Well, it finally happened - the hype train came to a careening halt on the December 15th when Masahiro Sakurai, the director of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS, announced the last two downloadable fighters while showing off some more of another recent fighter, Cloud from Final Fantasy
These last two fighters, in terms of my own personal hype, are some of the best newcomers we've gotten this time around with Smash Bros. for Wii U/3DS. Those characters are Corrin from Fire Emblem Fates and, I can't believe I am typing this right now ... Bayonetta from Bayonetta, my favorite game of all time. The best part about Bayonetta getting in? She was picked by Mr. Sakurai as the overall winner of the Smash Ballot based upon her consistent ranking within the upper echelons of the poll across the globe, being No. 1 in Europe and within the Top 5 of the United States. Of course, I was ecstatic at this announcement because to me, Bayonetta is one of the best games ever made and the character is easily one of the most outrageously fun protagonists created in the 7th generation of gaming - she just seems to fit right in with the likes of Mario, Shulk, Link, and Pit! Surely, all of my friends and even people across the Internet using social media, blogs, YouTube channels, and so on would share my opinion, right? The minute the Direct ended, I went onto those websites and, wow, I was shocked...
Almost everyone I knew, followed, or subscribed to was furious or just plain angry that the last two characters were Bayonetta and Corrin.
My natural response to this was simple - why? I totally understood why people were/are mad about Corrin; we already have five Fire Emblem characters and another one at this point seems like overkill. However, I totally understand why Mr. Sakurai decided to include him as one of the final DLC characters. For starters, Mr. Sakurai is Japanese and, in Japan right now, the hottest thing people are playing is Fire Emblem Fates on their 3DS' - now, America and Europe may not have Fates until February of 2016, but what a better way to advertise that game than having the main playable character as a fighter in an incredibly popular franchise with over 11 million sales combined this generation, with more than seven million of those sales on the same install base as Corrin's game is? His inclusion makes sense on a financial and cultural level; people will download Corrin in their copy of Smash Bros., then they will see his/her face on the cover of Fates, making them interested in purchasing a copy for themselves. May Sakurai have some bias towards Fire Emblem? Absolutely, but so does every other Japanese Smash Bros. player and Nintendo fan in the Land of the Rising Sun.
Almost everyone I knew, followed, or subscribed to was furious or just plain angry that the last two characters were Bayonetta and Corrin.
My natural response to this was simple - why? I totally understood why people were/are mad about Corrin; we already have five Fire Emblem characters and another one at this point seems like overkill. However, I totally understand why Mr. Sakurai decided to include him as one of the final DLC characters. For starters, Mr. Sakurai is Japanese and, in Japan right now, the hottest thing people are playing is Fire Emblem Fates on their 3DS' - now, America and Europe may not have Fates until February of 2016, but what a better way to advertise that game than having the main playable character as a fighter in an incredibly popular franchise with over 11 million sales combined this generation, with more than seven million of those sales on the same install base as Corrin's game is? His inclusion makes sense on a financial and cultural level; people will download Corrin in their copy of Smash Bros., then they will see his/her face on the cover of Fates, making them interested in purchasing a copy for themselves. May Sakurai have some bias towards Fire Emblem? Absolutely, but so does every other Japanese Smash Bros. player and Nintendo fan in the Land of the Rising Sun.
As for Bayonetta, many fans, right off the bat, doubted Mr. Sakurai's words when he came out and declared Bayonetta as the overall winner of the Smash Ballot. I can totally see why - Bayonetta is a niche character from a series not many people have played nor ever heard of; out of every character to be voted upon, why was she chosen? Whenever I hear or watch people say this, do you know what characters they constantly shout out as to argue how Bayonetta got in over other characters? I hear characters like Shantae, Shovel Knight, and Goku - GOKU. From Dragonball Z, a character that doesn't originate from a video game whatsoever. Ignoring how stupid a vote like Goku seems, let's talk about the two I just mentioned besides the Super Saiyan God, Shantae and Shovel Knight. Now, before I continue, I want to say that I admire and respect both franchises - in fact, Shovel Knight was my Game of the Year in 2014 when it originally came out! However, if people are going to come out and say that Bayonetta is too niche to add into the game, yet these two are much better candidates, then they definitely don't understand how copyrights and the concept of "doability" work.
Just like what Sakurai said in the Direct, "among the negotiable and realizable characters, Bayonetta was the overall No. 1 choice worldwide." This is due to the contract Nintendo has with Platinum Games, the studio behind Bayonetta. When Bayonetta 2 was being made, nobody wanted to fund it; not even Sega, who funded and helped produce the original game in the series. Along came Nintendo, who saw massive potential in the game and helped publish it with Platinum Games. As of now, Bayonetta is somewhat of a 2nd party franchise to Nintendo as long as that contract remains in tact! Platinum Games is close to Nintendo's Kyoto-based studio, so it's only a short walk for Mr. Sakurai to go and ask Hideki Kamiya, creator of Bayonetta, if his character could be put into Smash Bros. Bayonetta is also popular across the globe, for her games were released and advertised heavily in all regions. Granted, her games have sold poorly, but people have at least seen Bayonetta on television in the form of commercials. Can you honestly say the same for characters like Shantae and Shovel Knight? Their audience is incredibly niche compared to Shantae and the only reason they are popular is due to the Internet, especially this man right here - Etika.
Just like what Sakurai said in the Direct, "among the negotiable and realizable characters, Bayonetta was the overall No. 1 choice worldwide." This is due to the contract Nintendo has with Platinum Games, the studio behind Bayonetta. When Bayonetta 2 was being made, nobody wanted to fund it; not even Sega, who funded and helped produce the original game in the series. Along came Nintendo, who saw massive potential in the game and helped publish it with Platinum Games. As of now, Bayonetta is somewhat of a 2nd party franchise to Nintendo as long as that contract remains in tact! Platinum Games is close to Nintendo's Kyoto-based studio, so it's only a short walk for Mr. Sakurai to go and ask Hideki Kamiya, creator of Bayonetta, if his character could be put into Smash Bros. Bayonetta is also popular across the globe, for her games were released and advertised heavily in all regions. Granted, her games have sold poorly, but people have at least seen Bayonetta on television in the form of commercials. Can you honestly say the same for characters like Shantae and Shovel Knight? Their audience is incredibly niche compared to Shantae and the only reason they are popular is due to the Internet, especially this man right here - Etika.
EvenEver since the Smash Ballot was announced, Etika has shilled it to as many people as he can across the Internet to get a "precise count" as to who would win the Smash Ballot. However, the problem with that is that the only people who watch Etika World News are mainly Americans - ergo, the poll he ran doesn't accurately portray what people voted for. Because a lot of people in America don't understand the importance of other cultures and votes, as well as the fact that they give into hype way too quickly, Americans latched onto whoever people such as Etika, ArtsiOmni, and ZeRo wanted in Smash; however, the problem here was that these people just thought anyone could get in because characters like Ryu and Cloud, who have little to do with modern Nintendo, got into the game, so they voted for things that were just not possible due to the excitement they were feeling about these "out-of-place" fighters already getting in. Then, these people got upset because their super niche Indie game character didn't get in, or their favorite anime character wasn't added into the game - what? Sakurai even explicitly stated in the April 1st Direct that only video game characters would be considered for the ballot, yet here they are, complaining that Goku didn't get into Smash Bros. - gee, I wonder why, guys. Even if Nintendo could somehow get these characters into Smash, do you know how much of a copyrighting nightmare it would be? it would takes months and months of negotiations for said characters to be added and would cost Nintendo millions.
In the end, e grateful for what you got. We got three amazing characters to end an amazing ride along the hype railroad; sure, they might not be what you expected (trust me, I know - I voted for K. Rool), but there's nothing we can do now - dry those tears, wipe away the salt, and get those wallets ready because, come February 2016, the final roster will be complete and it'll be time to create our own hype through the interactions and game play that we produce. Bayonetta and Corrin look like a blast to play as and Cloud is already a contender for the higher tiers competitively! Let's put pettiness and anger aside and do what we were meant to with Smash Bros. - have fun with it!
I close this off by saying thank you, Mr. Sakurai - until next time. Rest up and keep up the good work!
In the end, e grateful for what you got. We got three amazing characters to end an amazing ride along the hype railroad; sure, they might not be what you expected (trust me, I know - I voted for K. Rool), but there's nothing we can do now - dry those tears, wipe away the salt, and get those wallets ready because, come February 2016, the final roster will be complete and it'll be time to create our own hype through the interactions and game play that we produce. Bayonetta and Corrin look like a blast to play as and Cloud is already a contender for the higher tiers competitively! Let's put pettiness and anger aside and do what we were meant to with Smash Bros. - have fun with it!
I close this off by saying thank you, Mr. Sakurai - until next time. Rest up and keep up the good work!