suppose he might not be voicing him in this- if Matt truly hasn't been contacted then it's possible some info has changed- or he's not produced any new voicework for the game and it's recycled/another actor is doing it- or Chrom isn't in this.

However I can't really see the leaker getting Chrom's name wrong. It's possible but I can't realistically imagine that scenario playing out. He could be lying since he legally can't talk about it and if he said "I can't talk about it" we would all take that as a confirmation.

But yeah, we'll have to wait and see.

 

[Scoliosis Jones]

Based on the fact that he'd be under an NDA, it doesn't mean anything anyway. People lie all the time about stuff like this. This certainly doesn't mean Chrom isn't happening. He probably is based on the leak.

It's hard for me to believe that somebody having access to this type of information would be able to confuse Chrom with any character to the extent people are trying to say (not just here). Somebody tried saying he confused Chrom for Lucina. That doesn't make any sense. How would somebody confuse Lucina and Chrom?

 

[Luigi#1]

Whoops.......

 

[The Light Music Club]

He also likely has a non-disclosure agreement where he is not allowed to say that he's voicing someone in the game. Voice Actors are normally a terrible way of figuring out who is in a game. People barked up this tree during Brawl and found jack.

But do NDA's allow you to flat out lie about participating in something? I thought that you just weren't allowed to give a direct yes or no answer.

If there's a chance any last minute additions are being made(and didn't they say the game was still being worked on regardless?), this could include voices. It's not too hard to believe at this point. Especially after Brawl had a last minute change. Could Smash 4 as well? Yes. I say we have enough reason to believe it's theoretically possible.

Likewise, he'd be under oath to lie, would he not? We can't really take his word into account. Not like another voice actor is impossible too.

Of course, I'm not saying it is impossible, it's just that I would think it's leaning more towards that it wouldn't happen.

He's under oath not to talk about his involvement in general, so I don't think he can point to either yes OR no, he wouldn't be able to lead either way. As for a voice change; considering Mercer is playing a popular character in a popular Anime (Levi in Attack on Titan) and that Ike is voiced in PoR, RD, and SSBB by the same actor, I would assume that they would want Mercer back on the game. And He wants to be on it, so unless Nintendo didn't want to pay the money, it would be him playing Chrom.

I remember when Christina Vee was asked if she would play Compa in Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory, she simply said she "can't comment" I would assume Mercer would say the same type of thing.

 

[Luigi#1]

If there's a chance any last minute additions are being made(and didn't they say the game was still being worked on regardless?), this could include voices. It's not too hard to believe at this point. Especially after Brawl had a last minute change. Could Smash 4 as well? Yes. I say we have enough reason to believe it's theoretically possible.

Likewise, he'd be under oath to lie, would he not? We can't really take his word into account. Not like another voice actor is impossible too.

I thought the 3DS version was done except for bug testing and stuff.
But yeah, he could be lieing. David Tennant lied about not being in the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who.
Oh wait wrong fandom.

 

[Scoliosis Jones]

But do NDA's allow you to flat out lie about participating in something? I thought that you just weren't allowed to give a direct yes or no answer.



Of course, I'm not saying it is impossible, it's just that I would think it's leaning more towards that it wouldn't happen.

He's under oath not to talk about his involvement in general, so I don't think he can point to either yes OR no, he wouldn't be able to lead either way. As for a voice change; considering Mercer is playing a popular character in a popular Anime (Levi in Attack on Titan) and that Ike is voiced in PoR, RD, and SSBB by the same actor, I would assume that they would want Mercer back on the game. And He wants to be on it, so unless Nintendo didn't want to pay the money, it would be him playing Chrom.

People lie about this kind of stuff all the time. This isn't anything out of the ordinary.

 

[JaidynReiman]

Based on the fact that he'd be under an NDA, it doesn't mean anything anyway. People lie all the time about stuff like this. This certainly doesn't mean Chrom isn't happening. He probably is based on the leak.

It's hard for me to believe that somebody having access to this type of information would be able to confuse Chrom with any character to the extent people are trying to say (not just here). Somebody tried saying he confused Chrom for Lucina. That doesn't make any sense. How would somebody confuse Lucina and Chrom?

If the information he received was "the main character of Fire Emblem Awakening," I could definitely see that happening (especially because of the whole "Pokemon from X/Y debacle"). Most of his info is outdated. He only gets small bits of updated info at a time, such as when he had an official name for "Mii Fighter."

Likewise, Chorus Men could still be off as well if they couldn't get Chorus Men to work.

EDIT:
The main character of Fire Emblem Awakening is technically Robin. That's why I brought it up, taking into account the fact that Awakening came out shortly after development on the game likely began.

 

[The Light Music Club]

People lie about this kind of stuff all the time. This isn't anything out of the ordinary.

Really? I've only heard of people not leaning either way on their involvements on projects like these. Not flat out lying to fans, and then saying "Surprise! I lied to you all this time! Now pay me money and still like me!"

 

[Scoliosis Jones]

If the information he received was "the main character of Fire Emblem Awakening," I could definitely see that happening (especially because of the whole "Pokemon from X/Y debacle"). Most of his info is outdated. He only gets small bits of updated info at a time, such as when he had an official name for "Mii Fighter."

Likewise, Chorus Men could still be off as well if they couldn't get Chorus Men to work.

EDIT:
The main character of Fire Emblem Awakening is technically Robin. That's why I brought it up, taking into account the fact that Awakening came out shortly after development on the game likely began.

This leaker has specific information about this game. That is clear based on the information he has leaked. Unless the Fire Emblem spot were listed like the "X/Y Pokemon" spot was, then I would expect Chrom. There isn't much reason to assume other wise considering there isn't anything damning with Matt Mercer.

 

[Neo Zero]

People gotta remember, if he says yes, it doesn't mean he's playable (Krystal in Brawl), and if he says no, he either can't say, or isn't in the game. Like was said, looking at voice actors for characters is a terrible way to go about it.

 

[Scoliosis Jones]

Really? I've only heard of people not leaning either way on their involvements on projects like these. Not flat out lying to fans, and then saying "Surprise! I lied to you all this time! Now pay me money and still like me!"

Have you ever heard of the things Hideo Kojima has done?

MGS 2: Hey guys! Snake is the main character!...No I'm just kidding, it's Raiden!

The Phantom Pain: Hey guys! This isn't a Metal Gear Solid game so shut up....Just kidding, it's Metal Gear Solid.

Kojima is devoted. He showed up at a convention in a shirt that said "Moby **** Studios" a fake studio he created to give off the ruse that it was a brand new studio making a brand new game.

This stuff happens quite a bit. I'm sure there are plenty of other cases other people could use.

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

I thought the 3DS version was done except for bug testing and stuff.

No clue. We got the demo, not the finished version, though. Remember the demo of Brawl? Major changes before release. It's not impossible here again.

But yeah, he could be lieing. David Tennant lied about not being in the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who.
Oh wait wrong fandom.

Heh. But yeah, lying or telling the truth, both are possible.

 

[Backgammon]

But do NDA's allow you to flat out lie about participating in something? I thought that you just weren't allowed to give a direct yes or no answer.

NDAs are very tricky. I've written a few myself and been under a few and the terms vary massively.

In a case such as this, I would assume that it's a "no information" clause, which just flat out states he cannot give any information that he is related to a project in any way, as his mere inclusion in the project could give away information. However, this, in itself, causes a problem. Even if he had said "No comment", which is the standard legal way of giving no information, this could have caused a bit of an uproar, because people usually only say "No comment" if they have something to hide and the community that is famous for overanalysing would have picked up on it immediately.

If, hypothetically, he was under an NDA, I would have written it so that he can deny the information without penalty, because if it was a No Information clause, even denying it is giving information and thus, he can be prosecuted.

TL;DR: NDAs are complicated. From someone who's written and been under some, looking at his comments, I would say he wasn't.

 

[The Light Music Club]

Have you ever heard of the things Hideo Kojima has done?

MGS 2: Hey guys! Snake is the main character!...No I'm just kidding, it's Raiden!

The Phantom Pain: Hey guys! This isn't a Metal Gear Solid game so shut up....Just kidding, it's Metal Gear Solid.

Kojima is devoted. He showed up at a convention in a shirt that said "Moby **** Studios" a fake studio he created to give off the ruse that it was a brand new studio making a brand new game.

This stuff happens quite a bit. I'm sure there are plenty of other cases other people could use.

I know Kojima does stuff like that, but isn't he the creator of all of that? Isn't he allowed to do whatever it is he wants?

NDAs are very tricky. I've written a few myself and been under a few and the terms vary massively.

In a case such as this, I would assume that it's a "no information" clause, which just flat out states he cannot give any information that he is related to a project in any way, as his mere inclusion in the project could give away information. However, this, in itself, causes a problem. Even if he had said "No comment", which is the standard legal way of giving no information, this could have caused a bit of an uproar, because people usually only say "No comment" if they have something to hide and the community that is famous for overanalysing would have picked up on it immediately.

If, hypothetically, he was under an NDA, I would have written it so that he can deny the information without penalty, because if it was a No Information clause, even denying it is giving information and thus, he can be prosecuted.

TL;DR: NDAs are complicated. From someone who's written and been under some, looking at his comments, I would say he wasn't.

Ok, thanks for clearing that up for me. Does that mean you do not believe he is lying?

 

[Zacoftheaxes]

Food for thought: Nearly every character confirmed by the leaker is a second or third party character. While Little Mac, Villager and Wii Fit Trainer definitely started off as first parties, there were second party developers assisting in their most recent releases (Punch-Out!! for Wii, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, and Wii Fit U). The only two characters I could not find a second party developer's involvement with are (you guessed it) Rosalina and Miis, which his information has been inconsistent about. I should also point out Lady Palutena's second party is Sora LTD, Sakurai's company who is developing Smash, so that might disprove this.

It's possible Sal's leaker does some work in Sora or Nintendo's legal department, or that he has a couple of contacts at Nintendo giving him information. It's possible Sal's leaker is leaking on behalf of the actual leaker, to get the information even further away from him.

 

[Noiblade]

If we're talking about Voice acting, I know a decent amount, just from listening to Voice actors speak at panels.

For example, they don't just get everyone at the same time to voice a character, most of the time most voice actors don't even get to meet other voice actors that are working on the same thing they are unless they decide to meet outside of the studios.

I imagine Smash probably get's it's voices done last, once a character is 100% finalized.(Not saying Chrom wasn't finalized or anything) I'm willing to bet Matt was under an NDA.

But are people still arguing about the legitimacy of this leak?
I know people can be lucky but there's no way in hell, that someone can guess 11 characters, get 8 of them right and not have anything conflict(Such as AT disconfirmations) for a whole year. Just "Guessing" characters isn't even a plausible possibility anymore.

Anyone who even thinks about questioning the legitimacy of this leak is pretty much just in denial.

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

There is no question he has real information.

It's a matter if he actually added lies or not, so we have to wait for a full confirmation of all the parts to know he was telling the truth 100%(and the wrong names are suspicious to a degree regardless). That's what people are waiting for. A lot of this leak is blatantly legitimate. He made 13 assertions. 11 playable characters(of which 8 are right), DLC confirmed, and Ness or Lucas may be cut(likely Lucas). He still has 5 parts to get correct first, not 3. People shouldn't ignore the last two pieces, because they are important.

 

[JaidynReiman]

If we're talking about Voice acting, I know a decent amount, just from listening to Voice actors speak at panels.

For example, they don't just get everyone at the same time to voice a character, most of the time most voice actors don't even get to meet other voice actors that are working on the same thing they are unless they decide to meet outside of the studios.

I imagine Smash probably get's it's voices done last, once a character is 100% finalized.(Not saying Chrom wasn't finalized or anything) I'm willing to bet Matt was under an NDA.

But are people still arguing about the legitimacy of this leak?
I know people can be lucky but there's no way in hell, that someone can guess 11 characters, get 8 of them right and not have anything conflict(Such as AT disconfirmations) for a whole year. Just "Guessing" characters isn't even a plausible possibility anymore.

Anyone who even thinks about questioning the legitimacy of this leak is pretty much just in denial.

We're not debating whether or not the leak is legit, just whether or not all the remaining information is fully accurate. He didn't get Villager's name right or figure out that the Pokemon from X/Y was Greninja, and since things change (and his info is outdated), we could easily see an Awakening character other than Chrom or a different Rhythm Heaven character. That's what we're debating.

 

[Backgammon]

Ok, thanks for clearing that up for me. Does that mean you do not believe he is lying?

I'm not sure, exactly. I'd say that, by his words, he's not under an NDA at all, because if it was a Unilateral NDA, flat out saying "no" could land him in big trouble, as he is disclosing some kind of knowledge about the project - even if it is a lie.

Also, if the Gematsu leak is correct, it could be argued that the information is now in the public domain, if the leaker was indeed an employee of Nintendo or Sora. In this case, the NDA would become non-binding and he could basically say what he wanted, because the information is now publicly known.

It's worth mentioning that flat out saying "No" is also unlikely to cause a judge to rule in the favour of the party that wrote the NDA, because by giving false information, it could also be seen as a way of throwing a curveball - and thus not giving away any information.

I don't believe he's lying, per se, mostly because of the legal implications that could happen if he did. However, if he was prosecuted and they went down the public domain route, he could also be legally covered. However, it could be entirely possible that he is under a NDA, but it's a flexible one. I don't believe this is the case however, as companies often just go with a very standard precedent confidentiality agreement (a contract that allows them to give away secrets, but not the employee) or a Bilateral agreement (both parties keep a secret until a set date).

 

[Noiblade]

We're not debating whether or not the leak is legit, just whether or not all the remaining information is fully accurate. He didn't get Villager's name right or figure out that the Pokemon from X/Y was Greninja, and since things change (and his info is outdated), we could easily see an Awakening character other than Chrom or a different Rhythm Heaven character. That's what we're debating.

To be fair, Villager didn't actually have a name til Smash.
But I understand why it would raise some red flags.

 

[Luigi#1]

We're not debating whether or not the leak is legit, just whether or not all the remaining information is fully accurate. He didn't get Villager's name right or figure out that the Pokemon from X/Y was Greninja, and since things change (and his info is outdated), we could easily see an Awakening character other than Chrom or a different Rhythm Heaven character. That's what we're debating.

He must have gotten this dated info reeeealy late though.

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

To be fair, Villager didn't actually have a name til Smash.
But I understand why it would raise some red flags.

According to the link that was provided where StarPhoenix actually translated it, the name Villager was used. At least, from what I remember. He made that topic well before Villager was revealed, and it wasn't in a secret forum or anything.

The name actually already existed. Now, I'm not going to pretend he saw the name, or that Sakurai actually listed it as Villager instead of Animal Crossing Guy. The "Goddess Palutena" part suggests he wrote the names down himself, not directly copied it. Which in a way makes it harder to pin if he knew the real character names entirely.

 

[JaidynReiman]

He must have gotten this dated info reeeealy late though.

Which info? He got an updated bit on Mii Fighter, but that doesn't mean any of his other info was updated at all. The "Lucas or Ness" debate would've settled months ago. Pokemon from X/Y would've had to have been retrieved VERY early. Other evidence suggests Chrom doesn't have a voice actor, and Robin's theme is being used instead of anything directly attributed to Chrom.

Another possibility is Chrom was planned at first, but they changed their mind after seeing how he'd be too close to Ike/Marth and this guy didn't get up-to-date info. There's so many things that could change with this so there's no set guarantee we have Chrom and Chorus Men (we can guarantee there's a character from those games based on the leak). There's no other notable Xenoblade character other than Shulk.


That said, count on Chrom and Chorus Men, but keep in mind it could be different.

 

[Luigi#1]

Which info? He got an updated bit on Mii Fighter, but that doesn't mean any of his other info was updated at all. The "Lucas or Ness" debate would've settled months ago. Pokemon from X/Y would've had to have been retrieved VERY early. Other evidence suggests Chrom doesn't have a voice actor, and Robin's theme is being used instead of anything directly attributed to Chrom.

Another possibility is Chrom was planned at first, but they changed their mind after seeing how he'd be too close to Ike/Marth and this guy didn't get up-to-date info. There's so many things that could change with this so there's no set guarantee we have Chrom and Chorus Men (we can guarantee there's a character from those games based on the leak). There's no other notable Xenoblade character other than Shulk.


That said, count on Chrom and Chorus Men, but keep in mind it could be different.

1st leak, 2nd Leak.

 

[Shroob]

It's funny since that interview contradicts what my friend said Mercer told him at Sakura-con this year. When he asked him if Chrom would be in Smash Bros, he said "Most definitely."

 

[Noiblade]

It's funny since that interview contradicts what my friend said Mercer told him at Sakura-con this year. When he asked him if Chrom would be in Smash Bros, he said "Most definitely."

Interesting...