Is it Safe to Believe THAT Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Rumor?

     Recently we were treated to an all Super Smash Bros. Ultimate dedicated Nintendo Direct. Hype has been simmering and stewing within us to figure out what will be in store for us in this next installment for months since Nintendo announced the game for the first time. The first time we were met with small info like Daisy, an echo fighter, and Ridley already joining the full studded roster of every character that has been in the series.
     The recent Nintendo Direct containing new Smash Bros. goodness didn't disappoint. We've gotten news of over 100 stages, almost 800 tracks, quick stage changes happening in between fights, but that was only the tip of the iceberg. We've gotten new characters as well. Chrom and Dark Samus join as new echo fighters. But the big excitement has been over the inclusion of old Donkey Kong nemesis King K. Rool and both legendary vampire hunters from Castlevania, Simon and Richter Belmont. The new fighters have been a surprise, or were they?
     On July 1st, a user on 4chan claimed that there would be eleven new characters coming to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and they would be revealed monthly using codenames which would be the following:

• In July, the characters “King” and “Ponytail” will be revealed in a mini Nintendo Direct.
• In August, the character “Old Man” will be revealed at EVO 2018.
• In September, the character “Archer” will be revealed in a Nintendo Direct of some kind.
• In October, the Characters “Warrior” and “Secretary” will be revealed in a Nintendo Direct centered around Ultimate.
• In November, the character “Mech” will be revealed in a surprise character announcement.
• The Characters “Rhythm”, “Folklore”, “Doll”, and “Prime Ribs” won’t get reveal trailers until post-release.

Many speculated what characters the codenames stood for and determined the following:

• King: King K. Rool.
• Ponytail: Dixie Kong, Shantae the Genie or Ashley from WarioWare
• Old Man: Heihachi Mishima from Tekken.
• Archer: Decidueye from Pokemon Sun and Moon
• Secretary: Isabelle from Animal Crossing.
• Warrior: Simon Belmont from Castlevania, or a new character from Fire Emblem.
• Mech: Chibi-Robo or Elma from Xenoblade Chronicles X.
• Rhythm: A character from Rhythm Heaven or the Chorus Kids.
• Folklore: Amaterasu from Okami or a character from Touhou Project.
• Doll: Geno from Super Mario RPG.
• Prime Ribs: Dark Samus or Ninten from Mother.

      So, looking at this, let's get out what didn't happen. We didn't get a monthly reveal nor did we get a Dixie Kong reveal with King K. Rool. We did get King K. Rool, Dark Samus, and Simon Belmont. With most rumors, you shouldn't fully trust them and just take them with a grain of salt and this rumor for the most part was proven to be false, however, you can look at it as who could be announced instead of how characters will get announced. For the most part it was right revealing three characters that would be coming to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, which is more accurate than most Smash Ultimate rumors out there. 

      Another Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. themed Nintendo Direct is coming where we will get even more characters coming to the game. There is more of a possibility that we may get to who will be added next, possibly Dixie Kong and Heihachi. Dixie Kong has been referenced a ton of times as trophies and has even at one point considered to be a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Heihachi has been used as an alternate costume for the Mii character in last game, Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 3DS/Wii U. Since Sakurai has been listening to the fans' wishes like a video game Santa Claus, these two may be the next added to the roster, hopefully. Maybe Geno too but who are we kidding. Again, this is all speculation and we will never know until the next Smash themed Nintendo direct.

Who do you want to see in Smash Ultimate?

Will The SNES Classic Be As Big As The NES Classic?

     Nintendo is giving us a follow up to the NES Classic, the SNES Classic. Just like its predecessor, the SNES Classic is an emulator that is basically the best of video games during that era and it is just that. The SNES Classic has a lot of classic games that we all loved and played. From Super Mario world and A Link to the Past to Contra III, and Earthbound what's in it is just amazing. 

     If you didn't know, the first NES Classic was a monster hit. It was one of the hottest things to get in December of 2016 selling 1.5 million units during that month. It sold like hotcakes with a side of methberry syrup. It sold so much that Nintendo had to push more units. As of now it has sold 2.3 million. 

     Just as fast as it sold Nintendo decided to send it up the farm in order to sell this new SNES emulator that has everyone in a frenzy. Nintendo has already prepared for a repeat as they have ordered more SNESs made and you already have scalpers on eBay ready to sell the thing at insane prices as soon as they preorder. The question is however will it be a even bigger hit than the NES Classic?

     Nostalgia was the selling point behind the NES Classic and what will be SNES Classic. I feel that SNES will be more connecting to this generation that these were the games we truly remember playing and enjoying. I personally do remember playing Super Mario Bros., Mega Man 2, & Zelda on the original NES, but the games that stuck with me and I remember most are the 16-bit games from the SNES era. I remember unlocking the Special Worlds in Super Mario World,  trying to get 100% in Donkey Kong Country, and how badass Simon Belmont's theme made me feel in Super Castelvania. I'm sure others will too.

      Will it be bigger than its predecessor the NES Classic? Not sure. Again, it sold like crazy. I'm sure the SNES won't be a huge flop. Also it doesn't hurt that you have the unreleased Star Fox 2 as a way to incite people to buy it either.

Too Many Spiritual Successors, Not Enough Predecessors

Once Upon a time, in the last post, I talked about Yooka-Laylee and how it was officially the spiritual successor to the popular Banjo-Kazooie series. I talked about how in the short time its Kickstarter was opened it met its goal in just under 40 minutes and continued to raise over 2 million dollars USD in the short time the Kickstarter page was created. Along with Yooka-Laylee, another spiritual successor has come out of the woodworks. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night the spiritual successor to Castlevania and created by the series' former producer Koji Igarashi has, just like Yooka-Laylee, reached its goal and then some. Just like Yooka-Laylee, it has also made over two million since its Kickstarter page was created in almost the same time period.
     2015 is starting to be the year of Spiritual successors. We have the work on Yooka-Laylee and Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night starting off to extremely well starts and we even have another spiritual successor on the way. Mighty No. 9 was a game made by Mega-Man creator Keiji Inafune which is suppose to be the successor to the Mega-Man franchise. It has met the same fate as the two previous games mentioned earlier. While this is all great and exciting, the question is what about these games' predecessors? What will happen to them?
     As much as it is nice to see these games, Yooka-Laylee and Mighty No. 9, being made it's almost bittersweet that we haven't gotten anything new from their predecessors. People are still clamoring for another Mega-Man game and people are still waiting for a true Banjo-Threeie.With the demand from fans, why isn't studios and developers trying to make new games from these franchises?
    What's the problem as to why most if these games haven't had anything new is that the studios and development teams have moved on and don't want to take a chance on these old franchises. After what happened with Nuts & Bolts, Rare just seems like it wants nothing to do with another full-fledged Banjo-Kazooie game. Mega-Man hasn't fared well either. Capcom has tried to make some Mega-Man games in the past but were met with poor sales. Capcom has tried to take the series in new directions, but they have yet to figure out what direction to put the series in and has cancelled project after project.
     What could be done to get studios to try to revive these franchises and start making games for these franchises again? What do you think needs to be done in order to see new games again?