The Special Flag

[Smash_Veteran_Amtoj]

So instead of Pac-Man as a Fighter we get this?

Not bad!

 

[ChikoLad]

TBH, I'm half expecting a Soul Caliber character if we get a Namco rep. Dat Final Destination.

The S Flag is a nice little nod, though.

 

[Smashoperatingbuddy123]

So instead of Pac-Man as a Fighter we get this?

Not bad!

Well we are not there yet pac-man is still more likely to be playable at this point

But if 8-bit pac-man is something still not over thats the conductor toon link situation (exspecial if its ms pac man instead of him)

 

[DaDavid]

So instead of Pac-Man as a Fighter we get this?

Not bad!

Could be, but nothing's for sure. Regardless, it's awesome to get a dedicated Assist Trophy type item to honor Namco, even if I'm a bit too young to really appreciate all the specific pixels it summons.

 

[Wanderer from Roseyard]

Or the opposite, and the fact that there's a summoning item purely for Namco "characters" is meant to make up ( so to speak) for the lack of playable representation on Namco's side?

Could be a thing.

That was my thought, too.

Just a baseless theory here, but I figured if Pac-Man (or any Namco character) was playable, they'd just get a companion Assist Trophy like Mega Man, Snake and Sonic have. A summoning item just for Namco characters makes me more inclined to think Pac-Man may just be one of the summons. (And since all these Namco cameos are grouped under a single item, that means they can be quite easily disabled with a single click by Nintendo purists!)

 

[greenluigiman2]

Sonic is not a Sega rep, he is the Sonic rep. Snake was not a Konami rep, he is the Metal Gear rep, Mega Man is not the Capcom rep, he is the Mega Man rep. the character.

All three of those characters rep both their companies AND their games/themselves. That's why we'll never see two playable characters from the same company, no matter how popular the second choice may be. They're the faces of their respective companies. They represent them outside of Smash, and they represent them IN Smash.

Namco items = Namco representation = Namco character. Feel free to quote this post if I'm proven wrong when the game comes out.

That was my thought, too.

Just a baseless theory here, but I figured if Pac-Man (or any Namco character) was playable, they'd just get a companion Assist Trophy like Mega Man, Snake and Sonic have.

Namco is developing the game. It was probably their idea to create a special item. They have a bit more leverage than other third parties when it comes to content. Besides, Pac-Man is waaaaay more important than any other classic Namco arcade character that may appear from this mysterious item. It would be insulting to just group him with the others.

 

[DaDavid]

All three of those characters rep both their companies AND their games/themselves. That's why we'll never see two playable characters from the same company, no matter how popular the second choice may be. They're the faces of their respective companies. They represent them outside of Smash, and they represent them IN Smash.

Namco items = Namco representation = Namco character. Feel free to quote this post if I'm proven wrong when the game comes out.

There's nothing what so ever to suggest that. They are literally in for own sake, not for the sake of representing the company that happens to own them. To suggest otherwise is absolutely ignoring everything that has ever been said about what 3rd party characters are even doing in Smash in the first place.

So if Pac-Man is in, it would have to be for his own sake (remember what Sakurai said about them not getting special treatment) not because the company is working on the games. So, if this item is in because of them working on the games, it says nothing about Pac-Man's chances for this game.

 

[PKNinja95]

I'm assuming it summons random Namco characters

 

[greenluigiman2]

There's nothing what so ever to suggest that. They are literally in for own sake, not for the sake of representing the company that happens to own them. To suggest otherwise is absolutely ignoring everything that has ever been said about what 3rd party characters are even doing in Smash in the first place.

It's not a coincidence that each third party character/franchise that has been playable/represented thus far is the best each company has to offer. If they were in ONLY for their own sake then there wouldn't be a rule that each third party company only gets one playable character and that the chosen character has to be a "special case'" as Sakurai himself put it.

 

[Smashoperatingbuddy123]

Well I'm 98% its only going to be namco reps for that flag

But in my head is maybe the flag is for the retro assist trophies not just namco

 

[Smash_Veteran_Amtoj]

Maybe instead of just retro characters, we'll get modern characters as well. Characters from Tekken... Tales... Maybe Star Fox too since the S-Flag appeared in that series!

 

[KenboCalrissian]

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned the Pong assist shown during the Direct. It makes perfect sense for that to be one of the summons, if that's what this item is.

 

[BridgesWithTurtles]

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned the Pong assist shown during the Direct. It makes perfect sense for that to be one of the summons, if that's what this item is.

Namco doesn't own Pong, so it really wouldn't make any sense. Also, it's not Pong. It's "Color TV Game-15", which was Nintendo's Pong offshoot.

 

[Oniric Spriter]

It'll be cool so to see Pacman, Lloyd or Klonoa coming out of those 'Assist trophies' indeed.

 

[Smashoperatingbuddy123]

Gamexplain found something in the greninja trailer

What it is makes pac-man 99% sure of getting in either playable or s flag guy

Do you see it?

Answer

Spoiler

A pac-man reference.

Now do you see?

 

[Smash_Veteran_Amtoj]

I'd prefer Pac-Man as part of the S-Flag in his 8-bit form instead of a Fighter.

 

[8-peacock-8]

Rally X Car for most broken AT!

 

[~ Valkyrie ~]

Assist Trophies sharing the same mansion with Namco's Flagmen?

I'd dig. Especially if we get to see likes of Klonoa and Lloyd Irving appearing. Taizo Hori too.

 

[DaDavid]

Assist Trophies sharing the same mansion with Namco's Flagmen?

I'd dig. Especially if we get to see likes of Klonoa and Lloyd Irving appearing. Taizo Hori too.

As of now the Special Flag seems to be focused on retro 8-Bit games, but I suppose that'd be possible.

 

[Smash_Veteran_Amtoj]

GameXplain might do a video regarding this soon. Derrick said it was meant to be included in the last video, but got cut due to time when I messaged him about this.

 

[Altais]

Hmm, interesting hypotheses. I cannot believe I did not put that together mineself.

Anyhow, this Special Flag item seems rather interesting. Honestly, this is the first time I have ever heard about it.

I would rather have Pac-Man appear as an 8-bit badass who eats people and floats around in all his former glory than have him playable.

Same here. As much as I love Pac-Man (the old Pac-Man, anyway), I would rather not see him as a playable character. I, in all honesty, would rather have a Tales character--which could happen, as it is a known fact that the Tales producer really wants a Tales character playable. [Shrugs] That being said, I do not have high hopes.

 

[~ Valkyrie ~]

As of now the Special Flag seems to be focused on retro 8-Bit games, but I suppose that'd be possible.

I'm bit iffy on that, since we had already Pong Color TV as an Assist, which is an 8-bit AT of it's own.

 

[DaDavid]

I'm bit iffy on that, since we had already Pong Color TV as an Assist, which is an 8-bit AT of it's own.

I meant the Special Flag looks to focus on Namco's 8-Bit franchises, not in general.

 

[Brickbuild101]

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned the Pong assist shown during the Direct. It makes perfect sense for that to be one of the summons, if that's what this item is.

Pong's from Atari, and it's specifically Light Tennis, a clone by Nintendo released as a Color TV console.

 

[DaDavid]

Same here. As much as I love Pac-Man (the old Pac-Man, anyway), I would rather not see him as a playable character. I, in all honesty, would rather have a Tales character--which could happen, as it is a known fact that the Tales producer really wants a Tales character playable. [Shrugs] That being said, I do not have high hopes.

Yeah I forgot all about that interview. I mean I stopped thinking it was likely, but if Snake could happen for no reason other than Kojima asking for it, it's possible the Tales guy on-staff could beg Sakurai for a similar honor. In fact, I believe "beg" was his exact word on the matter.

 

[Starcutter]

so if the special flag is a Namco-esc assist trophy...

here's a list of characters I'd want to be summoned from that, in addition to the galaga aliens or whatever.

-Pac Man (Pac Man)
-Dig Dug (Dig-Dug)
-Klonoa (Klonoa)
-LIoyd (Tales)
-That one guy from soul caliber who's really creepy.... Voodoo or something
-Nightmare (Soul Caliber)
-Heyachi (Tekken)

unfortunately I don't know that much namco series, Klonoa's pretty much the only one I ever played really. and it was good.

EDIT: after a quick google, some guy named Gilgamesh looks like potential.

 

[SmashChu]

Pac-Man and Dig Dug come to mind. I think this implies there wont be a Namco character. If there was, they would have waited until that character was revealed. This seems to be a fun little addition and it just summons Namco characters, likely arcade ones.

 

[Starcutter]

Pac-Man and Dig Dug come to mind. I think this implies there wont be a Namco character. If there was, they would have waited until that character was revealed. This seems to be a fun little addition and it just summons Namco characters, likely arcade ones.

hopefully it's not just Arcade charactres, I want my Klonoa!

 

[AquaDork1]

I strongly feel that (modern) Pac-Man will be a playable character & the (retro) ghosts will be S-Flag characters.

 

[Starcutter]

I strongly feel that (modern) Pac-Man will be a playable character & the (retro) ghosts will be S-Flag characters.

well then, your name fits you perfectly!

(kidding)



yeah, it's definitely possible, but I feel classic Pac Man would be too good not to use here.

 

[CosmicKirby]

That was my thought, too.

Just a baseless theory here, but I figured if Pac-Man (or any Namco character) was playable, they'd just get a companion Assist Trophy like Mega Man, Snake and Sonic have. A summoning item just for Namco characters makes me more inclined to think Pac-Man may just be one of the summons. (And since all these Namco cameos are grouped under a single item, that means they can be quite easily disabled with a single click by Nintendo purists!)

Why does that even matter? There were 2 non-nintendo characters in Brawl that you couldn't just "disable with a single click" Of course you could elect to just not play them, but that same argument would hold water if Pacman was playable in Smash4.

The Special Flag says NOTHING about playable namco characters, it could easily mean either they're playable or not.

 

[Gameboi834]

Why does that even matter? There were 2 non-nintendo characters in Brawl that you couldn't just "disable with a single click" Of course you could elect to just not play them, but that same argument would hold water if Pacman was playable in Smash4.

The Special Flag says NOTHING about playable namco characters, it could easily mean either they're playable or not.

I believe he was talking about turning off the S Flag.

 

[8-peacock-8]

I strongly feel that (modern) Pac-Man will be a playable character & the (retro) ghosts will be S-Flag characters.

Add Ms. Pac-Man in there also.

 

[SpiderJerusalem]

Or not. It's entirely possible that Bandai Namco could use some other character from a "Bandai" franchise or another "Namco" franchise. Or they may even be happy with no character rep. I dunno what to think.

I'd rather Bandai stay out of the game. What would Bandai even contribute? Anime characters? They don't have any original gaming series, or at least none that I can think of/none that are of significance

 

[CosmicKirby]

I believe he was talking about turning off the S Flag.

I am aware that he is, but his reasoning for his admittedly baseless theory is flawed.

He claims that an important possible reason for pacman to not be in the game is to appeal to nintendo purists by giving them an option to ignore the namco related content entirely
-This is the exact same situation with the Sega, Konami, or Capcom related content, but nintendo purism somehow isn't already a problem here with your theory's claim. Sure, you can choose to not pick Snake or Sonic, or Shadow Moses Island, but then why is this quality important to the Special Flag? It's the same qualifier for the purists.

That last reason Wanderer included is logically flawed. A baseless theory is fine, as long as the logic for the theory makes apparent sense, this does not which is why I'm asking him if there is something I am missing.

Further, a single game with 3rd party content isn't enough to establish a trend that you can use to predict what will happen in Smash4. Just because Snake and Sonic, and thus far as we know Megaman as well only have stages or assist trophies tied to them, that doesn't make it a rule that these third parties don't get anything extra, such as other franchise related items etc.

 

[Wanderer from Roseyard]

I am aware that he is, but his reasoning for his admittedly baseless theory is flawed.

He claims that an important possible reason for pacman to not be in the game is to appeal to nintendo purists by giving them an option to ignore the namco related content entirely
-This is the exact same situation with the Sega, Konami, or Capcom related content, but nintendo purism somehow isn't already a problem here with your theory's claim. Sure, you can choose to not pick Snake or Sonic, or Shadow Moses Island, but then why is this quality important to the Special Flag? It's the same qualifier for the purists.

That last reason Wanderer included is logically flawed. A baseless theory is fine, as long as the logic for the theory makes apparent sense, this does not which is why I'm asking him if there is something I am missing.

Further, a single game with 3rd party content isn't enough to establish a trend that you can use to predict what will happen in Smash4. Just because Snake and Sonic, and thus far as we know Megaman as well only have stages or assist trophies tied to them, that doesn't make it a rule that these third parties don't get anything extra, such as other franchise related items etc.

What I was getting at is that Namco content might not be appreciated by as many people. A lot of players may feel like Namco content is only in there because their programmer slaves made the game, and that the content isn't in by its own merits. (I don't feel that way, personally; I think Namco has earned it.)

And so, to appease the people who think Namco content made it in by nepotism, all those Namco characters can go away by toggling one item.

Edit: And an apology to anyone who might have taken "Nintendo purists" as demeaning. I didn't mean it that way. This is, after all, a Nintendo crossover.

 

[CosmicKirby]

What I was getting at is that Namco content might not be appreciated by as many people. A lot of players may feel like Namco content is only in there because their programmer slaves made the game, and that the content isn't in by its own merits. (I don't feel that way, personally; I think Namco has earned it.)

And so, to appease the people who think Namco content made it in by nepotism, all those Namco characters can go away by toggling one item.

Edit: And an apology to anyone who might have taken "Nintendo purists" as demeaning. I didn't mean it that way. This is, after all, a Nintendo crossover.

That makes more sense differentiating Namco content from the others, thank you for the clarification.

That being said, I find it unlikely that this would be the case. Similar backlash didn't exist, or wasn't significant, when Sonic or Snake made their way into brawl. Or for instance, when Snake has his unique com-link messages on his own stage.
Personally, given that Namco is actually working on the game, I'd find just as worthy if not more so.

 

[ryuu seika]

I'd rather Bandai stay out of the game. What would Bandai even contribute? Anime characters? They don't have any original gaming series, or at least none that I can think of/none that are of significance

Bandai are known solely for Digimon, an early Tamagotchi variant that later spawned an anime series and, from there, a whole line of games.
Technically, Digimon has its origins in gaming.

Similar backlash didn't exist, or wasn't significant, when Sonic or Snake made their way into brawl. Or for instance, when Snake has his unique com-link messages on his own stage.

Snake was totally nepotism so the argument was definitely flawed anyway.

 

[SpiderJerusalem]

Bandai are known solely for Digimon, an early Tamagotchi variant that later spawned an anime series and, from there, a whole line of games.
Technically, Digimon has its origins in gaming.

Well TIL. I guess it'd be pretty funny to have Digimon and Pokemon in the same game, but I'd still rather Digimon stay out

 

[FreeFallUp]

I'd rather Bandai stay out of the game. What would Bandai even contribute? Anime characters? They don't have any original gaming series, or at least none that I can think of/none that are of significance

After a bit of research...
...yeah Bandai can't really bring much.

Edit: Oops. Didn't notice some the earlier posts. Still don't think Bandai would contribute much in terms of "Bandai franchise" unless it's a short cameo.