What companies will Sakurai prioritize for 3rd Party Characters?

[StaffofSmashing]

We got Mega Man. *insert fanboy happiness here*

Anyway, Capcom now has a representative, along with Sega and Konami.

So, for the second 3rd Party slot, what company will Sakurai and the development team decide to let join the smash cast?

I think Disney and Ubisoft are big competitors. Skylanders is Machine-Gunning games for Nintendo consoles, and Nintendo characters appeared in Wreck-It Ralph.

So who do you think?

 

[MexM]

We got Mega Man. *insert fanboy happiness here*

Anyway, Capcom now has a representative, along with Sega and Konami.

So, for the second 3rd Party slot, what company will Sakurai and the development team decide to let join the smash cast?

I think Disney and Ubisoft are big competitors. Skylanders is Machine-Gunning games for Nintendo consoles, and Nintendo characters appeared in Wreck-It Ralph.

So who do you think?

Sega and Konami don't have a representative yet, Sakurai could change it if he wants to.
Ralph is fourth party. Skylanders isn't from Disney or Ubisoft, it's from Activision, the one that does the Machine-Gunning games.

Anyways, I would like to see how an ATLUS character could be incorporated. Or Layton or Mark Evans (Inazuma Eleven), both are from Level-5, and seeing their uniqueness and importance to Nintendo, I would love to see either of them. Also Maxwell from Scribblenauts from Warner, he would be pretty fun.

 

[greenluigiman2]

Namco is the obvious choice.

 

[Deleted member]

I think that all 3rd parties are on equal level in terms of priority. Sakurai even stated that even though Namco is helping with the game, they won't get any special treatment to warrant them representation on the roster. It all comes down to Sakurai's decisions if he really wants another third party character.

 

[Dr. James Rustles]

There is a difference between what company we think Sakurai & Co. will include a character from and what companies they have prioritized for 3rd Party characters (which is what the title is asking for). As for priority, it's hard to say, and it's weird to even suggest that they have priorities for companies. As an aside, my intuition tells me the third party cast is likely to be finalized before any of the other first party characters as they are likely contracted.

If we had to think in terms of 3rd Party additions while considering usual Nintendo's conservatism, I don't think it's unrealistic to expect Ubisoft, specifically Rayman. Disney is probably right out. Despite the company's new forays into video game development and distribution in the 2000s, they are still worlds apart from Nintendo. There aren't as many cues to suggest Disney might be interested in pushing a character onto Smash.

Square is like that friend you've known since you were a kid and when you got older you admitted you had feelings for them which ended up pushing the two of you apart. You still stay in touch and have the occasional tryst when nothing is happening, so it could go either way. These days they're perpetually tied up in things that will never come to fruition.

 

[greenluigiman2]

I think that all 3rd parties are on equal level in terms of priority. Sakurai even stated that even though Namco is helping with the game, they won't get any special treatment to warrant them representation on the roster. It all comes down to Sakurai's decisions if he really wants another third party character.

Sakurai only said that so people wouldn't get their hopes up for a ton of Namco characters. I don't believe for a second that Namco's involvement doesn't boost at least ONE of their characters' chances.

 

[Snakeyes]

Namco - obvious pick.
Square-Enix - Because of a long history with Nintendo and all the recent Dragon Quest games appearing on their systems.
Platinum Games - One of the few development studios supporting the Wii U through tough times, at least for the time being.
Atlus - Also has a long history with Nintendo and has been very successful on their platforms in the past couple of years.

 

[DraginHikari]

I don't really expect more than maybe one more 3rd party character similar to Brawl. As far as who they should prioritize, I guess to me it doesn't matter that much Namco seems the most likely if only because of their direct involvement with the project. As far as 3rd parties are concern the big one from me was already fulfilled so it wouldn't make a huge deal to me if there weren't any others.

3rd Parties are extremely complicated due the massive number of legal agreements, costs, and possible disagreeable IP holders. The fact that Cap-com was so agreeable based on reports is kind of unusual in and of itself and often times those processes are more complex.

 

[Eternal phoenix Fire]

Just bring back Snake and call it a day.

 

[Speculator]

Whichever he feels has the most appropriate character. It's the characters he puts priority on, not the companies. Outside of Snake, Sonic and MM, there might not even be any other third party characters.

 

[Xigger]

Doesn't anyone else get the feeling that Sakurai DOESN'T want any 3rd party characters? Snake was in per request, Sonic and Mega Man are in because they are heavily requested, I have the feeling that Nintendo has more of a say (more of a heavy request than a decision) for third party additions.

 

[Smashoperatingbuddy123]

I think sega is going to get attention from him I mean in the article in whatever the magazine is it proved that sonic was meant for Melee and the joke was only because they used Alpha footage pictures probably

 

[Curmudgeon]

We will have Ezio Auditore from Ubisoft and Darth Vader from Disney

 

[Deleted member]

I think sega is going to get attention from him I mean in the article in whatever the magazine is it proved that sonic was meant for Melee and the joke was only because they used Alpha footage pictures probably

That infamous Sonic and Tails are in Melee April Fools Joke by EGM? I don't really think those pictures were Alpha footage or the pictures were taken during an Alpha state. If that was the case, then there would have been more pictures of Sonic and Tails by numerous other magazines and other media by showing more pictures of them. I think that those pictures were photoshopped too. However, I read that Sonic was supposed to be in Melee but was cut due to time constraints.

I do believe that Sonic probably has the best chances since he appears in Brawl, he still has his massive fan support from Brawl, and he's been around on the Nintendo scene than most other characters.

 

[StupendousMike]

That infamous Sonic and Tails are in Melee April Fools Joke by EGM? I don't really think those pictures were Alpha footage or the pictures were taken during an Alpha state. If that was the case, then there would have been more pictures of Sonic and Tails by numerous other magazines and other media by showing more pictures of them. I think that those pictures were photoshopped too. However, I read that Sonic was supposed to be in Melee but was cut due to time constraints.

I do believe that Sonic probably has the best chances since he appears in Brawl, he still has his massive fan support from Brawl, and he's been around on the Nintendo scene than most other characters.

The EGM prank just used Sonic and Tails' models from Sonic Adventure 2, the most recent Sonic game at the time, and photoshopped them into a Melee screenshot. I could tell it was a prank immediately, being a Dreamcast owner at the time.

 

[Dark Phazon]

Which ever company has a char that is stupidly popular and will fit in and is not called Microsoft.

PS: imo I think Megaman & Sonic will be the only 3rd parties.

 

[ImaClubYou]

Lloyd Irving.

If Namco doesn't have priority, why should anyone else?

Yuri Lowell also just for the sake of saying his nane.

 

[Accf124]

Personally I think snake,sonic,pac-man and megaman would be enough 3rd parties. But it comes down to sakurai's choices.

 

[N3ON]

What company will Sakurai prioritize? Well I'm sure someone has already said this, but other than Namco (for obvious reasons), I doubt Sakurai looks at third-party inclusion in terms of an addition to represent a company as much as an addition to represent that specific character and their series. So I don't think Sakurai thinks along the lines of... "Well, I think Capcom should get a character, I'll choose Mega Man", more "I think Mega Man warrants inclusion, and he happens to be owned by Capcom".

That said, I don't think Sakurai will put nearly as much priority on characters from companies already represented. I suppose it could happen though, like if Bomberman had continued to be a popular choice and wasn't currently dead, he might be a possible addition alongside Snake (though he'd have to be pretty popular tbh), but even that (totally hypothetical) situation seems unlikely.

 

[Capybara Gaming]

Honestly I could see 3-4 Third Parties this time around:

Mega Man - Capcom
Sonic the Hedgehog - Sega
Pac-Man, Klonoa, or a Tales Character - Namco
A Generic Final Fantasy Character (Warrior of Light, Black Mage, Chocobo, Moogle), or Slime (Or an appropriate Dragon Quest character), or Geno - Square Enix
Rayman - Ubisoft
Snake, Bomberman, or Simon Belmont - Konami

Take your picks.

As much as I want Sora or Neku Sakuraba , they Aren't happening unless there are dome major buyouts and demands for them.

 

[Venus of the Desert Bloom]

What company will Sakurai prioritize? Well I'm sure someone has already said this, but other than Namco (for obvious reasons), I doubt Sakurai looks at third-party inclusion in terms of an addition to represent a company as much as an addition to represent that specific character and their series. So I don't think Sakurai thinks along the lines of... "Well, I think Capcom should get a character, I'll choose Mega Man", more "I think Mega Man warrants inclusion, and he happens to be owned by Capcom".

That said, I don't think Sakurai will put nearly as much priority on characters from companies already represented. I suppose it could happen though, like if Bomberman had continued to be a popular choice and wasn't currently dead, he might be a possible addition alongside Snake (though he'd have to be pretty popular tbh), but even that (totally hypothetical) situation seems unlikely.

This.

If the character meets Sakurai's List of Doom requirements, they may be consisted in. Sakurai has always been vague considering 3rd parties. On one hand, he said its extremely hard and a hassle plus hard to implement in Smash while, on the other hand, he said adding Megaman was, more or less, a breeze.

I'm sure that the 3rd party company doesn't have a huge impact on what character Sakurai picks. However, in the spirit if this thread, I think it'll go something like this:

1. Capcom (Megaman plus content)
2. Sega
3. Namci-Bandai (say what you will, I think a Namco rep is VERY likely)
4. Konami
5. Plantinum
6. Level-5
7. Ubisoft
8. SquareEnix
9. ATLUS
10. Hmmm...Drawing a blank

 

[Smashoperatingbuddy123]

http://www.thesixthaxis.com/2013/08/06/tomorrows-nintendo-direct-could-feature-an-unlikely-sequel/
Interesting

 

[Z1GMA]

Midway

 

[the smash nerd]

nedd. and Pac-Man or a Tales Character ??? Final Fantasy Character an Dragon Quest character Rayman and Snake, Bomberman, or Simon Belmont.

 

[Blaziken77]

Namco, Sega, maybe Square Enix. About it, really.

 

[nat pagle]

Midway

How about this guy?

 

[D-idara]

Level-5...nuff' said.

 

[8-peacock-8]

Namco, Sega, and probably Konami.

The only companies i see getting priority.

 

[BaPr]

I hope Masahiro Sakurai and Masashi Kishimoto are best friends. Really want Naruto, but even if they were, I don't see that happening since he wants characters who originated from games. No matter what Sakurai said, I think Namco is still priority.

 

[[Corn]]

Id say Square Enix

 

[SmashChu]

We got Mega Man. *insert fanboy happiness here*

Anyway, Capcom now has a representative, along with Sega and Konami.

So, for the second 3rd Party slot, what company will Sakurai and the development team decide to let join the smash cast?

I think Disney and Ubisoft are big competitors. Skylanders is Machine-Gunning games for Nintendo consoles, and Nintendo characters appeared in Wreck-It Ralph.

So who do you think?

No one.

Third party characters are based on their own merit. Not which company to represent. Megaman got in due to fan demand, not because of Capcom.

 

[StaffofSmashing]

No one.

Third party characters are based on their own merit. Not which company to represent. Megaman got in due to fan demand, not because of Capcom.

Masahiro Sakurai said before Mega Man's announcment, that a Capcom character may join the battle. Fans demanded Mega Man, so afterwards, E3 2013, fans got what they wanted.

 

[8-peacock-8]

Id say Square Enix

i loled.

 

[[Corn]]

i loled.

Cause it totally wasnt said 3 posts above mine....

 

[8-peacock-8]

Cause it totally wasnt said 3 posts above mine....

I know it was. I'm just too lazy to reply to that one also.

 

[SmashChu]

Masahiro Sakurai said before Mega Man's announcment, that a Capcom character may join the battle. Fans demanded Mega Man, so afterwards, E3 2013, fans got what they wanted.

Here is Sakurai's quote:

I can't say that it's entirely out of the realm of possibility that some Capcom character could appear in the next Smash Bros. The big problem, though, comes from the idea of trying to get characters from a completely different universe to fit with the style that has been dictated by Nintendo's characters in a fighting game.
"In fact, I actually think it's a miracle that we got Smash Bros. and all the Nintendo characters to work together in the first place. Especially when you bring Pokemon into the mix and a lot of the complications that are caused by that being an almost completely different entity on its own, it's really something. So this is something that obviously will come up more as we get started on the new Smash Bros. development, but keeping those things in mind I think is important.

First, it should be noted that no work on Smash had been done at the time of this quote. Secondly, he said it's not impossible not necessarily maybe. He could have just as easily been talking about Namco, Tecmo, or Blizzard. Most of what he said was the problem of adding such character. And that's my point. Sakurai does not see third party characters the same as everyone else does. He has said there wont be a lot of third party characters and Megaman was a special case.

The problem is your trying to say correlation is causation. Sakurai talking about Capcom characters before the game was being worked on had nothing to due with them being in.

 

[Superyoshiom]

I think that if Salurao were to prioritize third party companies, he'd choose Japanese ones because communication would be simpler.

 

[Tetra's Tracker]

Third-party companies that get a representative in SSB4 should be both of these things:

1. Iconic and a true giant in the industry
2. Has had a strong presence on Nintendo consoles delivering great games to them and/or have a good relationship with Nintendo

I think the three third-parties we've had thus far fill both of those criteria. Sega have been consistently bringing titles to Nintendo consoles, a lot of which are exclusive to them, since they stopped making consoles themselves and have had a strong relationship with Nintendo creating collaborations such as the Mario and Sonic games and F-Zero GX. Konami have brought a lot of top class and iconic games to Nintendo consoles throughout their history such as the Castlevania and Contra series. The same can be said for Capcom even moreso with the classics that the company has brought to Nintendo consoles rolling off the tongue - Mega Man, Contra, Resident Evil, Okami, Viewtiful Joe, Street Fighter II, Monster Hunter, Final Fight, Bionic Commando, several Zelda titles...

What other companies fill that criteria? The definite one is Square Enix. Their CV on Nintendo consoles is stunning. Final Fantasy (including the main series, Tactics, Crystal Chronicles and Chocobo), Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, Kingdom Hearts, Dragon Quest... then there's great collaborations they've done with Nintendo, most notably Super Mario RPG, but also the Fortune Street games, Mario Hoops and Mario Sports Mix. Their a massive company, the games are there, the history is there and the relationship is there - Square Enix would be the perfect company to give a character.

Namco would be another obvious choice. They're not so strong in the games department on Nintendo consoles with their classic games such as Pac-Man and Dig Dug being more famous on the arcade and their more recent games such as Tekken being more prominent or exclusive to other consoles. That said said library is far from bad with their arcade games also available on the NES/VC and series such as Mr. Driller and Pac-Man being prominent on Nintendo consoles. Their main selling point for me is their relationship with Nintendo - the company have had a number of high profile collaborations over the years including Pac-Man Vs., Star Fox Assault, Mario Kart GP series and of course SSB4 itself.

Everyone else is kinda sketchy. Hudson comes to mind, although do they count as their own company now that Konami own them? Aside from Bomberman, have they delivered enough classics to Nintendo consoles? Ubisoft perhaps, although I don't think they have a strong enough history or identity especially on Nintendo to warrant a character.

Those are the only companies I'd consider personally, all the rest I'd rule out for not fulfilling that criteria. What does Sakurai think and who would he prioritise? Who knows? Heck, he probably doesn't even know himself.

 

[8-peacock-8]

Salurao

Wat?

Hudson comes to mind, although do they count as their own company now that Konami own them?

You answered your own question here. Which is that they don't count as their own company because they're owned by Konami.

 

[Smashoperatingbuddy123]

I think namco and sega

Hes said no special treatment for namco but does not mean he won't think about a namco character

Sega big relations as of this point with nintendo and sonic is very likely to come back

And if theres no namco character then sudo51's character travis touchdown because sudo 51 wants him in smash bros series and he recently said a review he loves the wii u and he rumored no more heroes 3 for wii u but may not have travis in it and since he wants him in he can tone him down for sakurai