If they want to win a technical point, Square should put the original FF 7 up for sale on the eShop.
It's more of a suggestion box anyway.
That said, Pushdustin, a member of Smashboards, with some help from others, did a lot of translations. Sakurai's 3rd party criteria was mistranslated beforehand.
You do not have to have a Nintendo appearance to get in. It'd "be a courtesy" which simply means it'd be neat, but not all that important. Likewise, it also says "must have a gaming history", and he did mention that all the base roster 3rd parties were iconic, so that's likely the context of the statement(basically they need to be iconic). Besides that, they need to originate in a video game and that they should be someone people generally want to buy. Obviously, Nintendo/Sakurai/3rd party company need to agree to put the character in, so it's a rule not even worth stating.
Shovel Knight isn't iconic, so he's less likely. Keep in mind that Sakurai has gone against his previous statements before, so the old rumor isn't dead... yet(or stays alive to the end when he's revealed as playable). It's a very strange one.
I'd like him in, but well, I doubt it at this point. As for Cloud, I will admit he was one of the FF characters I thought had an immense chance, Black Mage being the other. Despite not liking the character, I will say I'm quite pleased that such a deserving iconic rpg protagonist got in.
Shadow?So any video game icons have a shot.
Also, I had to laugh at a You Tube comment complaining that Cloud's Final Smash was a clone of Ike's.
edited 13th Nov '15 10:44:08 PM by edvedd
Visit my Tumblr! I may say things. The Bureau ProjectTechnically speaking yes. However, there are things to keep in mind. You can campaign for Master Chief or Sora all you want, but in the end it's in the hands of the owners of the character. And that rules out a lot of potential third party characters. Microsoft and Sony probably won't be letting any of their characters join Smash.
Cloud doesn't count because while FF 7 is known primarily for being a Playstation game, it's not a Sony owned character.
edited 13th Nov '15 10:45:28 PM by strawberryflavored
Sora isn't really owned by Sony, as Kingdom Hearts has appeared on Nintendo's handhelds since Chain of Memories on GBA. I wouldn't call Sora an "icon", though. IN that field (at least for possible choices for Smash) there are only about 3 left for Icons: Scorpion, Simon Belmont/Alucard, and Snake
AAAAUUUUGGGHHHH!!!!I prefer the CODEC's to the Guidance. The Guidance focuses too much on gameplay tips rather than the character, and I feel like they just aren't quite as funny. Plus a lot of it is Uprising in-jokes, and while I loved Uprising when it came out its overrepresentation here has honestly soured me toward it.
It's funnier to see Snake, an outsider from a somewhat realistic world, try to discuss these bizarre Nintendo characters.
You cannot firmly grasp the true form of Squidward's technique!I kinda wonder what Snake and his team would have to say about the characters that have been added since Brawl, and those that returned from Melee. I could imagine Otacon geeking out over Mega Man for his design and abilities, for example, or Meiling relating to Rosalina's propensity for telling stories.
Switch FC code: SW-4420-1809-1805So a 3rd-party having been on a Nintendo game isn't completely mandatory, and iconicness is a measure that's considered. Okay.
The second part makes a lot of sense, because you've got another whole company throwing their hand in the pot, and all parties involved want to be damn sure that it's worth it. Certainly better than PSASBR, where the 3rd-party representation seemed influenced more by marketing demands. That first part, however.....I mean, "must have been on a Nintendo game" makes for a good control, y'know? Keeps people from throwing every video game character under the sun. And this is a Nintendo game, after all.
edited 14th Nov '15 4:43:39 AM by Watchtower
Well, let's look at what we have so-far:
Sonic: mascot for Sega, was (and, in a way, still is) Mario's rival in the gaming industry, has had varying degrees of success in multiple types of media, was #1 in the poll for Brawl 3rd-parties.
Mega Man: mascot for Capcom, spawned a large franchise with two acclaimed platformer series (Classic and X), was #2 in the poll for Brawl 3rd-parties.
Pac-Man: arguable mascot for Namco, considered one of the original arcade classics, has had varying success in multiple types of media.
Ryu: protagonist of Street Fighter, the original fighting game, basically the face of the fighting game genre as a whole, is the basis of the often-used Shotoclone, arguably Capcom's second mascot.
Cloud: protagonist of Final Fantasy VII, the biggest installment of Square's Final Fantasy franchise and considered one of the greatest games ever made, arguably the face of the JRPG genre as a whole, insanely popular among both critics and fans.
Snake is the odd-man-out, being in Brawl primarily because Sakurai and Kojima are buddies, but even then Snake boasts a high amount of popularity and is the protagonist of a critically-praised franchise notorious for being utterly batshit.
Mega man isn't the Mascot for Capcom any more, Ryu is. Ryu himself isn't nearly as well-known as Sonic and Pac-man, and both of them have lost a lot of relevance since their hey-days.
And there are a large group of people who had no idea who Snake even was before Brawl, so again, how do you concretely measure a character as an "icon" when something like that is completely subjective?

The main issue is that I'm not sure that Shovel Knight could win the ballot; I don't think his game had a Japanese release, did it?
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