Thank you, you guys. I appreciate this very much.
I spent over an hour composing that post to make sure I was clear on what I was trying to say, and I'm glad to see that so many people agree!
I just came back from shopping and cooking my supper and I am glad to see my post generated so many positive responses.
I see, wow. You are a perfect example of what I was trying to imply would happen with Smash 4 sales with a small number of people if Ridley isn't included. I mean at this point it's just simply nonsensical for him to not be playable.
As for me, some of the newcomers I'm not interested in that much, some I am neutral on and others I am excited for, but Ridley seems like such an obvious choice for a newcomer that I will be heavily disappointed in Nintendo if he's not playable. I already have a Wii U and will still be purchasing Smash 4 as well as a 3DS for the 3DS version sometime next month regardless, since I still think both games will be very good, but still... I can definitely understand your sentiment.
Excluding Ridley for the THIRD time in a row would just be a kick in the cajones for the Metroid fans who are also Smashers. So if he's not included, it will definitely be somewhat of a hype killer for me... but if he is confirmed before or after the Japanese 3DS release, I'll be so hyped I'll be bouncing off the walls, especially for the Wii U version.
Hmm, so you had similar thoughts about Ridley in Brawl too, huh? That doesn't bode well, but hopefully if Sakurai tries anything funny with Ridley this time, Nintendo will set him straight, like I mentioned. (I hate to be a Negative Nancy, but I don't trust Sakurai 100%, even though I deeply respect him as game designer.) Actually, this brings up something I wanted to mention in my first post, but didn't to make the post flow better.
In Brawl, Sakurai made Assist Trophies out of less-requested characters. Little Mac was an Assist Trophy and who's on the roster now?
Also in Brawl,
Ridley was apparently planned to be an Assist Trophy but was changed to be a boss (recurring TWO times!) in Subspace Emissary. So, other than him being changed to a boss, I'm hoping he will follow in Little Mac's footsteps and be playable. (It really is kind of funny how much in common Ridley has with Little Mac.)
Thank you!
And yes, the other side with this Ridley situation is the craziness of teasing a well requested character in the ways he was teased in while being drug out for more than a year. I certainly agree with all of your points! Adding all of that on top of the points I made earlier would certainly make Ridley's exclusion (let alone some annoying stage hazard) a very poor decision and a very bad payoff after all of this festering speculation! I've been sort of keeping a "distant eye" on the Ridley speculation for the past six months now and
I can tell that people are getting burned out from all of the information-less speculation to the point they don't care anymore and are "hyped out" so to speak, which I doubt is something Nintendo wants. Now, I know there are obsessive people out there (Believe me, I know. I've been on the Internet since dial-up days...) but there comes a point when it becomes ridiculous. Then if Ridley turns out to be a stage hazard on top of it...
But I hope Nintendo isn't dumb enough to let that happen.
Thank you for the positive feedback, I appreciate it! I don't have a whole lot of time to post (currently going through a career change), and honestly, sometimes I feel like I don't have a lot to add simply because Ridley has constantly been in an information drought other than those two teases. (And this thread moves so damn fast.) But when I do post I try to make it count.
But yes, at the end of the day, the purpose of a company (Nintendo or whoever) is to sell products, make money and increase number of sales.
It doesn't really benefit a company to try and buck their market by stubbornly ignoring what their repeat customers are asking for. Many Smash and Metroid fans alike are asking for Ridley, so... We'll see what happens. Unfortunately, Nintendo has definitely not been the best when it comes to understanding their own market, but it seems they're trying to turn it around with Smash 4. Here's hoping for the best!
Hahaha, very nice! My first post explained in two simple pictures.