By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Not only was the winner rigged, but so was the whole process.
Remember the Smash Bros. Fighter Ballot? Announced April 1, 2015. Ended October 2015 — but let's face it, Masahiro Sakurai's team didn't wait until the ballot actually ended to start developing Bayonetta. The Fighter Ballot was a marketing gimmick designed for Super Smash Bros. 4, where people could write-in the character they want the most as downloadable content.
According to Masahiro Sakurai's Famitsu magazine column (as translated by the decent folks at Source Gaming), while the Smash Ballot was useless for the game it was advertised for, it had a lot of influence on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate:
“I referred to the Smash Ballot when selecting characters this time, and King K. Rool from the Donkey Kong series was one who received a ton of votes.”Let's put aside the fact that the ballot was rigged in terms of the winner. The whole process was rigged. Because it was intended for Super Smash Bros. 4, that means that people weren't going to waste their one vote on the myriad of characters that were Assist Trophies in Super Smash Bros. 4, since logically a character can't both be an Assist Trophy and a playable character at the same time.
That's not a problem if you're like me and voted for Phoenix Wright, but using the Ballot based on the circumstances of Super Smash Bros. 4 for character selection in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate disenfranchises fans of characters who were Assist Trophies in Super Smash Bros 4. Characters like Waluigi (already confirmed to be an Assist Trophy in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate), Ashley (whose status as an Assist Trophy is murky), Lyn (also confirmed to be an Assist Trophy again), Knuckle Joe (same deal), and... dare I bring him up, Takamaru. (He's also an Assist Trophy in both games, and Takamaru barely deserves to even be that.)
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| Dark Samus and Little Mac got promoted. But most Assist Trophies have not been, and the Smash Bros. Fighter Ballot hurt them even more. |
With all of this systemic bias against Assist Trophies becoming playable characters in future titles, it's a miracle that Little Mac managed to make the jump! ...And, as of publishing, he and Dark Samus are the only ones who have in the history of Super Smash Bros.
When Sakurai asks for feedback, you shouldn't trust that it'll be used properly. KoopaTV's Feedback Forms, on the other hand, are actually unbiased and honest attempts to try to make KoopaTV a better website. Fill out the KoopaTV Feedback Forms!
The actual winner, revealed in 2021, of the Super Smash Fighter Ballot was Sora. Would he have won it if it wasn't rigged?
There's always some rigged votes in every election, but if Sakurai is involved, you can be assured that there will be more than the usual amount. If Phoenix Wright was the most voted for candidate in the Smash Ballot, I would be surprised if he was even included as an assist trophy.
ReplyDeleteRegarding Phoenix Wright, I can say this: CAPCOM was the most permissive third party for Super Smash Bros. 4 and that likely remains true for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. (In terms of what Sakurai was able to do with the characters, music availability, music licensing rights, and other things) I mean, CAPCOM let him get skewered by Ridley. Namco wouldn't let Pac-Man suffer that, as much as I'd like it to happen.
DeleteSo there's no barrier from a rights-holding perspective. Sakurai, of course, can rig it any which way. Might even put Phoenix Wright in the "non-realisable" category even though he has more fighting game experience than most of the existing cast.
I don't trust him!
I want resident evil characters in super smash brothers ultimate
ReplyDeleteThey are... as Spirits.
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