The True Purpose of the Fighter Ballot

[letsgetsmashing]

We all know that the original purpose of the fighter ballot was not ultimately what the information ended up being used for. Bayonetta and Corrin's development for Smash 4 began before the fighter ballot results had been finalized. During Smash Ultimate's life cycle, we then learned from Sakurai that several of the picks came from the fighter ballot. Now, how many of the newcomers in Smash were picked from the fighter ballot is really a mystery.

and were locks for the game as both were extremely popular and relevant characters who have become faces of Nintendo.
and , while still popular, were likely picked to strengthen Nintendo and Konami's relationship upon Snake's return rather than being picked due to the ballot. I doubt they outranked other 3rd parties that didn't make it like Rayman, Shantae, and Banjo. There Konami brother Bomberman probably placed better on the ballot, so they were likely picked for nostalgic regions.
was definitely not a ballot pick as Pokemon Sun & Moon wasn't even out at the time of the ballot.
So for unique newcomers, that leaves & . King K. Rool was probably gonna get in anyway but the ballot might've been the final push to show Nintendo that this guy NEEDS to be in Smash. Also if you got first place Nintendo might've feel inclined to put him in. As for Ridley, I'm sure he did good on the ballot, but many thought the ballot would decide the next newcomer for Smash 4, and therefore might not have been highly vote for as he was a boss in the game, making him being playable less likely. Also fans of Ridley had been told he was not ever going to be in the game so many times, so some might've felt it pointless to vote for him.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is the ballot isn't as big of a factor in this games roster as many initially thought. So with this in mind, is there potential that Sakurai could be looking at the ballot in the future? It seems silly to be for Nintendo to conduct some huge fighter ballot that was talked about constantly over the course of 6 months and then only pick a couple of characters from it. Also, it's kind of suspicious that he picked characters that everyone knew was popular. I mean King K. Rool & Ridley have been talked about forever. I kind of thought that we would've seen faces that surged in popularity in the community during the ballot, like Isaac, the Chorus Men, Bandana Dee, and Dixie Kong. These characters were just as popular, and might not have been on Sakurai's radar without the ballot. What I'm trying to say is I don't think we've seen the end of the ballot. There's no new ballot for Smash Ultimate DLC, so they could be using the old one. It has been said that Nintendo picked the characters, so maybe Nintendo picked popular ballot choices that Sakurai chose to ignore.

So what do you think? Do you think we've seen the last of the ballot, or do you think that most of Smash Ultimate's choices did come from the ballot?

 

[yknowlikenia]

i feel as though, since nintendo is choosing fighters to bring more representation to series, over what the fans are requesting. that isn't based on anything, though, just what i imagine they're planning.

 

[ｐｓ＿]

K. Rool probably wasn't going to get in on his own, Nintendo forgot he existed. Even Sakurai admitted it was a surprise. Ridley's vocal fanbase is about as old as Rool's and Sakurai responded to them twice but, I assume, he still had a prominent place in the ballot.

 

[SvartWolf]

I feel that this post is obviating the influenc of veterans in the ballot.

I'm pretty sure that Snake and wolf scored extremely well on the ballot. maybe even better than king K rool..
Ice climbers dunno, since people though they werent feasible for 3ds, but even then, they probably also scored pretty high.
So if you put a ballot, and the results are veterans that high... is only natural to put high emphasis on bringing everyone back and not cut anyone. seems shortsighted to think that the ballot didn't influenced theeveryone is here motif.

Also. you kinda asuming that Inlkings and isabelle weren't very high on the ballot either. The fact that Inkling would be in, ballot or not ballot doesn't change the fact that Inkling were a super popular ballot pick. and isabelle is also an extremely popular pick for casual nintendo fans that don't go to smash related sites to vote on popularity polls.

The thing with Krool is that is probably one of the characters that 100% wouldnt be in withouth the ballot. but it doesn't means that is the only character on the ballot.

 

[Mogisthelioma]

Yeah, and they completely ditched Bandana Dee in the process.......

 

[Deleted member]

My theory is that King K. Rool was the actual ballot winner, but they decided to save him for the next game, not as DLC.

I agree that the overall ballot choices might have influenced Sakurai to bring back all veterans for the next game as well (enabling him to use the marketing phrase "Everyone is here"), and I also agree that many characters that could have done better on the ballot did not, because at the time we all assumed it was for DLC, not a new game (so not many would have voted for Ridley, for example, as he was already a boss). King K. Rool seems to be the only one not influenced by other factors--he was not deconfirmed, but also not relevant and likely to appear without fan demand. Thus, he's probably the true ballot winner.

EDIT: Soft confirmation of this may also be the fact that King K. Rool was included as a Mii costume after the ballot, which Sakurai tends to do for characters who he didn't have time to otherwise fully develop, or didn't fully develop for other reasons.

 

[Oddball]

We all know that the original purpose of the fighter ballot was not ultimately what the information ended up being used for.

We don't know this.

Bayonetta and Corrin's development for Smash 4 began before the fighter ballot results had been finalized.

I've seen circumstantial evidence for Bayonettabut nothing conrete and I don't think anyone has EVER made the argument that Corrin got in because of the ballot.

It seems silly to be for Nintendo to conduct some huge fighter ballot that was talked about constantly over the course of 6 months and then only pick a couple of characters from it.

Not at all. That was perfect marketing.

Also, it's kind of suspicious that he picked characters that everyone knew was popular.

What's supscisious about characters we know people supporting getting in the game? Obviously if tons of people wanted them in, tons of people would have voted for them.

Isaac, the Chorus Men, Bandana Dee, and Dixie Kong. These characters were just as popular,

No they weren't.

 

[letsgetsmashing]

We don't know this.
It seems pretty obvious consdering Bayonetta was found to be in the game before the ballot ended and surely didn't win it.


Not at all. That was perfect marketing.
But Sakurai knows not to hype people up and then not deliver. Nintendo might do such a thing, but Masahiro is not known for that.

No they weren't.
My apologies that I worded that phrase wrong, I hope you can forgive me. I meant to say they were almost as popular.

 

[Mariomaniac45213]

King K. Rool was probably gonna get in anyway but the ballot might've been the final push to show Nintendo that this guy NEEDS to be in Smash.

This I disagree with. K.Rool would probably still be buried in Tanabe and Miyamoto's backyard if it wasn't for us K.Rool fans saving him from the brink of extinction. No way in hell K.Rool would've gotten in without the Ballot especially since the character hasn't appeared in a game in a decade. Not to mention when K.Rool WAS "relevant" during both Melee and Brawl's development he was STILL overlooked. It's been proven time and time again that Nintendo doesn't care about any of the DKC characters that aren't DK and Diddy. Occasionally they will throw us DKC fans a bone by throwing a Dixie or Funky in a Mario spin-off title but for the most part it's EXTREMELY slim pickins for some of our favorite characters without Rare.

I just thank the stars that K.Rool was as highly voted as he was and one of the few times I can honestly say that most of the internet were on the same page and thank the sane people who realized K.Rool is a Nintendo "All-Star" and that he deserved to be in Smash. Also for most of us K.Rool supporters it wasn't voting for him simply because we wanted him in Smash but to make a statement to Nintendo that we LOVE this character and don't want to see him fall by the wayside and to return to the DK series as the main villain again and even make more Mario spin-off cameos. It was more about saving the character than just getting him in Smash. Now how Nintendo moves forward with K.Rool remains to be seen but at least us K.Rool fans have hope again...

 

[Mogisthelioma]

I've seen circumstantial evidence for Bayonettabut nothing conrete and I don't think anyone has EVER made the argument that Corrin got in because of the ballot.

Although not confirmed, there's evidence suggesting that Bayo was decided just two weeks into the ballot. You're right abut the Corrins, they weren't popular at all.

Not at all. That was perfect marketing.

You're right, it's just people get salty when characters get added for reasons they had no say in.

What's supscisious about characters we know people supporting getting in the game? Obviously if tons of people wanted them in, tons of people would have voted for them.

What's suspicious is that they were already decided on way before the ballot even finished, and Bayo specifically didn't end up being too popular.

No they weren't.

They were still more popular than any of the seven DLC picks they made (other than Roy).

Spoiler: Japanese ballot results

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

Basically, what I'm trying to say is the ballot isn't as big of a factor in this games roster as many initially thought. So with this in mind, is there potential that Sakurai could be looking at the ballot in the future? It seems silly to be for Nintendo to conduct some huge fighter ballot that was talked about constantly over the course of 6 months and then only pick a couple of characters from it. Also, it's kind of suspicious that he picked characters that everyone knew was popular. I mean King K. Rool & Ridley have been talked about forever. I kind of thought that we would've seen faces that surged in popularity in the community during the ballot, like Isaac, the Chorus Men, Bandana Dee, and Dixie Kong. These characters were just as popular, and might not have been on Sakurai's radar without the ballot. What I'm trying to say is I don't think we've seen the end of the ballot. There's no new ballot for Smash Ultimate DLC, so they could be using the old one. It has been said that Nintendo picked the characters, so maybe Nintendo picked popular ballot choices that Sakurai chose to ignore.

So what do you think? Do you think we've seen the last of the ballot, or do you think that most of Smash Ultimate's choices did come from the ballot?

This seems plausible. People had claimed before that there have been official polls conducted in Japan to determine Smash roster additions (during the days of Melee and such), and some characters take years before finally getting in a roster.

I think it's all a question of priority, so I could see Sakurai pool from the ballot results over the course of the next entry or so.

The veterans coming back definitely factored from the ballot as an influence, though. Even joke and unironic Pichu votes, meagre as they may have been.

 

[Mogisthelioma]

This seems plausible. People had claimed before that there have been official polls conducted in Japan to determine Smash roster additions (during the days of Melee and such), and some characters take years before finally getting in a roster.

I think it's all a question of priority, so I could see Sakurai pool from the ballot results over the course of the next entry or so.

The veterans coming back definitely factored from the ballot as an influence, though. Even joke and unironic Pichu votes, meagre as they may have been.

It should be noted that Castlevania probably wouldn't be in Smash if we didn't get Snake back, because Konami.

 

[KirbyWorshipper2465]

It should be noted that Castlevania probably wouldn't be in Smash if we didn't get Snake back, because Konami.

Sakurai was really lucky to be friends with Kojima, given that. He probably went "I know what you did " during recent negotiations.

Oh, and since I brought up old character polls, I found this ancient thread:

https://smashboards.com/threads/i-think-this-might-be-interesting-to-look-at-melee-1999-poll.81891/

Although the part mentioning characters originally planned for 64 may not be too accurate.