{"id":39050,"date":"2018-08-09T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-08-09T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/news\/2018\/08\/feature_whats_left_to_be_announced_for_smash_bros_ultimate_on_switch"},"modified":"2018-08-09T16:00:00","modified_gmt":"2018-08-09T16:00:00","slug":"feature-whats-left-to-be-announced-for-smash-bros-ultimate-on-switch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2018\/08\/09\/feature-whats-left-to-be-announced-for-smash-bros-ultimate-on-switch\/","title":{"rendered":"Feature: What&#8217;s Left To Be Announced For Smash Bros. Ultimate On Switch?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/d75ec851c58b3\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/d75ec851c58b3\/small.jpg\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n<aside class=\"picture strip\">\n<div class=\"img\"><a title=\"Super Smash Bros Ultimate August Nintendo Direct 7\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/d75ec851c58b3\/super-smash-bros-ultimate-august-nintendo-direct-7.original.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/d75ec851c58b3\/super-smash-bros-ultimate-august-nintendo-direct-7.900x.jpg\" alt=\"Super Smash Bros Ultimate August Nintendo Direct 7\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>The <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/nintendo-switch\/super_smash_bros_ultimate\">Super Smash Bros. Ultimate<\/a><\/strong> Direct on August 8th gave gaming fans a healthy amount of previously unannounced information about the upcoming mascot-fighter. (By the way, what is up with Nintendo\u2019s sky-high production on these character reveal videos? Who wouldn\u2019t watch <em>entire<\/em> episodes of that?)<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s a <em>ton<\/em> to sift through, and fans will be happy to sift. The biggest headlines, along with notable updates, are as follows:<\/p>\n<p>Plus, there were announcements regarding a litany of new assist trophy characters from across the gaming universe, new items, and lots of other odds and ends which were all discussed during Nintendo\u2019s presentation. Even as a bulleted list, that synopsis is <em>long!<\/em><\/p>\n<p>So after all that, you may be asking yourself, \u201cOkay, so what\u2019s left?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Good question. Nintendo said more info <em>is<\/em> coming. And while there are only a finite amount of announcements feasibly left, there\u2019s actually plenty of stuff you can glean from what we know already, as well as from what\u2019s been done in the series\u2019 past.<\/p>\n<p><em>(Fair warning: literally anything is possible with future Smash announcements. Highly educated guesses could be torn to pieces with an out-of-the-blue press release or something totally unprecedented. I am not claiming to have front-line access to Smash Bros. development. That said, this is the realistic landscape at present.)<\/em><\/p>\n<h3>What The Confirmed Stages Might Tell Us<\/h3>\n<aside class=\"picture strip\">\n<div class=\"img\"><a title=\"Ssb Ultimate Direct Aug82018 6\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/4b1288e74b2a3\/ssb-ultimate-direct-aug82018-6.original.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/4b1288e74b2a3\/ssb-ultimate-direct-aug82018-6.900x.jpg\" alt=\"Ssb Ultimate Direct Aug82018 6\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>There&#8217;s an <em>otherworldly<\/em> amount of stages in Smash Bros. Ultimate. As stated above, there are 103 before you even factor in the gameplay variations.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re keeping track at home, and I know a select few of you are, these are the only stages from all other Smash Bros. games that apparently <em>won\u2019t<\/em> appear in Ultimate:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Flat Zone<\/li>\n<li>Flat Zone 2<\/li>\n<li>Icicle Mountain<\/li>\n<li>Jungle Hijinxs<\/li>\n<li>Miiverse<\/li>\n<li>Mushroom Kingdom Melee<\/li>\n<li>Mushroomy Kingdom 1-2<\/li>\n<li>Mute City Melee<\/li>\n<li>Orbital Gate Assault<\/li>\n<li>Pac-Maze<\/li>\n<li>Pictochat<\/li>\n<li>Planet Zebes<\/li>\n<li>Poke Floats<\/li>\n<li>Pyrosphere<\/li>\n<li>Rainbow Road<\/li>\n<li>Rumble Falls<\/li>\n<li>Sector Z<\/li>\n<li>Woolly World<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Here&#8217;s what the stage menu looks like so far:<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture strip\">\n<div class=\"img\"><a title=\"Screen Shot 2018 08 09 At 09.57.40\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/b45edd30ad962\/screen-shot-2018-08-09-at-09-57-40.original.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/b45edd30ad962\/screen-shot-2018-08-09-at-09-57-40.900x.jpg\" alt=\"Screen Shot 2018 08 09 At 09.57.40\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Besides endless variety, what can we take away from this? Mainly that from a UI perspective, the scope for more stages is arguably limited.<\/p>\n<p>Now, I know what some of you are thinking right now: <em>\u201cBut Alan! They could just make the screen even smaller! Or create a paginated menu!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Well, yes, they could. Heck, the stage select could\u2019ve just been a mockup made for display purposes. Nintendo could, in fact, announce <em>even more<\/em> stages (that would\u2019ve required considerable more development time than the team probably had), bringing the total up a teensy bit higher.<\/p>\n<p>All that to say, it\u2019s simply more likely that those things aren\u2019t true. Given the geometric rigidness of the stage menu as presented in the direct (and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smashbros.com\/en_US\/stage\/index.html\">on the new website<\/a>), plus the frank logic of development resources, there\u2019s simply a better chance that this is it, <em>for now.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>And if that holds true, that also means that unless a brand new character doesn\u2019t also bring with them a corresponding multiplayer stage (unprecedented in Smash history), that means that any already-developed new fighter has to come from the stages <em>already present<\/em> in the game.<\/p>\n<h3>So Which New Characters Are Still To Come?<\/h3>\n<p>Say a fictional or non-fictional entity out loud. <em>Go ahead.<\/em> Literally whatever you just said has already been suggested by somebody for Smash Bros. But there are far better ways to venture an educated guess.<\/p>\n<p>For instance, before Dark Samus\u2019 announcement in the most recent direct, sharp-eyed fans noticed that Samus\u2019 \u201cDark Samus\u201d costume was no longer selectable in the E3 demo. The Dark Samus assist trophy was also thus far absent from the demo. Given Samus\u2019 nemesis Ridley was front in centre during the game\u2019s blowout reveal at E3, combined with the concurrent in-development status of a major Metroid title (<strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/nintendo-switch\/metroid_prime_4\">Metroid Prime 4<\/a><\/strong>), Dark Samus became a logical, educated guess. <em>And then she was announced.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Yes, there are other examples like this one.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s the most logical one: the \u201cgraduation\u201d of recent Mii Fighter costumes. Originally conceived as a sort of \u201crunner-up\u201d consolation prize to several of the characters who (purportedly) finished behind <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/switch-eshop\/bayonetta\">Bayonetta<\/a><\/strong> in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendo.com\/whatsnew\/detail\/jsKF0d4U12rTFWu-Bf_nAKhUJgVakVf7\">Smash ballot survey<\/a>, many people understandably feel most of the newest characters previously being costumes can\u2019t be coincidental:<\/p>\n<aside class=\"object object-tweet\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p><span lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">i dont wanna say that there&#8217;s a trend here but i think there might be a trend here <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/T2iIPYPmdZ\">pic.twitter.com\/T2iIPYPmdZ<\/a><\/span>\u2014 Jacob Rabon IV \ud83c\udf19 (@alpharadtv) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/alpharadtv\/status\/1027237378233180160?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 8, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/aside>\n<p>So who is left from the costume list (who aren\u2019t also assist trophies, for reasons I\u2019ll explain soon)?<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Akira (<strong>Virtua Fighter<\/strong>)<\/li>\n<li>Black Knight (<strong>Fire Emblem<\/strong>)<\/li>\n<li>Chocobo (<strong>Final Fantasy<\/strong>)<\/li>\n<li>Geno (<strong>Super Mario RPG<\/strong>)<\/li>\n<li>Gil (<strong>The Tower of Druaga<\/strong>)<\/li>\n<li>Heihachi (<strong>Tekken<\/strong>)<\/li>\n<li>Hunter (<strong>Monster Hunter<\/strong>)<\/li>\n<li>Jacky Bryant (<strong>Virtua Fighter<\/strong>)<\/li>\n<li>Lloyd Irving (<strong>Tales of Symphonia<\/strong>)<\/li>\n<li>Tails (<strong>Sonic the Hedgehog<\/strong>)<\/li>\n<li>Viridi (<strong>Kid Icarus<\/strong>)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Given the supplemental manner in which the Monster Hunter and fighting game characters from this list were used to regale other announcements at the time, the most reasonable names left are Lloyd Irving (Tales of Symphonia), Viridi (Kid Icarus), Geno (Super Mario RPG), and Tails (Sonic the Hedgehog 2).<\/p>\n<p>Lloyd seems like a stretch and has no proper stage. Viridi? Uh, maybe? Geno is perpetually suggested but seems likely to have been announced by now if he was planned for Ultimate on release, as he technically does not have his own stage. (Though with his neverending rumoured status, who can know for sure?) That mostly leaves Tails.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s some related trivia: Tails already exists in the background of the Sonic the Hedgehog stage. However, so did King Dedede in an original Kirby stage, and Toon Link is removed from\u00a0<strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/ds\/legend_of_zelda_spirit_tracks\">The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks<\/a><\/strong> stage when you select him to fight, so anything is technically possible. Are you a <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/nintendo-switch\/captain_toad_treasure_tracker\">Captain Toad<\/a><\/strong> fan? The above logic is about your only hope, seeing as Captain Toad appears in the background of the new New Donk City stage.<\/p>\n<p>What other clues do we have? There are some assist trophies that might tell us something, as well as items. Let me unpack them.<\/p>\n<p>Of previous Pokeball item characters and previous assist trophies, the only ones that have made the jump to being playable characters are Little Mac, Dark Samus and Charizard. Working backwards from there in order to show there\u2019s a bit of a graduation precedent here, some characters (such as Knuckles and Zero) now have officially been \u201cpromoted\u201d from Mii costume to assist trophy.<\/p>\n<p>So which assist trophies from previous Smash games have not yet been shown?<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Barbara (<strong>Daigasso! Band Brothers<\/strong>)<\/li>\n<li>Isabelle (<strong>Animal Crossing<\/strong>)<\/li>\n<li>Shadow the Hedgehog (<strong>Sonic<\/strong>)<\/li>\n<li>Skull Kid (<strong>Zelda<\/strong>)<\/li>\n<li>Tingle (<strong>Zelda<\/strong>)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Perhaps not coincidentally, Skull Kid, Barbara and Isabelle were also Mii costumes. To line things up even more, all of these characters already have stages in their universes.<\/p>\n<p>Now, this list in and of itself doesn\u2019t prove anything. In the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=akohTFyGu88\">June Nintendo Direct<\/a>, series director Sakurai promised 50 plus assist trophies and more Pokeball items than have yet been shown. It\u2019s reasonable that some of the above characters could exist in the remainder. Or they might not.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s one more thing. While it\u2019s worth stressing that Nintendo Life would never, <em>ever<\/em> report an unsubstantiated rumour as fact, that isn\u2019t going to stop me from doing it.<\/p>\n<p>Back in May of this year, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ssbwiki.com\/list_of_rumors#Vergeben_leak\">a user on the popular gaming forum GameFAQ<\/a> made an unsubstantiated claim that they had advance knowledge of future Smash announcements.<\/p>\n<p>Their totally baseless claims at the time? That Ridley and Simon Belmont were going to be announced in a staggered fashion, beginning at E3. They also then claimed that all characters from Smash Bros. 4 were going to be included on the roster, as well as the Ice Climbers. Later on, supposedly the very same poster stated that Snake would also return. What else was included among their strongly worded claims? This mystery person seemed absolutely certain Isabelle would be a playable character.<\/p>\n<p>Verifying totally random posts online is a fool\u2019s errand, and I\u2019m not going to start now. But you\u2019ve got to admit, even without these uncanny predictions, the case for Isabelle is strong, given the loose traces.<\/p>\n<h3>What About Single-Player?<\/h3>\n<aside class=\"picture strip\">\n<div class=\"img\"><a title=\"Screen Shot 2018 08 08 At 15.23.42\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/0b89d68169a8a\/screen-shot-2018-08-08-at-15-23-42.original.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/0b89d68169a8a\/screen-shot-2018-08-08-at-15-23-42.900x.jpg\" alt=\"Screen Shot 2018 08 08 At 15.23.42\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Nintendo teased the above image, pixelation and all, regarding another mode yet to come. What\u2019s going on here? Twitter user <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/noctulescent\">@noctulescent<\/a> has probably the most convincing piece of evidence:<\/p>\n<aside class=\"object object-tweet\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p><span lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">frame by frame, the pixelated green thing in <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/SmashBrosDirect?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#SmashBrosDirect<\/a> says &#8220;Spirits&#8221;. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/GameXplain?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@GameXplain<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/fZKN0nYmIC\">pic.twitter.com\/fZKN0nYmIC<\/a><\/span>\u2014 l&#8217;attard\u00e9 (@noctulescent) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/noctulescent\/status\/1027204063811850240?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 8, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Read the thread to see how they did it, but the claim is that, at least for this image, the pixilated word that\u2019s censored is \u201cSpirits\u201d. What the heck does \u201cspirits\u201d mean? Well, seeing that both Mario <em>and<\/em> Luigi have been strongly suggested to have flat out died in back-to-back Nintendo Directs, the most logical conclusion is that there could be some element of death (or playing from beyond the dead) in whatever the new Smash Bros. one-player mode is.<\/p>\n<p>Also, why do I think the pixilated menu option has to do with single-player specifically? Well, every last single-player mode in Smash history has a green button. <em>It\u2019s that simple.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>There is also the strong possibility that the single-player mode could be related to some sort of boss mode (similar to how players fought Ridley in recent Smash games), given how Monster Hunter dragon Rathalos was announced as both an assist trophy and a \u201cboss\u201d. Also, Castlevania antagonist Dracula also exuded some type of \u201cboss-like\u201d gameplay during the Castlevania stage reveal. There\u2019s something here.<\/p>\n<h3>Final Predictions<\/h3>\n<aside class=\"picture strip\">\n<div class=\"img\"><a title=\"Super Smash Bros Ultimate August Nintendo Direct 4\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/431caa2d8efec\/super-smash-bros-ultimate-august-nintendo-direct-4.original.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/431caa2d8efec\/super-smash-bros-ultimate-august-nintendo-direct-4.900x.jpg\" alt=\"Super Smash Bros Ultimate August Nintendo Direct 4\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>There\u2019s still a decent amount left to know about Smash Bros. before it launches. (Hello? We still know next to nothing about how it\u2019ll play online!) Plenty more items will be showcased (come to me, home-run bat\u2026), though I don\u2019t predict we will see any more stages.<\/p>\n<p>If there really are no more stages, I predict this means the most logical <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/news\/2018\/07\/nintendo_releases_complete_sales_figures_for_its_million-selling_switch_games\">multi-million selling<\/a> Nintendo title to have zero representation in Smash Bros., <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/nintendo-switch\/arms\">ARMS<\/a><\/strong>, will be relegated to eventual DLC. If, in fact, Smash Bros. Ultimate began development relatively concurrently to the system\u2019s first wave of games, this only strengthens the likelihood that they may have needed more time (<strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/wiiu\/splatoon\">Splatoon<\/a><\/strong> did).<\/p>\n<p>If you were to <em>absolutely<\/em> press me for which logical character announcements are to come between now and December, based on everything I\u2019ve said above and using additional logic from past series decisions, I would guess this:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Isabelle<\/li>\n<li>Tails<\/li>\n<li>Dixie Kong<\/li>\n<li>A generation 7 Pok\u00e9mon<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Animal Crossing <em>desperately<\/em> needs more representation given how popular the series is (including the mobile title), and Isabelle is the most teased candidate. Tails and Dixie Kong would be the most logical echo fighters, especially Dixie Kong, considering the strong tell by announcing King K. Rool, not to mention the success of <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/nintendo-switch\/donkey_kong_country_tropical_freeze\">Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze<\/a><\/strong> on Switch. In addition, not having a playable, new generation Pok\u00e9mon representative would be unprecedented for the fighting series. And to reiterate, I don\u2019t foresee any new third-party franchises represented before launch (though never say \u201cnever\u201d). Tingle and Shadow I think are less likely than what I listed, but still totally possible as a new fighter and a shadow character, respectively.<\/p>\n<h3>What about Waluigi?!<\/h3>\n<aside class=\"picture strip\">\n<div class=\"img\"><a title=\"Waluigi Time.original\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/94889c4b51aa7\/waluigi-time-original.original.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/94889c4b51aa7\/waluigi-time-original.900x.jpg\" alt=\"Waluigi Time.original\" \/><\/a><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Nintendo seemed <a href=\"https:\/\/waypoint.vice.com\/en_us\/article\/435z3m\/nintendos-reggie-fils-aime-on-accessibility-whats-next-and-uh-waluigi\">completely caught off guard<\/a> by the groundswell of Waluigi support during E3. You may forget this fact after all the online memes, but he was already shown in Ultimate as an assist trophy! It is completely possible <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/nintendolife\/status\/1027347509377753094\">Nintendo is acting dumb<\/a>. But if they aren\u2019t (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/news\/2018\/08\/random_purple_and_yellow_chairs_in_smash_bros_direct_fuel_speculation_waluigi_will_be_playable_fighter\">and who knows, right?<\/a>), taking into account the needed development time and presuming he wasn\u2019t given top development priority, that does not bode well for Waluigi\u2019s immediate inclusion into Smash, only a likely eventual one, ala Ridley. Therefore, I predict both Springman from ARMS and Waluigi to join the fight as DLC, in due time. It\u2019s hard to imagine Arms won\u2019t be represented in this game, whether it\u2019s sooner or later.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, when might we get some more official announcements? The game launches in early December, so I\u2019d bet on only one (two at a push) more Directs between now and then. A drip campaign might be possible, but as we recently all experienced, Nintendo definitely loves their big, celebratory announcements.<\/p>\n<p><em>What do you think? Is this all a bunch of horse hockey? Do you agree with Alan? Who and what do you want to see announced for Smash Bros.?<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Special thanks to Smashboards contributor Kyle \u201cThinkaman\u2019 Brockman for some key insights into writing this feature.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Direct on August 8th gave gaming fans a healthy amount of previously unannounced information about the upcoming mascot-fighter. (By the way, what is up with Nintendo\u2019s sky-high production on these character reveal videos? Who wouldn\u2019t watch entire episodes of that?) There\u2019s a ton to sift through, and fans will be [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nintendo-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39050"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39050\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}