GhaudePhaede010 said: I am going to post all my predictions/hopes here (not just limited to characters) for this direct: My first prediction is hard to explain. I believe one of two things will happen: 1) You will have every previous Smash game included. OR 2) You will be able to use this complete cast on any previous version of Smash (in other words, the physics for every game are included and you can select, "Melee" and play Melee with this cast). Travis Touchdown as a playable character. Virtual Boy as a playable character. Return of coin launcher. Information on, "story mode" (hopefully a mode closer to Subspace Emissary). The return of game demos but using different titles. Every stage from every game (3DS as well) included. New Amiibo. No more Directs after this one for Smash but there will be something like a Dojo for the last three months leading up to release. A, "test punch" at some point. |
I agree on the Dojo instead of Directs thing, but I hope they save us one final big reveal, character or mode, at the end of a final trailer like a week before release, just to really fire up the hype before launch.
I actually had that same prediction about the multiple previous Smash games, but I thought it might play out differently, where it's more of a "future of Smash" thing. By which I mean, since there's not much elsewhere to go with the series, and Sakurai is done, in order to keep it going until they figure out what to do next, they release remastered versions of 64, Melee, and Brawl, probably aligned with anniversaries. You can imagine it, a Melee remaster 2021 (Melee's 10th) would make the Melee fans shit their brains out. A version of Brawl with tripping removed and quality of life improvements, maybe some balance patches might be received well. Smash 64 would definitely get people to put some nostalgia goggles on. Then, for the main Smash of next gen, a collection, probably called Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Deluxe, that contains every character, stage, mode, trophy, absolutely everything, from every game, as well as every game engine, such that you can do your second prediction, and play the entire Ultimate roster in 64, Melee, Brawl, Smash 4, or Ultimate modes. It could happen. They don't have much else to do with the series, and absent the burden of developing new characters, and with updated versions of the games, the main challenge would be balancing all the characters under each game engine's unique mechanics. Hopefully for the purists, there's some sort of "pure mode' that would restrict the roster and return the balance to the original.
Alternatively, they could release these remasters as DLC for Ultimate. 2019 is 64's 10th anniversary, they could release a DLC that added a 64 mode to Ultimate with optional retro graphics, optional Pure/Ultimate modes that have the different rosters and balancing I mentioned, and all of the 64 modes. Then they do the same with Melee and Brawl on 2021 and 2023 (Brawl's 15th). Then as a launch title for the next Nintendo system during Holiday or Spring 2023 (7 year Switch life cycle) Smash Ultimate Deluxe has all of the remastered game DLC with any content that didn't get added in yet.
The other options for Nintendo with Smash is a complete reboot that drastically reduces the roster with all new content. But that means dozens of cut characters that split the fanbase and kill the competitive scene. Or they could turn it into a "games as a service" game that makes it available on all Nintendo systems as a subscription service that lets them keep adding more content with continual balance patches. But I wouldn't trust them not to fuck it up in terms of the pricing or how they set up the online or something. They could certainly go either of these routes but if you look at Capcom and Street Fighter, they tended to go the rerelease route over the new game route and actually did better with rereleases both financially and in terms of the health of the competitive scene. So taking some kind of remaster route actually makes more sense. I'm by no means calling this as a prediction though, there's too many possibilities.