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There is hope for playable western-made third-party characters

Quillion

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With the reveal of Joker from Persona 5, my thoughts towards Smash's shyness towards playable western third-party characters have reawakened. It's been something that hasn't bothered me too much, but it's a pretty noticeable pattern nonetheless.

I know that Smash's favoritism towards Japan-made characters is completely understandable due to Japanese provincialism (NOT xenophobia, as some people may say), but I think companies outside the Land of the Rising Sun should get their fair shake in Smash at least sometime down the line. Western developers have grown to be just as definitive of the industry as Japanese developers since about the PS2/Xbox gen, with companies such as Valve, Bethesda, Ubisoft, Rockstar, and Blizzard among others making such definitive titles both then and now. Hell, I'd say even Activision and EA deserve their fair shake as well.

Yeah, I know that most of the big-name western video games have avoided Nintendo consoles like the plague up until the Switch, but we know that Smash isn't above acknowledging western third-party characters like Rayman (Ubisoft), Shantae (Wayforward) and Shovel Knight (Yacht Club). There are just so many possibilities from the west right now; the currently relevant icons alone include Doom Slayer/Doomguy, Tracer, Steve, and Sub-Zero just to name a few.

I don't know if Smash is going to break its Japanese provincialism for Ultimate, but it really should at least in the next game. They can't keep ignoring it forever, especially since Nintendo is seriously intent on actually courting third-party support from across the seas.

FINAL NOTE: I specifically want western-made third-party characters, not just characters that are popular in the west.
 
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Orlando BCN

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What’s really crazy is how I don’t really want western characters in the game, but Joker’s reveal has set up an ungodly standard for the character choices that it almost seems possible for Steve and Tracer to show up.
 
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Quillion

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What’s really crazy is how I don’t really want western characters in the game, but Joker’s reveal has set up an ungodly standard for the character choices that it almost seems possible for Steve and Tracer to show up.
What standard? It's just a mere extension of how Cloud's main game didn't appear on Nintendo consoles until years and years after the initial release. Joker's just doing the same thing.
 

khfan93

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I think there's a few intersecting issues for why there's very little presence of Western characters in Smash that don't just come down to dev bias.

- The most popular Western video games are first person shooters which don't typically have iconic characters (Halo a key exception) and licensed sports games. While there are smaller IPs by western develops with recognizable characters, they are definitely more limited.
- Third party company support from Western devs on Nintendo platforms has been minimal until the past few years, with the exception of Ubisoft. Bethesda and Blizzard hadn't put games on Nintendo platforms for years until the Switch, and EA is still giving the Switch the cold shoulder.
 

Orlando BCN

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What standard? It's just a mere extension of how Cloud's main game didn't appear on Nintendo consoles until years and years after the initial release. Joker's just doing the same thing.
Nintendo’s been doing this with older characters that have had a much more lasting impact since every third-party character so far has been easily recognizeable. Persona 5 is a fairly recent game that rightfully deserved its praise, but something like that was the last thing I expected for Smash. I had originally assumed Nintendo would be including only recent first-party games, but I guess that’s an invalid argument now.
 

Quillion

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I think there's a few intersecting issues for why there's very little presence of Western characters in Smash that don't just come down to dev bias.

- The most popular Western video games are first person shooters which don't typically have iconic characters (Halo a key exception) and licensed sports games. While there are smaller IPs by western develops with recognizable characters, they are definitely more limited.
Nintendo’s been doing this with older characters that have had a much more lasting impact since every third-party character so far has been easily recognizeable. Persona 5 is a fairly recent game that rightfully deserved its praise, but something like that was the last thing I expected for Smash. I had originally assumed Nintendo would be including only recent first-party games, but I guess that’s an invalid argument now.
Yeah, both of these are a good point. Just as an example, Grand Theft Auto is a big name, but most people just know it for stealing cars and flirting with prostitutes. Characters like CJ and Niko are primarily known to the dedicated fans more than anything. Western devs seem to prioritize overall experience over recognizable "icon" status for their characters.

That said, we still have Doom Slayer and Tracer among others. I'd personally shy away from Master Chief since he's far too ingrained into being Nintendo's competitor, but with Phil Spencer's support of Banjo and Kazooie, who knows?

- Third party company support from Western devs on Nintendo platforms has been minimal until the past few years, with the exception of Ubisoft. Bethesda and Blizzard hadn't put games on Nintendo platforms for years until the Switch, and EA is still giving the Switch the cold shoulder.
I know that, but as Cloud and Joker show, Nintendo isn't shy about bringing characters into Smash whose icon status trumps their lack of/meager presence on Nintendo consoles. There are some western characters who have a chance like I mentioned in the OP.
 

ProfPeanut

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The chances of it are better than ever, but until there's a real example of it, we can't say for certain that it'll happen. Every third-party so far is still a Japan-born creation, and it's much easier to negotiate with people who speak the same language as you.

While Joker gives us hope that the choices won't be as corporate as we'd thought, there's still plenty of shock picks from Japan that they could opt for, (Sora, Phoenix Wright, Reimu) so I wouldn't bet on it entirely until Doom Slayer or Banjo get announced.
 

Quillion

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The chances of it are better than ever, but until there's a real example of it, we can't say for certain that it'll happen. Every third-party so far is still a Japan-born creation, and it's much easier to negotiate with people who speak the same language as you.

While Joker gives us hope that the choices won't be as corporate as we'd thought, there's still plenty of shock picks from Japan that they could opt for, (Sora, Phoenix Wright, Reimu) so I wouldn't bet on it entirely until Doom Slayer or Banjo get announced.
Even still, why is there less problems with Assist Trophies and Spirits? Those are starting to draw from western works with no playable characters in Smash yet.
 

volbound1700

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The only Western Characters that I feel have truely gotten a cold shoulder are Banjo-Kazooie and Rayman. Banjo is owned by a competitor so that might be the hold. Rayman, however, doesn't make sense. He is a GREAT fit for Smash and fits better than some of the recent reveals like Ken and Joker. He has that cartoony feel that matches most the original Smash cast like Mario, Donkey Kong, Yoshi, Star Fox, Kirby, Pikachu, Sonic, Pacman, etc.

I just don't get the Rayman thing and why he isn't in the game already as a playable character. It is almost inexcusable.
 

FirestormNeos

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I think there's a few intersecting issues for why there's very little presence of Western characters in Smash that don't just come down to dev bias.

- The most popular Western video games are first person shooters which don't typically have iconic characters (Halo a key exception) and licensed sports games. While there are smaller IPs by western develops with recognizable characters, they are definitely more limited.
- Third party company support from Western devs on Nintendo platforms has been minimal until the past few years, with the exception of Ubisoft. Bethesda and Blizzard hadn't put games on Nintendo platforms for years until the Switch, and EA is still giving the Switch the cold shoulder.
Bolded, Underlined, and painted blood red for added emphasis.

I would also like to add that there's a good handful of successful western video game companies who have had a history of making very ****ty choices just because they can get away with it. Seriously, a lot of American game companies can be colossal dumpster fires. So much so that, if we do get a western third-party character, I think they're probably going to turn out to be another Cloud situation.
 
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Luigifan18

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Bolded, Underlined, and painted blood red for added emphasis.

I would also like to add that there's a good handful of successful western video game companies who have had a history of making very ****ty choices just because they can get away with it. Seriously, a lot of American game companies can be colossal dumpster fires. So much so that, if we do get a western third-party character, I think they're probably going to turn out to be another Cloud situation.
Agreed. EA in particular has become so infamous that it's going to be a miracle if they're still in business by 2025 or so.
 

Quillion

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I would also like to add that there's a good handful of successful western video game companies who have had a history of making very ****ty choices just because they can get away with it. Seriously, a lot of American game companies can be colossal dumpster fires. So much so that, if we do get a western third-party character, I think they're probably going to turn out to be another Cloud situation.
Quit being so anti-provincial. Japanese companies are just as prone to making bad decisions as western companies.
  • Capcom has their on-disc DLC last gen and now blatant overreliance on the game-as-service model.
  • Square Enix has their awful planning and overambition causing games to be delayed and/or unfinished.
  • Konami somehow thinks video games aren't a profitable business for them, so they're shifting to using their franchises for pachinko machines and mobile games.
  • Sega is completely out of touch with their fans, doing nothing with the cool franchises they have like Bayonetta, and their mascot, Sonic is being handled by people who don't care about what makes him great.
  • Nintendo refuses to invest any serious research into what makes a good online system, and several of their series like Zelda, Metroid, Pokémon, and Kirby have gone through slumps either right now or fairly recently.
No company is perfect, and that includes Japanese and Western companies.
 

shadowjosh

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I actually think Crash has a real shot. His franchise is surprisingly popular in Japan, the series just had a notable reboot that was well received, and his characterization fits in so well with other anthropomorphic franchises like Star Fox, Sonic, Pokemon etc.

I don't say this as a Crash fanboy(I only own the HD trilogy), but it seems realistic.
 

Giveaway412

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How is Banjo viewed over in Japan? I know he's pretty popular with old-school westerners but I'm not sure about the East. Crash Bandicoot is received well on both sides of the Pacific and has had a recent resurgence, so we might see something there.

That said, I'm really hoping for Doomguy. Doom had a massive influence in the first person shooter's history and can be chalked up among Wolfenstein as one of the grandaddies of them all. Doom had a substantial impact on western culture at the time and if I recall even Sakurai has spoken about the early history of the FPS before- Doomguy could essentially bring the first FPS representation to Smash. The series has a long running history with Nintendo with games on the SNES, GBA, and N64 and very recently the Switch. Bethesda has a good relationship with Nintendo and Doom: Eternal is set to release on the Switch next year. The only thing going against him is that Doom(and FPS games in general) is not popular over in Japan.
 

FirestormNeos

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Quit being so anti-provincial. Japanese companies are just as prone to making bad decisions as western companies.
  • Capcom has their on-disc DLC last gen and now blatant overreliance on the game-as-service model.
  • Square Enix has their awful planning and overambition causing games to be delayed and/or unfinished.
  • Konami somehow thinks video games aren't a profitable business for them, so they're shifting to using their franchises for pachinko machines and mobile games.
  • Sega is completely out of touch with their fans, doing nothing with the cool franchises they have like Bayonetta, and their mascot, Sonic is being handled by people who don't care about what makes him great.
  • Nintendo refuses to invest any serious research into what makes a good online system, and several of their series like Zelda, Metroid, Pokémon, and Kirby have gone through slumps either right now or fairly recently.
No company is perfect, and that includes Japanese and Western companies.
I'm not saying American companies are inherently worse. I'm just saying that Western Companies usually screw up in very different ways then Japanese Companies usually do, and that's going to make vouching for a western third-party character more difficult.

"This character's game took 13 years to come out because Square Enix can't manage their crap worth a darn" is infinity less difficult to sell as a smash character then "Hey, this character's from a game that popularized an exploitative design choice that got so bad that it's now ****ing illegal in some European countries and universally reviled by the community everywhere else."
 

Quillion

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I actually think Crash has a real shot. His franchise is surprisingly popular in Japan, the series just had a notable reboot that was well received, and his characterization fits in so well with other anthropomorphic franchises like Star Fox, Sonic, Pokemon etc.

I don't say this as a Crash fanboy(I only own the HD trilogy), but it seems realistic.
How is Banjo viewed over in Japan? I know he's pretty popular with old-school westerners but I'm not sure about the East. Crash Bandicoot is received well on both sides of the Pacific and has had a recent resurgence, so we might see something there.

That said, I'm really hoping for Doomguy. Doom had a massive influence in the first person shooter's history and can be chalked up among Wolfenstein as one of the grandaddies of them all. Doom had a substantial impact on western culture at the time and if I recall even Sakurai has spoken about the early history of the FPS before- Doomguy could essentially bring the first FPS representation to Smash. The series has a long running history with Nintendo with games on the SNES, GBA, and N64 and very recently the Switch. Bethesda has a good relationship with Nintendo and Doom: Eternal is set to release on the Switch next year. The only thing going against him is that Doom(and FPS games in general) is not popular over in Japan.
But Smash isn't even limiting itself to western characters popular in Japan even at this moment. Little Mac, Samus, Ridley, and K. Rool are all in primarily because of Western popularity. Doom Slayer/Doomguy is both currently relevant and a classic icon, a perfect fit for Smash.

Smash is very provincial, but not to the point of only paying attention to Japanese popularity.

I'm not saying American companies are inherently worse. I'm just saying that Western Companies usually screw up in very different ways then Japanese Companies usually do, and that's going to make vouching for a western third-party character more difficult.

"This character's game took 13 years to come out because Square Enix can't manage their crap worth a darn" is infinity less difficult to sell as a smash character then "Hey, this character's from a game that popularized an exploitative design choice that got so bad that it's now ****ing illegal in some European countries and universally reviled by the community everywhere else."
To be fair, Smash fans seem to support Konami's characters being in despite their shift away from main series games because we all support representing how Konami was in the past as opposed to how it is now.

Also, most of the microtransaction-heavy games on EA's side are all licensed games that have no chance in Smash as of yet. Come to think of it, I don't think EA really has any iconic characters that aren't already licensed in some way (from a non-video game franchise or a real-life sports player). Correct me if I'm wrong.
 

ProfPeanut

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Our only Western-born character right now is Shovel Knight, whose parent company had promised long ago that they'd lend him out to any game developer who asked for him. With all due respect to the quality of his game, he's quite literally the easiest cameo anyone could go for, and well below the difficulty curve that we should be thinking about.

At the end of the day, it's up to Nintendo if they want to work for that crossover, and no amount of speculation is going to change that at this point. They obviously don't worry so much about the ethics of said company (hello Konami) as much as they do the hype of whatever character they want to go for.
 
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Quillion

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Our only Western-born character right now is Shovel Knight, whose parent company had promised long ago that they'd lend him out to any game developer who asked for him. With all due respect to the quality of his game, he's quite literally the easiest cameo anyone could go for, and well below the difficulty curve that we should be thinking about.

At the end of the day, it's up to Nintendo if they want to work for that crossover, and no amount of speculation is going to change that at this point. They obviously don't worry so much about the ethics of said company (hello Konami) as much as they do the hype of whatever character they want to go for.
Would it be really hard for Nintendo to work towards Smash guests at this point? Smash is such a big name and icon-maker that I think companies would pay Nintendo to put their characters in. This is something that not even Soulcalibur can claim.
 

EricTheGamerman

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I'm not saying American companies are inherently worse. I'm just saying that Western Companies usually screw up in very different ways then Japanese Companies usually do, and that's going to make vouching for a western third-party character more difficult.

"This character's game took 13 years to come out because Square Enix can't manage their crap worth a darn" is infinity less difficult to sell as a smash character then "Hey, this character's from a game that popularized an exploitative design choice that got so bad that it's now ****ing illegal in some European countries and universally reviled by the community everywhere else."
Capcom, Bandai Namco, and Konami are just as ****ing bad man. Capcom is literally putting advertisements into your standard Street Fighter V matches and penalizing you if you turn them off by giving you less rewards. Not to mention the absolutely abysmal state of content that game launched with that didn't even have a basic 1 vs 1 CPU fight. And the game has three seasons of DLC characters with another one on the way. Konami ran franchises into the ground just like EA has as well.

There's absolutely no difference in how scummy these companies are. They're all willing to promote horrid microtransactions and DLC practices, while rushing games or throwing series out to die with no consideration. If that was an actual problem, Smash wouldn't have any third parties anymore...


As for the possibility. I hope we get them. I'd love to see the precedent of Japanese only third parties broken. Banjo Kazooie is obviously the big Western third party character for me, but several more have potential. Rayman has indeed been shafted the last two games and deserves a spot. Crash Bandicoot would help solidify Smash as the best Playstation 1 crossover fighting game (I'd ****ing love that to be the case) and fits alongside Sonic and Mario very well. Doom Slayer would be a weird as all hell pick that would represent FPS games well enough. Master Chief would actually break the internet and would be personally amazing.

But **** all third party characters who are just customs. The Dragonborn, Steve, etc. are meant to have zero character and are infinitely less interesting as crossover fighters for it. I'll allow it for Nintendo made stuff, but I'd rather keep the third parties to actually defined characters that aren't meant to be inherently changed and are actually designed uniquely.
 
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Quillion

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But **** all third party characters who are just customs. The Dragonborn, Steve, etc. are meant to have zero character and are infinitely less interesting as crossover fighters for it. I'll allow it for Nintendo made stuff, but I'd rather keep the third parties to actually defined characters that aren't meant to be inherently changed and are actually designed uniquely.
Why though? Smash focus more on what the characters can do over who the characters are. Dragonborn has his shouts, and Steve has the bow, sword, and potions.
 

EricTheGamerman

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Why though? Smash focus more on what the characters can do over who the characters are. Dragonborn has his shouts, and Steve has the bow, sword, and potions.
Because I want actual characters to be the third party guests, not a generic representation of a character. You'll never quite get the feel right on something like Dragonborn when his entire existence circles around character creation and the options give several different races and features. How do you choose which of far too damn many skins to represent on Steve. They're just never going to feel like proper representations of the characters, and I think act as pretty terrible representations of the series which completely emphasize the game world over everything else. A Minecraft stage works as great representation, Steve does not.

I also just hold third parties to a higher standard, and that standard is exactly that the choices be actual characters in their own right. I'd rather not break that rule so as to hold back the tidal wave of additional character options and beliefs that creates. I also think because such characters are not meant to be inherently designed and curated for the specific experience, they're just way more boring. That applies to Nintendo characters as well, but again, ANY Nintendo character can get into Smash. I'd rather that not be true of characters outside of Nintendo.
 

KirbyWorshipper2465

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One thing for sure is, even Sakurai knows that they can't stick to Japanese franchises forever (especially if negotiations with SE remain a legal mess), let alone globally popular ones, so there has to be at least one Western company out there that will have the guts to take the first step. Until then it's a matter of time before they run out of viable characters from the companies Nintendo is currently teamed up with.

Atlus may be breaking new ground, but they're still a branch of Sega.
 
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Quillion

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Crash Bandicoot seems the most likely Western 3rd party to get in, especially since the series is super popular in Japan.
Well, we never know. There has to be a bunch of other western video game characters who are popular in Japan.

That said, I'm doing some research right now, and it seems the culture differences tend to prevent anything but the most super-popular franchises like GTA from getting a foothold in Japan. And GTA doesn't exactly focus on iconic characters.
 
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FirestormNeos

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Capcom is literally putting advertisements into your standard Street Fighter V matches and penalizing you if you turn them off by giving you less rewards. Not to mention the absolutely abysmal state of content that game launched with that didn't even have a basic 1 vs 1 CPU fight. And the game has three seasons of DLC characters with another one on the way.
Yeah, I heard about that earlier today. That is definitely an American-style ****up, and I'll concede the point I've been trying (and apparently failing) to make based on that embarressment of a game's existence alone.

As for the possibility. I hope we get them. I'd love to see the precedent of Japanese only third parties broken. Banjo Kazooie is obviously the big Western third party character for me, but several more have potential. Rayman has indeed been shafted the last two games and deserves a spot. Crash Bandicoot would help solidify Smash as the best Playstation 1 crossover fighting game (I'd ****ing love that to be the case) and fits alongside Sonic and Mario very well. Doom Slayer would be a weird as all hell pick that would represent FPS games well enough. Master Chief would actually break the internet and would be personally amazing.
These five I'd be alright with in Smash. It's when you get into the more "Grimdark Fantasy, Grimdark Zombie Apocalypse, and Modern Military Shooter" territories where things start to get ugly and gross and I don't want it anywhere near Smash because Smash has always been directly opposed to all that depressing crap.

And before anyone @'s me about Master Chief, he did it before Call of Duty started making the genre grossly uncomfortable to look at and industrially malignant, so Halo gets a pass purely for seniority.

But **** all third party characters who are just customs. The Dragonborn, Steve, etc. are meant to have zero character and are infinitely less interesting as crossover fighters for it. I'll allow it for Nintendo made stuff, but I'd rather keep the third parties to actually defined characters that aren't meant to be inherently changed and are actually designed uniquely.
I'd be a bit weirded out by Steve (as Minecraft's artstyle wouldn't mesh as well as, say, Fortnite, FNAF or Undertale), but I wouldn't consider him a terrible inclusion.

Dragonborn, though? Ew. If Bethesda wants a rep in Smash, give 'em Doomguy/Doomslayer, Vault Boy or BJ Blazkowicz.
 

KirbyWorshipper2465

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These five I'd be alright with in Smash. It's when you get into the more "Grimdark Fantasy, Grimdark Zombie Apocalypse, and Modern Military Shooter" territories where things start to get ugly and gross and I don't want it anywhere near Smash because Smash has always been directly opposed to all that depressing crap.

And before anyone @'s me about Master Chief, he did it before Call of Duty started making the genre grossly uncomfortable to look at and industrially malignant, so Halo gets a pass purely for seniority.



I'd be a bit weirded out by Steve (as Minecraft's artstyle wouldn't mesh as well as, say, Fortnite, FNAF or Undertale), but I wouldn't consider him a terrible inclusion.

Dragonborn, though? Ew. If Bethesda wants a rep in Smash, give 'em Doomguy/Doomslayer, Vault Boy or BJ Blazkowicz.
If we're talking granddaddies of FPS slaying, Duke Nukem can also be a possibility the future. Unfortunately not many people take him seriously enough to even be a meme pick like Waluigi or Lanky Kong...
 

EricTheGamerman

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If we're talking granddaddies of FPS slaying, Duke Nukem can also be a possibility the future. Unfortunately not many people take him seriously enough to even be a meme pick like Waluigi or Lanky Kong...
Duke Nukem has aged about as we’ll a show milk as a character goes. And his games weren’t exactly endearing to start out with.

I’m ok with letting him go at this point. He feels like a relic more than anything.
 

KirbyWorshipper2465

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Duke Nukem has aged about as we’ll a show milk as a character goes. And his games weren’t exactly endearing to start out with.

I’m ok with letting him go at this point. He feels like a relic more than anything.
That aside, you gotta admit that out of all the FPS old guard, only BJ Blazcowicz can be seriously considered to fit Sakurai's criteria of expressiveness, while Doom marine and Master Chief both have no visible face (well, granted, the marine has one as a life bar indicator). Whether MC's iconic status is enough to have Sakurai give him a pass is the question.

Well, that is assuming they don't face a similar issue as to Sakurai not being sure how to translate Heihachi's gameplay into Smash.
 
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EricTheGamerman

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At any rate, you gotta admit that out of all the FPS old guard, only BJ Blazcowicz can be seriously considered to fit Sakurai's criteria of expressiveness, while Doom marine and Master Chief both have no visible face (well, granted, the marine has one as a life bar indicator). Whether MC's iconic status is enough to have Sakurai give him a pass is the question.
If you can make Samus work, both Doom Slayer and Master Chief will work just fine. There are other ways of making character expressive than just their face. BJ would actually kind of fit the least seeing as he is the most serious at this point and he also is the most dependent on actual weapons...

I’d take any of the three happily though.

Also, yeah, Vault Boy would be a super interesting concept to see realized. I hope that Bethesda would choose that over the Dragonborn if they HAD to go with either Elder Scrolls or Fallout...
 

Quillion

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These five I'd be alright with in Smash. It's when you get into the more "Grimdark Fantasy, Grimdark Zombie Apocalypse, and Modern Military Shooter" territories where things start to get ugly and gross and I don't want it anywhere near Smash because Smash has always been directly opposed to all that depressing crap.

And before anyone @'s me about Master Chief, he did it before Call of Duty started making the genre grossly uncomfortable to look at and industrially malignant, so Halo gets a pass purely for seniority.
Well to be fair, it's not like CoD, Battlefield, or MoH (yes, dead series) actually have iconic characters. Iconic brand names can only go so far until the characters themselves lack star power. Kinda like how everyone knows what Mission Impossible is, yet no one can say Ethan Hunt is an icon.
 

EricTheGamerman

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Well to be fair, it's not like CoD, Battlefield, or MoH (yes, dead series) actually have iconic characters. Iconic brand names can only go so far until the characters themselves lack star power. Kinda like how everyone knows what Mission Impossible is, yet no one can say Ethan Hunt is an icon.
See I think that applies to Minecraft too. Steve doesn’t really have any star power either. Nor does the Dragonborn. They’re just slightly more marketable than the options listed.

CoD actually has enough recurring heroes at this point if you wanted to throw them in. Captain Price and Soap from the Modern Warfare trilogy, Alex Mason, Frank Woods, and Reznov from the Treyarch camp. Those are all multiple characters a lot more likely to be recognized from those games.

They’d be weird/probably bad choices, but those names have more clout than you think.
 

Madwario

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Is Waluigi, Toad, the Contra duo and James Bond from the N64 Classic shooter made by westernes? Is that why we get anime characters most westernes doesnt know about in the roster instead since Smash 4?
 

staindgrey

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- The most popular Western video games are first person shooters which don't typically have iconic characters (Halo a key exception) and licensed sports games. While there are smaller IPs by western develops with recognizable characters, they are definitely more limited.
Uh. You don't play many Western videogames, do you? All you're describing is half of EA's portfolio. There's a reason why "JRPG" and "WRPG" are separated.
 

ps_

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- The most popular Western video games are first person shooters which don't typically have iconic characters (Halo a key exception)
1. Listing the Master Chief as "an iconic character"? Really?

2. There are plenty of FPS characters with personality. Duke Nukem, Doomguy, the entire cast of TF2.
 

KirbyWorshipper2465

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1. Listing the Master Chief as "an iconic character"? Really?

2. There are plenty of FPS characters with personality. Duke Nukem, Doomguy, the entire cast of TF2.
On that note, which TF2 character would they pick? The Scout? The Medic? The Spy? The Heavy? It's honestly hard to tell there. Honestly wouldn't mind seeing a reveal trailer done in the style of Meet The for any of 'em.
 

ps_

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On that note, which TF2 character would they pick? The Scout? The Medic? The Spy? The Heavy? It's honestly hard to tell there. Honestly wouldn't mind seeing a reveal trailer done in the style of Meet The for any of 'em.
Heavy is officially considered the game's mascot and most people recognize him, even if they never played TF2. It would be wasted opportunity if most classes didn't appear in his moveset though.
 

staindgrey

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1. Listing the Master Chief as "an iconic character"? Really?

2. There are plenty of FPS characters with personality. Duke Nukem, Doomguy, the entire cast of TF2.
And if we incorporate third person shooters, you have Commander Shepard, Marcus Fenix, Lara Croft, Hitman, Sam Fisher, etc.

Also Master Chief is incredibly iconic. I think you're mixing up "iconic" and "having remotely any discernible character".
 
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