So I made a list of all the things I predict will be in Brawl. Months ago, I would have been called a hopeless “Nintendo Fanboy” dreamer for creating such a list. Back then, people thought Brawl wouldn’t even be online let alone have “extraneous” features like Replay Saves and a Stage Builder. Needless to say, times have changed. Now, I, the radical dreamer, is looking quite down to earth. When some asked me how I predict Brawl so accurately, I told them that all the announced features are pretty obvious when you realize that…
<ol>
<li>Smash Melee is the Gamecube’s biggest game</li>
<li>Brawl is supposed to be the flagship title for a Wii online service</li>
<li>Nintendo has supplied the smash development team with lots of time, money, and extra staff from their top development teams.</li>
<li>Sakurai tried to do so much with Melee, but he simply ran out of time.</li>
</ol>
So now that we have so many features confirmed for Brawl, what’s left to predict? Even from my point of view, I’m running out of features and options to predict. But this only excites me. I wonder what Sakurai will include that will blow my mind.
In the spirit of running out of (significant) predictions, I’ll share the end of my list. First, the Stage Builder needs these things to be complete in my opinion….
<ol>
<li><strong>Collect more pieces </strong>(floors, structures, features)</li>
<li><strong>Collect more backgrounds </strong></li>
<li><strong>The ability to set specific items to spawn on the levels. </strong>This is pretty self explanatory. I want to be able to build a stage with two latters that climb to a platform with a Cracker launcher resting on top of each. I want to be able to make a stage with weapons lining the sides so players are free to grab a weapon and enter the battle.</li>
<li><strong>Gameplay buttons</strong>: ie. Break the Targets, Board the Platforms, Switches that can change the level (maybe drop specific items into the match), Capture the Flag, King of the Hill. These specific types of games can only be created if the necessary items are available to us.</li>
<li><strong>Set Defaults/Rules</strong> (bonus, coins/stamina/stock/characters): If I make a challenge stage that’s designed for a specific character, I want to be able to set the stage to default to that character.</li>
</ol>
The scroll bar and the palette switch function in the screenshot give me hope for these features.
<p align="center"> <img src="http://smashboards.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/various10_071029c-l1.jpg" /></p>
Now for the rest of the list. In no particular order….
<ol>
<li><a href="http://smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=114808"><strong>Equipable items</strong></a></li>
<li><strong><a href="http://smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=119649">Classic Smash</a></strong></li>
<li><strong>Mii that uses WiiSports motion controls and pointer functions. </strong>I know Brawl is controller friendly, but I would like at least one character that uses the wiimotes motion and pointing features. What better character than Mii… KirbyKid to support my own wish.</li>
<li><strong>Tag Teams 3v3:</strong> This would be an interesting dynamic to teams play where the extra player can be tagged into the match to dynamically switch up strategies.</li>
<li><strong>Voice Chat:</strong> Though the Wii doesn’t have any kind of mic support, I think it would be pretty easy for the Wii to connect to the DS to use its microphone. If it lags out online play, then they can make voice chat only available before and after each match like Metroid Prime Hunters.</li>
<li><strong><a href="http://www.guitarhero.com/accounts/206806">Website:</a> </strong>I have to compliment the GuitarHero website. Not only does it provide unique functions that the consoles couldn’t feature (ie. cross console leader boards), but it also has features that enrich the GuitarHero community. The site has googlemap player locater, a tournament organizer, clan/crew support, and forums all built in. But one of the my favorite features is the ability to encounter any player in the game, and search them out on the site. After you find them, you can check their stats and even request to become their friend and the site will sync the data with the game automatically. If you don’t quite understand, this feature practically eliminates friend codes. If more games do this on the Wii, then no one would have anything left to attack about it’s online capabilities.</li>
<li><strong>Content Packs/Updates.</strong> Sakurai said it best himself … “With a feature like that, won’t I be able to play this game forever?!” Basically, we have nearly everything we could ever want from Brawl feature-wise. However, if the game could be tweaked after its release, then broken characters/moves and glitches can be things of the past. Also, adding new modes/rules to the game would be an extremely small file. The Wii’s small memory wouldn’t be a problem. With such a feature, Brawl would start detracting sales from Brawl2 that would release on the Nintendo Uss years from now.</li>
</ol>
And that’s it. That’s all I got. (Unless I think of something of course)
<ol>
<li>Smash Melee is the Gamecube’s biggest game</li>
<li>Brawl is supposed to be the flagship title for a Wii online service</li>
<li>Nintendo has supplied the smash development team with lots of time, money, and extra staff from their top development teams.</li>
<li>Sakurai tried to do so much with Melee, but he simply ran out of time.</li>
</ol>
So now that we have so many features confirmed for Brawl, what’s left to predict? Even from my point of view, I’m running out of features and options to predict. But this only excites me. I wonder what Sakurai will include that will blow my mind.
In the spirit of running out of (significant) predictions, I’ll share the end of my list. First, the Stage Builder needs these things to be complete in my opinion….
<ol>
<li><strong>Collect more pieces </strong>(floors, structures, features)</li>
<li><strong>Collect more backgrounds </strong></li>
<li><strong>The ability to set specific items to spawn on the levels. </strong>This is pretty self explanatory. I want to be able to build a stage with two latters that climb to a platform with a Cracker launcher resting on top of each. I want to be able to make a stage with weapons lining the sides so players are free to grab a weapon and enter the battle.</li>
<li><strong>Gameplay buttons</strong>: ie. Break the Targets, Board the Platforms, Switches that can change the level (maybe drop specific items into the match), Capture the Flag, King of the Hill. These specific types of games can only be created if the necessary items are available to us.</li>
<li><strong>Set Defaults/Rules</strong> (bonus, coins/stamina/stock/characters): If I make a challenge stage that’s designed for a specific character, I want to be able to set the stage to default to that character.</li>
</ol>
The scroll bar and the palette switch function in the screenshot give me hope for these features.
<p align="center"> <img src="http://smashboards.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/various10_071029c-l1.jpg" /></p>
Now for the rest of the list. In no particular order….
<ol>
<li><a href="http://smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=114808"><strong>Equipable items</strong></a></li>
<li><strong><a href="http://smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=119649">Classic Smash</a></strong></li>
<li><strong>Mii that uses WiiSports motion controls and pointer functions. </strong>I know Brawl is controller friendly, but I would like at least one character that uses the wiimotes motion and pointing features. What better character than Mii… KirbyKid to support my own wish.</li>
<li><strong>Tag Teams 3v3:</strong> This would be an interesting dynamic to teams play where the extra player can be tagged into the match to dynamically switch up strategies.</li>
<li><strong>Voice Chat:</strong> Though the Wii doesn’t have any kind of mic support, I think it would be pretty easy for the Wii to connect to the DS to use its microphone. If it lags out online play, then they can make voice chat only available before and after each match like Metroid Prime Hunters.</li>
<li><strong><a href="http://www.guitarhero.com/accounts/206806">Website:</a> </strong>I have to compliment the GuitarHero website. Not only does it provide unique functions that the consoles couldn’t feature (ie. cross console leader boards), but it also has features that enrich the GuitarHero community. The site has googlemap player locater, a tournament organizer, clan/crew support, and forums all built in. But one of the my favorite features is the ability to encounter any player in the game, and search them out on the site. After you find them, you can check their stats and even request to become their friend and the site will sync the data with the game automatically. If you don’t quite understand, this feature practically eliminates friend codes. If more games do this on the Wii, then no one would have anything left to attack about it’s online capabilities.</li>
<li><strong>Content Packs/Updates.</strong> Sakurai said it best himself … “With a feature like that, won’t I be able to play this game forever?!” Basically, we have nearly everything we could ever want from Brawl feature-wise. However, if the game could be tweaked after its release, then broken characters/moves and glitches can be things of the past. Also, adding new modes/rules to the game would be an extremely small file. The Wii’s small memory wouldn’t be a problem. With such a feature, Brawl would start detracting sales from Brawl2 that would release on the Nintendo Uss years from now.</li>
</ol>
And that’s it. That’s all I got. (Unless I think of something of course)