Greetings everyone. I'd figure that since this speculation forum is now a thing that I stop by here at least once. After all, I made tens of thousands of posts during the course of SSB4 speculation and can recall quite a lot of "misadventures" I had within it. Fun times if I'd say so myself and I learned a lot about myself along the journey, even if the primary reason why I hopped on board was for Mega Man's potential inclusion (which thankfully happened). Since the final DLC announcements, I've moved on from speculation (beyond guesses that stays in my mind) and have no desire to actively follow the next Smash game. I highly doubt I will pick up a hypothetical Switch port (which is weird since I am definitely getting a Switch but for other games. With the Wii U, it was riding on just Mega Man's inclusion and I became interested in other games later after Mega Man's confirmation) and I have a feeling I am also permanently burnt out on Smash as a franchise. I'm not even sure if we will get another full-fledge Smash game, but that's my personal hunch. But, since this is the speculation thread, I may as well contribute one little tidbit.
I think Bomberman has a sizable shot at getting in and by sizable, I mean he would not totally shock me like say, any other third-party (but that's not to say no one else has a chance). The focus on third-parties have significantly increased from Brawl to Smash 4 and I believe that they are coming back, even though I am expecting at least two third-party cuts and am bracing myself for losing Mega Man in the process. Seeing
Super Bomberman R announced in the Switch Direct was awesome because I thought Konami had killed all of their franchises outside of PES and mobile ventures. Now that Bomberman is essentially back (with 39k sales in the first week being the best of all Bomberman games in nineteen years and
Super Bomberman R was mixed received), it shows that Konami at least does not hate the franchise or have resentments towards the people involved in developing the games. What I also find interesting is that both Konami and Nintendo came together to make this game happen so that means Nintendo had
some part in Bomberman's revival.
This is interesting because Nintendo could have gone towards Capcom for Mega Man and receive more attention from gaming journalists and gamers (especially the later given its dedicated fan base). Instead they went for Bomberman and I think a large part of it has to do with Nintendo needing a notable multi-player game on launch. Since Mario Kart 8 Deluxe will not be out until next month, an icon of multi-player the precedes even Mario Kart is not a bad move. Now that evidence of success is present in Super Bomberman R's sales, it shows that even in spite of over six years of absence outside of mobile gaming, Bomberman is still relevant enough to resonate with old and new gamers.
My speculation is that Nintendo (and maybe even Sakurai) are thinking about including Bomberman in the next Smash should there be one. He's the last Japanese third-party character that I think could generate notable buzz worldwide for inclusion in a Smash game. I also strongly believe that Konami would be fine with Bomberman's inclusion into Smash, which is more than what I can say for Snake (sadly, I doubt he is ever coming back).
We'll see what happens. If he does get in, I'll buy the next Smash game in spite of my current apathy since he is my most wanted character now (and the only one I want that has a shot of getting in).
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Also I'd liked to talk about Nintendo and other characters in Smash in general and why I find myself liking them so much. Not sure where to go to talk about this though, perhaps the Ninten Zone?