Um...this is Nintendo's OFFICIAL Professor Layton Twitter page, if you didn't know. This was shown on IGN a day ago or two.

How do we know it's official though? Where is there a link to the twitter site? I mean I can acreate a twitter site and say it's official.

The Retro one was just enough for me to stop following twitter sites unless they are linked at an official website. I can't find a link to the twitter site on the official Prof Layton page.

Only reason I think this may be real is due to the other characters hinted at. Why would they hint at those characters. Either way I hope for a new Brawl with fixed online. Id feel like a fool for paying twice for the same game but I would do it.

http://wii.ign.com/articles/100/1000761p1.html

Professor Layton Joins Smash Bros.?

The top hat hero gets the invite to Brawl -- but it's not what you think.

July 2, 2009 - Nintendo's puzzle-solving, riddle-spouting hero Professor Layton is known for his ability to perplex and bewilder, but his latest announcement may be his most brainteasing ever -- he's been invited to mix it up in Smash Bros.

Before you get too excited, though, calm yourself and re-lower your expectations. It seems that it's nothing more than a gag, and not a real confirmation of his addition to the fighting series' roster or a new Smash Bros. game in development.

This all came to light courtesy of Twitter, where Nintendo has set up a regularly updated page for the character under the name TopHatProfessor. Through several "tweets" issued throughout each day, the good Professor reflects on life, offers advice on how to be more gentlemanly and delivers riddles that he then invites his Twittering followers to answer through direct messages back to him.

It all seems to be for the purpose of drawing attention to the upcoming August release of the newest game in the DS series, Professor Layton and The Diabolical Box. But the top hat hero certainly got a bit of extra attention yesterday, when he began to imply that he'd been asked to join the Smash Bros. lineup. His first tweet on the topic was this:

I received an invitation this morning to something called the "Grand Smash Brothers Tournament". Does anyone know anything about it?

A look at Professor Layton's personal Twitter page, where, for now,
the Smash Bros. discussion is still going on.

For as knowledgeable as the Professor is in his games, he seemed clueless as to the nature of the tournament he'd been invited to attend. Follow-up tweets from him responded to those answering his initial question, saying that "All I have is my fencing sword and my wit" and referring to Pikachu and Kirby as an "electric rat" and "pink puffball," respectively. It seemed like that might be the end of it, as he then went back to tweeting riddles. But, later in the day, the Smash Bros. talk continued:

I'm on my way to the "Grand Smash Tournament" now! Wish me luck! Though, I am not exactly sure what I am going to be doing...

That must have been a late-arriving invitation, if the event was taking place the very same day as he received the notice. So Layton apparently went to go be a part of Smash Bros., and was then a little shocked and taken aback at what he witnessed while there:

This is nothing like what I expected! I was told to FIGHT a blue robot boy, a possessed doll, and a tiny boxer! I'm leaving at once!

Things get even more interesting there. Not only is Professor Layton saying that he's taking part in Smash Bros., but he follows it up by implying that Mega Man, Geno and Little Mac are newcomers as well. After that, the good Professor informed his Twitter followers that he'd made it home safe and sound, and promised more riddles would be posted soon -- in fact, they're probably already there by the time you're reading this.

Now we're not taking any of this as actual news about Smash Bros., of course. But it is still intriguing -- why would an official Nintendo promotion online make such implications? Is it just to draw more attention to the Twitter page by getting conspiracy theorists like me to write stories about it? Is it just the Nintendo employee charged with handling the Layton Twitter feed having a bit of tongue-in-cheek fun? Or has Nintendo actually considered adding Layton (and Mega Man, Geno and Little Mac) as playable characters to a future Smash Bros. title?

It's certainly not outside the realm of possibility -- all four were already potential candidates for Super Smash Bros. Brawl, though none of them made the final roster. Could Nintendo already be mulling over ideas for the next installment in the Smash series, even though Brawl is just a little over a year old?

Anyway, it's fun to speculate as always. And it's fun to see that Nintendo's chosen to take an inventive approach to online promotion for the upcoming Professor Layton and The Diabolical Box. If you aren't already, I recommend you join up on Twitter and start following the tweets of TopHatProfessor. And his assistant, ApprenticeLuke, while you're at it. Then you'll be able to see what his next odd messages and riddles are right away -- though if anything else this intriguing gets posted again in the future, we'll be sure to "retweet" it here on IGN for you too.

that is brilliant.

I still can't find an official link to the page from any Nintendo site at all. If it was a Nintendo site shouldn't it be reachable from somewhere official?

IT'S SMASH BROS. DS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I hope so, at least...

This.

Also, when he mentions Mega Man and Geno, I instantly knew this is fake. Nintendo wouldn't make such hints that easy. <_<

Well it sounds like he isn't going to be in it. He said i will have no part of it.

Or it could be DLC...

I wants me my megamanz!