Official Next Smash - Speculation & Discussion Thread

[fogbadge]

It's an online game engine/platform that allows you to make your own games and upload them for other people to play, notable cause it's very easy and intuitive for kids to make stuff with a good amount of flexibility, and it has a blocky minecraft-adjacent visual style. It's been around for like over 15 years and is extremely popular, iirc it's like top 3 most actively played games consistently for years. I'm a zoomer so I have a lot of nostalgia for it.

zoomers are getting nostalgia now? as if I didn’t feel old enough

 

[Noipoi]

zoomers are getting nostalgia now? as if I didn’t feel old enough

The oldest zoomers are in their mid twenties. Definitely old enough to have nostalgia for their childhoods.

I should know

 

[fogbadge]

The oldest zoomers are in their mid twenties. Definitely old enough to have nostalgia for their childhoods.

I should know

as if lion king turning 30 wasn’t bad enough

 

[pitchfulprocessing]

zoomers are getting nostalgia now? as if I didn’t feel old enough

I'm 20 and in university, that's just how it is lol. Nostalgia kicks in very early.

In terms of characters imo Genshin present the msot potential.

canoncially traveller is kind of like Kirby and uses the other characters abilities (that’s what the gacha is) and that’s how the gameplay works, you create a team of 4 and transform between them to use their abilities.

With that midneser the character can be made to swap to a differnt character to do a move for every move.

That sounds like hell to develop but it also sounds like a dlc character.

Big issue is that almost every character has some weird gimmick.

But hoesnlty making a moveset for Genshin would be pretty fun I might do that.

Genshin has a lot of characters I think could be good to pick. Raiden Ei is really really popular and could have a fun moveset, but I could see them wanting to veer away from a character like her who shows up a while later and who not everyone will have. Hu Tao is one of the most popular characters and I think she'd be quite unique as well. I think Traveller is the best pick overall though, one of those cases where just picking the main character I feel like would make the most sense. The Traveller isn't a complete blank slate and they'd basically be the Avatar in Smash, so their moveset kinda sells itself.

 

[Godzillathewonderdog]

6 years ago Overwatch was one of my favorite games, and I would have loved someone like Tracer in Smash as a fighter. Now when Overwatch gets brought up I only feel pain. That does have me thinking though.

Minecraft is the newest 3rd party series represented on the roster, (technically Bayonetta if you count Cave Game, but for the sake of my question I won’t). How likely do you think it is that we see a series that debuted after Minecraft (November 18, 2011) get represented on the roster of the next Smash, and what series do you think it would be?

If it does my best guess would be Undertale

 

[ScrubReborn]

I'm 20 and in university, that's just how it is lol. Nostalgia kicks in very early.

19 in university too, can confirm. I already catch myself having "back in the good old days" thoughts sometimes lmao. Though with how life is getting now ig I have reason to

 

[LiveStudioAudience]

It would be interesting to see how nostalgia manifested itself with different gamers in various eras. As on older player that grew up in the 90s, it's hard to really quantify how quickly things changed in gaming from the 4th to 6th generations or how something like 2D platformers fell out of favor so quickly that something like six/seven years really did feel like a lifetime when looking at the altered landscape of the hobby.

 

[Chuderz]

Very interesting discussion around Overwatch. One of the reasons I think Roadhog would be a great fit for Smash is that his chain is a very easy recovery option. Spoiler for my moveset idea for him but I'd make it like Byleths where if he lands it on the opponent while in the air he spikes them downward. Plus I'd give him a tether grab that could be used to recover with the same chain in a horizontal fashion instead like all the other tether grabs.

I don't mind people not wanting any Blizzard IP in the game. They made those IPs so it's fair game to associate them with the actions of the company. I very much dislike when Crash/Spyro is lumped with them because they were acquired not something Activison created in-house though it still was a valid concern back during the Ultimate DLC cycle since either (or both please both) of them getting into Smash would have benefitted the company nonetheless which is would have definitely spoiled both the celebratory feel of Smash (especially Ultimate) and peoples' genuine love for those characters. I legitimately can't believe the company got to that point to be honest. It's one thing to just be cynically greedy and stop making games in favor of just milking "services" over and over again but it's another thing entirely to have such a flagrantly disgusting and depraved working environment. Power and wealth brings out all sorts of gross behavior in people that feel unstoppable. Thanks capitalism.

I'm not trying to excuse anything I've mentioned above by noting this but I don't think the Overwatch team themselves played a direct part of this toxicity other than just playing an indirect part of it by simply working at Blizzard. I'm pretty sure it was primarily the WOW and Diablo devs. Even then I love those IPs too and they deserved better people at the helm of them.

It just kind of sucks being a fan of Blizzard properties in general these days. There's just bad vibes all around.

While I'm sure Microsoft has already and will continue to address these issues within the company I also am not going to act like Microsoft as a company isn't just as problematic of a company themselves (or any company really in this day and age) and that extends beyond just their decisions in the gaming market.

All the other companies represented in Smash also have skeletons in the closet including Nintendo themselves. It's just capitalism at the end of the day. It incentivizes actions that are bad for the world community and environment over and over again to chase made up numbers (that just so happen to make the worst kinds of people more powerful) at the cost of the stability of society it needs to literally function. I'll leave it at that. Just watch people get poorer as prices go up. It's not a bug; it's feature of the system.

 

[Laniv]

as if lion king turning 30 wasn’t bad enough

The wh--

...Huh. Guess it is.

I realize, this year, the following games turn 30:

• Donkey Kong Country
• Donkey Kong '94 (but that was obvious...)
• Tekken
• Super Metroid (just last month, actually!)
• Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles
• Final Fantasy VI
• Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem
• The King of Fighters '94 (well...)
• DOOM II
• EarthBound
• Daytona USA

Congratulations, everyone reading this now feels 10-15 years older.

 

[Perkilator]

Got a question I've been meaning to ask - let's assume for the moment that Terry will return, and SNK's cooperation has made Sakurai and/or Nintendo keen on the idea of working with them further. Which SNK characters do you think we'd have a chance of seeing, and who would you want to see?

My choices for SNK newcomers are Athena Asamiya, Iori and Nakoruru.

 

[AreJay25]

The wh--

...Huh. Guess it is.

I realize, this year, the following games turn 30:

• Donkey Kong Country
• Donkey Kong '94 (but that was obvious...)
• Tekken
• Super Metroid (just last month, actually!)
• Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles
• Final Fantasy VI
• Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem
• The King of Fighters '94 (well...)
• DOOM II
• EarthBound
• Daytona USA

Congratulations, everyone reading this now feels 10-15 years older.

Tfw you've played almost every game on this list (literally the only exception being Fire Emblem)

for ****'s sake I'M not even 30 yet and I feel old as hell lmao

 

[Wonder Smash]

The wh--

...Huh. Guess it is.

I realize, this year, the following games turn 30:

• Donkey Kong Country
• Donkey Kong '94 (but that was obvious...)
• Tekken
• Super Metroid (just last month, actually!)
• Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles
• Final Fantasy VI
• Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem
• The King of Fighters '94 (well...)
• DOOM II
• EarthBound
• Daytona USA

Congratulations, everyone reading this now feels 10-15 years older.

Along with:

• River City Girls Zero (Shin Nekketsu Kōha: Kunio-tachi no Banka in Japan)
• Virtua Fighter 2
• Art of Fighting 2

 

[TheQuester]

I think with the exception of 64 and Melee, the Smash games have always had about 2-3 years worth of development time.

TBF, We don't know when Smash 6 entered development (or if it's even in development at all tbh), someone here mentioned i think mid 2023 and it has something to do with team S, my memory is pretty bad, so i could be ways off lol.

 

[Gengar84]

The wh--

...Huh. Guess it is.

I realize, this year, the following games turn 30:

• Donkey Kong Country
• Donkey Kong '94 (but that was obvious...)
• Tekken
• Super Metroid (just last month, actually!)
• Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles
• Final Fantasy VI
• Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem
• The King of Fighters '94 (well...)
• DOOM II
• EarthBound
• Daytona USA

Congratulations, everyone reading this now feels 10-15 years older.

Don’t remind me lol. I just turned 40 this Monday and I feel ancient.

 

[CannonStreak]

Don’t remind me lol. I just turned 40 this Monday and I feel ancient.

Really?

Wow, no offense when I say this, but still, I thought I was old.

 

[Gengar84]

Really?

Wow, no offense when I say this, but still, I thought I was old.

None taken. At least I’m not the only one over 40 on these boards so it’s not so bad. Just hard to relate to the young’uns for things I’m nostalgic about from my own childhood when most people here weren’t born yet.

 

[CannonStreak]

None taken. At least I’m not the only one over 40 on these boards so it’s not so bad. Just hard to relate to the young’uns for things I’m nostalgic about from my own childhood when most people here weren’t born yet.

I have been there about the relating to young people, Gengar84, in more ways than one! Some of the things they are interested in nowadays do not interest me.

 

[HyperSomari64]

Don’t remind me lol. I just turned 40 this Monday and I feel ancient.

Now the 84 in your nickname makes more sense now.
I'm recently discovering it lol

 

[Gengar84]

Now the 84 in your nickname makes more sense now.
I recently discovering it lol

Yup, pretty creative name isn’t it? Lol

What’s going to be really weird is when my Smashboards account becomes older than a lot of new users’ ages. I joined in 2009 so it’s probably not that far off.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

What is Roblox anyway? Or should I not ask?

Oof.

 

[PF9]

A Guitar Hero stage would also be cool. In lieu of licensing actual songs from the GH games, you'd have the ability to play any rock-oriented song from the Smash series on the stage, regardless of what franchise it is from.

 

[TheQuester]

6 years ago Overwatch was one of my favorite games, and I would have loved someone like Tracer in Smash as a fighter. Now when Overwatch gets brought up I only feel pain. That does have me thinking though.

Minecraft is the newest 3rd party series represented on the roster, (technically Bayonetta if you count Cave Game, but for the sake of my question I won’t). How likely do you think it is that we see a series that debuted after Minecraft (November 18, 2011) get represented on the roster of the next Smash, and what series do you think it would be?

If it does my best guess would be Undertale

Probably either Genshin Impact, Undertale, Hades or more controversiallly...Apex Legends (I think Wraith and Pathfinder would fit well in Smash lol).
I think we're definitely getting at least one esport or free-to-play and indie 3rd party rep next game, they're a big part of the industry now and a smash bros character would generate plenty of interest from people outside the fandom.

 

[Gengar84]

Probably either Genshin Impact, Undertale, Hades or more controversiallly...Apex Legends (I think Wraith and Pathfinder would fit well in Smash lol).
I think we're definitely getting at least one esport or free-to-play and indie 3rd party rep next game, they're a big part of the industry now and a smash bros character would generate plenty of interest from people outside the fandom.

I’m not sure how likely it is but my most wanted third party series that debuted after 2011 is probably Octopath Traveller. It has such a cool, unique look, fun combat, simple but enjoyable stories, and amazing music. For first party, I’d go with Astral Chain.

As for esports games, I’d love to see a character from WarCraft, StarCraft, or League of Legends. None of them debuted after 2011 but League of Legends is at least around that general time period. I’m not really into esports but I do enjoy the worlds and characters of those games. Arcane is my favorite video game based series or movie even though I’ve never played LoL.

 

[DarthEnderX]

Tfw you've played almost every game on this list

I've played all of them. Though Tekken and Daytona I probably only played once or twice in arcades.

for ****'s sake I'M not even 30 yet and I feel old as hell lmao

Don’t remind me lol. I just turned 40 this Monday and I feel ancient.

 

[cashregister9]

Not really an Apex player, I've dabbled here and there and I do enjoy me some Titanfall, but all-in-all it isn't a battle royale I particularly enjoy

However a Pokemon Trainer-esque team of 3 Apex characters would be a cool pick for smash, I would pick Bloodhound, Pathfinder and Lifeline because that seems like a unique mixture of characters for smash in terms of gameplay, and each one I would say is an icon of Apex (from what I know and have seen)

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

The wh--

...Huh. Guess it is.

I realize, this year, the following games turn 30:

• Donkey Kong Country
• Donkey Kong '94 (but that was obvious...)
• Tekken
• Super Metroid (just last month, actually!)
• Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles
• Final Fantasy VI
• Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem
• The King of Fighters '94 (well...)
• DOOM II
• EarthBound
• Daytona USA

Congratulations, everyone reading this now feels 10-15 years older.

Of these, I've only played Donkey Kong Country.

On the SNES Mini at my college.

 

[Garteam]

I feel like this isn't a great comparison, the difference is that Dante and Devil May Cry are both much more popular than the examples you listed. You could argue it's a bandwagon in the fanbase sure, and I definitely don't think it would reach the same heights as it did when Dante was trending on twitter, but people are still gonna keep requesting Dante a lot because he's Dante.

Oh yeah, I definitely don't think Dante is going to stop being requested altogether or anything like that. However, Rayman still gets requests too, they're just not nearly as common as they were during Smash for Wii U/3DS' DLC (Shovel Knight has kind of gone the way of the Dodo, though).

It's a relative decrease in popularity where Dante is no longer hegemonic like he used to be, rather than being a non-presence. He's no longer a character discussed daily, nor are we doing things like considering Vergil as a second DMC rep anymore. I don't think he hit the lows that Rayman or Shovel Knight are currently experiencing, but I think he'll stay closer to, say, Lloyd's level of popularity unless DMCVI is released during the next game's speculation period and/or Capcom's other candidates are thinned out.

 

[StrangeKitten]

I never said anything about them being likely, the whole indie list before that and the brief mobile mention were all characters/series I'd be happy to see, nothing more. I know realistically, stuff like Nikke, Pseudoregalia, Signalis, etc have an actual 0 chance and most of the others don't fare much better.


That's pretty surface level and dismissive but I suppose I can't fault you for that considering the marketing. Either way, they're not really a serious consideration. If Mai couldn't get in as a background cameo I don't see any scenario where Nikke, Azure Lane,etc have any real chance.

I would include Granblue in the camp of mobile/gachas with some chance though. Probably still behind Genshin but that's a pretty notable series as well.

Signalis in Smash would go so hard, though.

A person can dream...

 

[cashregister9]

Signalis in Smash would go so hard, though.

A person can dream...

We need Signalis, Ultrakill and Max Payne in Smash so we have 3 separate excuses to get HEALTH music into the game

Spoiler: Three Videos

 

[MrMcNuts]

Oh yeah, I definitely don't think Dante is going to stop being requested altogether or anything like that. However, Rayman still gets requests too, they're just not nearly as common as they were during Smash for Wii U/3DS' DLC (Shovel Knight has kind of gone the way of the Dodo, though).

I'm not gonna argue how he compares to Dante since I don't follow Dante enough to know how much he's requested, but the idea that Rayman's requests peaked in the Smash 4 era has always been a misconception considering he's still in the top 10 or sometimes 5 of almost every major poll in recent years. Possibly more speculated and talked about due to the times and the artsy omni leak, but the requests are still strong.

Dante I have no idea like I said, though I feel I've seen him quite a bit.

 

[SS2000]

If they held another Smash ballot how do you think it’d go?

Ignoring Goku and meme picks like Shrek, who do you think would get the most votes? What political campaigns would people make this time around?

Based off what we know from last time, and how things are these days, it would likely just be whatever is the hot new thing on the block. Probably something like 2B, or maybe... Let's run a search on what game is currently making headlines... A PlayStation exclusive called Steller Blade? People would probably vote for the main character of that game! lol
I felt surprised back when we learned Bayonetta was the most voted (of the "viable at the time") character. It made me wonder which demographics overall the ballot reached and what thought process was involved. She did just prior to that get her would've-been-cancelled-if-not-for-Nintendo sequel on Wii-U. So I always figured recency bias was one possible factor. She was certainly not a character many of us were expecting to get voted in given certain things like what she was mainly known for. lol These days it would feel more expected with her having become a Nintendo exclusive character. And we later learn that Sora was the most voted of the "viable at all" characters. That right there makes it clear the majority out there don't give much thought to it like many of us do; even if Sora was my favorite character I'd have never voted for him since I'd just figure, "anything involving Disney is a nightmare, so it would be a wasted vote", and go on to ponder which character I like is actually viable and has a chance. It makes me wonder if Sora was actually the most voted of all characters, or if he might have actually been beaten out by a completely nonviable character like Goku! lol
A more interesting thing than just another ballot would be a ballot with more stipulation. Like maybe a retro ancient ballot that asks you to pick a character that was in a game from the NES/SNES/GB/GBC era to get a modern day re-imagine like what Pit once got. (Something about seeing a character go from the pixels of old to a modern appearance just feels more magical to me than going polygons to extra polygons. lol)

For the FE series in Smash, do you want some cuts like Corrin, Roy, and sadly Chrom and only Marth, Ike, Lucina, Robin, and Byleth can stay? Or overhaul the FE roster?

That would all come down to what they decide to do for the next game. If by some chance "Everyone is here!" again, then obviously keep them and add a new one or two.
If we get sort of a reboot that will handle things differently, then I hope they come up with a new way to better handle FE as a whole than making clone lords and slightly different lords. Here's a random idea of a way to keep many and have few:
Make a few "Archetype characters". Know how Bowser JR has alts that are different characters? It could be similar to that, but a little more; add a little icon that can be pressed to change the character to the others in that archetype and then choose between eight alts for that one character. Marth could be the main Lord archetype character with Lucina, Roy, and a few others like Seliph all as the other options behind him. They could all function the same but have different voices, taunts, and victories that best portray them individually. Maybe, just maybe, you could even have each have a single unique special for a little extra uniqueness ("Same character with a single custom special", but not go any further beyond that game-play wise lest they become too different). With just three or four of those you could "include" most characters people would want. A Manakete archetype could cover Tiki, Corrin and such. Maybe a heavy blade type for Ike, Black Knight and such. A mage archetype could be for Robin, Celica, and such. And a completely new pegasus knight one could be cool to represent one of FE's most famous unit types that includes a lot of popular potential characters like Ceada, Palla, Est, Catria, Ingrid, and Chloe and would use lances instead of swords for a change. And if a character that would be better off with their own unique set comes along then they can just be there own thing; Alear could be a part of the Lord archetype if he has to be in just for the sake of it, or he could be his own completely separate character with his own play style that involves engaging and such.
One old character I've come to recently think might have the potential to have a fun original move set if given the effort is Lyn. Not only has she become about as well known for bows as her katana, but her duplication ability has certainly changed since the days of old; there was a time in the distant past where seeing multiple of her just seemed to denote really fast movement, to apparently being some sort of illusory doubles, to Engage where she can actually make tangible copies capable of stalling and even aiding in attacks! That could all make for some interesting possibilities if she ever escapes the assist trophy.

 

[Scrimblo Bimblo]

I don't particularly want him (though I'd certainly like his inclusion), but Rayman has to get in at some point. He's one of the most no-brainer characters ever. A company mascot, popular with Nintendo fans, super easy to make him fit into the game, Ubisoft clearly wants him in, he's playable in a Mario game...
In terms of 3rd party characters, only Bomberman and the Monster Hunter feel as DUH as him.
Which doesn't actually mean much, but if they keep expanding the guest roster I can't see how he doesn't get in at some point.

 

[dream1ng]

I don't particularly want him (though I'd certainly like his inclusion), but Rayman has to get in at some point. He's one of the most no-brainer characters ever. A company mascot, popular with Nintendo fans, super easy to make him fit into the game, Ubisoft clearly wants him in, he's playable in a Mario game...
In terms of 3rd party characters, only Bomberman and the Monster Hunter feel as DUH as him.
Which doesn't actually mean much, but if they keep expanding the guest roster I can't see how he doesn't get in at some point.

If it was only the west I'd agree. His lack of prevalence/popularity in Japan is a setback to his chances. He can still get in, obviously, but no characters of such lopsided affinity are close to sure things.

His peak of fanbase popularity is also, at this point, quite a ways back, probably in part due to his own games not being up to a whole lot as of late.

We may even get an assassin over him; Assassin's Creed is a much bigger series with a wider resonance in basically every region. Even if Rayman "fits" better and is more popular within the fanbase. It's not like Rayman's hopeless, he's got a shot. It's just... far from assured.

 

[Scrimblo Bimblo]

If it was only the west I'd agree. His lack of prevalence/popularity in Japan is a setback to his chances. He can still get in, obviously, but no characters of such lopsided affinity are close to sure things.

His peak of fanbase popularity is also, at this point, quite a ways back, probably in part due to his own games not being up to a whole lot as of late.

We may even get an assassin over him; Assassin's Creed is a much bigger series with a wider resonance in basically every region. Even if Rayman "fits" better and is more popular within the fanbase. It's not like Rayman's hopeless, he's got a shot. It's just... far from assured.

Yeah I think that the likelihood of an Assassin's Creed character is underrated, the series is crazy popular and it already has a foot in. Not sure if that would preclude Rayman from getting in, though. Megaman/Ryu and Banjo/Steve had similar dynamics and they all got in.
The actual biggest hurdle is probably Japan...

By the way, Source Gaming did a poll about the most requested new characters in 2022.
I'm not sure if I can link it, but Rayman is top 5. The likes of Doom Slayer, Master Chief, Shantae and Dante are near the top as well. Crash is 1st. Bandana Dee, Waluigi, Isaac, Geno and Dixie Kong are up there. Bomberman and Skull Kid are still pretty popular.
Not sure how big the sample size is, but it's probably as representative as the pre-Ballot fan polls

 

[SpecterFlower]

Based off what we know from last time, and how things are these days, it would likely just be whatever is the hot new thing on the block. Probably something like 2B, or maybe... Let's run a search on what game is currently making headlines... A PlayStation exclusive called Steller Blade? People would probably vote for the main character of that game! lol
I felt surprised back when we learned Bayonetta was the most voted (of the "viable at the time") character. It made me wonder which demographics overall the ballot reached and what thought process was involved. She did just prior to that get her would've-been-cancelled-if-not-for-Nintendo sequel on Wii-U. So I always figured recency bias was one possible factor. She was certainly not a character many of us were expecting to get voted in given certain things like what she was mainly known for. lol These days it would feel more expected with her having become a Nintendo exclusive character. And we later learn that Sora was the most voted of the "viable at all" characters. That right there makes it clear the majority out there don't give much thought to it like many of us do; even if Sora was my favorite character I'd have never voted for him since I'd just figure, "anything involving Disney is a nightmare, so it would be a wasted vote", and go on to ponder which character I like is actually viable and has a chance. It makes me wonder if Sora was actually the most voted of all characters, or if he might have actually been beaten out by a completely nonviable character like Goku! lol
A more interesting thing than just another ballot would be a ballot with more stipulation. Like maybe a retro ancient ballot that asks you to pick a character that was in a game from the NES/SNES/GB/GBC era to get a modern day re-imagine like what Pit once got. (Something about seeing a character go from the pixels of old to a modern appearance just feels more magical to me than going polygons to extra polygons. lol)



That would all come down to what they decide to do for the next game. If by some chance "Everyone is here!" again, then obviously keep them and add a new one or two.
If we get sort of a reboot that will handle things differently, then I hope they come up with a new way to better handle FE as a whole than making clone lords and slightly different lords. Here's a random idea of a way to keep many and have few:
Make a few "Archetype characters". Know how Bowser JR has alts that are different characters? It could be similar to that, but a little more; add a little icon that can be pressed to change the character to the others in that archetype and then choose between eight alts for that one character. Marth could be the main Lord archetype character with Lucina, Roy, and a few others like Seliph all as the other options behind him. They could all function the same but have different voices, taunts, and victories that best portray them individually. Maybe, just maybe, you could even have each have a single unique special for a little extra uniqueness ("Same character with a single custom special", but not go any further beyond that game-play wise lest they become too different). With just three or four of those you could "include" most characters people would want. A Manakete archetype could cover Tiki, Corrin and such. Maybe a heavy blade type for Ike, Black Knight and such. A mage archetype could be for Robin, Celica, and such. And a completely new pegasus knight one could be cool to represent one of FE's most famous unit types that includes a lot of popular potential characters like Ceada, Palla, Est, Catria, Ingrid, and Chloe and would use lances instead of swords for a change. And if a character that would be better off with their own unique set comes along then they can just be there own thing; Alear could be a part of the Lord archetype if he has to be in just for the sake of it, or he could be his own completely separate character with his own play style that involves engaging and such.
One old character I've come to recently think might have the potential to have a fun original move set if given the effort is Lyn. Not only has she become about as well known for bows as her katana, but her duplication ability has certainly changed since the days of old; there was a time in the distant past where seeing multiple of her just seemed to denote really fast movement, to apparently being some sort of illusory doubles, to Engage where she can actually make tangible copies capable of stalling and even aiding in attacks! That could all make for some interesting possibilities if she ever escapes the assist trophy.

That vote was very suspect of its effect on smash 4.

And then there’s also the fact that they were working on her beforehand and she scored well enough to count as the ballot winner.

In reality the ballot was for ultimate.

I also heavily doubt stellar blade would be winning any poll, the general consensus is it’s good.

And it’s been through way to many controversy at this point that I see Nintendo even adding it in, it would be a pr nightmare

 

[dream1ng]

Yeah I think that the likelihood of an Assassin's Creed character is underrated, the series is crazy popular and it already has a foot in. Not sure if that would preclude Rayman from getting in, though. Megaman/Ryu and Banjo/Steve had similar dynamics and they all got in.

No it's true one doesn't preclude the other, but any intra-company competition is an impediment would the character otherwise be the sole obvious choice.

By the way, Source Gaming did a poll about the most requested new characters in 2022.
I'm not sure if I can link it, but Rayman is top 5. The likes of Doom Slayer, Master Chief, Shantae and Dante are near the top as well. Crash is 1st. Bandana Dee, Waluigi, Isaac, Geno and Dixie Kong are up there. Bomberman and Skull Kid are still pretty popular.

The commonality between the likes of Doom Slayer, Master Chief, Shantae, Dante, Crash and Rayman were that those characters either weren't deconfirmed, or weren't deconfirmed until very close to the end, so they had their popularity endure.

We'll see how things look when there's a sample size big enough that more than a single character exceeds 500 votes, and all those characters who had spent months to years being considered deconfirmed potentially regain popularity.

Dante is already losing real estate in the face of the other Capcom characters being seen as on the table again, and I imagine Shantae is/will as well in the face of other indies such as Sans. Chief and Slayer will probably retain their popularity given they are considered two of the three frontrunners from their company (though I think the fanbase discounts viable MS options) and given they will likely remain active. If Crash stops getting games he may falter, but Rayman is already sort of there. Were we still getting Rayman games, his demand would be at a level a lot likelier to be noticed, such as around the ballot era.

In any case... that data is of limited use. It's taken from a period of fairly extreme inactivity in the fanbase as a whole, leading to a very small sample size, and one that is heavily influenced by the previous deconfirmations. I mean Phoenix Wright is third. I notice you left him out.

Not sure how big the sample size is, but it's probably as representative as the pre-Ballot fan polls

I'm not sure exactly which time period pre-ballot you're referring to, but there were much bigger polls than this one.

I'm not gonna argue how he compares to Dante since I don't follow Dante enough to know how much he's requested, but the idea that Rayman's requests peaked in the Smash 4 era has always been a misconception considering he's still in the top 10 or sometimes 5 of almost every major poll in recent years. Possibly more speculated and talked about due to the times and the artsy omni leak, but the requests are still strong.

A character still being requested isn't a counterargument to it not being their peak.

Isaac is still requested, but his peak was alllllll the way back when Dark Dawn was current. Or during the ballot. Or around the Grinch leak. Point is, it's not now. But he's still requested.

 

[fogbadge]

Don’t remind me lol. I just turned 40 this Monday and I feel ancient.

yeah but it makes me feel better so thanks for that

Oof.

worst part is i'm gonna forget by the time it comes up again

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

worst part is i'm gonna forget by the time it comes up again

To be clear, I wasn't judging you. I was doing the meme:

Spoiler: Roblox Death Sound

EDIT: According to the comments of the video, they removed it? That's crazy. If I had a nickle for how many times they removed an iconic "oof" sound effect I'd have two nickles, which isn't much, but it's weird that it happened twice, no?

 

[toonito]

Got a question I've been meaning to ask - let's assume for the moment that Terry will return, and SNK's cooperation has made Sakurai and/or Nintendo keen on the idea of working with them further. Which SNK characters do you think we'd have a chance of seeing, and who would you want to see?

Chance of seeing: Nakoruru, Iori, Geese, Marco, Rock Howard, Kyo, Athena

Who I want to see: Nakoruru

 

[Kirbeh]

I also heavily doubt stellar blade would be winning any poll, the general consensus is it’s good.

And it’s been through way to many controversy at this point that I see Nintendo even adding it in, it would be a pr nightmare

I wouldn't count on Stellar Blade for the simple fact it's a PlayStation published exclusive. Otherwise, I think it's too new to gauge.

Aside from that, given stricter rating standards, I don't think she'd have much a shot either way. Her default outfit is fairly comparable to Bayonetta, but I don't think we'll be seeing anymore characters of a similar style anytime soon. I fully admit negativity bias though. I'm one of the people that highly doubt 2B's chances and consider Bayo's return chances to be in danger.

The controversies I honestly don't think would factor in a few years down the line from now. A lot of it is really overblown and most of it is from publications in the USA rather than consumers. It's been getting a pretty bad rap for months now and unfairly so imo. That said, I think a few years after the fact it'll mostly be forgotten (the controversies, not the game.)