One of the most anticipated titles apparently in development for the Nintendo Wii U is the upcoming installment of the popular "Super Smash Bros." series. The last installment in the franchise, "Super Smash Bros. Brawl," was released in 2008 for the Wii and eventually became one of the bestselling titles for the console.
The next version of the fighting game was announced at E3 2011, but development did not start until May 2012. Nintendo surprised the world when it announced that the title would be produced by series creator Masahiro Sakurai's Project Sora in conjunction with Namco Bandai Games. Namco has never been a part of production until this title.
Not much is known about the title up to this point, but rumors surfaced in mid-December on GameFaqs.com. One of the posters named "Halibuton" claimed to work for Bandai-Namco and revealed a great deal of information on the upcoming title. The poster wrote:
"I work at Bandai-Namco, specifically in PR regarding their various fighting-game series (currently I am involved in helping deal with some licensing issues regarding a popular manga fighter that Namco-Bandai is hoping to release in the West...), and have learned various bits and tidbits of early info from coworkers involved in the Smash 4 development. Nothing super-concrete, and all this info is subject to change, but here is what I have learned.
* The Anniversary of Brawl's release in Japan will have a special Nintendo Direct focused on Smash 4. I don't think it will have a trailer included, but I am not sure. From what my friends have speculated, it may just be a retrospective on the Smash Series as a whole with a sliver of new info released.
* Little Mac and Takamaru were two of the first characters chosen for Smash 4, both being classic characters that have since experienced a revival via Punch Out Wii/Nintendo Land and are fan favorites. They also represent West vs. East, which Sakurai is aiming for after the previous series strayed too much towards Eastern characters like Fire Emblem and Mother.
* King K. Rool and Ridley are also two characters that are being given priority as they too have a lot of requests. King K. Rool's design is said to have a new design that Retro contributed to (perhaps a new Donkey Kong Country is on the horizon?), and Ridley will apparently have a style of game-play that involves the evolution seen in Other M.
* Shulk, Dillon, and Ghirahim are currently set to be included, but they haven't been finalized like the four above.
* Platinum Games is interested in including a character, yet nothing has been finalized yet. Will probably be from Wonderful 101, but nothing is decided upon.
* Starship Mario, Giant Chasm (Pokemon BW2), Pushmo Park, and Cookie Country (Kirby) are levels that have been worked on.
* There's a second Yoshi representative who has yet to be introduced and will apparently be appearing in a new game coming out soon that Nintendo asked to be included. The rumored Yoshi Land Wii U? It's apparently Yoshi's new partner another dinosaur character. The name "Debu" has been thrown around, but I'm not sure if that's its name or a nickname since that just means "fat" in Japanese."
All of the statements made by the poster could be completely invalidated once Jan. 31 comes around. The rumors state that Nintendo will host a Nintendo Direct episode for the title on it's "Brawl" Japan release anniversary date which falls on Jan. 31.
Game FAQs and other fan sites such as NeoGaf has been a constant source for game spoiling activities. Back in October, a number of fans posted videos and spoilers for Resident Evil 6 almost one week before the title's official release. The same happened days before the releases of "Halo 4" and "Assassin's Creed 3."
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