Here’s a quick rundown of what I think we might be seeing in it.

The Obvious Ones

First up, the obvious picks. We’ll see trailers of games releasing soon, such as Metroid: Samus Returns and Pokken Tournament. There will probably be a quick rundown of these titles. We’ll also probably see another kingdom in Mario Odyssey, which is confirmed to have a big focus in the Direct. We’ll also see Fire Emblem Warriors, more on that later.

Additional Third-Party Title Announcements

I think we’ll be seeing some additional third-party title announcements, including release dates, and perhaps just general trailers for things like Project Octopath Traveler, a title we haven’t seen since early this year. We’ll definitely get the release date of Skyrim on Switch and probably more information on Steep.

I could also see additional ports announcements. I really hope we may see a Sieken Densetsu Collection localization or Secret of Mana Remake. There’s also the teases Platinum made about Bayoneta 1/2 and Wonderful 101.

Nintendo Switch OS Updates

I think Nintendo may decide to announce OS updates for Nintendo Switch. A recent rumor has indicated that Switch might actually be getting a form of achievements system. Its hard to say whether this is true or not as it was a small-time Indie developer saying it. There is a glaringly notable thing on My Nintendo showing “Nintendo Switch” as Coming Soon, though.

First-Party Release Dates, New 2017 Titles

Next, we have to get the release date for Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Its been a long time coming. Despite what many people say, I’m confident its still coming this year. If there is a delay, though, it gets announced here for sure. I also have no doubt we get the full reveal of the contents of Zelda: Breath of the Wild DLC Pack 2.

Reggie also teased additional titles for Switch this year. Perhaps there’s another port we’re getting, or a small-time Mario spinoff. If we get an unannounced port this year, I think Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is the most likely. Perhaps, even, a Returns and Tropical Freeze cross situation.

There’s also the next Kirby on 3DS we’ve heard nothing about, and possibly Pokemon Ultra Sun/Moon. I could also maybe see one other 3DS title announced for this year. But beyond this year, I think we’re pretty much done with 3DS.

For next year, I could see trailers for the known titles on Switch, namely Kirby and Yoshi.

Fire Emblem Warriors Roster

Another thing we can pretty much guarantee we see is a Fire Emblem Warriors trailer. Its releasing in two weeks in Japan, we need the rest of the information now, and a Nintendo Direct is the perfect way to do it. This will probably be the Shadow Dragon trailer we’ve been waiting for. I’ll even go over who I feel like we’re going to see.

Tiki is pretty much a guarantee, of course. But so is Caeda, there’s no way she’s getting left out. Recent information even heavily implies this, with Tecmo Koei saying in an interview that Cordelia was chosen to complement the other Pegasus Knights from the other games–note the plural there.

For the rest of the roster of Shadow Dragon, I’m thinking either Jagen or Camus, Draug, and Minerva. Draug because we need a non-mounted lancer. And Jagen and Camus because we need a cavalry lancer. We also don’t have any armors either, so Draug fills that role perfectly. Minerva is the final pick to add in another axe, and because she’s a pretty important character. If not Minerva, my thoughts are on Ogma with an axe, but I still think Minerva is more likely.

New Surprises!

Ok, for the last bit, we’ve got a massive 45-minute Direct. I’d be shocked if there wasn’t any major new surprise announced. Frankly, I think Animal Crossing, Donkey Kong, or Pikmin are the most likely. Retro Studios could also announce their title, assuming it isn’t Donkey Kong. Obviously, this would be a 2018 title. Frankly, I’m mixed on Animal Crossing because I feel like that’s coming along with news on Animal Crossing mobile. But I have been hearing the Apple conference is tomorrow, so maybe Animal Crossing mobile gets announced then and Animal Crossing Switch in the Direct.

Donkey Kong and Animal Crossing are the last big core IP’s that haven’t been announced for Switch yet. I have a strong feeling Retro is working on another Donkey Kong, and they didn’t want to announce it before Metroid Prime. Either way, its probably not releasing this year. I could even see it being a 3D Donkey Kong. Super Mario Maker 2 on Switch is also another huge possibility.

What I Don’t Expect

And finally, what I don’t think we’ll be seeing. I don’t think we’ll see a surprise for any obscure Nintendo IP. Namely, I don’t think we’ll see something like Mother 3, F-Zero, Golden Sun, or anything like that. I also don’t think we’ll see Super Smash Bros. ESPECIALLY a port of Smash 4. Come on, guys, its too late for a port at this point.

Other things include Metroid Prime 4, Pokemon Switch, and Fire Emblem Switch. I don’t think we’ll get news about any of these titles, either. They’re way too far off. I’m not expecting any Virtual Console news yet, either.

I’m also not sure if we’ll see Pokemon Ultra Sun/Moon, but that’s not an outright “I don’t expect it to happen.” I’m just not fully confident either way because of how fickle Pokemon Company is.

That’s A Wrap

That about wraps up my thoughts on Wednesday’s Nintendo Direct. Stay tuned and Subscribe to catch my live reactions to the Nintendo Direct as per usual, or catch me on Twitter @jaidynreiman. Thank you for listening, and I hope to see you next time.

The Death of a Legend

Just like everyone else, the sudden death of Satoru Iwata was a shock, but after the fact it didn’t seem that surprising, since he’d been having a lot of health issues. What makes me even feel worse about this is he died just after receiving huge backlash from Nintendo’s E3 presentation, though it has helped to calm people down over that as well.

I’ve heard so many stories about Satoru Iwata after the fact, such as how he single-handedly reprogrammed an early Pokemon game–I don’t recall which–to be able to hold both the region for that game, and the entirety of Kanto as well. I also did not realize he was responsible for Balloon Fight, though I am well aware, of course, that he’s one of the central people behind Super Smash Bros., along with series creator Masahiro Sakurai, whom naturally probably took his death the worst.

I don’t have any real personal connections to Satoru Iwata, but as a still-active executive who died while still in that position, and no less the President of Nintendo, which has had a major impact on my life, this news has definitely taken its toll on me worse than other celebrity deaths recently. Namely, legends like Leonard Nimoy and Cristopher Lee, who I respected greatly, but I wasn’t surprised too much when they had their time.

Picking up the Pieces

The future of Nintendo is looking really strange at this point. There’s been rumors about the NX ever since E3 2015, most of which I feel are probably fake, other than them showing it off at or around the time of E3. I think they likely did behind closed doors, but I don’t think any of the rumors are real. Then there’s the question of Nintendo’s game announcements at E3. I knew most of them would be spinoffs, as Iwata had stated as much last year. I just figured there’d be at least one new surprise this E3, which didn’t happen.

I never managed to finish my pre-E3 speculation video, but I did post an article up about it on my website and linked to it on twitter, which I will provide a link to in the description below. In my 10 E3 predictions I got about half of them correct. For Metroid and Animal Crossing, I did not expect spinoff games to be announced, but I was very confident we wouldn’t be getting main titles for those franchises. Technically, Paper Jam isn’t a Paper Mario game either. I was also wrong about a Smash newcomer and Diddy Kong Racing getting announced, but I was technically correct on a new Techmo Koei crossover and Tales of Zesteria’s release date announcement, which while not at E3 came shortly later.

Unfortunately I was wrong about any major new title announcements for Nintendo. At the same time, I don’t see how people suddenly think the NX is launching next year because of this, and I’ve commented numerous times why this is a ludicrous idea. The first thing here is that Nintendo has never, to date, showed off a console then released it only months later. They want, and need, to have time to build it up. Nintendo isn’t stupid, and releasing the NX next year would be STUPID.

Nintendo largely focused on 2015 games, and early 2016 games, not so much on games for later in 2016. Nintendo also announces games throughout the year. So this year, they just decided to largely focus on spinoff games, and more games will gradually be announced. There’s also the new unified system they are planning to make games more easily producible between the Wii U, 3DS, and NX, and even Mobile titles. This unified account system will also include a replacement for Club Nintendo.

I think Nintendo will be announcing this account system very soon, later this fall, and release it on Wii U and 3DS. Maybe this will even include the ability to finally play Game Boy VC games on Wii U, and SNES and GBA VC games on 3DS, even if that feature is new 3DS exclusive.

The End of the Wii U

The Wii U has only recently hit 10 million units sold, definitely a paltry number compared to the competition. The Wii U isn’t long for this world for certain, but I think it still has one more year under its belt, 2016. As I stated earlier, I think they’ll gradually announce the final few titles for Wii U throughout this year and early next year. Retro Studios still has a project for Wii U, and apparently Next Level Games might as well. We’re also most likely getting Zelda Wii U next year as well, despite all of the rumors people keep spreading.

Due to Nintendo’s statements about the unified account system as well as easy porting of games between platforms, I do think the NX will fully support all Wii U downloadable titles, and will be backwards compatible with the Wii U as well. Unless it has a huge new gimmick like the Wii had, I don’t think any late Wii U games will be directly ported, they’ll just be playable on the NX inherently… and maybe have additional features or better framerate/resolution if played on the NX.

One possible explanation for the NX’s gimmick is connectivity between different platforms, such as being able to use tablets as a GamePad. This was part of one of the NX leaks, but I had thought of this idea before the leak even came out, due to looking over Nintendo’s past statements on the subject. No, this is not the same thing as porting their old games to tablets; this would simply allow you to use a tablet as a second screen on the console if you wish, or you could also use a GamePad and -maybe- a new 3DS, though that one may be more iffy.

Conclusion

Nintendo’s E3 and the death of Iwata have left questions for the future, but personally I’m looking forward to what’s coming in the future for Nintendo. I feel we’re still going to get a great lineup of games next year for the Wii U, then in 2017 the NX will release with quite a bit more launch titles than the Wii U had.

Stay tuned and next time I’ll discuss the news about King K. Rool. If you liked this discussion and would like to hear more related topics please comment, like, share, and subscribe. This is JaidynReiman, signing out.

I don’t necessarily think all of them are going to happen for sure, and I’m going to do this in order of least to most likely in my personal opinion. Also, this will not be exclusively Nintendo, either. Lastly, I won’t mentioned things that are already confirmed to happen, such as Star Fox Wii U’s official unveiling and SMT X Fire Emblem, or things that have already been announced, such as Mario and Sonic at the Rio Olympic Games, which is more than likely going to be there in some form.

With that, let’s get started.

#10

Banjo-Threeie announced by Microsoft and Rare. It just seems like a given that a new Banjo-Kazooie game is in development right now, there’s been talks and teases all over the place about Rare doing a classic Rare IP, that tech demo featuring Banjo-Kazooie that came out recently, and Phil Spencer’s statements on the subject. I’d be shocked if a new Banjo-Kazooie platformer is not announced. It may not necessarily be called Banjo-Threeie, but it will be effectively be Banjo-Threeie, as opposed to Nuts and Bolts being something completely different.

#9

Square Enix has stated that they’ve got a new unannounced surprise console RPG game in the works that will be shown off at E3. I would’ve said this was Star Ocean, but Star Ocean is only published by Square Enix, Tri-Ace makes the games. Plus, that was already announced, and I’m ecstatic for this fifth Star Ocean title.

Regardless, what else could they do for a new console RPG? I am assuming this is NOT Final Fantasy Type-0 2, as that’s basically already confirmed. It also can’t be Kingdom Hearts 3 because that’s already announced as well. Final Fantasy XVI? Sorry, we haven’t even gotten XV yet. It could just be a new IP, but if its a legitimate surprise like they claim it is, I honestly think it could be a revival of a classic franchise. Now, there are three franchises I have in mind of what it could be. Again, it could just as easily be a new IP, but let’s think about the possibilities for a moment.

If it is a revival, a new Chrono game would be extremely popular. There’s still a lot of room to expand the series into a third game, likely focusing on Schala this time, or perhaps a new character who meets up with Schala, and will revolve around the unresolved storyline with Magus as well. Potentially it could also involve Lavos trying to resurrect itself again, or maybe a new Lavos spawn appears from outer space. Either way, I can see plenty of potential to focus on a more modern-day or even futuristic setting. Maybe they can even finally restore the Kingdom of Guardia. Dalton would likely be the main human antagonist.

Another option is a new Mana game. Granted, this franchise has been getting new games for some time ever since the World of Mana, but the main game, Dawn of Mana, was not very well received, and most recent games have been Mobile. A proper continuation to the main series Mana games would be amazing, and I’d really love to see it.

Even less likely, but what I’m hoping for most of all–a new Lufia game. The Lufia franchise has had a mixed past, but I’d love to see what Square Enix could do with the series if they bring back the franchise’s original gameplay. I also noticed that a Natsume employee remarked that this year is going to be really big for Natsume, and Natsume has published the Lufia games in the west. Its a huge stretch to suggest we could finally get Lufia IV, but I’d love it if it did.

Though honestly, I really like the idea of making Lufia herself the main protagonist in a new game–since, well, she’s basically guaranteed to appear, just not necessarily with the same name. And yes, Lufia is owned by Square Enix now; they bought out Taito several years back and even had Neverland produce Curse of the Sinistrals, a decent remake of Lufia II, but which really should not have dropped the classic turn-based gameplay.

#8

Golden Sun 4 may be teased. I’m fully confident that Golden Sun 4 is in development. Whether its long enough now for Camelot to tease it is a question. I definitely think its being worked on, though, because the timing is too perfect. Next year is Golden Sun’s 15th anniversary and its Camelot’s 20th anniversary this year. They have stated they can’t develop HD games, and they’ve already done Mario Golf and Mario Tennis on 3DS. I have no doubt they’ve already talked about how they would do a fourth Golden Sun, they just haven’t had the opportunity to develop it… until now. They’re definitely working on something, unless they’re dead. And if they were dead we would’ve known about it.

I’m not fully confident it will be announced at E3, but I do think its happening either way.

#7

A new Metroid, F-Zero, Animal Crossing, or Paper Mario game will NOT be announced. These are very common suggestions for Nintendo, and I think all of them are iffy at best. For Metroid, the best I can see happening is it getting the Star Fox treatment from last year where we get a vague tease that its coming. Retro in an interview stated they were interested in doing the Metroid series again, but for now were more focused on other things. That really does indicate that they aren’t working on Metroid at all right now.

Next Level Games is probably the best hope of a new Metroid game, but they’re working on a Wii U title, and they did develop Super Mario Strikers and Mario Strikers Charged. Frankly, with a lack of sports titles on the Wii U, I think this is far more likely than them developing a Wii U Metroid title, either this or Punch Out!! The main reasoning for me to suggest that Metroid isn’t happening are the statements made last year that Nintendo are still trying to determine where to take the series moving forward, which really tells me that Other M messed up the franchise more than people realize, and Nintendo simply don’t know where to go next. And frankly, I don’t blame them. You can’t constantly have Metroids being cloned and Ridley escaping death, can you?

F-Zero is pretty obvious after Miyamoto’s previous comments. The remaining two are simply a matter of the development teams that do those franchising not having enough time to have worked on them. The Animal Crossing team is currently working on Happy Home Designer, and they only just finished Splatoon, and even then, they’re still developing new things for Splatoon later. Perhaps they started Animal Crossing Wii U just after Splatoon launched, but that’s not enough time to have anything to show off.

Lastly, Paper Mario… Paper Mario has one game per generation. I know Sticker Star sucked, and Intelligent Systems are great at doing a lot of things at once, but this is just too much. They just released Code Name: STEAM a couple months ago in Japan and the US and late last month in Europe. Fire Emblem If launches in Japan at the end of this month, and not until 2016 in the rest of the world. Plus, although they’re not primary developers on SMT X FE, they are still helping to work on that game. Intelligent Systems simply has WAY too many things going on right now to do Paper Mario. And no, Fire Emblem If is NOT an easy game, they’ve put SO much work into this game. Its a massive, massive game; its two games in one, really.

Of these, Metroid is the most likely, as there’s nothing really going against its announcement except for the statement last year. I mostly just think its too soon after that statement by Nintendo to get a new Metroid game, because the implication is that they hadn’t even put a new game in development. However, its possible, but again, I think a teaser is more likely than a full announcement.

While on the same topic, different company, I also believe SEGA will not announce the next main Sonic game yet. I have a feeling that won’t be announced until next year. Sonic Mach 2 may potentially be announced, but it won’t be a main game.

#6

Mother 3D will be announced, with an actual localization. With all of the Mother 3 teasing, and the comments about more 3DS remakes being on the way, Mother just seems like the most logical choice. I would’ve said Donkey Kong 64 3D, but DK64 is now on Virtual Console, so with that hurdle out of the way, there’s not many other games I can think of that would need a remake, but there’s supposed to be multiple games coming. Mother 3 fits the bill perfectly. Plus, Lucas is releasing  for Smash right before E3 starts.

#5

Kingdom Hearts 3 will get its first official trailer and Final Fantasy XV’s release date will be announced. Its been two years since the game was officially announced to be in development; they should be more than well on their way to having a lot of the game done and ready to show off. I believe there was also a tease at Kingdom Hearts 3 early this year as well, so I definitely think this game will get its time in the spotlight at last.

I combined these because these two are kinda mutually exclusive. Both were originally developed by Tetsuya Nomura before Nomura was taken off of XV to work on KH3, and we were kinda waiting for XV to launch before KH3 was even started. XV is very close to completion, and I think its likely to be launching this year.

NOTE: I have since found out that Final Fantasy XV is skipping E3 and will be at Gamescom instead.

#4

A new Techmo Koei Nintendo crossover will be announced. Hyrule Warriors was extremely successful, I think its only logical that they’ll continue the trend. They even confirmed a new crossover is in the works; personally, since they announced this at the same time they reiterated Hyrule Warriors’ success, I think it will be a new Nintendo crossover. I think its also -possible- we could see a full Hyrule Warriors DLC expansion, as opposed to the simpler packs released prior. That obviously I don’t think is a guarantee, but I think its certainly a possibility. A Hyrule Warriors expansion could even be used to tie into and tease Zelda Wii U.

#3

Tales of Zestiria’s western release date will be announced alongside a PS4 release. Frankly, I think this is pretty much a given. We know its coming out in the west this year, E3 is probably the only time they’ll have to announce the release date. I also think its plausible that there could be some changes in the western release, such as the Alicia bonus quest being made available on-disc. Tales Fest even announced a new anime, and a new character is featured in here; perhaps this character could be added to an updated release, and allow Alicia to rejoin in the main game.

#2

Diddy Kong Racing for Wii U will be officially announced. You didn’t think this wouldn’t be on here, did you? I really, REALLY think Diddy Kong Racing is happening, and I also believe it will be Nintendo’s big Christmas title this year. You do realize the original Diddy Kong Racing outsold Donkey Kong 64 by a fair margin, don’t you? And believe it or not, Donkey Kong 64 outsold both Banjo games. If they take it up a notch and seriously differentiate it from Mario Kart, expand it to feature most of the Kongs and bring back the Kremlings, plus potentially add in other Nintendo properties into the mix, I’d say it’d be a sure seller. Maybe not as good as Mario Kart 8, but definitely good enough for a Holiday title.

That said, I am 50/50 on Retro announcing their new title. I think its likely it could happen, but they might just settle on Diddy Kong Racing instead, which (if it is in development) has been in development for several years alongside Tropical Freeze.

#1

Remember, I said E3 predictions, not specifically games that will announced.

Ryu and Wolf announced as Smash Bros. DLC, along with stage DLC and another newcomer DLC character. And yes, I did say NEWCOMER. Not Roy; I think Roy will be announced later. If its anyone, K. Rool is probably the most likely, but I’ll leave it open to any newcomer, but I think there will be a Nintendo newcomer announced. As for Wolf, Star Fox Wii U will be at E3, and Wolf will most likely be in it. I’d say its fair that Wolf is extremely likely to appear as Smash DLC, and E3 is the perfect time to announce it.

I also think we could possibly get the announcement of a new tie-in game to Ryu’s announcement. Either a Nintendo-Capcom crossover, or perhaps just a Nintendo fighting game based on the Street Fighter formula, such as Street Fighter X Super Smash Bros. Smash is great, but its not the same as traditional fighting games, and I really think there’s a specific reason Ryu is apparently coming to Smash; so I think we’re getting a new game by Capcom. I really, really like the idea of a Nintendo vs. Capcom game, or perhaps Street Fighter X Super Smash Bros., either one would be great.

NOTE: Not a day later and it was announced that Sakurai will be doing a separate Smash Bros. event on the 14th, the same day Lucas releases. It will be about 20 minutes long, so yeah… I think there’s definitely a lot of info coming out. We’ll probably get the Tournament mode, stage DLC, and a couple of characters.

Conclusion

Well then, that’s it for this prediction… countdown… whatever. Technically it could count as my first countdown, I suppose, even though its not fancy like other countdowns. Its going to be quickly debunked because E3 is in just over a week, so I’ll see how things matched up to my own predictions. If you liked this discussion leave a comment, like, share, and subscribe to my Youtube Channel. And stay tuned for more discussions on upcoming games.

NOTE: I recorded this one, but didn’t have time to finish it up. So I just released this as a blog entry instead.

References:

Retro Studios on Tropical Freeze, Metroid:
http://www.usgamer.net/articles/interview-the-secret-of-donkey-kong-countrys-redemption

The main character of the game, Kamui in Japan, is a customizable Avatar character who acts as the primary Main Lord of the game and is a Hoshido noble who ended up being kidnapped and raised as a Nohr noble. Kamui holds the class of Dark Prince or Princess. Similarly, Aqua, a Songstress, originated as a Nohr princess but was raised in Hoshido. After learning of their similar origins, Kamui and Aqua join together to resolve the conflicts between the two kingdoms.

Kamui’s class allows Kamui to use Swords, like typical Lords, and also Dragonstones, interestingly enough. As for Aqua, her Songstress class apparently can use Lances; her starting weapon is a Bronze Naginata. She is also capable of singing to rejuvenate characters and allow them to act again, similar to Bards, Dancers, and Herons from past titles.

Two Paths, Two Games

Starting with Chapter 6 of the game it splits into two paths, Hoshido and Nohr. Hoshido is considered to be the “good” and “white” kingdom, while “Nohr” is considered to be the “evil”  and “black” kingdom. Hoshido will be an experience closer to Awakening where there’s a detailed world map to explore and is less linear than most Fire Emblem games, like in Awakening. This allows for full grinding like Sacred Stones and Awakening, traveling across the world map as you see fit. Story-wise, though, Hoshido is more of a traditional game, where you’re trying to defend the kingdom from an invading force.

In the Nohr path, its a more traditional experience in structure, where the path will have more detailed and complex maps, a linear storyline with limited capability to grind levels and buy equipment. In addition, there’s a much larger variety of mission types available to play is. The Nohr path is much more difficult and is more geared towards classic fans of the series. At the same time, the storyline is much more deep and complex, more about revolutionizing Nohr from the inside out.

According to both the April Nintendo Direct and statements made later, you get the same characters regardless of which path you take. Another statement was a bit more contradictory which stated that some characters will be path-exclusive and may not even be met if you don’t take the correct path. Regardless, this does set an interesting precedent for the 8 main characters depicted in the trailer, all of whom are related to Kamui (and maybe even Aqua) in some way.

Another important distinction Nintendo and Intelligent Systems has noted is that each path is distinctly its own separate game. In fact, in Japan Fire Emblem If will even be released as both Fire Emblem If: Nohr and Fire Emblem If: Hoshido, with the second path available for download. A potential third path has been talked about which will be available only for download as well that acts as an in-between of the two separate paths.

Differences Between Paths?

Alright, we know a decent amount of how each path will be differentiated. But how else is it going to work? We’ve had mixed statements on how each path will differ from one another. One statement indicated that some characters would only be available on certain paths, while the main one heard during the Direct and again later indicated that all characters are available on either path. So which is it?

Personally I think its going to be like Sacred Stones, where most all characters are available no matter which story line you choose, and you’ll just unlock them in different ways. However, there may very well be one or two characters who are exclusive, but for the most part this won’t be the case. I’d bet that any characters you recruited before the divide stick with you no matter what, and the youngest sisters, for example, would probably join you earlier than everyone else.

Then, though, there’s the older characters. All of them are sympathetic to the hero on both sides, but have conflicts with the members of the other side. Once you pick one side, the characters on the opposing side fight against you. I’m betting that the eldest siblings–Marx and Ryouma–join first as an Oifey type of character, an early crutch character. Then later on, you will have to fight against the ones who you turned against in Chapter 6, and ultimately can recruit them to your team by convincing them that you have the best interests in mind.

On the Hoshido side, you will likely have to convince Marx, Camille, and Leon that Garon does not have the best interests of Nohr at heart and is a cruel tyrant. Marx is already questionably loyal to Garon and even argues against his father in a scene we’ve learned about in the game. Meanwhile, on the Nohr side, you will have to convince the Hoshido that you do not wish to fight them, and instead, want to try and save Nohr and Hoshido.

The Black and White Morality is incredibly evident in the latest trailer, and I feel its obvious that this entire theme is filled with cracks and will break apart at its seams as you progress through the storyline. I think we’re going to find that Nohr is not really evil, and Hoshido is not fully good, either. Especially since, as we have more recently learned, at some point Aqua was also taken from her home in Nohr to Hoshido. Why is this the case? Plus, the characters tell a different story.

Expanded Character Depth and Classes

Although the main characters on either side clearly hate the ones from the opposing side, they are all sympathetic to the hero and are clearly distraught when Kamui must choose which one to join. None of them want to fight Kamui, and all love the hero regardless of by birth or by family bonds. Also, despite the fact that the four main characters on either side are intended to rival one another and have several similarities, they’re also distinctly different and have their own classes not related to the ones on the opposing side.

The youngest sisters, Elise on Nohr and Sakura on Hoshido, are both staff wielders. Sakura is a Priestess, so she likely is the classic Priest/Cleric class. Elise is where it gets interesting, though; she has the class “Rod Knight.” This seems reminiscent of the Geneology specialized classes, but maybe even indicates that Rods and Staffs will be two separate weapon types. I’m wondering if this class will go back to the original Troubadour; a mounted unit capable of using both Swords and Staffs. Perhaps she’ll even promote into a Paladin like the original Troubadour class.

Another important distinction is how Sakura and Takumi, the youngest Hoshido siblings, both have a Tier 1 class; Priestess and Archer, respectively. Meanwhile, Leon has the class of Dark Knight, a Tier 2 class. Maybe this version of Dark Knight is not a prepromote class, but instead its a mounted Dark Mage? This could also tie into another theory I had, that the magic on Hoshido is three new anima magic, one of which includes Ice, and also Light Magic, while Nohr has the traditional Anima triangle of Wind, Fire, and Thunder, and Dark Magic as well.

The second eldest siblings Hinoka of Hoshido, and Camilla of Nohr, also have interesting classes, Revenant Knight; a wyvern class, and Pegasus Warrior, respectively. Camilla is known to wield an axe, so wyvern classes wielding axes are back again. But what’s this about “Pegasus Warrior”? Something others have noted is that all of the Nohr royalty have “Knight” classes, while Hinoka has a new Pegasus Warrior class, instead of the traditional Pegasus or Falcon Knight.

For Marx, his class is just the average every day Paladin class, which fits quite well and makes sense. What’s interesting, though, is that his rival Ryoma has the Trueblade class from Radiant Dawn. Does this mean we’ll get third tier promotions again? Its possible, but I doubt it. Rather, its probably an alternate promotion. I don’t think its an exclusive class, because none of the other main royalty members seem to have an exclusive class, either.

It does seem like there will be certain classes mostly exclusive to one kingdom. Knight classes, for example, seem to be such a case for Nohr. I’d also guess that Swordmasters are exclusively for Hoshido, and Mercenaries for Nohr. Pegasus classes are for Hoshido and Wyverns for Nohr. Since we don’t know of equivalent mounted units on the Hoshido side yet, I’m also thinking maybe we could get the Nomad classes back, and they’ll be able to use a larger variety of weapons. Or perhaps a similar class to the Nomad.

For my last note, in the original trailer at one point we see a mobile armored unit. Normally, armored unit’s armor is too heavy for them to be very active, but an armored unit is seen jumping around and attacking with a lance. I’m wondering if maybe this could be a Soldier; or perhaps even a Halberdier, which would explain why its more heavily armored than a Soldier. Plus, its also clearly a playable unit, too. This would be very interesting, because the last time we had a playable soldier was back in Radiant Dawn.

Conclusion

Additional information has been revealed in subsequent Famitsu articles such as the new Concealed Weapons type, Knives and Shurikens mostly. As well as the fact that Weapons no longer have durability, except Staffs. The addition of a new dismounted “Lancer” class on the Hoshido side shows that dismounted lance units are in fact playable again, which may hint to my theory that the character Elfie is either a Soldier with heavier armor or a Halberdier, bringing back the playable Soldier classes from Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn. Oddly enough, it also appears that Thieves on the Nohr side now use Bows instead. Interesting.

We’ve additionally gotten our first looks at the new classes of Maid, Butler, and Ninja, all of which use Concealed Weapons. However, Maids can also use Staffs. There are two Maids at the beginning of the game, but since the second Maid has not been shown along with the first, Felicia, my bet is that she’s got a different class from Felicia. Famitsu has also confirmed there will be weekly information leading up to the game’s release in June. I will definitely provide another discussion on the topic of Fire Emblem If at a later date, but likely my theories will be proven or debunked very soon.

I hope you enjoyed my analysis of what we know of Fire Emblem If so far, and my thoughts on some of the ways the game could play out, both for the two paths, the different characters and the various classes and weapons available to use. Let me know what you thought of my discussion in the comments below, like it, share it with others, and if you want to see more like it, please subscribe and stay tuned for more Nintendo and gaming discussions and analyses. This is JaidynReiman, signing out.

References

Cast and Characters are the Same, Other Details:
http://serenesforest.net/fire-emblem-if/4gamer-interview/

Translated Famitsu Scans:
https://kantopia.wordpress.com/2015/05/20/fire-emblem-if-famitsu-scan-translations-all-52115/

Serenes Forest Known Classes:
http://serenesforest.net/fire-emblem-if/classes/

Serenes Forest Known Characters:
http://serenesforest.net/fire-emblem-if/characters/

Nintendo has provided a variety of interesting comments about upcoming games over the past year. Back in November Iwata indicated that they’re planning on making more spinoff games for their top franchises, pointing out the success of Hyrule Warriors as a major factor. Nintendo also needs to fill in the gap of the missing Zelda Wii U with a new game, and a certain game has been rumored to be in development for several years…

Bring on Diddy Kong Racing!

Yes, I’ve brought up Diddy Kong Racing in the past, but let’s go into more detail on it now. Diddy Kong Racing was originally a Rare IP called Pro AM 64, which was a sequel to the original NES game R.C. Pro-Am, this time with Rare-made animal characters starring Timber the Tiger. It later went on to become Diddy Kong Racing after Shigeru Miyamoto offered to allow them to add Diddy Kong to the game.

Diddy Kong Racing was largely kept secret before its 1997 release, with very little information about the game. Ocarina of Time was delayed from 1997 to 1998 by a whole year and Diddy Kong Racing launched in its place to massive success, where it ended up being the sixth best selling Nintendo 64 title at four and a half million sales worldwide. What’s really interesting about this is that it replaced The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for that Christmas season.

Right now, Legend of Zelda for Wii U is delayed, with no games that could possibly replace it except maybe Star Fox Wii U. And honestly, based on the timing Miyamoto suggested, it really seems more like Star Fox is set for an earlier Autumn release instead of Christmas. Zelda Wii U was delayed, Star Fox was not. They would not have announced this delay without something to fill in that Christmas 2015 slot.

Then there’s also the mystery that is Diddy Kong’s absence from Mario Kart 8, as well as the absence of any new Donkey Kong content whatsoever. DK himself is in the game, and there’s one returning track, but we’ve now had two DLC packs with no new DK content whatsoever. Not even a new DK track, even though there’s several tracks that could be made a DK track. Wild Woods especially looks like its straight out of DK.

Meanwhile, though, Link and even Villager and Isabelle from Animal Crossing have been added as DLC characters, but no new DK characters at all. Doesn’t that seem a little strange to you?

Kevin Callahan of the Games Industry

Such discussions are exactly the point made in a weird and odd article by a mysterious person; whom, apparently, works in the Games Industry. This guy also claims to live in the great state of Minnesota with his wife and kids. Regardless, the rumors of Diddy Kong Racing have existed for much longer than that, as early as 2012 where a rumor floated around that Nintendo had bought Timber the Tiger from Microsoft. Naturally, that’s another unsubstantiated rumor, but it is interesting; Timber is basically the true main character of Diddy Kong Racing.

Regardless of these circumstances, the mysterious Kevin Callahan posted a lengthy article on the subject with various notes about the development cycle of Diddy Kong Racing for Wii U, being developed by Retro Studios and Monster Games. I’ve stated before, and I’ll say it again, I don’t actually believe that Kevin Callahan whatever actually knows anything about a real Diddy Kong Racing game. Who knows, maybe Kevin Callahan DID work in the “games industry” from the great state of Minnesota with his wife and kids. But I digress.

The point I’m trying to make is that, in his single article on his website, Kevin Callahan made a lot of good and interesting points about a possible Diddy Kong Racing for Wii U, a rumor which has been floating around for quite some time. Naturally, there are the points made about Diddy Kong’s absence in Mario Kart, along with any new DK content at all. What is also interesting is the massive delay between the announcement that Monster Games were developing a new project for Wii in 2006 after Excite Truck, and the ultimate release of Excite Bots in 2009.

Despite not working on much of anything for a long time after Excite Bots, Monster Games ultimately later released Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D for the 3DS in 2013, and also helped Retro a bit on Tropical Freeze, while Retro then proceeded to help out on Mario Kart 8. All of these odd occurrences are quite strange, but perhaps Retro was trying to get experience in racing games and Monster in Donkey Kong games.

According to the article, which of course can’t really be verified, Monster and Retro are both working on Diddy Kong Racing, while Retro were working on another main game (Tropical Freeze) and Monster were also working on another, smaller game on the side. This happens to coincide with Xenoblade Chronicles 3D that was later announced to be developed by Monster Games.

Shigeru Miyamoto has also noted that Retro was big enough to develop multiple games at once, and other than helping other studios with their titles, Retro has only produced Tropical Freeze in the past four years, which they only developed for two years; they didn’t start Tropical Freeze until a year after Returns launched, and it was finished in late 2013.

What About the Game’s Potential?

All things considered, the possibilities of a Diddy Kong Racing game for Wii U happening seem quite good, with rumors dating back several years and other interesting odds and ends. But what about the potential that the game could include? Well, first of all, since none of the original Diddy Kong Racing characters could be used, they’d likely have to replace said characters. The logical replacements, of course, would be bringing back the other Kongs from various DKC games. Dixie and Tiny could come back from Diddy Kong Racing DS, and it’d be nice to see others like Lanky, Chunky, Cranky, Funky, or Kiddy added as playable characters.

Another interesting rumor brought up by “Kevin Callahan”–whom, by the way, works in the games industry–is of various minor Nintendo characters from smaller franchises joining the roster and representing multiple franchises in the game. The two ones noted were Dillon from Dillon’s Rolling Western and Mallo from Pushmo World. Then there’s also the question of the main antagonist, since of course Wizpig could not really be used either. But wait! There is, of course, King K. Rool…

Despite what it may seem, K. Rool is actually involved in a small role in the plot of the original Diddy Kong Racing game. If you check the back of the box, there’s something interesting–it notes that the game is copyright Rare, but that Diddy Kong, Banjo, and Krunch were licensed by Nintendo. Banjo Nintendo later gave back to Rare after they left, but why Krunch? Well, if you read Krunch’s storyline in-game, Krunch is said to have been sent by King K. Rool to spy on Diddy and figure out what Diddy was up to on Timber’s island, and eventually he decides to join Diddy. However, Krunch is a Kremling, and therefore had to be owned by Nintendo.

What if, in Diddy Kong Racing for Wii U, Krunch did in fact report back to King K. Rool, and K. Rool stepped in after the fact and stole the source of Wizpig’s power, thereby he becomes the main antagonist in place of Wizpig. This could also tie into the theory mentioned by Kevin Callahan–who lives with his wife and kids in Minnesota–that instead of usual karts, its actually animal-shaped vehicles that can turn into full animals temporarily, as an interesting gameplay mechanic to differentiate it from Mario Kart. It could be that its the opposite; they’re actually the Animal Buddies turned into karts instead.

Conclusion

There’s just so many ways that this could turn out interesting. I don’t know if Kevin Callahan actually knew anything or if he just put two and two together like I have. Some of the information could be putting two and two together, but if the kart concept comes into play, he definitely knew something. And one interesting thing of note I found… I thought Monster Games were from Canada, but they’re actually from Minnesota. As is, supposedly, Kevin Callahan.

What do you think? Could Diddy Kong Racing for Wii U actually be in development? Do YOU believe in Kevin Callahan? Let me know in the comments section, and I’ll respond to you when I can. Thanks for listening to this discussion, and tune in next time to where I will discuss Fire Emblem If–assuming no additional information comes out for other projects in the meantime. If you liked this discussion, please favorite, comment, share, and subscribe to my channel. Until next time, this is JaidynReiman, signing out.

Sources:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/138467-Nintendo-Creating-More-Spin-Off-Games

https://kevincallahangames.wordpress.com/2014/07/09/the-strange-development-of-diddy-kong-racing-2/

So I recorded my reactions to the recent Nintendo Direct but never got it online. No, I’m not going to upload them at this point since its kinda late and everyone’s already been talking about Lucas and the ballot. Now that Mewtwo is out, though, some interesting things have been popping up in the game’s code, so its time to look at what’s been discovered and discuss what we could possibly be seeing in the future!

Super Smash Ballot

So the first interesting thing to come up in the April Nintendo Direct is the Smash Ballot, alongside the announcement that Lucas is coming back with Mewtwo. Not only is additional character DLC confirmed to happen, but you can vote on who you want to appear in the game through the Smash ballot. Not all characters can get in, of course, as they’ve stated several times, but you can vote for any video game character, and these suggestions will be considered for future games, as well as DLC in this game.

Of course, note that you can vote for any VIDEO GAME character. As in, characters that originated from video games.

There’s a lot of speculation on what could be coming from the ballot. Since they pulled off this massive effort to get people involved in Smash and requesting their characters, I definitely expect we’ll be getting several characters out of the ballot. Maybe one -possible- non-Nintendo character, but mostly Nintendo characters. Since the ballot started off, numerous polls have been held online to try and determine who is currently popular on various sites.

Despite mixed results, one consistent thing is that King K. Rool and Isaac seem to be the top voted Nintendo characters overall. And yes, I said characters, not newcomers; veterans you’d think would place higher, but most polls aren’t doing that. That said, there’s also been a ton of support for various third-party characters, mostly Shovel Knight, Shantae, and Quote. Banjo and Kazooie seem to be a popularly suggested one right now.

Naturally, though, most of these polls are from English speaking countries only, so that’s mostly in parts of Europe, especially the UK, Australia, and the Americas.

As far as third-parties go, we really shouldn’t expect too many. From the ballot itself, I can see maybe one getting through. And even then, they have to be both extremely iconic characters, and not owned by another first-party developer… like Banjo and Kazooie. Its unrealistic to think they’ve even got a remote chance of being added to Smash. And I also find Indie’s incredibly unlikely, especially ones with no Japanese backing at all. But I’d say at least Indie’s have a chance of making it into the game.

Mewtwo and Patch Leaks

Mewtwo released just this past week to a mixed reception. Although I did get Mewtwo, I’m not that interested in him, but more what has been discovered in the game code. Of course, hackers have already opened up Smash 3DS and found tons of interesting things in the patch. Keep in mind, this is for the 3DS version only; as far as I’m aware no leftover data was found in Smash Wii U.

The first thing noted after Mewtwo was released is that there’s sound files for two new, never-before-known characters, that being Roy from Fire Emblem and Ryu from Street Fighter. And we know its Ryu from Street Fighter because the audio file for Ryu is a victory theme from Street Fighter II, which is also among the most popular Street Fighter games, and Street Fighter II did amazingly well on Super Nintendo.

The main question people have, of course, is why. Why is this data in the game? Presumably, they’re being developed as characters, since this is character data. Roy was a character heavily questioned by many, myself included, because we already have Lucina in the game as a Marth clone, as well as another character named Roy. However, he’s also a popularly requested veteran character, and veterans are especially popular in Japan.

As for Ryu, that’s a lot more questionable. Although Street Fighter II was a massive success on Super Nintendo, Street Fighter hasn’t gotten much attention on Nintendo lately. Of course, Street Fighter didn’t release games often for many years, with a huge gap between III and IV. And now V is exclusive to Playstation 4 as far as we know. If we are getting Ryu, I’d say the odds are pretty good that Nintendo and Capcom made a video game deal, perhaps with Capcom making a crossover sort of like Street Fighter X Tekken, only with Nintendo instead. Or Nintendo vs. Capcom.

Additional data in the game has also surfaced which includes data hinting at potential stage DLC. The main data cited is some Kirby music tracks in the game; speculation holds that its for Dream Land 64. Also interesting is that if any Kirby characters appear as the first character on a stage in Smash 3DS, instead of loading the Kirby stage they now load Battlefield. What’s odd about this is that except for Mii Fighters, no characters are ever supposed to be encountered on Battlefield.

Even more info has been discovered in a list of what appears to be character models in the game’s code. At one point, Mario was copied five times, perhaps even six times, with the first one being renamed “Mewtwo.” This information could be nothing, but it also could indicate that they copied Mario’s name for the number of characters they planned to create. Of course, people are immediately jumping the gun on this and assuming that could be a restriction, but its probably not a restriction; its simply showing the number of characters they’ve been working on up to Mewtwo’s release, not how many they plan to work on in total.

Veterans Galore + New Ballot Characters?

The biggest take out of all of this is that veterans are getting top priority, and numerous veteran character’s will be released over the course of this year. Mewtwo is first, then Lucas, then probably Roy and likely later even Wolf. Wolf, naturally, is still basically a lock if both Roy and Lucas are already in the works. But if this information is accurate and there are five additional character’s being worked on in addition to Mewtwo, we could be getting a ton of DLC for this game.

Even Roy and Ryu were interesting finds, but now it looks like we could have even more than just them. With veterans getting priority before the ballot, I’d wager that veterans won’t really get taken into consideration when it comes to the ballot, since they already know veterans are popular requests. Of the remaining veterans, Ivysaur and Squirtle are iffy since they were previously combined with Charizard and we’ve already got Pokemon character DLC, Pichu was never really all that well liked, Snake is questionable due to Konami’s current status with Kojima, and Ice Climbers had technical difficulties. There was Young Link, but there’s little chance of a third Link being brought back.

If Nintendo has been working on six characters as the game data implies, Wolf is probably one of the last two, but who could be other one be? Probably either a cut newcomer, or perhaps they’re working on a popular new request. Regardless, since this data is in the game already and the ballot mostly will not be considered for six months, this data is likely in addition to whatever they have planned for the ballot, not INCLUDING the ballot. And seriously, there’s NO WAY they’ll hype everyone up with a ballot to vote for their favorite characters and ONLY include one character from it.

Odds are, we’ll probably get several characters from the Smash ballot. Especially since this leaked game data implies they’re working on several characters already, so they’d probably do the same with the ballot characters; work on several at once so its easier to manage. Granted, since most of these known DLC characters are veterans, some of whom are similar to existing characters, the ballot characters made later will definitely be fewer in number, but I do think we’d get at least three from the ballot.

Conclusion

With this new data we’ve found a lot of potential information out about the game. There’s a lot of mixed receptions, of course. Many immediately assume the worst, such as the more characters being developed pre-ballot means less ballot characters. I’m sorry, but I find that very unlikely. If anything, the more characters being developed pre-ballot increases the odds of several character’s being developed THROUGH the ballot.

Now, who will those characters be? King K. Rool and Isaac seem to be the frontrunners for Nintendo right now. I certainly hope the information we’ve seen online is accurate, as they’ve been my #1 and #2 most wanted Smash characters since the very start of speculation. As for third-party characters… I think Ryu establishes a trend; they have to be extremely iconic characters.

I really don’t see many DLC third-parties happening, and I only see a third-party happening through the ballot if they get a MASSIVE influx of support… and even then, a character like Banjo and Kazooie? Not in a million years. Nintendo would have to buy the franchise back, and odds are Microsoft will not sell it. Sorry, Banjo fans.

Anyway, if you liked this discussion, send me a comment in the comments section below, like this discussion, and share it with your friends. If you have any suggestions for future topics, also please let me know in a comment. That’s all I have for today, but stay tuned for future discussions where I’ll talk about additional things revealed in the Nintendo Direct.

Until next time, this is JaidynReiman, signing out.

Data File Explanation:

https://sourcegaming.wordpress.com/2015/04/18/all-about-ryu-and-roys-files/

In short, Nintendo will produce games new games for Mobile devices to act as a support for their main franchises. These will be micro games built with Mobile in mind, and DeNA will provide the framework for this system which will work on Mobile devices, Wii U, 3DS, and Nintendo’s upcoming planned NX system, of which nothing is known yet.

Here’s the important facts about this. DeNA is only providing the software that links Mobile devices and Nintendo’s consoles together. This will also include a successor to Club Nintendo. Nintendo themselves will produce the games, and they will not be ports; they will be new games built from the ground up. I’ve also heard a rumor that Nintendo’s entire history of IP’s are all open to be developed for Mobile devices.

Mobile Games Will Support Console Games

There’s been numerous critical reactions to Nintendo’s Mobile announcement, such as Nintendo’s abandoning consoles. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Just consider how this would work. There’s numerous Nintendo spoof or clone games on handheld consoles where Nintendo is not involved in at all, and many of them are fairly popular.

This is a great medium for Nintendo to provide actual Nintendo IP’s and get people interested in Nintendo IP’s who wouldn’t otherwise. If they tie this closely to Nintendo’s console market as well, they can provide advertisements for full-scale Nintendo games in these handheld micro games. This is a great way to promote the franchises. Some franchises, like Panel de Pon, work for Mobile on their own, and other franchises have themes that could work for micro games. More on that later.

For these micro games on Mobile devices, they can appeal to people who like to play Mobile games on a casual basis. Namely, that situation where you just play a small game for a short bit while on a trip or waiting for something, pause, then continue later. However, through this combined system, Nintendo could potentially promote other games on their main system, or even allow people to purchase games on their main consoles from handhelds. There’s a variety of ways this could work, and my ideas are merely some of them.

Mobile Games Aren’t a Waste of Potential

One huge misnomer is that many people keep on assuming that these games will only consist of Nintendo’s top franchises, namely Mario, Pokemon, and Legend of Zelda. This is extremely unlikely to happen, though. They won’t be able to maintain a large variety of games with such a limited scope. Plus, as these are micro games, they could be developed a lot quicker and more easily than Nintendo’s main console games.

Another problem people have with this idea is the assumption that bringing back an old IP as a Mobile only game ruins the potential of that series. I see the exact opposite. Of course, people are assuming that this would replace the IP getting a new game. Just consider this: since they are Mobile games, they’d be quicker and cheaper to develop. Cost is undoubtedly a significant factor in why many classic franchises are not being brought back now, as developing big games on core platforms is expensive.

If a franchise is revived on Mobile first, it could raise interest in the series and provide a desire to continue that franchise. There’s also lot of franchises on early Nintendo consoles which are so small they could not be sold as full retail games today. But potentially they could work on Mobile, and bring back interest in these franchises; maybe enough for a full revival on Nintendo’s main consoles. There’s also other types of ways that smaller game ideas can be explored on Mobile platforms more in-depth.

Another concern is Nintendo’s potential use of the microtransactions system common with most Mobile/micro games. I’ve seen some concerns over, for example, the potential for a Panel de Pon game to use microtransactions. Iwata specifically addressed the concern of microtransactions and suggested that they’d probably use it where it works well, but would also consider other means of revenue, too. Yes, this will likely happen, but people are being too overly concerned about this. Nintendo has proven to be much better at this kind of thing than other developers, and I’ve tried out even Pokemon Shuffle. It does utilize microtransactions, but it doesn’t shove them in your face like most problem games do.

What Kinds of Mobile Games Could we See?

Now let’s consider the potential for the kinds of Mobile games we could be seeing. Naturally, Mario would be a significant factor in this. Since Mario is so versatile we could really see anything. I’d bet that micro Sports games could be possibilities, and small Super Mario Brothers handheld platformer games. Perhaps a mobile version of Mario Kart, as well. Pokemon is also versatile and could consist of a variety of different things, though this franchise may possibly be able to tie into the Pokemon Bank and you can use existing Pokemon to battle other Pokemon online, and just manage Pokemon without a full-fledged game.

Now let’s look at a few other franchises. Zelda, Donkey Kong, and Kirby game are probably the next one’s you’d think of. Zelda is definitely one that doesn’t translate well to Mobile, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make anything. How about Four Swords? Four Swords Adventures is one one I think of, and perhaps it could even include the ability to play as other Zelda characters instead of just four Links. Kirby can do quite a bit as well, but especially with the Canvas Curse style. For Donkey Kong, there’s a few suggestions, my favorite idea being the continuation of the pegboard games King of Swing and Jungle Climber. Mario vs. Donkey Kong and perhaps even the continuation of Donkey Kong Land are other good suggestions.

Let’s also look at some lesser but still decent sized franchises. Star Fox could definitely have a smaller flight simulator style of game, just make it in the same vein as 64 with new levels, perhaps even an “endless” option. Metroid’s normal style wouldn’t work but Metroid Pinball is an option to bring back. I don’t think Animal Crossing would work well for an entire game, but they could potentially include a small part like Tortimer Island and allow you to use an existing character then transfer it back later. Fire Emblem is another one I find difficulty creating a new take for Mobile based on the games. Let me know if you have any ideas.

WarioWare would fit the Mobile format very well as well. Wario Land is a bit more iffy but I think it could work. Yoshi Story I think is another good format. A proper Yoshi game would be more questionable, but something that’s relatively short and repeatable like Yoshi Story is a great option. Kid Icarus could possibly bring back the gameplay style of the old games, or make an endless flight simulator on Mobile. Punch Out is also something that probably wouldn’t be difficult to translate to a new Mobile game, perhaps in the line of Doc Louis’ Punch Out. The Pikmin franchise could work if they make mini-missions based on the Pikmin games such as utilizing waves of enemies in a limited area.

Now let’s look at the potential for reviving old franchises through this format. One I think this would greatly help is F-Zero. I think that the high-speed racer format could easily translate to a Mobile platform, and potentially bring interest back to the IP for a full console game later. Another great idea could be Ice Climbers. How about a small block puzzle game where you play as the Ice Climbers and have to get to the end of the level by pushing or breaking blocks and defeating enemies? Like F-Zero this could potentially lead to a future revival on Nintendo’s main consoles.

Mysterious Murasame Castle is a commonly suggested idea for a revival and if based on the original gameplay style this would very easily translate to Mobile. Panel de Pon, Drill Dozer, Rusty’s Real Deal Baseball, Mole Mania, Nintendogs, Balloon Fight, Pilot Wings, Excitebikes, Mach Rider, Dillon’s Rolling Western, and Jam With the Band are among the many franchises which could work just by directly translating the original gameplay. Panel de Pon plays a special place in my heart as I absolutely love the puzzle game series and wish they’d actually localize the fairy characters for once.

Another possible one that could work if very limited I think would be Advance Wars. And I say limited because the original games didn’t have storylines, just characters and missions. If they do it entirely mission-based, they could provide a few missions for you to try playing on a limited range. I guess this is possible with Fire Emblem if based on the Akaneia Sagas but its harder since Fire Emblem is best done utilized with extensive leveling of characters, something unneeded for Advance Wars.

Conclusion

Whew, well, that’s a lot to talk about. What do you guys think about this? Like some of my idea? Let me know in the comments below. Just understand, if an obscure franchise does end up on Mobile, don’t think about it losing potential but think about the potential that bringing back the franchise in the first place could do.

If you liked this discussion please be sure to like, share, comment, and subscribe. Thank you for listening and stay tuned until next time. See ya later, crocodile. Well, here’s hoping, anyway.

P.S. One final note–yes, I did hear about the Zelda Wii U delay. It does suck, but there’s not much that can be done about it, and not much to talk about it, either. They announced its probably not coming in 2015. That’s really all there is to it, we know nothing else. Just wanted to bring it up before someone else did.

There are multiple reasons why I discuss this topic, and the main reasoning for me thinking more into this is the Game Awards preview of Zelda Wii U shown off at the end of last year. And the big thing we get from this preview is the locations of several key areas from the Zelda universe and how they tie into other games. The Overworld’s map is shown off briefly in this trailer, and its very important for the discussion of this topic.

Overworlds Across the Series

One thing that any huge Zelda fan should know is that the Overworlds throughout the series are inconsistent. There’s always a series of key areas to explore throughout the games. Ever since the original Legend of Zelda, Death Mountain has been a central location throughout the games. Other recurring areas from the original game include the Lost Woods, and a large lake at the center of the map which could be Lake Hylia before it was given a name. There’s also a desert region on the map as well.

Fast forward to Zelda II and the only recurring location is Death Mountain. Presumably, Zelda II takes place in areas north and east of Death Mountain from Zelda I, and across the ocean. In A Link to the Past, like in Zelda I, Death Mountain is in the north central part of the map, though in Link to the Past it extend to the northeast corner. Death Mountain is also in the northeast corner of the map in Ocarina of Time. Twilight Princess is one of the few games where Death Mountain is not located in this location and is instead directly to the east.

There’s also Mount Crenel from Minish Cap which could arguable be a predecessor to Death Mountain, which is in the northwest corner. Eldin Volcano is in the north central location of the World Map, and, once again, could be a predecessor to Death Mountain. Another version of Death Mountain comes from Four Swords Adventures, which is in the usual location, though other locations in Four Swords Adventures are far away from their usual locations.

Other areas vary much more wildly, though. The Lost Woods in Zelda I is in the southwest corner of the map, but in the northwest corner in A Link to the Past and Four Swords Adventures. In Ocarina of Time its in the southeast corner and Minish Woods from Minish Cap are also in this location. Twilight Princess is roughly the same, though Faron Woods is in the south central region. Skyward Sword’s Faron Woods are also in the southeast corner.

The desert region of Hyrule almost never matches up game to game. In Zelda I its just south of Death Mountain. A Link to the Past and Four Swords Adventures pits the desert in the southwest corner. This matches up with Skyward Sword, and pits it very close to Twilight Princess, where the desert is west of Lake Hylia. In Ocarina of Time, however, the desert is northwest of Lake Hylia, more north than west, and Minish Cap doesn’t even have a desert.

Ocarina of Time also has another recurring area, Zora’s Domain and Zora’s River. In A Link to the Past there is also a Zora’s River featured just south of Death Mountain. Ocarina of Time’s is pretty close, but Twilight Princess puts Zora’s Domain at the far northern portion of the map right next to Snowpeak, while Snowpeak never appeared in Hyrule prior. Lake Florian from Skyward Sword and Lake Hylia from Minish Cap and Four Swords Adventures all line up fairly close to where Zora’s Domain appears in Ocarina of Time, though Lake Florian appears to be a lot further south than these other locations.

Speaking of Lake Hylia, in Link to the Past its in the southeast corner of the map. Meanwhile, in Ocarina of Time its in the southwest corner (though it doesn’t extend as far to the west as the Desert Wasteland), and just southwest of Hyrule Castle in Twilight Princess. However, in Minish Cap and Four Swords Adventures, its closer to the location of Zora’s Domain in Ocarina of Time, while Link to the Past’s Lake Hylia is closer to Lake Florian from Skyward Sword.

Hyrule Castle is generally always at the center of Hyrule and there’s really no debate here. Even in Wind Waker, Hyrule Castle is directly at the center of the Great Sea at the bottom of the ocean. In Ocarina of Time its at the north central region, but Twilight Princess shows that there could potentially be areas north of Hyrule Castle.

How Often does Nearly Every Area Match Up?

With that overview of the different major areas of the games, let’s look at how often almost every single major area lines up between multiple games. The only time I can think of is in A Link Between Worlds, which was directly indicated to be a sequel to Link to the Past and revolves heavily around the events of Link to the Past. Every single major location matches up perfectly to their locations in Link to the Past. Lorule is different, though, since its not the same as the Dark World, and many areas are different in Lorule.

Now, let’s take a look at the Zelda Wii U world map. The start of the trailer showcases Link close to the southeast corner and there’s a vast forest surrounding him. We can see a bit more forest on the map itself as well. North of this section is a large lake and a river running northwest a bit, then curving back to the south to another lake. This large lake is in roughly the same location as Zora’s Domain from Ocarina of Time.

In numerous sequences during both the E3 trailer and the game awards trailer, Death Mountain can be seen, and we can clearly tell its in the northeast corner of the map, though slightly west of the eastern lake. In the original E3 trailer, there’s an open plain and you can see Death Mountain slightly to the east, and some have noted what could be Hyrule Castle to the north, which would make this Hyrule Castle far further north than in most Zelda games barring Ocarina of Time. This central plains region matches the location of Hyrule Field in Ocarina of Time.

South of the open field on the overworld map is the second of the large lakes. This one clearly contains a bridge spanning the center of it even on the full world map, and as we see in the Game Awards trailer, that bridge appears to be the Great Bridge of Hylia, confirming this must be Lake Hylia. At the same time, the Great Bridge of Hylia only appeared in Twilight Princess. However, this bridge’s columns aren’t in ruins like the ones in Twilight Princess, which would imply its either been repaired, its being well-maintained, or it was just recently built.

On the full world map, this Lake Hylia is directly south of Hyrule Field and Hyrule Castle, while in Ocarina of Time, Lake Hylia was slightly more to the west. Regardless, compared to all the similarities this world map shares with Ocarina of Time already that’s minimal.

The final piece of the puzzle is the desert region. The western portion could be the desert, but look carefully at the northwest corner. You should be able to see a large gorge, highly reminiscent of the one from Twilight Princess. Northwest of that gorge appears there could be a vast desert proper, and southeast of it is roughly the region where Gerudo Valley lies, which would fill in the remaining two pieces, and match up all areas from Ocarina of Time in almost the exact same locations. Then there’s a few additional areas that extend outside of these regions, including a vast ocean to the east.

The Great Bridge of Hylia is Key

So, let’s go back to the Great Bridge of Hylia for a second here. Even if this world map is directly based on Ocarina of Time, it doesn’t necessarily have to take place after the events of Ocarina of Time; instead, it could take place just before Ocarina of Time during the Hyrulean Civil War. GameExplain are the ones who first pointed out the Great Bridge of Hylia to me and noted that it appeared to be intact, but they still keep coming to the conclusion that it could take place after Skyward Sword.

Here’s the problem. First of all, the similarities to Ocarina of Time are fairly obvious if you look at every detail. So, if they directly based this on Ocarina of Time and recreated the Ocarina of Time world map, but on a much larger scale, they’re clearly paying attention to detail. As such, they’d also have considered the fact that the Great Bridge of Hylia ONLY appeared in Twilight Princess. Since its not in ruins, that means it probably takes place before Twilight Princess. But unlike in Link Between Worlds, it’d be difficult to base this map directly on Zelda Wii U, but then have it take place hundreds of years after Ocarina of Time, because Twilight Princess already exists in this time period.

Since they also put so much detail into recreating the Ocarina of Time map, they’d also know that the Great Bridge of Hylia doesn’t appear in Ocarina of Time at all. Which means it had to have been built after the events of Ocarina of Time. This would then mean that Zelda Wii U probably takes place shortly after Majora’s Mask, perhaps after Link returns to Hyrule.

Bridging the Gaps

The other advantage to this time period is there’s a lot of gaps in the storyline at this point. We know what happens to all the characters in the future of Ocarina of Time, but what about the past? The only person we see is Link himself and Zelda in a flashback. We never know much about the Happy Mask Salesman, what Majora’s Mask is and what the Fierce Deity Mask is. We also never find out what happened to all of Link’s companions from Ocarina of Time.

At the very least, Gorons and Zoras appear in Twilight Princess, but the Kokiri have never appeared again and the Gerudo have had an odd presence, being gone in Twilight Princess then back again in Four Swords Adventures. We also don’t know what happened to Link following Majora’s Mask. We know he survived and married, because he had a descendant in the form of Link from Twilight Princess. But at some point he dies without passing on his knowledge.

Link is also likely feeling alone in a massive world. No one knows the trials he has faced and is not recognized as a hero. This could result in him deciding to explore the land of Hyrule and try and find his place in the world, at first leaving his title of Hero behind. Which could be an explanation as to why so far we have not seen his green tunic; he doesn’t wear it because he doesn’t consider himself a hero.

Whenever a new Zelda game is first announced, Link is ALWAYS shown off in his green tunic right from the very first trailer. At this point we STILL haven’t seen his green tunic yet. I’m starting to believe that maybe, his green tunic will either be optional, or it’ll come much later in the game than normal.

At some point, this game might also involve Ganondorf and show off Ganondorf’s botched execution mentioned in Twilight Princess. This could even bring back a plethora of characters from various games, especially Ocarina of Time, which is something many, myself included, have been wanting to see for a long time. Nintendo even teased that the Happy Mask Salesman may be coming back in a future game, as noted in a GameExplain discussion. This would perfectly match with everything I’ve already discussed.

Conclusion

So, after hearing all of that, are you convinced? Could Zelda Wii U actually be a sequel to Majora’s Mask? Naturally, this is just speculation and is subject to change, but I think its very likely.

Check the links in the description below for World Maps, the E3 and Game Awards Zelda Wii U previews, as well as an article on NeoGAF I found that backed up and even reinforced my theories (this article is where I heard the mentions of Hyrule Field and the Gerudo Desert regions). Of course check out the GameExplain discussions as well where they talked about the Game Awards trailer, including the Great Bridge of Hylia, as well as the discussion about the potential return of the Happy Mask Salesman.

If you liked this discussion and wish to hear more, feel free to like this video and share it with others, and subscribe to my channel. If you had anything you’d like to share post it in the comments below and I may share some of them and respond to them in future videos. Thanks for listening.

I bought a suite that was on sale called AVS4You, it was recommended by a person I am watching on Youtube. I don’t remember exactly who it was, but every time I try using HD footage in this it just crashes. I even attempted to do serious cleanup on my PC and still the same issues. Other applications in the suite work fine, so I don’t regret buying it, but AVS Video Editor itself may not be something I can use, so I’ll have to keep looking around or even consider getting the full version of Lightworks.

In any case, even if it wasn’t for this issue, the editing portion is still time-consuming for me, so I’m just cutting the video part out all-together. My only presence online for multimedia currently is Youtube, but I’ll likely create a Soundcloud account soon.

These will essentially be podcasts, but won’t be a set length. I’ll talk about the subject and provide my thoughts on it, then I’ll also post separate videos, one for a Game Review and another for a Character Overview of characters I like. Enough of introductions, let’s get to the topic at hand.

Donkey Kong Hype

Naturally, as you probably know if you’ve watched my videos in the past, I’m a huge Donkey Kong Country fan. Over the past year due to all of the Smash Bros. discussion and speculation and the release of DKC: Tropical Freeze, I’ve greatly renewed my interest in the Donkey Kong franchise. I replayed all of the original DKC games twice, and still plan to do the Gameboy Advance remakes and the Donkey Kong Land games.

In addition, about a month ago I played Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze every chance I got during my free time and I 200%’d the game in just over a week with all puzzle pieces, figurines, and all blue KONG letters. Even more recently we finally got Donkey Kong Country 1-3 and Donkey Kong Land 1-3 on the Wii U and 3DS eShops, respectively, in North America. Now, the question is, what could be in store for Donkey Kong in the future?

Retro Studios and Camelot Software Planning

Retro Studios have been working on a new game since Tropical Freeze finished. Odds are its not DK related, but what are they working on? Another interesting thing came up recently. Nintendo announced that they have plenty more 3DS remakes coming this year, and the biggest N64 title that has not been seen in a while, and NEEDS a remake, is Donkey Kong 64. I heard an interesting tidbit on Chad McCanna and Hyle Russell’s Kongversation with DK Vine as well, where they mentioned that in 2010 Camelot Software Planning expressed interest in doing a new 3D Donkey Kong game.

Camelot, like with Retro, are probably working on a game right now. The last game Camelot made was Mario Golf: World Tour last year, released right before E3. Odds are, they started a game as soon as that one finished. Camelot’s 20th anniversary as an independent company is coming up as well, and currently, there’s only a select number of things they could be working on. They’ve already done the Mario Golf and Tennis games on 3DS, so if they don’t do anything new, that leaves only Golden Sun. They cannot work on HD games, either.

Maybe they could actually be working on a 3D Donkey Kong game for 3DS? Or, perhaps, they could be doing DK64 3D to release later this year, and a new DK 3D game as a followup in a year or two. Donkey Kong 64 3D likely would be an easier project that could get done within a year, since the existing assets already exist and they’d just need to port it to 3DS and make some improvements. Then they’d have the engine good to go for a new 3D DK game.

Nintendo’s Plans

Retro Studios is still a question, though. Iwata indicated he felt that Retro could possibly work on two games now. So its possible that in addition to a new game, they could work on an additional Donkey Kong game as well. They’re definitely planning some sort of announcement. Retro joined Twitter recently for no explainable reason, and we know they’re working on a new project. There is the question of a potential DK64 3D as well, and another question is why Nintendo of America has not released Donkey Kong Country 1-3 and Donkey Kong Land 1-3 on Virtual Console yet. Er, well, nevermind about that, they finally did release DKC1-3 and DKL1-3 in NA.

Nintendo of America didn’t even put up Donkey Kong Country Returns as a Wii game download, either. In addition, they’re still missing Golden Sun: The Lost Age, while all other territories have gotten them. Yet another announcement was made in February that the entire first season of the Donkey Kong Country cartoon is being released on DVD. Also, Iwata made another announcement with plans to produce more spinoff games for major Nintendo franchises that often only get a game every few years.

There’s so many odd things going on with the Donkey Kong franchise right now, and Nintendo has big plans for a lot of their top franchises. Could Donkey Kong be one such franchise? I fully think so, but keep in mind, these are just me reviewing a variety of different things and speculating on what could be in the works, and it could be nothing. But its something to think about.

Diddy Kong Racing U Rumors?

Naturally, there’s the big rumor that’s been going down for quite some time. I only heard about the Diddy Kong Racing 2 rumors last year, but this rumor has been popping up for several years now as I’ve been reading, most of which indicate that Monster Games is developing a new Diddy Kong Racing game. Monster Games primarily produce racing titles as is. However, recently Monster have been producing ports of existing games, starting with Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D, and now Xenoblade Chronicles 3D. They even helped out with Tropical Freeze.

Monster is a relatively small company. Its really strange that they haven’t produced a racing game in several years, so perhaps they were working on a Diddy Kong Racing at one point. The other unusual aspect here is the lack of any Donkey Kong characters in Mario Kart 8. Not even the DLC have any Mario Kart characters, and there’s no new DK tracks in any of the DLC or the main game either. All that exists for DK is the return of DK Jungle from Mario Kart 7, which was based on Returns 3D.

Why is this the case? Why isn’t Diddy Kong in Mario Kart 8, despite being in the prior two console Mario Kart games? In fact, Mario Kart Wii had Funky Kong as well. The DLC even adds Link and Animal Crossing characters, but Diddy Kong continues to remain absent. This, I think, is the biggest factor which may hint that Diddy Kong Racing really is in development. And yes, I’m aware of the Kevin Callahan rumors. I don’t think the guy actually knew anything, but he did make a good point.

Keep in mind, I’m not saying Monster Games is necessarily working on Diddy Kong Racing. Anyone in Nintendo’s arsenal could be developing it. I think its fairly likely that a Diddy Kong Racing game is in development mainly due to DK’s odd representation in Mario Kart 8 and how much a Diddy Kong Racing sequel has been rumored. As Monster is a company of only about 11-50 employees according to LinkedIn, they’re probably only working on Xenoblade Chronicles 3D right now. But they could have been developing it before.

Possible Titles

Last point for the night. Regardless of what is actually going on, what would be interesting to see in upcoming games? First off, in Returns 3, or DKC6, definitely the return of Animal Buddies and the Kremlings. One idea I had is that the first world is the Snomads ship armada, as they appear to be returning back to take DK Isle again. DK and Diddy go after the Snomads on Glacier Galleon and fight Frederik again in a slightly remixed boss style, but it turns out that the Snomads were tricked into this by the Kremlings, who have taken over DK Isle while the DK is away and kidnap all the Animal Buddies and other Kongs and shipped them off to the Northern Kremisphere.

The rest of the game will be saving the other Kongs and fighting K. Rool’s Kremling underlings. The Kremling underlings will mimic previous boss battles but with new twists. Kerozene can be based on Tiki Tong Terror, but done right. I like the idea of redesigned versions of Kludge and Kalypso from Barrel Blast, with Kludge being based on the original DKC King K. Rool battle and Kalypso being based on Baron K. Roolenstein, and then Klump being the penultimate boss and being based on Kaptain, easily the hardest classic DKC boss battle. Then King K. Rool himself will use elements of all his previous battles, all at once in an epic showdown.

For some spinoff game ideas, I like the idea of K. Rool stealing Wizpig’s staff and becoming Wizrool in a hypothetical Diddy Kong Racing U. I don’t know how the plotline for a DK64 2 could go, but that’s definitely one I’d like to see. Another possible game I’d be interested in is DK’s Jungle Warriors, a Dynasty Warriors spinoff in a similar vein as Hyrule Warriors. Instead of a strong attack, there’d be a jump button and aerial combos. Animal Buddies could also be usable as mounts, and all the classic Kongs would be playable, along with K. Rool and Klump, perhaps another Kremling or two, and Lord Frederik. This is also based on the fact that Techmo Koei said they were interested

Conclusion

That’s just my thoughts on the matter. What do you think? Post your questions in the comments section below and I’ll respond to as many of you as I can in next week’s episode, where I will discuss Zelda Wii U’s world map and how it could connect to other games. Thanks for listening, and if you liked this episode, please favorite and share this discussion, and subscribe to my channel (if you haven’t already). Have a good one, and make sure to Play it Loud.

P.S. Wouldn’t it be neat if Retro Studios did Golden Sun 4 and Camelot did DK64 2? Camelot is interested in doing a 3D DK game and Michael Kelbaugh previously worked on Golden Sun…

Now, let’s put things into perspective. First up, I fail miserably at predicting Sakurai. Sad, but true. I mean, I’m not the only person to predict five more characters, and it was not to be. I did manage to get Ike, Robin, Little Mac, and Mega Man right, but that’s about it. Well, for now, anyway. I certainly do think DLC will be a thing, so I may still get some of my favorites. But as of right now, speculation and predictions are over, I will not do any more prediction videos at all, and I’m kind of tired of predictions and speculation at this point, anyway.

Video Series Plans

I will be starting up two Review series’, though, where I go and do a quick rundown of a game and provide my thoughts on it. This will basically be the Game Playlist series I mentioned a while back, but condensed. And yes, the order will be the same as before, I’m just going to take things easier this time and not do anything fancy or advanced. I’m going to talk about the game and show off some recorded footage in the background. However, that is it, its just going to be quick and simple, so I can get them done quickly rather than stress over getting out something very cool and neat looking.

I will also attempt to start another series where I talk about my favorite game characters, to coincide with this. For the most part, I think I would really like to base the characters on the game I talked about in the respective Game Playlist video, but my first character will be King K. Rool to promote the Kremling Kampaign. That is my exception. Otherwise, I’ll pick my favorite character from each game.

Smashing Leaks

Otherwise guys, right now, there’s been a series of leaks revolving Smash Bros. Well, “leaks” in quotes, naturally we don’t know if any are true or not, but the general consensus is them talking about new characters and features in the Wii U version.

First up, I’m going to bring up the Tower of Smash leak/rumor. The Tower of Smash rumor is the most prevalent one right now. Here’s a snapshot taken of the full rumor. Basically, what the rumor describes is details about a new game mode for Smash Wii U called Tower of Smash, a 100-floor tower filled with characters to fight. You pick four characters from the start, who act as your lives. If you lose all four characters, you must start over, but you can choose to start from every tenth floor if you reached that floor. Each floor has three doors to choose from, and right before every tenth floor, you fight a boss, such as Dynablade.

Accordingly, Tower of Smash replaces both Event Matches and Adventure Mode. And based on the sound of it, it does make sense. The three doors likely are similar to Event Mode in that you must complete a different object. Also, the leaker also states there are 40 new stages on Wii U and 15 returning stages. Plus, there are five new characters who can be transferred to the 3DS version: Ridley, Mewtwo, Dixie Kong, Chorus Kids, and Impa. The leaker did get the release date right, but apparently that release date was popping up elsewhere before the leak was posted up.

Later the same guy also posted a full list of stages. Mario and Kirby both get three new stages, DK, Metroid, Kid Icarus, Pokemon, and Zelda get two new stages, every other franchise gets one new stage, and there’s a few stage-exclusive franchises including Endless Ocean, Nintendo Land, and NES Remix, on top of the ones we already know such as Pilot Wings. One stage listed is called Game & Wario, and on Friday September 26th, Sakurai announced a new stage called “Gamer,” based on the Gamer minigame from Game & Wario.

Its hotly debated whether this means anything for the leak. I, personally, believe it hints against the leak more than anything, because the leaker specifically named the stage as Game & Wario, but the stage is clearly indicated to be called “Gamer” by Sakurai. Granted, it is interesting to note that Wario still hasn’t been officially announced yet. I guess we’ll still have to wait and see if this leak has any merit to it or not.

The Trophy Debate

Another debate is going on right now on whether or not having a trophy in Smash 3DS means a character cannot be DLC. The usual term is “deconfirmed.” However, the argument is flawed. DLC has never happened with Smash before, this is the first time DLC is a valid option, and Sakurai has already patched the 3DS version of the game as well. I personally am of the opinion, and have always been of the opinion, that a trophy does not prevent a character from being a DLC candidate. If a character is anything more than a trophy, though, that is a problem, because that element would have to be removed from the game.

That is why I do not believe Ridley can be a post-Wii DLC character. If he’s not playable when the Wii U version comes out, he’ll be a stage boss, plain and simple. Yes, I advocated for a long time I thought Ridley would be playable, because I don’t believe Sakurai is stupid. The way Ridley was handled, if he is a stage boss, is stupid. That’s all there is to it. And Ridley was still clearly player controlled in that video, there’s no way he was a stage boss. Maybe he was teasing Ridley as a stage boss but wanted to force Ridley to do his own thing, but that’s questionable. I do believe something is still up with Ridley, I’m just not sure what anymore.

There is an interesting thing about the trophy list, though. A few high-profile, highly requested characters do not have trophies. Plus another character who just plain shouldn’t have been cut as a trophy or AT, even though he wasn’t nearly as high profile. Isaac from Golden Sun, Ridley from Metroid, Bandana Dee from Kirby, and Ray from Custom Robo are seemingly missing.

Missing in Action

I can see half of these characters potentially justified. Bandana Dee, well, I don’t really think Bandana Dee is as important as people make him out to be. He’s a Waddle Dee with a Bandana. The Bandana Dee fans think it means something, I personally do not. Bandana Dee’s last major role (namely, as a playable character) was in Return to Dream Land, anyway, which was a console game, so he could be justified as a Wii U exclusive trophy or AT. Custom Robo? Well, I don’t think Ray should’ve been cut at all as an AT, unless he’s being considered as a DLC candidate. However, there are more console Custom Robo games, and maybe Ray was too much for the 3DS to handle. Highly unlikely, but its a theory.

Isaac and Ridley, on the other hand. Ridley has ALWAYS had a role in Smash Bros. Ridley has been in every single Smash Bros. game to date, and there’s no reason for Smash 3DS to be the exception. Also, Golden Sun is a popular franchise, first two games sold very well, and Nintendo clearly hasn’t forgotten about the series because they’re re-releasing both the original two games on Virtual Console for Wii U. However, the series is handheld-exclusive. Maybe Ray could somewhat be justified as a Wii U exclusive AT or trophy, but Isaac? No way.

I hate to get back into speculation again, my hype for this game has already been killed. But there’s no justifiable reason to cut Golden Sun from the game entirely. None at all. Unless he’s being considered for DLC. There was another “leak” that mentioned Isaac being saved for the Wii U version, along with another character the person described, but couldn’t accurately name. After some discussion, the people who replied to the “leaker” indicated it was Lest from Rune Factory 4, kind of an odd candidate. But the leak sounds fairly believable just because of how well it was detailed.

I still don’t believe it, but I personally think this leak is more likely to be correct than the Tower of Smash one. That’s just me, though. They’re probably both wrong, but its worth noting.

The End

And that about wraps this one up, guys. I’ll provide another update if more info comes my way. In the meantime, I’ll be working on those new video series’, trying to finish up my last Lost Vikings video, getting my playthrough of RuneScape’s Plague’s End quest complete, and starting playthroughs of both Donkey Kong Land and Panel de Pon. I’ll see you around, hopefully more often now that Smash speculation is basically over.