LAA9000

Sora is alright. His floatiness and relative simplicity compared to the other DLC fighters put me off him a bit. Hollow Bastion, on the other hand, is a great stage - we can finally have a hazards-on competitive stagelist with no compromises from the hazards-off stagelist! Obviously, it's still amazing that Kingdom Hearts content is in this game, and quite bittersweet that this is the last DLC for the game.

With that, I made a promise three weeks ago that I have to fulfil...

My Last SmashBoards Post

I don't remember a lot about first discovering this site. All I know was that it was sometime in 2019 and I lurked for a fair amount of time before creating an account. When in 2019 it was, or what threads I viewed, have escaped me.

Nevertheless, on the 20th of February, 2020, soon after building my first PC, I created a SmashBoards account and could finally start posting on this site. Over the years, I frequented, above all else, the profile post section, the Forum Games section, the Fire Emblem Heroes thread and the two DLC Speculation threads. I would frequently use this as my primary online social outlet, as my time on Reddit and Discord was usually spent responding to conversations that someone else had already started. I would both see and contribute to the post-Direct and post-Smash announcement hype, as well as whatever in-joke the profile post section started that day.

Now... I hate to be cynical on my goodbye post, but this site isn't all that special to me. I learned soon after joining that this is no longer the hub of the Smash community that it once was. Twitter and Discord took that title long ago, while this site has mostly become its own community of Smash speculators and random jokesters. Don't get me wrong, it's a very nice community, for the most part.

In addition, my interests changed over the months: I had progressively less fun playing whatever forum games were active; I quit Fire Emblem Heroes due to frustrations with the game; I grew tired of Smash DLC speculation (I also joined during its lowest point); I burnt out on playing Smash; and, of course, Smash DLC ended. Meanwhile, I finally pursued one of my dream hobbies of creating a YouTube channel, and created a Twitter account - both of which have done a lot of what this site did for me, only with a much larger install base, and I anticipate will become a massive part of my identity in the future.

I'm trying to say that, at this rate, I would've gradually grown bored of SmashBoards and left quietly anyway, regardless of some post I put up last month. Instead of saying 'see you tomorrow' and never seeing all of you again, I decided to give a more formal goodbye.

From today, I will leave this site. I will randomize my account's password, delete the automatically saved record of it and sign out so I cannot access it.

If you wish to follow me in the future, my four main platforms are:

• YouTube: JustNo. does some Stuff
• Twitter: @JustNo_8103725
• Reddit: u/LAA9000
• Discord: JustNo.#5054

Finally, and most importantly, thank you to all the wonderful people on this site who have given me much joy. You are what keeps forums up in the age of social media. I wish you very well on your future endeavours, and may you have great times ahead of you.

After 1 year, 7 months and 29 days... the time has come for me to move on.

Signing out.

My opinions on Sora (and Smash Ultimate ending, again):

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

Once the final DLC fighter for Smash Ultimate has released, I will be leaving SmashBoards.

I know this may come as a sudden surprise to many of you, and I am aware of any concerns you may have.

I feel as though I have grown out of this place, and am no longer the Smash fan that this site was made for. I do not talk about Smash a lot nowadays, nor am I the type to properly socialise with others on the Internet. Furthermore, with the debut of my YouTube channel, I feel as though I should use more mainstream services like that and Twitter as my main outlet, so my audience can easily find me. With content for Smash Ultimate coming to a close, and GCSEs approaching next May, I feel now is the time to move on to the next chapter of my life.

If you still wish to follow me, as mentioned previously, I have my YouTube channel and Twitter page, but you may also find me around various subreddits or Discord servers.

Thank you to everyone who has been friendly to me in my year and a half on SmashBoards. I hope you all have great times ahead of you.

Decided to write my thoughts on the recent Direct as a Twitter thread this time:

Currently listening to every video in this playlist simultaneously:

Finally got ads appearing correctly on SmashBoards.

Banned for updating my status, and that's Plant's fault entirely. Gonna make a Guilty Gear XX Accent Core +R thread.

Self-promotion, but I've just released my first YouTube video and would much appreciate if anyone gave it a watch:

It's finally happened: Powdered Toast Man is no longer on the front page of SmashBoards.

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl looks surprisingly great. When the rumours first appeared, I was sceptical that this would be a return to the 'Smash clones' of the early 2010s (mainly because of Cartoon Network Punch Time Explosion XL), but this seems to be a properly made platform fighter from the Slap City developers, with both the casual and competitive appeal that many love Smash for. I find it hilarious that the Nickelodeon platform fighter has features like rollback netcode and simultaneous releases on every major platform that big, staple fighting games like Smash, Street Fighter and Tekken have been wishing for for a decade, as well as players migrating to Nick as a result.

Currently, my only concern is that the Switch version won't have rollback, since a dev said only 'supported platforms' have it and the Switch is notably underpowered (I know this contradicts what I said a few days ago about the Switch not needing to compete with the PS5 and Xbox Series S|X). I believe that both Dan Fornace said he wanted to add rollback to the Switch version of Rivals of Aether but it was too much for the Switch's hardware, and even Masahiro Sakurai said he planned to add rollback to Smash Ultimate but every attempted implementation had adverse side effects. Given these instances, it's safe to assume Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl on Switch unfortunately won't have rollback (and by extension, if the other platforms have it, crossplay), which is a shame because that version would otherwise be the standard among Smash players. Let's hope enough Smash players own powerful enough PCs.

Other than that, despite not being attached to Nickelodeon, I might buy this game if its price on sale is reasonable and, more importantly, if it is good, but I probably won't give up good old Smash for it.

As expected, the Switch Pro rumours are continuing even after the OLED Model's announcement.

Honestly, I don't get the notion that Nintendo needs a more powerful Switch to be able to compete with the PS5 and Xbox Series S|X. The regular Switch wasn't able to directly compete with its competitors at the time, and an upgraded Switch will probably still be unable to compete with its new competitors. The Wii wasn't able to directly compete with the PS3 or Xbox 360, but it was more successful regardless because it offered unique benefits instead, and I think the same of the Switch.

That said, Nintendo sold 6 3DS models, including the New 3DS and New 3DS XL 4 years after the regular 3DS. If the Switch OLED Model is the equivalent of the 3DS XL, then there might be a New 3DS equivalent in a year or two. This also means we'll get a Nintendo Switch Pro Lite OLED Model 2 months after Nintendo's next console launches.

Less than two months later, I've already forgotten that Miitopia got a Switch port.

is still cool. He strikes me as the new 'Mr. Potential' after became top tier even without his niche tech. He can be pretty scary with his many intangible or armoured moves making him hard to challenge at times, as well as his wavedash giving him lots of moves to mix up with on approach. However, he's so unorthodox with his unique mechanics that I believe many high-level players will skip on him in favour of someone easier and 'more consistent' to them. He also loses to swords and is a ground-based fighter in a game where most characters' best moves are aerials.

Time to move on to the next fighter lol
It's probably going to be the SMTV protagonist
Does he even have an official name other than 'Protag'

Well in my opinion it's either him, Demifiend or Octoling

New rule idea: moves have to be notated on this site using the GameCube controller smilies. Jab would be , up special would be , 's Electric Wind God Fist would be +, etc.

Edit: Added a missing .

looks great; most of us were wrong about him having punches and kicks bound to and respectively since he has regular specials, but thankfully his normals keep the ridiculous inputs Tekken is known for. He seems to be designed like a superheavy grappler - sluggish movement and slow attacks in exchange for big weight, high damage and armour - but better, having many combos, a decent projectile and a low-profile approach tool. He might be the first high tier of this archetype since arguably in Brawl or... in Ultimate. Rage thankfully doesn't seem too powerful as a comeback mechanic, but we'll see.

Those Costume disconfirmations were relentless as well. However, I wouldn't personally apologise to Lloyd, Dragonborn, Dante or Shantae supporters, because those characters likely wouldn't have been added regardless of having a costume - they are treated as consolation prizes in many cases. I've seen people say is their least favourite Ultimate newcomer because he proved the Grinch Leak was fake, as if removing him would automatically add Isaac, Shadow, Mach Rider, Chorus Kids and Geno to the playable roster. It wouldn't; Nintendo would still need to manually add them, and they may simply not be willing to do that. The same applies here.

All in all, good presentation.

I rejoined a Discord server I left months ago just to retrieve this:

Yeah, Nintendo won E3 again without needing to do much.

Edit: Forgot a couple of things:

With 2 days left until the Nintendo Direct E3 2021, I completed my bingo card for it today:
Some things I'd like to note about it:

• The template comes from ABSahilGagrai on DeviantArt.
• Each prediction was placed randomly via use of Google's random number generator.
• Control freaks, I'm sorry if alignments are off. I judged everything by eye.
• Not all of the predictions on this card are my actual predictions. I've learned to hype responsibly.
• This list mostly focuses on new announcements, which is why I refrained from adding showcases of recently announced titles like Splatoon 3, Pokémon BDSP or Mario + Rabbids 2, as well as being obvious and anticlimactic.
• Similarly, I avoided 'one last thing' and 'mad fans' because they happen every Direct. I would've put one of them in the free space had Smash not been shown at every general Direct since its teaser.
• I didn't add many third-party announcements because most of the big studios have their own presentations around this time, so I stuck to ones that don't and would be likely to show up at a Nintendo Direct (plus I'm not that familiar with many).
• I might do a bingo card for every Nintendo Direct from now on, but if I don't have enough ideas to put on one, I'll likely skip it. Thankfully E3 has given me lots of ideas.
• In case it wasn't obvious enough, 'Microsoft is buying Nintendo' will be a running joke across my bingo cards.

Edit: Dammit, I forgot ARMS 2.

Not excusing Nintendo for Joy-Con drift - this is a massive, serious issue that has affected me - but buying another pair of Joy-Con is the absolute worst thing you can do when your current pair start drifting, yet tons of people do this. I swear I've seen more people sink hundreds of pounds into replacement Joy-Con rather than simply buy a Pro Controller like I did.

People in the replies are saying this is likely either Square Enix or Nintendo.

Reminder that if any company you are interested in has had a presentation leak like this, try to filter out any discussion of it from your social media feeds, or even take a break from the Internet, until the presentation officially airs. That's what I might do if this leak is for Nintendo's E3 Direct.

Nintendo felt the need to post this video 4 years into the Switch's lifespan, and that makes me a bit sad, knowing that Miis were once an icon of Nintendo.

Are the Steam Sega Genesis/Mega Drive Classics versions of Sonic 1, 2 and 3&K any good? The Golden Week sale is on this week and I might use this opportunity to finally play some Sonc for once in my life.

Another Smash-related realisation I made today: you know the people who complain about Smash having too many humanoid, semi-realistic 'Popular McJRPGGuys' and wanting more wacky, typically animal 'Scrimblo Bimblos' instead? Don't get me wrong, that's a perfectly fine opinion to have as long as you're not obnoxious about it.
I just want to point out a pattern I've noticed, that generally the Scrimblo Bimblos generate more short-term hype when they're revealed but have fewer players and, in some cases, more complaints directed towards them after they're released; meanwhile, the Popular McJRPGGuys generate less hype from their reveals but have much larger long-term engagement, with more of the general Smash audience playing as and growing attached to them than even the Scrimblo Bimblos.
I'm not exactly sure why this is the case - perhaps humanoid characters are more natural fits for a fighting game - but I've noticed it happen a considerable amount ever since Ultimate's base game:
From the looks of it, not only is the ratio of PopularMcJRPGGuys to Scrimblo Bimblos more or less equal, but the former are seeing more general success than the latter. Thus, by adding lots of the former, Nintendo are kind of doing their jobs.

Isn't it ironic how now Nintendo can be considered the best console manufacturer at game preservation, because at least their consoles aren't time bombs?

Yeah of course they'll probably die out eventually but so will all technology

It occurred to me today that when the fighters in Fighters Pass vol. 1 were released, most of the low to mid level Ultimate playerbase instantly overrated them, calling them 'broken' and 'top tier', when, apart from , they really weren't. Then, seemingly learning from their mistakes, they stopped this with the Fighters Pass vol. 2 DLC... only to end up underrating them as they're all high tier or above. Even I'm guilty of this.
has great zoning and some of the best edgeguarding, ledgetrapping and techchasing in the game, and despite her unorthodox playstyle a few notable top players have picked her up. can apply pressure like no other character, perform 0-to-death combos and ledge plank indefinitely for good measure. is like a diet that's easier for new players to pick up, and some top players have picked him up as well. especially feel like the second coming of : they do virtually everything and are really easy to play, meaning new players can do well with them and lots of top players might pocket them in the future.
I'm not saying these characters are all broken or that I dislike them - after all, I main and am considering picking up and ... Really, I'm not trying to make much of a point at all; I just found this funny to think about.

From what I've observed, Nintendo of Japan and America are currently the only regional subsidiaries of Nintendo to drop any announcement for Pac-Man 99. Coupled with the American trailer stating 'Not available in all countries' in small text near the beginning, I'm lead to believe Pac-Man 99 will not be available outside Japan and North America.

Do I really need to go on another rant about how dumb region locking is? At least if you have a family Switch Online subscription you can just create an American or Japanese Nintendo account and link that to your family.

Edit: Nintendo UK just announced it.

Black Shadow is a character in the F-Zero series and will only ever appear as:

• A trophy in Brawl
• A sticker in Brawl
• A trophy in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
• A spirit in Ultimate

Pain.

Pain.

Pain.

Pain parades through my soul and sets my every blood vessel afroth with rage, and there's a very good reason for it. I just saw another person - yes, yet ANOTHER person - come to the positively infallible conclusion that... since Ganondorf is still kind of a clone of Captain Falcon... they should just make Black Shadow be the Captain Falcon clone and give Ganondorf his canon abilities! Clearly this solution would make every single person in the universe happy and then we can oh my god shut up sHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP

There is an obsession with this guy that I absolutely do not understand. Actually, that's not entirely fair to say - in fact I think I've managed to ascertain the root cause. It's from people who have never actually played F-Zero in their entire lives, which - and let me be clear about this - is not something to be ashamed of. Emulation is pretty much your only option if you're not a collector because... yeah, may F-Zero rest in peace. It can be easy to assume that, since Black Shadow is painted as the main antagonist of the series, he would have an impressive repertoire of cool villainous deeds. After all when you're in a position like him you chiefly get brought up in discussion as The Villain™ and that carries a certain weight to it which makes you think he might be cool.

(john mulaney voice) But here's the thing.

I have played every F-Zero game and I can tell you up front that you're only scratching the surface - of a piece of paper. You're preparing for a huge leap down the rabbit hole only to end up stepping off the sidewalk and into the grass. You're only seeing the tip of a tip-sized iceberg. If you take a cursory glance at Black Shadow, you know everything about him. If you look up "afterthought" in the dictionary, you won't find him because the dictionary people forgot he existed. Black Shadow isn't just creatively bankrupt, he's in crippling creative debt. Black Shadow is about as nuanced as graph paper - as flavorful as an oatmeal-on-white bread sandwich. Black Shadow is what you'd see when you boot up an Evil Cartoon Bad Guy Dress-Up flash game, BEFORE you've added any clothing. Black Shadow's backstory is one sentence long. Black Shadow is less developed than most Scooby Doo villains.

Not dissimilar to the likes of Daisy and all the babies in Mario Kart (why are there so many babies in Mario Kart), Black Shadow's sole purpose - the only reason he's even a thing - is to fill a slot. They were making F-Zero X, realized "ah man we don't have an insufferably generic villain," and whipped up Bootleg Duck Dynasty Bull Batman (B.D.D.B.B.) in 41 seconds while they were waiting on a frozen burrito to be done in the microwave. The only game in which Black Shadow has had an actual story appearance and not just been a profile picture with a blurb in the manual is F-Zero GX, and in it he is a ridiculous moron who dances in front of fake CGI explosions and spends the whole 15-minute story mode getting his face handed to him on a paper plate by Deathborn, who is the actual villain. He might have been threatening in the anime if the anime wasn't so weird and dumb. And if we're talking about Smash, we're not about to reference anime Black Shadow anyway, so it's a moot point.

So why is he even in the DISCUSSION of new Smash characters. Why do people looking for old video game series to rally behind keep specifically settling on Black Shadow as if that'll be the interesting surge of energy that will get F-Zero back on its feet? Is it because of that stupid Ganondorf idea that everyone thinks they're a genius for thinking of? If it bothers you so much that there's a clone of Captain Falcon, why do you want to instantly unfix the issue by adding this guy to compensate for the loss of Falcondorf??? You know how you ACTUALLY compensate for the loss of Falcondorf? You just make Canondorf's gameplan and attributes similar so you win Zelda fans without losing Ganondorf mains. Boom. There is now no need for Black Shadow to be remembered by the human race and we can erase him from the history books without losing anything of value.

You really want a new F-Zero character? How about literally any of them. There are SO MANY F-Zero characters to choose from and almost every single one of them is more interesting than this misshapen wad of charcoal. Put Mr. EAD in the game and make him a killer robot armory. Put The Skull in the game and make him a dark bone wizard. Put Samurai Goroh in the game and make him a techno pirate knight. Put Bio Rex in the game, he's literally a cyborg dinosaur and that is AWESOME. Put Pico in the game and give him a sniper rifle. Put Spade in the game and make him a black hole playing card thrower. Put Octoman in the game, I don't even care. He's cool.

I'm.

I'm gonna say it.

I can't believe it but I am actually genuinely going to say this.

Digi-Boy would be a better character than Black Shadow. He has a computer monitor and he can digi-hack your mind. That is a defining trait, and defining traits are a commodity entirely foreign to the Black Shadow household. Black Shadow is just. JUST. An evil guy. His evil laugh sounds like this. This dude's a farce.

I am literally begging you. BEGGING you. To stop asking for this guy to be in Smash. You have no idea how bad it would be.

We almost went 12 hours without a new profile post.

Why do people think that sneaking a figure of a character into Sakurai's locked figure drawer will somehow force Sakurai to add that character to Smash?

After playing as Pyra/Mythra for about an hour, yeah Mythra seems way better viability-wise than Pyra. Doesn't stop me from preferring to play as Pyra.

More importantly for me, I just noticed the family TV that my Switch dock is hooked up to seems to have a ton of input lag, even in Game Mode. I said to my parents that it wasn't too much of a dealbreaker, but it honestly is. It's enough to make me not enjoy Ultimate, and that's really sad since I've wanted to return to it for the past few weeks.

Not too much to say about the Mr. Sakurai Presents this time.

will there ever be anything more timelessly funnier on the internet than seeing some joyless idiot calling all smash players pedophiles internet toughguy style and then checking their profile and they're just, completely openly and shamelessly addicted to fire emblem

Mr. Sakurai Presents Pyra/Mythra just got announced for the 4th of March.