This is smart for nintendo and may even build anticipation... If the game is a good game then the preview of it will speak for itself

All Nintendo needs to do to build anticipation for Smash is give a release date!

But that said, given how much we know about Smash, I have to wonder why it's getting its own direct now. After all, the w101 direct was the month before its release.

I reckon we'll be playing this a lot sooner than we were perhaps expecting. Maybe a July release OR, my crazy prediction for this Direct; a beta.

We've all seen what the TitanFall beta bid for the X1, imagine what a beta for an actually good game could do for the Wii U (I jest, but seriously...)

Doesn't need to be big, in fact; what I'd love to see in a beta would be to take the game back to N64 scope:

Give us just the original 8/12 characters and half a dozen stages, local mp (plus bots) and online to test out and we'll be golden.

Get real guys, we all know it's gonna be the big holiday title, since nothing else could be!

Also I find it really odd that they'd have a Smash Bros. exclusive direct instead of a general one to talk about their May games and E3 plans, but I guess they could still have a direct like that in addition to this one.

to my deluded fanboy mind this is also proof that Zelda is coming out this year...


SHUT UP, IT IS, STOP TELLING ME ITS NOT, I NEED THIS OK....

*rocks back and forth clutching a crude link made out of green socks, sadness and guilt*

Heh, I think that might be a little bit optimistic

Still, we should hopefully know at E3, right? RIGHT???

In all honesty, I don't think I am being overly optimistic, just regular optimistic.

As of this moment in time we have seen the following unreleased Wii U titles: Smash, MK8, Bayonetta 2, X, Hyrule Warriors, Yarn Yoshi (please correct me if I'm wrong).

X is clearly 2015, Yarn Yoshi I suspect is cancelled.

That leaves 4 games for the rest of the year.

MK8 is obviously end of May, Bayonetta is summer in Japan (and probably around a similar sort of time EU and America), and Hyrule Warriors when we saw it in December was clearly barely running. That was pre-alpha footage.

We have all been assuming that Smash was the big winter game; but given that it is getting a dedicated Direct in April, that doesn't fit with an end of year release. Hence why I now think it'll be July or late August with a beta in the interim.

That essentially gives Hyrule Warriors and possibly Bayonetta in the west the sole responsibility for carrying what I think we can agree is the Wii U's most crucial sales period its likely to face.

My conclusion: Nintendo's big winter release is going to be unveiled at E3 (not unlike 3D Mario), and, given the unlikelihood of Retro having completed Metroid Prime 4 in 18 months, I think Zelda U is the strongest bet. After all, Miyamoto and Aonuma have both said that Zelda U could have been unveiled at last year's E3, but they decided against it.

Anyway, that's my thoughts. Which will inevitably be proven wrong BECAUSE NINTENDO WANTS ME TO SUFFER.

Einsam_Delphin said: Get real guys, we all know it's gonna be the big holiday title, since nothing else could be! Also I find it really odd that they'd have a Smash Bros. exclusive direct instead of a general one to talk about their May games and E3 plans, but I guess they could still have a direct like that in addition to this one.

Why couldnt anything else be? Last year 3D Mario was mentioned in January, officially revealed at E3 in June and released in November.

In January this year they mentioned a NFC game in the works with further details at E3, that could be the big holiday title along with a couple support titles. 

Smash Bros+Sonic Boom+Bayonetta in Q3

NFC game+Hyrule Warriors+X+Yarn Yoshi in Q4

Something like that isnt totally out of the question but Smash does still have a strong chance as a holiday title

I'm betting that it's not only for Smash Bros itself. I'm betting that Smash will be the central theme, but there will be some games attached to certain revealed characters. So, for instance, they might show off some more Hyrule Warriors in connection with revealing Sheik or Ganondorf. They might show off more Sonic Boom in connection with, say, Tails. Or Bayonetta 2 with a reveal of her in the game. You get the idea, of course.

We had a Pokemon Direct last year and all that was shown was pokemon X / Y related. I think it will be the same with Smash Bros.