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Official Next Smash - Speculation & Discussion Thread

DarthEnderX

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I'm pretty surprised people are saying that Nintendo will choose the characters. Up until now, the Ultimate DLC was the exception instead of the rule right?
We don't really know? It's not like Sakurai has ever gone "I picked out this character, this character and this character. Nintendo insisted on this one and this one. And a 3P publisher came to us and asked us to add this one."
 

SMAASH! Puppy

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We don't really know? It's not like Sakurai has ever gone "I picked out this character, this character and this character. Nintendo insisted on this one and this one. And a 3P publisher came to us and asked us to add this one."
Well, he kinda has, but the sample size isn't quite enough I think.

Off the top of my head, Snake was a 3rd party approach, but most other character explanations we get imply he picked them. I don't think he has ever mentioned Nintendo picking anyone specifically (though I vaguely remember something about Nintendo picking the pass characters for Ultimate). They've mandated a new character in cases like Corrin, but Sakurai and his team were ultimately who picked him.
 

Thegameandwatch

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Well, he kinda has, but the sample size isn't quite enough I think.

Off the top of my head, Snake was a 3rd party approach, but most other character explanations we get imply he picked them. I don't think he has ever mentioned Nintendo picking anyone specifically (though I vaguely remember something about Nintendo picking the pass characters for Ultimate). They've mandated a new character in cases like Corrin, but Sakurai and his team were ultimately who picked him.
Also the fact that lot of the base roster were chosen because of fighter’s ballot. Even some of the Echoes.

Not even sure if King K Rool would have been in Smash if the 1st party choices were purely by Nintendo or Sakurai.
 
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Watuna4343

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Because Nintendo actually turned out to make some really good choices?

Starting off with Joker is wild.
Not saying the DLC was bad but also, like, is the fact that Nintendo made some good choices reason to believe that this wasn't a one-time thing? Smash Bros is Sakurai's project after all, we know how involved he is in pretty much the entirety of its dev.

We don't really know? It's not like Sakurai has ever gone "I picked out this character, this character and this character. Nintendo insisted on this one and this one. And a 3P publisher came to us and asked us to add this one."
We do though... SourceGaming's youtube channel and site is a great source for behind the scenes info and then there is obviously the project plan for Smash 4, all of this suggests that Sakurai is very much the one choosing the characters.
 
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Dee Dude

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Ok, I got something to start a conversation.

If by any chance Studio S/Studio 2 were busy with Air Riders or are working on a non-Smash title, what studio do you think would have a shot at developing Smash 6?

Super Smash Bros is no stranger to having different studios across installments. (Hal Laboratory did 64 & Melee, Sora Ltd did Brawl with Game Arts and Sora Ltd again for 4 & Ultimate but with Bandai Namco)
 

SubspaceJigglypuff

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I sure hope Nintendo's wouldn't be calling the shots forever lol. I'm not saying they made bad choices, but Nintendo's selection style expanding to base would imply not that many few first parties, and probably no surprise/retro characters based on how Ult's DLC went. That approach's fine for DLC, but I'd prefer the base roster doesn't end up like that too.

Not saying the DLC was bad but also, like, is the fact that Nintendo made some good choices reason to believe that this wasn't a one-time thing? Smash Bros is Sakurai's project after all, we know how involved he is in pretty much the entirety of its dev.
If anything I imagine it's prolly just gonna continue this way; Sakurai (or whoever eventually replaces him) continues to handle the base game, and Nintendo does the DLC.
 
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Will

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Ok, I got something to start a conversation.

If by any chance Studio S/Studio 2 were busy with Air Riders or are working on a non-Smash title, what studio do you think would have a shot at developing Smash 6?

Super Smash Bros is no stranger to having different studios across installments. (Hal Laboratory did 64 & Melee, Sora Ltd did Brawl with Game Arts and Sora Ltd again for 4 & Ultimate but with Bandai Namco)
Probably Bandai Namco again. I don’t really see why not; they have done two so far and Ultimate was very successful.

If I wanted a new developer to do it? Well ****, if we get developer bias and a character out of it I’d welcome Ryu Ga Gotoku (Yakuza & Virtua Fighter) with open arms
 

Dee Dude

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Probably Bandai Namco again. I don’t really see why not; they have done two so far and Ultimate was very successful.

If I wanted a new developer to do it? Well ****, if we get developer bias and a character out of it I’d welcome Ryu Ga Gotoku (Yakuza & Virtua Fighter) with open arms
I also think Bamco will be back again for 6 but in the less likely scenario of another group taking the helm?

Honestly, I’d love to see Spike Chunsoft (Dragon Ball Budokai Tenkaichi/Raging Blast team) taking a crack at the series.
 
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HyperSomari64

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I also think Bamco will be back again for 6 but in the less likely scenario of another group taking the helm?

Honestly, I’d love to see Spike Chunsoft (Dragon Ball Budokai Tenkaichi/Raging Blast team) taking a crack at the series.
And that's how we will get Danganronpa Shiren the Wanderer and Fire Pro Wrestling. :rotfl:
 

DarthEnderX

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We do though... SourceGaming's youtube channel and site is a great source for behind the scenes info and then there is obviously the project plan for Smash 4, all of this suggests that Sakurai is very much the one choosing the characters.
A suggestion based on a vague description of half a game.

Quite an assumption to be taking that and trying to blanket it across all of Smash.

If by any chance Studio S/Studio 2 were busy with Air Riders or are working on a non-Smash title, what studio do you think would have a shot at developing Smash 6?
Studio S/Studio 2 is 2 teams. One working on a 3D game and another on a 2D game.

If the 3D game was Air Riders, the 2D game could be Smash.
 

Guynamednelson

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Ah, I see. Instead of packing the game with content, it’ll barely have any at all! :4pacman:
And it'll expand "everyone is here" to mean literally every Nintendo character, but they'll all be clones of each other!
 

RileyXY1

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A suggestion based on a vague description of half a game.

Quite an assumption to be taking that and trying to blanket it across all of Smash.

Studio S/Studio 2 is 2 teams. One working on a 3D game and another on a 2D game.

If the 3D game was Air Riders, the 2D game could be Smash.
I think that the 2D game is probably something else entirely, like a new 2D Metroid.
 

Oracle Link

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Man Vaati takes me back. I wanted Vaati too. Minish Cap is one of the GOATs. I remember when Vaati was "the most likely Zelda newcomer" because he was on of the few reoccurring characters. Which nowadays didn't mean much because he had the staying power of an open jar of mayonnaise. He isn't remembered by people aside from hardcore Zelda fans (like me) or old Smash speculators (also me).

Thinking back though, Vaati support was always kind of weird. All the fan movesets I saw used wind magic. That's something we see in a small text box but never in game. He has cool attack from his actual boss fights but people latched on to a potential idea instead. In a way, he reminds me of Sylux, where people like the potential more than what was actually shown. At least Sylux has a chance to show what they can do. We'll probably never see Vaati again.
Going back to this for a bit... Is there a most popular BotW-era character? I've seen multiple characters mentioned before and the general agreement seems to be there isn't any one specific standout. Given that we're still getting content from the era, it seems reasonable to expect a new fighter to reference this part of the series, assuming we get a new Zelda fighter at all (Which has been debated to death already and I'd rather not get back into). I've mentioned many times that I haven't played much Zelda, so I'll ask here:

In the scenario where we get a fighter from Breath of the Wild and/or related games, who would be chosen to be the fighter? If there's no clear option, who should be the fighter? Pitch your preferred characters to me, try to sell me on them. I'm all ears
Yunobo/ Daruk one Word: Goron

On A Diffrent note i hope we get Smash Ultimate Switch 2 Edition instead of Smash 6 At this Point! Not only would it be cheaper for returning players as ultimate DX it also builds up Characters and stuff for Smash 6 so i made a pretty huge Concept! It isnt Done Yet! So i want you to pipe in and tell me some ideas For Costumes, Stage Skins and Miicostumes or fill out the stuff from franchises i dont Know:
Smash Ultimate Switch 2 Edition Ver. 1
 

Dee Dude

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I honestly think Sakurai should be done after Ultimate, not THE final Smash game mind you, just his final Smash game.

The whole game just felt like a perfect conclusion to his entire legacy around the series and as well as his personal closure to Iwata, with the Switch 2 beginning a whole new era with Nintendo as showcased with the much younger men we’ve seen at the start of the Direct, this could apply to Smash taking a fresh new direction with new untapped potential at the helm.

Of course, Sakurai is infamous for being a workaholic so it’s still likely he’ll continue on Smash 6 or at the very least get involved as supervisor and I think that’ll be a solid confirmation if he truly loves making Smash games or only did them out of obligation from Nintendo/Iwata.
 
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TheFirstPoppyBro

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I honestly think Sakurai should be done after Ultimate, not THE final Smash game mind you, just his final Smash game.

The whole game just felt like a perfect conclusion to his entire legacy around the series and as well as his personal closure to Iwata, with the Switch 2 beginning a whole new era with Nintendo as showcased with the much younger men we’ve seen at the start of the Direct, this could apply to Smash taking a fresh new direction with new untapped potential at the helm.

Of course, Sakurai is infamous for being a workaholic so it’s still likely he’ll continue on Smash 6 or at the very least get involved as supervisor and I think that’ll be a solid confirmation if he truly loves making Smash games or only did them out of obligation from Nintendo/Iwata.
I feel like Sakurai would direct the next game and then maybe start seriously considering passing the director torch after that, since he'd probably be at least in his 60s by the time the game after Smash 6 happens. He's 54 right now, which isn't exactly young, but considering Miyamoto is 72 and Aonuma is 62, he's definitely got at least one more in him. And even then, after that point he'd almost certainly supervise whoever he passes the torch to for a while.

Not to mention his statement in one of his videos where he basically outright said "I can't imagine a Smash Bros. title without me." lol

EDIT: Man, Crashboards hitting HARD right now, took me forever to even post that message, let alone edit it when I realized it didn't fully save lmao
 
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The Stoopid Unikorn

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Not saying the DLC was bad but also, like, is the fact that Nintendo made some good choices reason to believe that this wasn't a one-time thing? Smash Bros is Sakurai's project after all, we know how involved he is in pretty much the entirety of its dev.
It may be Sakurai's project but that's only because Nintendo allows it to stay that way by directly asking him to make new ones. They're the ones owning the IP, no matter how passionate Sakurai is when developing each game.

If Nintendo wanted, they could leave Sakurai behind and seek a new director any time but they respect the man too much for that.

But to answer your actual question, I could see things go either way. The approach taken during Ultimate's DLC absolutely worked so there's nothing wrong with keeping things that way, but the previous way of handling things worked just as well. I think it really depends on what they want to do.

But if Nintendo handles the character choices, we can at least be relieved that it won't only be promotion picks for upcoming games like we all dreaded back in late 2018.
 

RileyXY1

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I honestly think Sakurai should be done after Ultimate, not THE final Smash game mind you, just his final Smash game.

The whole game just felt like a perfect conclusion to his entire legacy around the series and as well as his personal closure to Iwata, with the Switch 2 beginning a whole new era with Nintendo as showcased with the much younger men we’ve seen at the start of the Direct, this could apply to Smash taking a fresh new direction with new untapped potential at the helm.

Of course, Sakurai is infamous for being a workaholic so it’s still likely he’ll continue on Smash 6 or at the very least get involved as supervisor and I think that’ll be a solid confirmation if he truly loves making Smash games or only did them out of obligation from Nintendo/Iwata.
Although I think it will be years before we'll see the next Smash game. I don't know if it will even be on the Switch 2.
 

TheFirstPoppyBro

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Although I think it will be years before we'll see the next Smash game. I don't know if it will even be on the Switch 2.
Considering the Switch 2 isn't even out yet, Smash is the third best selling game on the Switch, and it's very commonly a system seller, I have no idea why you're so adamant on this meaning they might just skip the Switch 2 for Smash.

"Ah, our multi-billion selling crossover fighting game? Nah, we don't need that on our new system."

Please be for real instead of dying on the hill that makes literally zero sense from any angle.
 

RileyXY1

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Considering the Switch 2 isn't even out yet, Smash is the third best selling game on the Switch, and it's very commonly a system seller, I have no idea why you're so adamant on this meaning they might just skip the Switch 2 for Smash.

"Ah, our multi-billion selling crossover fighting game? Nah, we don't need that on our new system."

Please be for real instead of dying on the hill that makes literally zero sense from any angle.
With Sakurai developing Kirby Air Riders and the possibility of that game getting post-launch content the timing doesn't line up unless either they're outright replacing Sakurai as director of the series or they're just rereleasing Ultimate.
 

TheFirstPoppyBro

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With Sakurai developing Kirby Air Riders and the possibility of that game getting post-launch content the timing doesn't line up unless either they're outright replacing Sakurai as director of the series or they're just rereleasing Ultimate.
Air Riders comes out THIS YEAR, Riley, and most Kirby spinoffs (I think pretty much all of them actually) don't get DLC.

Just because Smash might come out in 2027 doesn't mean they're just gonna skip an entire console generation.

It's like looking me dead in the eyes and saying "Yeah, ZA might get DLC so I don't think they're gonna make another Pokemon game on Switch 2." Or, if you want a better Sakurai related comparison, "Oh, Kid Icarus Uprising might get DLC, so I don't think we're getting a Smash Bros. on the 3DS or Wii U."
 
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Thegameandwatch

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it won't only be promotion picks for upcoming games like we all dreaded back in late 2018
Also I think the only ones that it actually happened was Roy in Melee, Corrin in the west for Smash 4 and Hero if it’s about the Switch port.

Byleth doesn’t count outside of planning stages because Three Houses already released more then 6 months by the time that Byleth released for Smash.
 

The Stoopid Unikorn

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With Sakurai developing Kirby Air Riders and the possibility of that game getting post-launch content the timing doesn't line up unless either they're outright replacing Sakurai as director of the series or they're just rereleasing Ultimate.
Kirby spin-offs have notoriously not gotten any kind of post-launch content. It's not impossible for Sakurai to break the mold since having him back on a Kirby game is pretty damn special but even so, whatever post-launch content it gets won't be enough to entirely shut down the idea of Smash on Switch 2.

There are plenty of years this console can live, and more than enough time for the Switch 2 to get a new Smash.
 

RileyXY1

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Kirby spin-offs have notoriously not gotten any kind of post-launch content. It's not impossible for Sakurai to break the mold since having him back on a Kirby game is pretty damn special but even so, whatever post-launch content it gets won't be enough to entirely shut down the idea of Smash on Switch 2.

There are plenty of years this console can live, and more than enough time for the Switch 2 to get a new Smash.
I think that if it does happen unless they replace Sakurai it will be a very late console release, like in 2029 or 2030.
 

The Stoopid Unikorn

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I think that if it does happen unless they replace Sakurai it will be a very late console release, like in 2029 or 2030.
And where's the problem with that, Riley?

Also I think the only ones that it actually happened was Roy in Melee, Corrin in the west for Smash 4 and Hero if it’s about the Switch port.

Byleth doesn’t count outside of planning stages because Three Houses already released more then 6 months by the time that Byleth released for Smash.
I would say Byleth counts since Three Houses was still actively getting new content at that point.
 

TheFirstPoppyBro

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I think that if it does happen unless they replace Sakurai it will be a very late console release, like in 2029 or 2030.
How much DLC are you expecting Air Riders to get, man? It comes out this year and Smash takes like 3 years to make normally.

Are you expecting a Kirby spin off to get two years of DLC just because Sakurai is making it, or like...?
 
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RileyXY1

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And where's the problem with that, Riley?
Smash has never been a late console release before. They might as well decide to delay it a couple years to have it be the big launch title for the Switch 3, like Breath of the Wild for the Switch 1 and Mario Kart World for the Switch 2.
 

The Stoopid Unikorn

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How much DLC are you expecting Air Riders to get, man? It comes out this year and Smash takes like 3 years to make normally.

Are you expecting a Kirby spin off to get two years of DLC just because Sakurai is making it, or like...?
Clearly he expects Sakurai to work on Air Riders until the Switch 3 :4pacman:
 

The Stoopid Unikorn

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Smash has never been a late console release before.
Smash 64 would like to have a word with you.

They might as well decide to delay it a couple years to have it be the big launch title for the Switch 3, like Breath of the Wild for the Switch 1 and Mario Kart World for the Switch 2.
If the Switch 2 lives about the same time as the first one, 2029 is in the middle. It's not that bad.
 

Verde Coeden Scalesworth

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2027 wouldn't even be a late Switch 2 Console release. It's only 2025. That's two years from now. 2028 for that matter wouldn't be late either. The system is going to last a while. The Switch lasted significantly longer than most consoles on its own(The PS2 did last a while, but it's more that it was supported even while the PS3 was out. The Switch didn't have another competing Nintendo Console after it either).
 

Garo

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Here's what Sakurai said after Steve's reveal (according to the official subtitles):

"When thinking about new fighters for this game, we don't just pick my favorites or draw from a hat. More often than not, these discussions start by Nintendo approaching me with an idea. Of course, if I can't do that idea justice, I'll tell them no. But then someone from Nintendo will come to my workplace and say 'Mr. Sakurai, surely you can put Minecraft in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate?' while peering at me over their glasses. They make it sound easy. I guess they think this all happens by magic or something. Don't they know what kind of game Minecraft is? The wizardry required to make it work in this game... It's impossible! So, I laid it out straight for them. I said, 'Yes, I can do it.'"

While the latter part obviously feels like exaggeration for the sake of humor, taken at face value this makes it seem like while Sakurai's opinion is taken into consideration, Nintendo ultimately has the final say on character picks. Sakurai of course mentions this was the case for "this game" (Ultimate) so who's to say if it was the case previously or will be in the future.
 
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RileyXY1

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If the Switch 2 lives about the same time as the first one, 2029 is in the middle. It's not that bad.
I'm thinking that the Switch 2 will have a shorter lifespan than the Switch 1. I think that the Switch 1's longer lifespan is an anomaly due to its massive success, much like the PS2.
 

The Stoopid Unikorn

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I'm thinking that the Switch 2 will have a shorter lifespan than the Switch 1. I think that the Switch 1's longer lifespan is an anomaly due to its massive success, much like the PS2.
So you're going off the assumption that the Switch 2 won't maintain momentum.

I think it's too early to tell... unless you're able to see the future? If so, can you tell us how much worse things are in 2030? Are games 100 USD? :4pacman:
 
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7NATOR

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Well going off the Choices Nintendo made, If they were in charge of the Base Roster, than I figure the Base Newcomer roster might lean more towards 3rd Parties than people might expect. That's alot of licensing costs, but with them experimenting with $80 games, they'll find a way to make their money back
 

SMAASH! Puppy

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Well going off the Choices Nintendo made, If they were in charge of the Base Roster, than I figure the Base Newcomer roster might lean more towards 3rd Parties than people might expect. That's alot of licensing costs, but with them experimenting with $80 games, they'll find a way to make their money back
There is that, but one thing worth noting is that DLC is sold individually, so other companies taking up a slice of that revenue means less than if they took from the main game. It's why Hero was DLC and not base.

EDIT: To be fair, Hero was also an extreme example and he may not even be that expensive this time around either.
 
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