Sakurai just had both his arms replaced so he's already working on it

I guess I made the right choice following them. Love their dedication.

Anyone expecting a fifth Smash game this early is kidding themselves.

Mihael Mello Keehl said:

I dont know where you have been but some people are expecting a new smash bros

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How? There's absolutely no way it will be a completely new Smash Bros.

Smash for Wii U released less than three years ago, and they were still working on DLC packs up until February of last year. What are people actually expecting when they say they anticipate a new game? Completely new stages and modes? I guess that's reasonable. I definitely can't see them rebuilding characters from the ground up though, and that's kind of fundamental to what a new Smash Bros. is imo, or any fighting game really.

They'll want to maximize profits with the least amount of extra work like they did with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Making Smash Bros. for Switch a radically different experience makes little sense when they already have a game ready to go that most people haven't touched yet. And even though like 8 million people bought the game for 3DS - a lot of the Wii U content will be new to them as well.

Realistically I just don't see more than them adding a few new characters (Ice Climbers, Inkling, maybe an ARMS fighter), the combined stages of the 3DS and Wii U versions and maybe a few extra ones for Splatoon and ARMS, etc. Probably some new modes like traditional Break-the-Targets. Is that a new Smash Bros.?

I expect a deluxe smash port next year perhaps then a brand new game perhaps 2020 or later

What do people honestly expect a completely new Smash 5 to do that Smash 4 hasn't already done? I'm genuinely curious. It seems like 4 struck such a perfect balance in its gameplay, to the point where there doesn't seem like much else to refine.

Sure, you can add new fighters/stages, you can change up items, make a more robust adventure mode, unique break the target stages, etc., but couldn't all of this be done on top of the already-existing Smash 4 formula? The visuals aren't exactly outdated, the roster is already absolutely f**king massive, the gameplay is perfectly refined... they already have a solid baseline as it is. It seems completely counterproductive to throw everything out and start from scratch.

It seems obvious that talk of a 3DS being supported past-2018 is possible but also just as possible a 'third pillar' talking-point that is being stuck-to coming off the back of the surprising Switch popularity that still needs to fully embed (we are only 3 months in, after all).

It also seems obvious that with the one dedicated platform of Switch, Nintendo is now able to supply it with titles at a rate of 1 game to every 1 or 1.5 months. Next, when looking at games announced and schedules, we can see that these release slots have already been filled up to the end of Nov/Dec (with Xenoblade 2) - Yoshi/Kirby will most likely be early 2018 releases and were announced now not to take away any hype from Smash, which I fully expect to be announced in an August/September/October Switch Direct, focusing on 2018 titles and beyond.

Smash is coming, and I would expect its release before the end of April 2018. Willing to bet a tag on that easily.

-STEALTH EDIT-
To back up, my thoughts on the release dates are;
June: ARMS (Now)
July: Splatoon 2 (July 21st)
August: Rabbids x Mario: Kingdom Battle (August 29th)
September: Pokkén DX (September 22nd)
October: Fire Emblem Warriors ('Fall' - likely before Super Mario Odyssey)
October: Super Mario Odyssey (October 27th)
November: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 ('Fall' Likely late-November, very early December)
-2018-
Jan-Feb-Mar-April: 4 months = Yoshi Switch, Smash Switch, Kirby Switch, NHM3/SMT (can't decide, possibly neither)
May-Jun-Jul-Aug: 4 months = Unannounced Titles, Summer mainline Pokémon Title (could be Sept.)
Sept-Oct-Nov-Dec: 4 months = Unannounced Titles, Fire Emblem Switch (again, could be Oct), Metroid 4 at Christmas, possibly delayed to Feb 2019.

The above doesn't seem wildly out of the realms of possibility.

Currygan said:

Sakurai just had both his arms replaced so he's already working on it

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He'll be the next character added to ARMS

I mean

Remember how there were rumors before about the Smash Deluxe?

I think Nintendo has been moving around a lot of titles to solidify their market strategy and lineup over time

Cuz based on the language it looked like Smash Deluxe was supposed to be ready by now. I can see whey they would hold it back with Arms and Pokken around

Gotta give games room to breath. Im guessing its a 2018 title at this point

If Smash Switch is going to be Smash 4 DX, I would REALLY they just rather take a little time with it and add a decent amount of new content. I don't need Smash 5 anytime soon if they were to do this.

GiantBreadbug said:

If Smash Switch is going to be Smash 4 DX, I would REALLY they just rather take a little time with it and add a decent amount of new content. I don't need Smash 5 anytime soon if they were to do this.

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Agreed

I was all for Smash deluxe within the launch window but now they should focus on a whole new game if its being pushed out

GiantBreadbug said:

If Smash Switch is going to be Smash 4 DX, I would REALLY they just rather take a little time with it and add a decent amount of new content. I don't need Smash 5 anytime soon if they were to do this.

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Yep, I agree as well. In fact, just like with MK8DX, if Smash 4 DX happens I actually would prefer Sakurai and the Smash team to develop something else like a new Kid Icarus or something else entirely. (For the MK team I want a new F-Zero after the ARMS DLC winds down. Cheers Nintendo.) I don't need back to back Smash or Mario Kart games personally, especially if the older game is already so content rich and graphically impressive and the new game will have trouble improving on it.