What Could the Smash Bros Ultimate Direct Be?
Nintendo surprised everyone on Sunday night at EVO 2018 when they revealed that only 72 hours later they have a Super Smash Bros Ultimate direct coming straight for our eyes and ears.
You’re probably thinking the same thing I am (even as a huge Nintendo fanboy), “You spent 30 damn minutes of your E3 presentation on Smash Bros, what else is there to say?!”
So, that got me thinking. With the game launching almost exactly 4 months from the day this blog is posted, what does Nintendo feel the need to tell us? There have been whispers of them being a bit behind goal with Nintendo Switch console sales, but their current financial performance shows no worry. What, possibly, could they want to share with us just for fun?
Multiple New Characters
I can’t imagine Nintendo would advertise something big just to whisper about a single new character, so maybe there are a few up their sleeve. The community has been crying out for certain characters, some for years, so is this when the Big N delivers?
Will first party popular sweetheart Waluigi finally make his debut? Maybe one of the 8 main characters in Octopath Traveler? Will they score a big third party character like Rayman, Simon Belmont or Shovel Knight? Let’s just hope, if it is a new character, they don’t waste it on an anime fighter (Goku) or some throwaway character from Super Mario RPG (Geno) like some people have been screaming for.
Single Player Story Mode
Now this right here is what I want. I absolutely loved the Subspace Emissary from Super Smash Bros Brawl, so to bring me back into that type of ambitious crossover story would be a treat. I stayed up 10 hours the night that Brawl came out to beat the story and I don’t regret it one bit. But, who am I kidding? It’s more likely we get a battle royale option than a story mode after the way Sakurai got bent out of shape over Brawl.
"Competitive" Mode
The timing of this tease is certainly suspicious. This Direct was revealed during EVO, the biggest annual fighting game tournament where anyone who follows the Super Smash scene knows that Melee has reigned supreme for the last 17 years. Could we possibly be seeing a mode where it's faster, less flighty, with 'frame perfect' fighting to appeal to the Melee tryhards?
Demo
Maybe this whole thing is just a platform to dance around a new feature or so, but then the big reveal of a demo launching much sooner than expected (to test connection quality of Nintendo Online before it officially comes out). This doesn't make a ton of sense to me, since the game doesn't come out for 4 months, but it's a thought!
Early Launch Date
Let's just say Nintendo is feeling the heat of falling behind on sales. Let's also say that Nintendo feels very confident about Pokémon Let's Go carrying the holiday season. Furthermore, Nintendo may have a reveal or two (third party, first party, or otherwise). ALSO, with all of these events where Super Smash Bros Ultimate has shown itself since E3, who's to say the game isn't already finished?
What if the game is launching earlier than expected to fill in this 'summer/early fall drought'?! WHAT IF WE GET THE GAME SOONER THAN DECEMBER 7th?!
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That's what I've come up with off the top of the old noggin as to what I think it could be, but we'll have to wait another 48 hours to find out what it actually is. The only question I'm left with is WHY ISN'T THIS DIRECT ABOUT NINTENDO ONLINE when it's supposed to launch sometime next month? Nintendo never seems to surprise me with reaching past the low hanging fruit for something more obscure.
What else do you think it could be? What other characters do you think Nintendo may have up their sleeve? Let me know in the comments below, continue the conversation over in the Discord and join us 8pm ET every Monday over on Twitch to watch this story unfold.
Now to scour the internet for any leaks or rumors, but until next time -- Game On!
- @testanomics