Smash Bros. Topic

Assist trophies don't have the outlines on 3DS that playable characters have, and Palutena has those outlines in that "leak". The thing is, why would they go through so much trouble to change Pit's final smash and why did Sakurai troll in the Direct with Pseudo Palutena? I'm almost 100% sure she will be a playable character, it is his own franchise after all just like Kirby.

@killingraptor
Very good point about the outline thing, so she still might be in.

April 24, 2014 Update: Pic of the day. Yoshi's Egg Throw now leaves a rainbow trail, and we've improved the pose Samus strikes when she fires the Paralyzer. Every staff member is working hard as we brush up whatever we can. - Masahiro Sakurai, Director of Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U

Nobody Is #1 In The New Smash Bros. Games, And That's A Good Thing

One of the features of the new Smash Bros. games that was revealed in creator Masahiro Sakurai's Nintendo Direct was the Global Smash Power system. While most people may have overlooked it as a vague ranking system, it offers much more potential than you would think at first glance.

In his semi-weekly column in Weekly Famitsu, Sakurai talked about the positive implications of employing this type of ranking system. "You could call it a 'reverse ranking.'" Sakurai writes. "It counts how far you are from the bottom instead of how far you are from the top. It's simple, but in solves a lot of the problems with conventional ranking systems!"

In standard ranking systems, the goal of every competitive gamer is to be number one. The top of the heap. But as with the immortals of Highlander, there can be only one. Being number one or among the high-ranking elite is a privilege shared by only a select few, and for most other players, it's an unachievable goal.

Everyone's had that experience in online rankings. In a game where the player population is in the thousands if not tens or hundreds of thousands, most of us will find ourselves wallowing about in the zone of mediocrity. This is something we've grown accustomed to, but for a game like Smash Bros., where the objective is for everyone to have fun, this isn't exactly a positive aspect.

In the upcoming Smash Bros. games, Sakurai has removed the goal of being number one, and instead of showing you how far you are from the top, they show you how far you are from the bottom. It's basic positive reinforcement. Instead of showing you how much worse you are than higher ranking players, it shows you how much better you are than lower ranking players. "By calling [your rank] 'power,' it makes it fun to see the number rise." Sakurai notes.

This Global Smash Power will change regardless of a player's score. If more people start playing the game, a player's Smash Power may rise automatically as the player population increases, or it may fall if they are overtaken by other players.

Another benefit to the Global Smash Power system is that it is strong against cheaters. Even if a player manages to change their score through hacking the game, it has no effect on other players' Global Smash Power. Because players can't see how many people rank above them, it makes achieving a high Global Smash Power through cheating little more than a self-congratulatory pat on the back and a chance to get banned from online play.

Sakurai's system may not work for everyone, but for those of us who have grown tired of coming in 14,011th in a game, it looks to be a welcome change in making a game feel more accessible and fun. As Sakurai writes, "I believe it's a very versatile system, but what do you think? It's not just about encouraging competition."

Source: Kotaku

@archulin
Amen to that article! I totally agree, I won't be ranked like 10,562 anymore on ranking systems!

^Right on!

^Yep, I think Sakurai made my favorite designer after that and making this SSB4 for 3DS.

^Me too along with Tetsuya Nomura, Director of the Kingdom Hearts series. Back on topic, it's pretty obvious he did that because knowing there's a lot of competitive players worldwide that play Super Smash Bros. He did that so that players like us who some of us are competitive while others are not, it would be a lot more comforting so that some players who are cocky don't have to brag about who's better and who's not. I'm glad Masahiro put Global Smash Power in the first place. He, his team (Sora Ltd.) and Bandai Namco Games are doing a lot of hard work to make sure that this game will be the best one yet! Kudos to them!

^Yeah, I can already tell this is going to be the best SSB ever ! And they have some smart ideas, like releasing the 3DS version first which was smart in several ways: 1. More people have 3DS than WiiU I believe, 2. WiiU buyers will now get the 3DS version first to hold them down before the WiiU release, 3. In summer people are always traveling, and the 3DS is portable so they can play it on the road.

^For sure! It was smart of Nintendo to release Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS first for this Summer because as you said, this will benefit both Nintendo and the fans alike. So yeah they are getting it first before Super Smash Bros. for Wii U comes out later this year but they are doing that so that the Wii U one will be spectacular! Trust in Masahiro Sakurai. That's all I can say. B-)