When it comes to popular Nintendo games, especially if you’re talking about the multiplayer variety, Super Smash Bros. has been in a league of its own ever since Nintendo introduced the fighter back in 1999. Through multiple iterations on every generation of Nintendo console since the N64, it has brought in scores of characters. While the roster is mostly filled with Nintendo-owned staples, other iconic characters like Solid Snake from Metal Gear Solid have joined the fight.

With all the recent talk of a Super Smash Bros. film ahead of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’s premiere on the 2026 movie schedule, I’ve been thinking about Solid Snake and how a big-screen Smash could give us a path to a Metal Gear Solid movie. It’s a long shot, I know, especially after Shigeru Miyamoto’s comments on the matter, but can a fanboy geek out about seeing Snake in a movie?

There Are Definitely Obstacles, But It Could Work

With a Super Smash Bros. movie far from being confirmed and probably a ways off if things do come together, I think it could totally work, even with all the various obstacles. Between the comments I mentioned above regarding Nintendo and Illumination’s dodginess surrounding the issue, the various companies that would have to sign off on it, and everything else that goes into making a movie, there’s a lot to overcome.

That being said, Wreck-It Ralph scored all kinds of video game characters and references (including Metal Gear Solid) when the Disney movie came out in 2012, which shows that companies like Nintendo and MGS’s publisher, Konami, are willing to play ball for big movies. It’d still be a headache, but with the right mindset and a good script, this could totally work. And I’m not just saying that because I’m obsessed with all things Solid Snake.

I’m Convinced The Live-Action MGS Movie Won’t Happen, So Why Not Go Animated?

Long, long ago, I wrote about the Metal Gear Solid movie languishing away in development hell, and things haven’t really changed since that article came out nearly six years ago. At this point, despite Oscar Isaac wanting to play Solid Snake, I don’t think this movie is ever going to happen. Since there’s been no progress on that front in years, an animated adaptation of the beloved tactical espionage action could be the best path forward.

If a Super Smash Bros. movie does end up happening, I would kill for Solid Snake to make an appearance and then get his own film franchise. I mean, just imagine some folks like the teams behind DreamWorks Animation titles like Puss in Boots: The Last Wish or The Bad Guys making a stylized movie set in Shadow Moses or other locations from the MGS series. The fight with Metal Gear Rex, the chaotic duel with Solidus Snake in Manhattan, or Solid Snake and Liquid Ocelot duking it out atop Outer Haven. I’ve got goosebumps!

Again, a Super Smash Bros. movie hasn’t been announced and remains a big uncertainty at this point in time. However, if it does show up on the list of upcoming video game movies, I’m going to lose my mind, especially if Solid Snake and his cardboard box are involved…

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is in theaters, and while the reviews aren't glowing, it seems there is a lot of positive buzz about Fox McCloud's role in the film. Nintendo fans are delighted to see Star Fox and Pikmin characters in the latest movie, but is this all leading up to a massive ensemble crossover Super Smash Bros. movie?

Polygon was brave enough to ask the question to Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto. For those unaware, Miyamoto is the mind behind Nintendo's most iconic characters as the creator of Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Donkey Kong, Star Fox and Pikmin. Now, he serves as the company's Creative Fellow and Representative Director, which essentially means he knows and contributes to the company's creative direction. All this to say, he pretty much cut off the interviewer at the knees when they brought up Super Smash Bros., noting he doesn't plan to have a mass gathering of Nintendo characters:

Pikmin, who have appeared in Nintendo games outside of their mainline series, do get a pass. Super Smash Bros. is one of the few times multiple Nintendo characters from different franchises are allowed to appear under one game, and according to Miyamoto, this isn't something the company is interested in doing with its movies.

Given that mindset, it may seem like a wonder that Illumination convinced Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo to sign off on Star Fox (voiced by Glen Powell) playing a major role in the film.

On one hand, I get it, and I guess it makes sense for Nintendo to offer up character crossovers sparingly. On the other, I would really want to see a Super Smash Bros. movie, though, admittedly, have no idea how you make that premise into a feature-length film. It would just be the appeal of seeing a lot of iconic video game characters on screen together, and that's about it.

All this to say, it's always possible that Nintendo execs can change their minds. As GamesRadar pointed out, Shigeru Miyamoto was famously against the idea of a Legend of Zelda movie happening, even if Steven Spielberg offered to direct. With that movie previously confirmed to be on the way, so who's to say a Super Smash Bros. movie is entirely off the table in the coming years?

Then again, as a Nintendo fan, it would strike me odd that Nintendo would want to put a movie in which all its characters are fighting against each other on the big screen. I think it's much more feasible that we'd see a take on Mario Party, or maybe even a Mario Kart movie, before we'd see Super Smash Bros. happen.

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is in theaters right now, and it's definitely worth a watch if you're a fan. I'm just waiting to see what the box office returns are on this one, and how it may influence the future of Nintendo's ideas for future movies.

Over the weekend, Detective Pikachu opened to $58 million, the best debut ever for a video game adaptation. Couple that box office with decent, although not great, reviews and the plans for a Pokémon cinematic universe don’t seem entirely farfetch’d. Cinematic universes have team-up movies and long before 2012’s The Avengers, Nintendo was teaming up its iconic characters, including Pikachu, for a free-for-all battle in Super Smash Bros. (Pokémon aren’t entirely owned by Nintendo, but just go with me).

Super Smash Bros. would almost certainly be the biggest video game movie that could be made and the writers of Detective Pikachu would be interested in such a project, but it would have to be done in the right way. Writer Dan Hernandez explained:

Dan Hernandez brings up a great point that may seem obvious but isn’t always. For a movie on the scale of a Super Smash Bros. to work, there would have to be multiple movies introducing the various characters to audiences prior to having them all appear onscreen together in an adaptation of Nintendo’s popular fighting game.

Basically, Dan Hernandez advocates for the MCU approach to team-up video game movies, not the DCEU one where the studio just skipped ahead to the team-up without the build up of solo films. It’s not enough to just have multiple movies introducing characters though in advance of a Super Smash Bros. movie, those introductory movies have to be good.

As Dan Hernandez told Screen Rant, Kirby and Mario and Star Fox and Link all need to have the best possible solo films to make the movie of Super Smash Bros. work. On that latter character, the writer actually seemed to be quite interested in tackling a feature film adaptation of The Legend of Zelda.

Sensational solo movies build audience investment and that’s why Avengers: Endgame worked so well, as one of Detective Pikachu’s other screenwriters, Benji Samit, explained:

I tend to agree that great solo movies and a build-up would be an absolute necessity for any attempt at a Super Smash Bros. movie. Yet, even if those prerequisites were met, it would still be a daunting task. Unlike the MCU, where all of the characters technically exist in the same universe, Super Smash Bros. is pulling from multiple, seemingly incompatible properties.

The MCU is able to impose a house style and tone that despite varying from film to film, basically allows for everything to fit together. Making a medieval warrior Link, a bounty hunter Samus and an Italian plumber Mario all exist in the same film is far more difficult. But at least animation allows for greater suspension of disbelief.

I think the focus should first be on getting good live-action movies of these characters, without any eye towards a team-up film. After all, we may be 20+ years removed from 1993’s Super Mario Bros., but video game movies by and large haven’t advanced that far in quality since then.

Still, the thought of a Nintendo Cinematic Universe building to a Super Smash Bros. movie is intriguing. Such a thing would be a ways off, if it ever happens, but a Super Smash Bros. movie is just one possibility raised by Detective Pikachu.

With the dam possibly hopefully finally breaking on good video game movies, these kinds of discussions will hopefully become less wishful thinking and more realistic speculation.

Detective Pikachu is now playing. Be sure you know what ticket to buy before going to see it and check out our 2019 release schedule for all the biggest movies headed to theaters this year.

The fandom surrounding Nintendo's prime-time fighting game series for its platforms never ceases to stop pondering, picking apart, and plucking away at the pixels, the files, and the data for Super Smash Bros. Absolutely nothing has changed with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and the attempted discovery of the next character to appear in the game.

Siliconera is reporting that dataminers have been scouring through the contents of the game's files and have been searching for what could be the next set of downloadable characters for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on the Switch. According to some of the screenshots shared of the hex code, we see some of the values that relate to characters stored in references for the DLC.

According to the miners, there are three possible characters in the DLC pack for upcoming fighters based on the deciphering of certain parameters. This includes the characters: Jack, Brave, and Packu.

Now this doesn't mean definitively that these three are the characters that will arrive in the DLC pack. They could be hooks for the call-function to load DLC characters, but it may be in relation to other characters coming down the pipeline. Most people, however, figure that the three characters are for the characters that have already been revealed, such as the "Packu" being a shorthand reference to the Piranha Plant, which we know will be a character added to the game as DLC. The "Packu" name is what many presume to relate to the spelling for the enunciation of the "Pakkun Flower" in Japan.

Others think that the reference to "Jack" may refer to two of Atlus' characters, the first is assumed to be Joker from the highly popular PS4 JRPG, Persona 5. There are also rumors that the "Jack" may relate to the demon Jack Frost from the Devil Summoner and Shin Megami Tensei games. It's possible that it might be either one or neither. What if it's actually in relation to a character you didn't even know was coming? Or from a completely unrelated franchise? I mean it could be Jack The Ripper from Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance for all we know.

It also seems unlikely that Jack references Joker, since it may as well just say Joker. As for "Brave", some are thinking it may relate to a hero from the Dragon Quest franchise. There's a pretty good explanation from Siliconera that the kanji for the hero in the Dragon Quest games is oftentimes referred to with the symbols that represent an honorable man of valor, but the kanji for the name "Isao", separated from the second symbol that relates to the hero, is also a noun for bravery, high spirits or heroism. Basically it's a direct translation to chivalrous courage. So some believe that this could relate to Dragon Quest.

It would actually be cooler if "Brave" was a little more literal and maybe related to something more unforeseen, like Brave Fencer Musashi. That would be a nice little surprise for old-school Square fans that own a Switch. But Square hasn't done anything with that series in ages, and so it probably does relate more to Dragon Quest since Dragon Quest XI just recently came out for the PS4 and Nintendo 3DS.

It won't be long before we start seeing the DLC roll out for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, so we'll see how close the dataminers were to what Nintendo provides.

For years, the popular game series from Nintendo, Super Smash Bros., has used an odd looking circular, glowing logo with a symbol over by the lower left hand corner. Most people don't think much of it, but when they see it they absolutely know that it represents Super Smash Bros. However, the brilliant mind behind the series finally revealed what that symbol actually represents.

Twitter user Kyle McLain posted an English translation on his Twitter account from a recent interview on Nintendo of Japan's YouTube featuring Masahiro Sakurai. In the interview, McLain explains that Sakurai stated that the intersecting lines are designed to show that the series represents crossing over, and that the four sections of the circle represent the game's constant focus on four-player multiplayer bouts, both locally and online.

I don't know how well that explanation holds up, given that it's the kind of explanation that could also be used for any circular design with two intersecting lines... like say, a crosshair. I mean, a typical targeting reticule in Call of Duty or Battlefield looks quite similar. And there's obviously an intersection of lines both horizontally and vertically that represents the crossover nature of a game like Super Smash Bros., and the obvious dissection of the four sides that would represent four people. Wouldn't the explanation be the same? And why exactly is the intersection uneven?

I suppose they wanted to avoid the crosshair comparison because some people may have misconstrued the meaning of the game. Heck, some people have already made that comparison recently when they interpreted the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate logo as an actual crosshair when a kid wrote it on the whiteboard, which sent the school into panic mode and they shut down the class for the day. Eventually they managed to get the situation all straightened out and everybody went back to school as normal, as detailed in an article over on GameRant.

Others came up with completely different theories about the logo, though. Popular FGC and EVO world champion, Hungry Box, speculated that he always thought the logo was based on the blast zone animations when players die vertically or horizontally. He included a gif showing the blast zones, and it's true, it does look like the Super Smash Bros. logo.

Someone else suggested that it looked like the shadow from the window in the N64 stage during the opening cinematic. A few others latched onto this explanation as well, stating that they, too, felt it was a representation of the sun shining through the window.

There were a few other people who posed the idea that Sakurai was a fan of a certain music band, and they thought the logo was based on that, but a lot of others were just thankful that there was an explanation. Of course, a few people joked that the uneven split between the four sides was a representation of port priority for input latency when playing in four-player mode.

Regardless of what you think about the logo, it has persisted for decades now and has become one of the most recognized logos in all of gaming. Whenever people see it they now know that a new Super Smash Bros., game is on the way. In fact, the latest game is available right now for the Nintendo Switch.

If you thought Nintendo was having a bit of a slow year on the Switch, well, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate likely made up for that over the weekend, recently being named Amazon's highest-selling video game of 2018.

There are a few caveats to take into consideration but, no matter how you slice it, that's some pretty impressive news. It's also worth noting, as highlighted by the initial report from Comic Book, that Super Smash Bros. has achieved this feat after only a day on the market. Sure, it's been available for pre-order on Amazon for months but, still, a hell of a lot of people were clearly eager to get in on the brawl.

Now, for those of you pointing a finger at Red Dead Redemption II and Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII with questioning stares, there are some extra factors to keep in mind. The main one you've got to remember is that Amazon treats each platform as a separate entity. In other words, sales for Red Dead on the PS4 and Xbox One are tallied separately rather than combined, otherwise there's little chance Smash Bros. would be receiving this distinction.

But it's also important to note that, yeah, Smash is only available on one platform and it's apparently pulling down some insane numbers. So even if it doesn't best the combined sales of those other major hits, the fact that it's doing so well on just the Switch shows just how many people decided to pick up the game.

Of course, none of these Amazon stats take into account digital sales, which will likely complicate the total sales figures further. A lot of people have switched to digital these days and probably downloaded Smash instead of buying it from Amazon. There are also other physical retailers to consider so, again, it's likely Smash's overall sales are very, very impressive.

As the initial report points out, this accolade actually applies across all of gaming on Amazon, including everything from consoles and peripherals to the usually impressive sale of things like digital currency.

That's certainly not a bad way to cap off a year that many considered "slow" for Nintendo. That assessment seems a bit farfetched in my book, as it's almost unfair to compare any standard year in games to the first year on the Switch. Nintendo kept an insane flow of games coming during the console's initial year, so there was no way 2018 was going to live up to that murderer's row of hits. But still, this year saw the likes of Pokemon Let's Go, Mario Tennis Aces, Super Mario Party, Octopath Traveler, Diablo III, a whole bunch of third party hits and oodles of indies.

In other words, I think it's fair to say the Nintendo Switch had a very solid sophomore year that was capped off in a big way by the latest Smash Bros.

The one game that everyone who owns a Switch (and even a lot of people who don't) has been chattering and talking nonstop about is Super Smash Bros. All before the reveal, gamers couldn't help but hype themselves up over the big release for the Switch. Well, the reveal finally came and it rolled out some huge news, including that every single past character from Super Smash Bros will appear in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The news had gamers leaping off their seats like children on a sugar high.

The big reveal also clocks in at nearly half an hour. That's right, half an hour. The entire thing was published over on the Nintendo YouTube channel, where it goes through the list of changes made to nearly every major character in the game, from Mario to Peach, and from Samus to Fox. Nintendo of America president, Reggie Fils-Aime, explained...

Old fan favorites like Wolf are coming back, along with all the DLC characters from the Wii U version of Super Smash Bros., and other third-party characters such as Pac-Man, Mega Man, and Solid Snake from Metal Gear Solid.

The Nintendo Direct also dropped a bomb in the form of Ridley from the Metroid series. For those of you who don't know, Ridley is Samus' arch rival and an extremely dangerous foe who has pushed the bounty hunter to her absolute limits. Gamers will now be able to play Ridley for the very first time.

Additionally, new epsilon versions of characters will be available, which are basically alternate playable versions of certain characters that have new moves and play-styles. For instance, Daisy is now joining the Super Smash Bros. roster for the very first time and she will be playable as an alternate of Princess Peach.

All new trophies are being added, and all new gameplay mechanics have been added, including a brand new counterattack system based around a "perfect" shield block. As you block, your shield diminishes, but for players who are excelled in timing, there's an ability to use the perfect shield block to parry a move and launch a counterattack. This could be a game-changer during FGC e-sports tournaments, especially given how it creates an all new meta game for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate when it comes to defensive mechanics and counter-moves.

What's more is that all of the previous modes from the older Super Smash Bros., are coming back, including the eight-player free-for-all. Stage variations have been added, stage destruction has been added, and 1-on-1 modes have been retooled to be a lot more competitive and tactical.

That's not to mention that the Inklings from Splatoon have also joined the fray, and you can use the original GameCube controllers for the game for those of you who preferred the control scheme from Super Smash Bros. Melee. You can check out the full presentation below:

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is due out later this year, exclusively for the Nintendo Switch, beginning December 7th, 2018.

The Big N has rolled out its plans for this year's big E3 event set to take place in June. Time is winding down quickly and the company wants to surprise gamers with something special this year. Nintendo will be attending the show floor at the Los Angeles Convention Center, along with having special activities available.

In a press release Nintendo announced that not only will it be in attendance at this year's show floor, but it will also have a special collection of activities available at E3 for some of its games that are coming soon or recently released. One key focal point will be themed content around the headlining title for this year's E3, Super Smash Bros.

The game is set to arrive on the Nintendo Switch later this year, likely during the fall as a way to really push the sales for the console into the stratosphere, much in the same way that Super Mario Odyssey moved more than 10 million units during the fall release last year as an exclusive for the Nintendo Switch.

Then again, many of Nintendo's first-party titles always move big units, such as the launch title for the Switch, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which also moved more than 8 million SKUs over the course of a year since its debut in March, tying with Sony's first-party exclusive from Guerrilla Games, Horizon: Zero Dawn.

In addition to Super Smash Bros. being on display at this year's E3, Nintendo will kick off the event at the Belasco Theater in Los Angeles with a Splatoon 2 global competition starting Monday, June 11th at 3:30pm and lasting up until 6:00pm Pacific Standard Time. Teams from all over the world will be competing in the World Championship tournament for Splatoon 2, with the finals taking place on June 12th, which will then be followed by a Super Smash Bros. 2018 invitational tournament.

Those wishing to participate in the invitational event will need to acquire tickets at the Belasco Theater, which will be handed out on a first-come, first-serve basis. Nintendo will also be streaming the competition through the official E3 portal on the Nintendo website.

On June 12th at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Standard Time, the official E3 video presentation will go live via a Nintendo Direct, showcasing all the major upcoming games due out for the Nintendo Switch in 2018, along with some of the big games set to debut in 2019 for Nintendo's hybrid gaming console.

Directly after the Nintendo E3 Direct there will be a Nintendo Treehouse Live event covering gameplay for all of Nintendo's recently announced and upcoming games over the course of three days.

Those attending the E3 event in person will be able to play games and participate in activities at the Los Angeles Convention Center between June 12th and June 14th.

This will also coincide with special events and video game demonstrations for upcoming Nintendo titles at the Nintendo Store in New York City, which will host streaming content of the Splatoon 2 World Championships, along with playable demos from E3 that will be on display between June 12th and June 15th.

There was a lot of anticipation, a lot of stress and a lot of confusion going into the March 8th Nintendo Direct last week. The event marked a time where plenty of gamers were hopeful for big news but also ready for disappointment. Well, there was no disappointment from a group of gamers who practically lost their minds when they saw the Super Smash Bros., reveal for the Nintendo Switch.

YouTuber EmpireArcadia posted up a video on the YouTube channel that captured the live-reaction from gamers at Nintendo's store in New York, where Super Smash Bros., was revealed for the very first time for the Nintendo Switch during the Nintendo Direct.

The two-minute video starts with the intro clip for Splatoon 2, where the two inklings are fighting against each other. The fans are already screaming and going crazy during the first 40 seconds. But once the Smash Bros., logo appears they go absolutely nuts, jumping and screaming to the point where the building was rumbling in response.

The reaction is almost infectious, and you can tell that gamers are highly passionate about Super Smash Bros., and the Nintendo brand. The slight pause after the Super Smash Bros., logo appears sets up for another massive reaction that takes place at the 1:08 mark where the 2018 release year is revealed, sending Nintendo fans into an absolute frenzy.

One gamer practically faints from the excitement, laying on the floor and being completely overwhelmed from the announcement. Fellow Nintendonites come to his aid and fan him while he absorbed the news.

The excitement was so visceral for the announcement of the highly popular fighting game that even the representative for Smash Bros., designer Masahiro "Sora" Sakurai shared the video on the Twitter account.

The love and adoration that fans have for Nintendo is most certainly palpable. A lot of gamers recognized that the reveal clearly points out that the inklings from Splatoon appear to be shoo-ins for the upcoming Super Smash Bros.

This also opens up another possibility for an unlikely Smash competitor to make the ranks: Geralt of Rivia from The Witcher. Many gamers suspected that Geralt would be an instant guest fighter in Bandai Namco's upcoming Soul Calibur VI, after CD Projekt Red teased that the "White Wolf" would be appearing in a non-Witcher game this year; but Geralt could very well make his way into Super Smash Bros. Heck, Solid Snake from Metal Gear Solid made the cut, so why not Geralt?

Before we get into speculating about who will make the cut on the roster, some fans are curious if this is an all-new game or just a port over from the Wii U version that came out a few years ago. We'll have to wait for Nintendo to clarify, but it appears most fans are just excited to see the game coming to the Switch at some point later in 2018.

Yesterday's Nintendo Direct was packed with trailers and announcements, but it's safe to say that the show-stealer was a final clip that revealed Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo Switch.

Nintendo capped off their March 8 Direct presentation with the above trailer, making it clear that a Smash Bros. game is heading to the Nintendo Switch sometime in 2018. There are still a lot of unanswered questions, and many folks figured Smash on the Switch was only a matter of time, but it's still nice to finally have confirmation.

If you're wondering why the trailer kicks off with a couple of Squid Kids from Splatoon, that's because Nintendo got cheeky with their presentation yesterday. The big focus of the presentation was Mario Tennis: Aces, with extra announcements for upcoming 3DS games (Including freaking WarioWare, y'all!) and Switch titles set to launch through the next year. We got launch dates for games like Octopath Traverler and Hyrule Warriors, as well as confirmation that a couple other Switch ports, like Captain Toad, are heading to other Nintendo consoles.

The "final" game of the presentation, though, was Splatoon 2, which offered details on a big update bringing new gear and maps to the game next month, as well as some single player DLC. The idea here was to pull a fast one on viewers. Following all of those Splatoon announcements, the beginning of the Smash trailer was supposed to make folks think for a moment that they were watching just one more big reveal for Splatoon 2.

Next thing you know, the Squid kids stop running around and notice a giant, blazing Smash logo is looming behind them, which we take as confirmation that the Squid Kids will be official characters in the game rather than DLC cosmetic items.

But here's the big question: Is this a port of the most recent Smash Bros. or a totally new game? Seeing as how Super Smash Bros. for the 3DS and Wii U are only a couple years old at this point, having a brand new game come out for the Switch seems like a pretty quick turnaround for Nintendo. It also makes sense that it would be a "director's cut" of sorts, since that's what Nintendo has already been doing with some of the biggest games to launch (and therefore go mostly unnoticed) on the Wii U.

Other than the Squid Kids, we see silhouettes of other fighters from the Smash series that are pretty hard to mistake. We get a close-up look at Mario and Link, too. The fact that Link is the Breath of the Wild version of the character is serving as proof for many folks that this is a new game, but a simple redesign for the character could also be the explanation. This being the internet, you can do a simple search and turn up theories galore on the matter.

Otherwise, get hyped, because Smash Bros. is coming to Switch this year. We're just looking forward to Nintendo clearing up the new-vs-port debate with a quickness.

A lot of times certain eSports competitors or fighting game community members end up missing out on a tournament due to a visa expiring, or because they missed a flight. Life comes at you fast sometimes. But in one Smash Bros., player's case the reason he had to drop out is quite bizarre. His controller isn't malfunctioning.

In a tweet posted by the official Alliance eSports team, they explained why one of the best players in the Smash Bros., FGC wouldn't be showing up at DreamHack 2017. According to the post, Swedish player Adam "Armada" Lindgren will be dropping out of DreamHack 2017's Super Smash Bros., tournament due to a technical issue with his controller.

More specifically, the technical issue is actually a lot more complex than just it not working properly... it's more to do with the fact that it is working properly. You see, Armada's controller is specifically designed to malfunction in a certain way, and this is what helps him overcome a certain bug in the game.

A technical frame data specialist and analyst for Super Smash Bros., from Vienna, Austria, named Kadano, provided an actual breakdown of what happened with Armada's controller. It's extremely technical and filled with jargon that only the most robust controller enthusiasts would understand, but essentially Kadano informs the community that the rare controller malfunction actually helped Armada play at a peak level and avoid a certain technical bug in Smash Bros., that isn't possible with a normal controller. Over a series of tweets, Kadano states...

So basically, only a malfunctioning controller can overcome a certain bug in Super Smash Bros. Melee and Armada's controller apparently either stopped malfunctioning or stopped working altogether. This is why even having multiple controllers on hand wouldn't solve the problem.

According to Kadano, there's like a possible one in 50 chance of Armada going into the store and picking up a controller that malfunctions in a way that suits his play style to overcome the bug. And buying 50 controllers in hopes of getting one that malfunctions properly is not only expensive but doesn't actually guarantee that it will solve his problem.

This is just one of the many conditions some competitive esports players have to deal with on the tournament scene. A controller is essentially the equivalent of the muscles of an athlete in any other sport, and if you're having muscle issues then you aren't going to be competing at your best.

Hopefully, Armada can get his controller malfunctioning again so he can step back into the Super Smash Bros Melee single competitions.

It was a big day for Nintendo news Wednesday, including an announcement about the final collection of Amiibo figures for Super Smash Bros. According to Nintendo, players will soon be able to get their hands on six more entries in the popular line of figurines.

Nintendo announced a while back that they were working on Amiibo figures for Cloud, Bayonetta and Corrin, the final combatants to be introduced to Super Smash Bros. via DLC. During yesterday's Direct, the publisher revealed design concepts for the Amiibo, as well as a launch date of July 21.

As it turns out, Nintendo has also confirmed that this will be the final set of Amiibo especially designed for the mascot-driven brawler, but at least they'll be going out with a bang. Each of the three Amiibo will actually be sold in two forms, and that probably has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that there are plenty of collectors who will likely buy one of each in order to keep their collection complete.

The two versions of Cloud will feature the spikey-haired, massive sword-wielding hero of Final Fantasy VII in his traditional outfit as well as his duds from the film Advent Children. There are a lot of small touches that set the two apart, but their poses are very similar.

Bayonetta, on the other hand, will boast a pair of drastically different Amiibo, one featuring the character's design from the original Bayonetta game and one from the Wii U exclusive sequel. This duo will also be in different poses.

Finally, there's Corrin, the hero of Fire Emblem Fates. Since the character can be either male or female, the pair of Amiibo reflect exactly that. The female Corrin is waving a flaming sword behind her while the male version is holding the sword in front of them.

As Polygon is reporting, these Amiibo will work just like previous offerings for Smash Bros. across both the Wii U and 3DS versions of the game. While they've included some pictures from the twitter, Nintendo has since updated its website to include the figures on their official Amiibo page. You can get an eyeful of the new figurines by heading there.

Honestly, we're a little surprised these latest Amiibo have taken so long to get out the door, though we guess Nintendo has been kinda busy with that whole Switch launch business. But the characters were launched for Smash Bros. more than a year ago, and their Amiibo launches are still several months off. Still, we suppose it's better late than never.

Let us know what you think of the new Amiibo in the comments below. Also, which games would you like to see get the figurine treatment next? We're guessing some Arms characters are in development, but we'd be interested in your most wanted.

We know that Super Mario Odyssey is on its way for the Nintendo Switch, and we know that Mario Kart 8: Deluxe is also on the way, but what about the other popular Nintendo franchise? What about Super Smash Bros?

In a sit down interview with tech guru Katie Linendoll that was posted on Facebook, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime talked about the Nintendo Switch, some upcoming games and whether or not we would see games like Super Smash Bros., on the Nintendo Switch. Fils-Aime states...

Fils-Aime goes on to say "I'm not announcing anything today!", driving home the point that Super Smash Bros is obviously on the table but they're not talking about it right now.

Just like with Mario Kart 8, the last Super Smash Bros., game came out back in 2015. Both games sold well enough, but they were on the dying platform that was the Wii U. A myriad of missteps set the console back a great deal, but the first-party line-up was stellar, nonetheless.

However, the recent release of those games on the Wii U made it a little difficult to come up with something new for the Switch, hence why Mario Kart 8 was re-released as Mario Kart 8: Deluxe, which features the core game and all of the previously released DLC from the Wii U version.

It's not outside the realm of possibility that Nintendo might re-release Super Smash Bros., from the Wii U for the Nintendo Switch. The only problem is that it's a bit redundant given that it's already available in home console form on the Wii U and already available as a portable game for the Nintendo 3DS.

Even still, sales for the Nintendo Switch could determine whether or not they re-launch it onto the device and potentially open up the game to a larger audience that may have skipped out on the game since it was available on the Wii U.

The interview also discusses the potential for other games like Animal Crossing to make a leap to the Switch, but Fils-Aime was quick to switch off the topic given that they're only talking about a handful of games at the moment.

Nintendo's core goal is getting through the spring season with the line-up of games they plan on making available, including the aforementioned Mario Kart 8 and Arms, and then Splatoon 2 during the summer.

To pad out the software in between their big AAA titles, Nintendo has signed deals with indie developers to release lots of digital content for the Switch during the down times. This is essential given that eventually people will get bored with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and they'll definitely need some new software to fill out the ranks. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like Super Smash Bros., will be filling out the ranks anytime soon.

With all the trends that hit television on a cyclical basis, from sitcom reboots to movie remakes to genre-embracing, it's kind of surprising that the small screen has yet to get hit with a slew of video game adaptations. Back in the day, entertainment giant Nintendo was more free with the rights to the company's intellectual property, resulting in pro wrestler Captain Lou Albano portraying everyone's favorite plumber Mario. Here in 2017, though, when TV creators are capable of bringing just about any stories to life, Nintendo is only making headlines for its inventive consoles.

So we're going to plop down on the couch with our controllers to talk about 7 classic Nintendo properties that would make for incredible TV shows. And yes, I'm mostly talking about live-action projects that would presumably be drenched in CGI effects, and not animated series.

The Legend of Zelda

While past rumors surfaced about a live-action The Legend of Zelda taking hold of our TV screens, the master swordsman/swordsboy Link has yet to get a small screen adaptation outside of the 1980s cartoon series. Considering Game of Thrones, Vikings and other epic region-based action dramas amass loyal fanbases, it's almost shocking that we aren't watching serialized adventures in the kingdom of Hyrule on a weekly basis. Link's quests - which would hopefully be more than just saving Zelda - wouldn't be so violent or bloody, of course, but could still maintain all the drama and whimsy inherent to the franchise. I can already hear the ocarina in The Legend of Zelda's opening titles.

At the very least, we would accept HGTV putting out a spoof series called House Hunters: Hyrule.

Star Fox

Okay, so maybe I'm thinking about this from the point of view of a 12-year-old kid mainlining cereal marshmallows, but who doesn't want to watch Fox McCloud and Team Star Fox zipping around through space and blasting the worst villains that the Lylat system has to offer? Basically, I'm picturing Rocket Raccoon from Guardians of the Galaxy here, as in a CGI character running around practical sets and locations; I get that a Star Fox series would probably be a little less manic and cynical about things. Nintendo hasn't produced any stellar Star Fox games in a while, so perhaps hitting TV for a new lease on creative life is just what these sci-fi characters need.

At the very least, we would accept an Adult Swim series with a sparsely bearded Rob Riggle as Fox McCloud.

Mother/Earthbound

One of the best in the medium, the Mother/Earthbound games were brilliant, parodical twists on the role-playing game genre, at a time when role-playing games weren't exactly mainstream, and it could easily make for TV's next great cross-generation tale. Instead of the dungeons, monsters and weapons common to RPGs, Mother centers on a 12-year-old boy who uses a baseball bat to save his city from an endless array of inanimate objects that have come to life through a paranormal event across the globe, and the sequels are arguably more inventive and fun than the first. Kids shows are rarely serialized or made for adults to share in the enjoyment, but the stories of Ninten and Ness would be perfect.

At the very least, we would accept another game in the series.

Metroid

One of Nintendo's best-selling game franchises, Metroid has all the elements of captivating and excitement-filled TV. There's an iconic and badass hero at the center, the bounty hunter Samus Aran, and the stories from the games fit right in with most science fiction narratives. Basically, Samus is protecting everybody from dreaded Space Pirates that use parasitic organisms known as Metroids to try conquering the galaxy, with more elaborate plots forming over the years. Syfy brought space-based dramas back in a big way in recent years, and combined with all things Star Wars and Star Trek on the big screen, it's the perfect time for Metroid to bring its darker trips through the cosmos to light for TV.

At the very least, we would accept Westworld incorporating Metroid into a future space-centered plotline.

Super Mario RPG

Sure, the many blockbuster efforts in the Super Mario franchise are no-brainers for a list like this, but I think we can all admit most of these games aren't built on complex narratives. (What is Tanooki Mario's origin story?) However, Super Mario RPG offered an awesome mix of traditional Mario elements with the structure and story beats of a role-playing game, offering new twists and even new characters. To that end, Super Mario RPG also introduced a new threat beyond just Bowser and his lineage and while the Smithy Clan wasn't perfect, setting a TV show around them would offer TV viewers a less familiar adventure from Mario's past.

At the very least, we would accept a Man Seeking Woman satire about a normal man who inexplicably gets into Mario-like situations.

Final Fantasy

The franchise that practically defines the entire role-playing genre, Final Fantasy has wowed players with its intricate storylines and magical battles for 30 years now, but though the games regularly feature enough cut-scenes to fill entire TV seasons, no traditional TV shows exist. CGI films and tie-in web series do, but Final Fantasy tales are epic enough for HBO, Netflix and AMC to join forces to bring them to life. Recent games like last year's Final Fantasy XV are gorgeous enough to step out of the TV already, so I'd be interested to see the modern approach brought to the first games' save-and-defeat adventures, because I want to see those 8-bit worlds turned into real sets.

At the very least, we would accept and almost prefer a Kingdom Hearts series.

Super Smash Bros.

Perhaps the least likely Nintendo game to get any form of live-action TV show, Super Smash Bros. has always been a franchise that begged for a real world adaptation, because it's got all the best Nintendo characters. Plus the weird ones, like Mr. Game and Watch. It's not even necessary to introduce the bare minimum plot of a Van Damme-in-a-fighting-tournament movie, because pop culture now has the UFC and impressively budgeted fan-made videos on YouTube as proof that good-looking brawls themselves are all that's necessary. Especially when you're talking about Ryu beat the shit out of Wario, or Mega Man blasting Squirtle out of existence. If someone could just record my dreams, this show would already exist. Along with...other things.

At the very least, we would accept a Celebrity Deathmatch style claymation version.

There are, of course, lots of video games we could sit here fantasizing about as TV shows, but there's only so much time in a day, especially since we want to watch TV shows and play video games. Let us know what Nintendo games you'd like to see making the jump to live-action, and head to our midseason premiere schedule to see what the small screen has to offer in the near future.

The Tennessee Titans may be prepping for their first match of the season on September 11th, but the match on the field is not where there concerns lie. In fact, the team is more concerned with another competitive endeavor... Super Smash Bros.

According to IGN, the team have been putting in work on the field... the fighting field. The N64 version of Super Smash Bros has become the Tennessee Titans' go-to game for some competitive fun during down time. If they have ten or so minutes to spare, it's off to Super Smash Bros.

The original report from The Ringer explains that the locker room and practice facility had undergone major summer revisions and renovations, completely altering the setup, which included the removal of their flat-screen televisions and PlayStation units they had installed in the facility.

Without TVs and PlayStations, the Titans' left tackle Taylor Lewan, a draft pick for the team from 2014, opted to rectify their lack of proper entertainment in the facility. How did Lewan fix the problem? With Super Smash Bros.

The Ringer reports that Lewan brought his original N64 to the facility, along with working controllers and a copy of Super Smash Bros 64. They also report that Beau Brinkley "freaked out", exclaiming fond memories of the game and system since he received them as a gift for his 10th birthday. The team have become addicted to playing the game whenever they get a chance, and it's like they've managed to rekindle the kid in themselves now that the old-school console is in the practice facility.

A lot of users in the IGN comment section actually seemed to find the news somewhat refreshing (amongst the cynical bunch who simply did not care). There were gamers in the comment section stating that the N64 version of Super Smash Bros. is still one of their all time favorite games, and that they still play it regularly whenever they get the chance. Others praised Nintendo for making a great game that has managed to transcend the barrier of console generations and become a hallmark game to play for those looking for a great bit of time to spare on a fun fighting game.

The original Super Smash Bros on the N64 wasn't entirely my favorite from that era or on that system. I actually preferred Mario Kart 64 and WWF No Mercy, two games that I never got tired of playing no matter how long I had been playing them. Then again, there were a ton of games on the N64 that were great fun to play with friends around, and it's because of that the system has gone down in history as being one of the very best ever made. It came out during the golden age of gaming when developers were trying all sorts of cool and crazy new things, and innovation was being pushed all across the board.

While Super Smash Bros has gone on to get multiple sequels and become a staple in the e-sports FGC scene, it appears the Tennessee Titans are comfortable playing the original game that started it all on the N64.

We already knew that Luigi was the superior sibling in the Mario family, but we didn't know how formidable his fighting skills were until we watched the guy trounce every Smash Bros. DLC character without ever moving a muscle.

You know the old saying “I could beat you with one arm tied behind my back?” Well apparently Luigi has taken that bad-assary to a whole new level, challenging every competitor in Super Smash Bros. to a brawl where he refuses to fight back.

The above video takes just a tiny bit of explanation. If you watch it cold, it looks like two people are playing Smash Bros., one flailing about hysterically while the other, controlling Luigi, does nothing until the other player launches themselves off of a ledge.

In other words, it's not super entertaining combat unless you know what's actually happening. Youtube user Omega Tyrant decided to put the green-clad hero of the Super Mario Bros. series to the ultimate test, pitting him against every DLC character to arrive on Smash Bros. with their skills pumped all the way up to the max level. Instead of fighting back, however, Luigi simply stands there and stares down the competition, daring them to knock him out. Without exception, everyone from Lucas to the Fire Emblem trio to Bayonetta herself only succeeds in sealing their own fate.

Even in a battle boasting all of those characters at once and Luigi still refusing to throw a bunch, the mustachioed hero of the Mushroom Kingdom comes out victorious.

Omega Tyrant never really offers an explanation for why Luigi is such a bamf. He simply states that he ranked up the difficulty and watched everyone knock themselves out in a frantic effort to overthrow the Green Goliath. There's actually a moment in the fight with Lucas where Luigi appears to move on his own, but it turns out that his sole jump in the entire clip is due to the fact that every character in the game automatically jumps when breaking out of a freeze.

My theory? It's got to be that Luigi death stare. You know the one I'm talking about, right? The one that Luigi first broke out in Mario Kart 8, a move that helped propel him onto greatness and having an entire year named in his honor.

If it's not that, then I suppose something far-fetched like luck, a sheer number of tries or mathematics can be offered as reasoning, but I prefer to put my faith in the fact that Luigi is just an unstoppable force of nature.

You arguments are welcome in the comments section below.

Thanks to a pair of new videos and a tweet straight from Nintendo, we now know when the final two characters in the Smash Bros. roster will be introduced to the game. Get ready to battle as Bayonetta and Corrin later this week.

Back in early December, Nintendo held a special Direct dedicated exclusively to Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U and 3DS. They promised they'd outline all future plans for the game, save a small detail or two. While the direct introduced us to the final Smash characters (Bayonetta from Bayonetta and Corrin from the upcoming Fire Emblem Fates), we only had a vague “February 2016” launch window for the newest additions to the game.

This past weekend, a pair of videos popped up on the European Nintendo Youtube account showing off both Bayonetta and Corrin in action, as well as the new stage based on Bayonetta, Umbra Clock Tower. The trailers end with a Feb. 4 release date though, again, this was only confirmed for the European territory.

Nintendo of America didn't leave us hanging much longer, though, as the following tweet went on to confirm that both Bayonetta and Corrin will be joining Smash in our region this week, too, arriving a day earlier on Feb. 3.

Bayonetta and Corrin will also be joined by the final batch of Mii costumes, including an adorable chocobo hat, a bunch of characters from Sonic and more.

As for those trailers, let's check out Bayonetta and Corrin in action first.

Both characters move super fast and have what appears to be a fun bag of tricks at their disposal. Corrin's outfit and weapon appears to morph on the fly, making them a very versatile character when going one-on-one. It'll be interesting to see how Corrin handles a crowd.

Bayonetta, on the other hand, is more of a close-range fighter, with plenty of combos that make it dangerous to get too close to her. She's not completely lacking at range, though, with several of her summons packing a punch at mid-range. She's also got that spiffy time-slowing field that can be used to trap an opponent and make them an easy target for a pummeling.

Speaking of the Bayonetta series, that's exactly where the latest and final Smash map hails from, too.

Basically, you're all fighting on the face of a giant clock tower that has broken free and is falling down what appears to be an impossibly tall mountain.

I'm thinking all of the interactivity has been turned off for the above video, because I could have sworn that additional platforms and interference from those creatures in the background came into play when the stage was originally shown off. Otherwise, we're looking at a bit of style over substance here, with plenty of neat stuff happening around a very small platform.

So get ready for Wednesday, Smash fans, because the fight is about to become fiercer than ever.

Do you remember the commercials for Crash Bandicoot? A guy ran around in a Crash suit doing stupid things, and yet somehow I completely understood what was going on and what the message behind the commercial was: play Crash Bandicoot, of course! These are five of some of the most entertaining video game commercials from the earlier days.

1. Crash Bandicoot

If there’s one thing Crash Bandicoot is really good at, it’s being a snarky...jerk. In this commercial, Crash dances around in front of Nintendo headquarters, showing off TV’s displaying Crash Bandicoot gameplay. This hysterically illustrates the obvious rivalry between the two major video game companies, PlayStation and Nintendo. It’s funny when Crash makes the comment, “Your days are numbered!” to Nintendo when, in fact, Crash Bandicoots days were even more numbered. Now, Crash Bandicoot seems to have fallen into oblivion and Nintendo is releasing its own handheld console this year. Funny how things happen.

2. Twisted Metal

Twisted Metal was a hit PlayStation game in the 90’s and involved some serious automobile construction. This is also where infamous PlayStation icon, Sweet Tooth, made his debut. The game was known for being outrageously outlandish with a collection of psychotic characters, so it only makes sense that the commercial works to highlight some of the more memorable of the bunch. It’s too bad Twisted Metal hasn’t made a comeback since its last title of the same name in 2012. PS4 could use a revamped Twisted Metal game.

3. Nintendo 64

Many of you Nintendo fans might remember this commercial showing classic characters from the early Super Smash Bros. on Nintendo 64 skipping merrily through a meadow—until they start beating each other up. Thus is the great and joyous objective for Super Smash Bros. What made this particular commercial so memorable was its ridiculous depiction of people in Nintendo character suits like Donkey Kong and Super Mario beating the crap out of each other in a bright meadow.

4. Xbox 360

The YouTube description for the video states that the commercial was released in 2005 to advertise the Xbox 360 console, which was known for its first-person shooters. But people complained the commercial promoted violence, so it was removed. Nowadays, there are far more violent commercials than people pointing finger-guns at each other, so obviously things have changed a little since then, including the stigma that video games cause violence.

5. Sonic The Hedgehog 2

Sonic The Hedgehog 2 was one of the best Sonic games ever released, long before he and his lovable sidekick, Tails, were contorted into empty shells of who they once were. This commercial hilariously mocks the boring and repetitive format of a typical ad on TV, noting that Sonic The Hedgehog 2 can even cut vegetables and hide horrid balding spots. While it’s an entertaining commercial that doesn’t do the game enough justice, it was memorable simply for its stark weirdness.

If you can't find friends to play Super Smash Bros on the Wii U with you, maybe you can have a solo party and play all eight pugilists on the screen by yourself. Yes, it's possible to do so thanks to a minor glitch involving Amiibo that one gamer discovered while messing around with Nintendo's multiplayer fighting game.

Uproxx picked up some news from Gamenesia where they spotted a video uploaded by YouTuber Toon, who explains how to control all eight fighters at once in Super Smash Bros on the Wii U.

The glitch allows players to control each of the on-screen characters with a single controller. Players are able to fight each other and have a match of eight fighters all duking it out at the hands of a single person. It's not really something that's terribly convenient for the purpose of accomplishing anything worthwhile other than messing around with having all eight players being controlled by one person.

I imagine that this will likely be used for machinima purposes more than anything related to increasing the playability of Super Smash Bros. In fact, this little glitch would be perfect for putting together coordinated dance videos. Someone just needs to find a good tune and organize some spiffy choreography to make it happen.

So essentially, you'll need a Wii U, a Gamepad, some Amiibo, a Pro Controller and a whole lot of patience.

Toon explains in the description box how exactly to make the glitch work. It involves opening up the eight-player menu and moving the controller – preferably a Wii U Pro Controller. You'll need to unsync the controller and tap an Amiibo onto the GamePad. You'll need to sync the Wii U Pro Controller back to the game and move it again. This should put the controller in control of player 2.

You have to rinse and repeat that method for each of the slots up to the seventh slot. Once you get to the eighth slot, according to Toon, you'll need to enter the options menu. After entering the options menu you'll then have prompt control over all eight character slots. It's an insane sounding glitch but Toon states that once you pick the character and go to select the stage, the glitch should work.

I'm curious if Nintendo will patch this glitch out in any future updates or if they'll let it slide?

It's kind of funny and complicated and expensive, so it would actually be in Nintendo's best interest to leave this particular glitch alone. I mean, think about it... you'll need to pay for Super Smash Bros. on the Wii U, you'll need to buy an extra Wii U Pro Controller if you don't already own one, and you'll need to buy the Amiibo for the characters you want to play as in the game. This is probably one of the most expensive glitches I've ever seen.

Star Fox fans will want to grab their wallets with a quickness, because GameStop has announced it will soon launch an exclusive statue of Fox McCloud that will only be available in limited supply.

Only 5,000 of these bad boys will be made available and, after that, they're history. To check out the order page, just head on over to GameStop's website and get to browsing. Since this is a limited edition item and all, you can expect to part with $79.99 if you want to make this exclusive GameStop statue part of your collection.

The Fox McCloud statue is set to launch on Feb. 9 but, again, we doubt any of these things will make it to an actual store shelf. With only a few thousand being produced, we imagine the pre-orders rolling in over the next month will eat up the supply.

As for what you're getting, it's a statue of Fox McCloud standing around like a BAMF in his flight jacket. The statue is made of resin stone and each is hand painted. The dude stands at 8” tall, in case you need to set aside some room on your shelf. The statue comes with a base for McCloud to stand on, too.

Now if Nintendo really wanted to make a pretty penny on this statue, they could have made that base into an amiibo platform and sold the whole thing at an even greater premium. Fox could have kicked off a line of “deluxe” amiibo that, let's face it, people would have crawled across an ocean of glass to add to their collection.

Fox certainly seems to be staying pretty busy these days. His most recent appearance was in the latest Smash Bros. game where series fans got to kick and blast their way to victory in Nintendo's mascot-filled brawler.

But let's face it: People just want that next Star Fox game and they want it now. We've seen a couple trailers for the new Star Fox Zero running on Wii U, making rad use of that tablet controller by giving players a look at the map or even a constant cockpit view for blasting enemies out of the sky more precisely. We're expecting the game to launch sometime in 2016, so expect to see even more of Fox and his pals in the coming months.

In case you need a little extra hype to get you excited for the new Star Fox statue, here's a look at that new game in action.

Worlds collided in a big way during yesterday’s Nintendo Direct, when the publisher announced that the latest iconic character coming to its mega-brawler, Super Smash Bros., is none other than Final Fantasy VII’s Cloud Strife.

In case you missed yesterday’s internet meltdown, Nintendo pulled back the curtain on a major surprise, announcing that Square Enix’s beloved spikey-haired hero will be making the jump to Super Smash Bros. for the 3DS and Wii U.

That trailer pretty much says it all. While there are certainly some additional Nintendo characters planned for the roster in the coming year, Cloud Strife is probably the most surprising third-party character to be added to a Smash game since, well, ever.

Having Metal Gear’s Snake in the previous Smash wasn’t too big of a shocker since he’s appeared in quite a few Nintendo games at this point. Heck, his first two games were for the Nintendo Entertainment System.

Ryu was a nifty treat but, again, he comes from a series that got its start on a Nintendo console. Even Sonic has basically felt like a Nintendo mascot for the past decade or so.

Cloud, though, comes from a game that was exclusive to the OG PlayStation and has since made the jump to PC. This, of course, is leading folks to assume that the promised Final Fantasy VII remake might be coming to either the Wii U, NX or both.

As crazy as it is to see Cloud in Smash, though, this isn’t the last big news heading to the game. Nintendo promises a Smash-focused Direct will be coming our way in December, with many saying it will be the final “news blowout” for the game. In other words, Cloud was kind of an appetizer for the rest of this year’s big news. We’ll likely get all of the details on remaining characters and levels coming to the game at that time, so keep your eyes peeled for those announcements here when they become available.

And perhaps the best part about yesterday’s announcement: Nobody saw it coming. Ryu was leaked before he was launched during E3, which took quite a bit of fun out of his big reveal. When Cloud popped up in yesterday’s Direct, Twitter and Facebook went insane. In this age of everything leaking before its official, that shared excitement was certainly a breath of fresh air.

But now the question remains: Who else is going to be announced for Smash in December? We’ve got a couple of suggestions, obviously, but we’d be interested to know who our readers want to see pop up in the game next.

Nintendo has been adding new characters to the ever-expanding roster of Super Smash Bros for the Wii U and the Nintendo 3DS. They have characters all across the spectrum from throughout the history of gaming. Well, Microsoft wants in on the Smash Bros fun.

IGN picked out some tweets during a fan Q&A between Spencer and gamers, where someone asked about Banjo being in a DLC update for Super Smash Bros on the Wii U and 3DS. Spencer had the following to say about the suggestion...

That's fairly encouraging for the possibility of some of Rare's premier characters to make an appearance in a Smash Bros game. In fact, Nintendo has been working with a number of different companies to make use of some classic characters and icons who have appeared on a Nintendo platform at one point or another.

The fact that Spencer wants Banjo from the popular Banjo Kazooie franchise to make an appearance as a guest fighter in Super Smash Bros is very encouraging, especially since we haven't seen Banjo around or about since Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts for the Xbox 360. It's not like the game did extremely well since it kind of came and went from the market, fading from store shelves and the memories of gamers without fright or fight, like petals from a sunflower during the autumn season.

Having the Banjo make a return to form as DLC for Smash Bros would be brilliant and a great precursor for the eventual spiritual successor that Microsoft and Rare are presumably working on as an Xbox One exclusive. This adds a strong possibility to Banjo being a good fit for Nintendo's multiplayer fighting game, much in the same way that Todd McFarlane was talking about building up the brand awareness of Spawn by having him potentially appear in a game like Mortal Kombat X, as well as getting another movie out there in order to lay the market groundwork for another game. If Microsoft is using the same tactic for Banjo, they could be on the right track.

If you're thinking this looks a bit far-fetched, keep in mind that Bandai Namco's Pac-Man, Capcom's Mega Man, Konami's Solid Snake and Sega's Sonic The Hedgehog have appeared throughout the Super Smash Bros franchise as playable guest characters. Seeing a Microsoft property that was once a Nintendo exclusive possibly making a return to a Nintendo platform is neither unlikely nor too surprising. The only question now is: will Nintendo accept?

As IGN pointed out, they have a microsite available for gamers to submit their ideas and suggestions for future content and what characters should make an appearance in the game. If you really want to see Banjo arrive in Smash Bros following the next set of DLC characters, it wouldn't hurt to offer a few suggestions over on the microsite.

The gaming community is used to run-of-the-mill gamers taking some time off and using it to create all sorts of crazy mods for their favorite games. But what you probably didn't know was that sometimes big-name developers take time off from their busy schedules to mod. In this case, the League of Legends developers decided to make a Super Smash Bros mod, featuring the characters from Riot Games' popular MOBA.

On the League of Legends sub-reddit there's a post about a Super Smash Bros mod featuring League of Legends heroes. It even contains a few cool, albeit blurry, screenshots.

In fact, you can get a glimpse of what League of Legends heroes look like with a very brief shot of them in action (screenshots below). Unfortunately this is the only taste we'll get for now.

There was a flood of comments about the mod. Some people thought that it was a simple model swap, switching League of Legends character models for the Super Smash Bros models and calling it a day. It's a common modding tactic that's mostly for aesthetic purposes.

However, one of the developers stepped forward to shoot down this assumption. Riot's e-commerce associate, Jeff Denis, explained that the developers did way more than simply replace the geometry of Nintendo's characters.

Other commenters thought that the move sets and specials were left untouched, but according to Denis:

Now this seems really, really cool. It's almost turning into a total conversion mod with everything that makes the League of Legends heroes cool in the MOBA. I never would have thought that top-tier, AAA developers would take time to do a total conversion mod on another AAA game, but it looks like it's happening.

A lot of the gamers who took the time to comment are curious if the mod will go public at some point, but it could just be one of those internal projects made just for the heck of it.

Super Smash Bros is a game that's ripe for modding, though. There's even the Super Smash Bros Project M conversion that managed to make it into the FGC tournament scene.

While I doubt we'll ever see a public release of the League of Legends mod for Super Smash Bros, it would be pretty cool if Riot went ahead and made it available to the public.

The fight continues on Nintendo 3DS as Super Smash Bros. gets an update offering new functionality for the portable brawler. Don’t get too excited, though, as new characters and maps are not part of the equation.

Those of you planning on picking up a New 3DS on Friday have the most to look forward to, as today’s Smash Bros. update for the mascot-infused fighting game will feature Amiibo support. I know. Exciting, right?

According to the official announcement/a>, Amiibo support is only being added for the New 3DS XL. You’ll still have to update if you’re playing on an older model, but said update won’t really affect your experience in the collectable figurine department.

As for what, exactly, the functionality of Amiibos will be for the portable version of Smash, Nintendo has finally cleared matters up a bit. And in case you’re somehow in the dark about what an Amiibo is, it’s a Skylanders-esque figurine featuring characters from Nintendo games. It’s basically a little statue that can be scanned, holds data and unlocks certain features within various games.

“Users can tap their Amiibo figure to the touchscreen to transform them into figure players (FP) to battle, train, and level-up their FP,” reads the announcement. “FPs that were trained in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U can be used in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.”

The announcement also goes on to explain that an Amiibo-scanning device compatible with regular 3DS consoles will hit the market sometime this year, at which point everyone should be able to enjoy the character swapping as one big, happy family.

Also included in today’s update is a new “Share mode,” which allows players to post photos, replay data and Mii Fighter data to an official server where they can be shared with users around the world. This new feature will also allow you to share photos and such with your friends directly, or more easily post pictures to Miiverse from within the game.

As is usually the case with 3DS updates –which are rare to begin with—you’ll need to grab this one from the eShop rather than directly from the game. Simply boot up your 3DS’ virtual storefront, find the update, then download. You’ll have to do this as of today if you ever want to play the game online again so, yeah, we recommend you get on that.

So now comes the Q&A: Are any of you readers planning to actually use this functionality? Has content sharing filled a big spot on your wish list for Smash Bros.? What about those Amiibos? Anyone planning on actually using them? Please let us know in the comments section below.

Following the very successful launch of Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U, some members of the games press have gone out to ask creator and game designer Masahiro Sakurai about the future of the series, and some long-time fans may not be pleased.

CVG picked up the news from Game Informer, where they talked to the legendary developer about another possible Super Smash Bros. game down the line. Sakurai stated...

Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U and 3DS has been making waves within the industry, selling quite well on Nintendo's handheld device, managing to top the charts week over week, while the home console version of the game has acquired a lot of critical praise for its depth, features and replayability.

In a way, Sakurai explains why the game has been so well-received among the press and the public, rolling out the strong ethic behind the quality and content of the game, with Sakurai stating...

It is true, most gamers would have a serious cow if a sequel came out featuring less content than its predecessor. Sadly, there have been certain series that add and remove features every other game, nearly forcing players to buy the new games – especially in annual series – in order to get the full experience. The add-a-feature-takeaway-a-feature is a common trait in series like WWE 2K, Madden NFL and Call of Duty to name a few.

However, constantly pushing the limit has actually pushed Sakurai to his limits, with the designer and creator stating...

Hopefully that doesn't mean the end of Super Smash Bros., because there are still tons of characters, match-ups and stages many fans would love to see in the series. Maybe after taking some time off and putting in some R&R, Sakurai will return in a few years when Nintendo preps for the new console, to unleash a new Smash Bros... or at least, we can hope.

There have been reports about an error causing some major issues for people playing on their Wii U... specifically, playing the latest Super Smash Bros. on the Wii U. The reports have sort of reached a fever pitch within the Nintendo-centric communities.

Gamenesia has a report on the issue, noting that error code 160-0103 can cause the Wii U to brick or wipe the data from your system.

According to the article...

Supposedly, when trying to wipe or reformat the Wii U this can actually cause more problems as it's stated that this could brick the system. This is brought out to some degree in a YouTube video by user Trippy12345ify.

However, for those of you thinking this was exclusive to Super Smash Bros., it's not.

The problem, according to many users voicing their opinions in comment threads, Facebook and on this Reddit post, the error code 160-0103 has been persistent since the Wii U launched. It just hasn't been a widely publicized issue until recently.

TVena commented in the thread stating...

Bricking issues with consoles is nothing new. Gamers had to deal with this issue to a very extreme degree during the seventh generation with the Xbox 360 and the Red Rings of Death.

As for the Wii U... Nintendo is supposedly aware of the issue. I'm still not entirely sure about the details of what causes the problem and the explanations aren't all that detailed, either.

For now, it appears as if Nintendonites will simply have to hang tight as the Big 'N' attempts to address the issue. It's likely that it's been appearing more because more people have gone out to purchase a Wii U due to all the big exclusives that dropped this year, especially this past fall with Bayonetta 2, Hyrule Warriors and Super Smash Bros. becoming available for the Wii U. With more people purchasing the console there is the growing instance of a higher percentage of people running into problems.

Super Smash Bros. has been on the receiving end of a lot of praise, so it's only natural that some kind of news come into play that disrupts all the happy news.

This news actually shouldn't come as too much of a surprise to anyone who has been closely following the Amiibo line from Nintendo. Why is it not surprising? Because Nintendo is expected to clean up quite well with Amiibo figurines... and enthusiast collectors might make a pretty penny in the long run, too.

One user has recently made some decent bank on a Samus Aran Amiibo via eBay... $2,500 to be exact. What made this little figurine sell for so much? Well, because it's rare.

According to the description, the Amiibo figurine is still factory sealed but has dual cannons. Yes, the figurine has dual arm cannons and that's what makes it so rare.

As the main image above shows, the standard figure only has one cannon on the arm. The special figure has two cannons; one cannon for each arm.

Since it's factory sealed there's really no telling if it has some sort of special trait or ability or if it's just designed differently for the sake of looking different. There isn't much help from the item's eBay listing, as the description reads as follows...

It's noted that it's a “defect” figure but it doesn't really look defective. It does make me question whether some Amiibos might be designed to purposefully end up with rare traits, whether it be in looks or functionality. I mean, if you had this particular figurine would it make a difference in a game like Smash Bros. for the Wii U? Perhaps, a dual-cannon Samus?

Well, whether the functionality of the figure is different from the rest of the herd or not, it managed to sell for $2,500 and that's something the original seller has to be happy about. A nice little pre-Christmas cash bonus for the holidays.

Take note that rare Amiibo figures isn't just relegated to “factory defects”. The whole figurine endeavor by Nintendo has created a meta-culture that also focuses on customizing Amiibos.

While My Nintendo News previously reported that Nintendo would look into custom Amiibo figures, fans have already begun modifying the characters to suit their own tastes, as noted in an article by IGN.

For those of you who don't know, you can use Amiibos in various games with different effects. The figures are cross-game compatible; they also store data so they can be used across multiple titles. You can see how they work in the video below.

The Amiibos are currently available following the release of Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U. You can also search around eBay for custom Amiibo figurines if you're looking for something with a bit of an extra edge.

Nintendo's prime-time AAA exclusive for the Wii U has finally launched. Super Smash Bros. has landed on retail shelves for Nintendo's home console. Not only has the game launched but it launched with glowing reviews.

As noted on Forbes, Super Smash Bros. has been garnering some pretty amazing review scores, sitting high and pretty on Metacritic at 94 out of 100. The user score isn't far behind, sitting at 92 out of 100.

There are no negative professional reviews on Metacritic and only two negative user reviews.

It's funny because a lot of publishers are trying to do any and everything that they can to boost the Metacritic score of their respective titles. Gamers dread Metacritic because it determines whether or not a developer will receive the necessary bonuses to stay live; developers dread Metacritic because it could be the make-it-or-break-it moment for the future of the studio. It sounds over-dramatic and absolutely ridiculous just until you see real life instances of Metacritic scores causing developers to lay off members of the team or shutter the doors altogether.

In the case of Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U, that won't be happening at all.

The game has been receiving glowing praise from across the board, as the game contains plenty of new and returning characters, as well as tons of hidden goodies, multiple game modes, local play and online multiplayer.

One of the things that Nintendo has excelled at is keeping the game fun for the sake of being fun. While tons of other games out there are desperately trying to ratchet up the levels of grit and grime for the sake of being taken more serious, Nintendo has been ratcheting up the fun-factors by including all sorts of new ways to interact and engage in the gameplay.

One of the biggest complaints about the game is that it's still Super Smash Bros., which is sort of like complaining that Batman is still Batman.

Otherwise, there has been an ample amount of interest building around the inclusion of the physical figurines known as Amiibo, as well as the game's new playable Miis, which can be customized to fit your play-style. It's a cool way to further open the game up to a lot more replayability and possibilities.

The Amiibo, however, are the real stars here. I can easily see these things making massive waves in the industry for Nintendo. As it stands, you can purchase individual Amiibo and simply plop them on the Wii U's GamePad.

The data from the Amiibo is stored in the figurine, so gamers can take figure over to a friend's house and use the data to load up your stats and keep kicking butt and taking name, even while on the go.

YouTube user Gary Oak dropped a hype trailer for the game to celebrate the launch, which you can check out below.

Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U is currently available, along with the Nintendo 3DS version.

You can pick up a copy of the game from a local retailer for $59.99.

Nintendo released the opening cinematic for Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U ahead of the late November launch, showing off some of the gameplay along with some CG sequences of key characters looking clean and pristine on Nintendo's latest console.

VG 24/7 spotted the new video that clocks in just under two minutes. The video is a collage of various snippets from the game, showcasing some of the new playable characters such as Mega Man, Pac-Man and Little Mac, as well as some of the all new Smash abilities, bosses and some of the brand new modes for players to take on.

I think Mega Man and Little Mac are two of the more exciting new characters just because their play-styles are kind of enticing. Mega Man appears to feature a lot of his classic side-scrolling moves, complete with his pellet-sized blaster projectiles and wall-sliding. He was also one of the fan-favorites during the Nintendo Smash Invitational that took place over the course of E3 this past year.

Little Mac was another one of those characters that fans really got excited to see in action given that he doesn't quite have the mobility of other characters, but he's able to lay down some mean combos. He was a real joy to watch during the invitational and I imagine at Evo and other Smash Bros. tournaments he would likely become both a competitor and spectator favorite.

Some of the other new characters includes Robin and Palutena. Speaking of the latter, there's already a leaked bit of the conversations that Palutena has with various characters throughout the game, similar to Super Smash Bros. Brawl's codec messages. You can check out all of Palutena's easter egg conversations with different characters throughout the game, courtesy of the 35 minute video below from YouTube user GameXplain.

I can definitely say that Super Smash Bros. is easily one of the more anticipated titles due to launch this fall.

What the Wii U lacks in raw horsepower the console makes up for it good and well with a very distinct cache of high-quality first-party releases. I think it adds a serious, alternative appeal to the Wii U as opposed to what's being offered on the Xbox One and PS4 at the moment.

The PS4 still seems like the all-around, do-it-all eighth-gen console, but I think the Wii U gives it a good run for its money on the exclusive software front. The Xbox One could be considered a serious competitor if it gets more (and better) exclusives and begins to offer gameplay experiences you can't get anywhere else. Over the long haul I think that eighth-gen gaming will be very interesting for all three console manufacturers.

You can look for Super Smash Bros. to release on the Wii U starting November 21st.

When a lot of people find themselves getting banned from an online game for some kind of unbecoming behavior, it's usually for a few hours, a few days... maybe even a week or two. Well, Nintendo has taken punishment to the next level in Super Smash Bros., dishing out multiple lifetime's worth of chastisement... due to a glitch.

Over on the Super Smash Bros. sub-Reddit, there's a public service announcement about the glitch that bans you from the 3DS version of Super Smash Bros., for up to 136 years.

If the whole thing seems kind of absurd that's because it is. But the post kind of lays out the law with the image below.

So even if you aren't actually caught cheating, you can still find yourself getting banned for up to 136 years.

If you do group or free-for-all battles you might get hit with the glitch and if you play online at all you might find yourself on the wrong side of Nintendo's glitched up law. Dangerous time to be a super smash brother.

Nevertheless, one of the top comments in the thread attempts to explain away the problem, breaking down the potential cause of the glitch being something in relation to a bugged integer. Reddit user rstevoa drops his guess into the fold, writing...

He definitely elaborates, breaking down that the wraparound could have happened and that the 136 years actually equates to a pretty close figure if there are no signs used, writing...

That is pretty close.

The whole point of the ban was to enforce a “non-targeting” method of playing. For instance, if one player just keeps targeting and killing another certain player online, it will flag the first player for their consistent targeting of the second player. While this seems like the common goal of the game, somehow it appears to be Nintendo's way of cutting down on bullying, perhaps? I'm not entirely sure.

As most people pointed out in the thread, the whole point of the game is to target other players, so what exactly did they expect?

I'm sure there are plenty of players now completely freaked out about the possibility of playing online or even beating the crap out of other players in part of fearing being banned for 136 years.

November 21st is the official release date for Super Smash Bros. on the Wii U, which is what the original leak hinted at in the first place. The game will mark the next big AAA exclusive from Nintendo that's expected to help the console move pretty big units this holiday season. And if Mario Kart 8 was anything to go by, Nintendo could be looking at the dollar signs pile up for them this fall.

The Wii U version of Super Smash Bros. follows on the Nintendo 3DS release, which dropped just last week in North America, following a very, very successful launch in Japan. In fact, Nintendo made it known in the press release that the 3DS rendition of the game has already managed to sell more than 2.8 million copies, which is extremely impressive for only being on the market for a few weeks. It's likely that the game will hit 5 million copies sold before the year is out if it maintains a similar pace (and if Nintendo keeps the marketing team pumping out promo material to spread the word around).

Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of the sales and marketing department, commented in the press release about the release date of Super Smash Bros. on the Wii U, saying...

I'm actually in agreement with Moffitt. Nintendo seems to be the only one with an exclusive line-up of must-have games, from Mario Kart 8 and Hyrule Warriors, to Bayonetta 2 and Super Smash Bros., there's a nice variety of exclusive games – not including all their eShop titles and indie games – that will likely keep gamers busy throughout the holiday season and into early 2015.

Now this isn't to take away anything from the PS4's amazing line-up of games. Out of the three eighth generation consoles the PS4 has the largest library of diverse games, given that they managed to get a ton of PC developers on board, which expands the system's software offerings exponentially. The Xbox One has Halo: The Master Chief Collection that will likely spur sales, but outside of that the exclusives are looking a little paper thin.

However, Nintendo lacks the third-party support of the other two systems and it's one of the things holding back the system from looking as appealing to the wider market as it could. Unfortunately there doesn't appear to be anyway for Nintendo to fix their third-party problem just short of releasing an x86 console for around $200 that 100 million people purchase. As it stands right now the Wii U's architecture and more focused demographic keeps the big publishers from pumping out cash-in ports that sell well. In fact, the cash-in ports aren't being picked up by Wii U gamers and they're expecting third-party publishers to put the same level of quality into their games that Nintendo pours into theirs. That doesn't seem like it's going to happen, hence the lack of Call of Duty, Assassin's Creed and other games not appearing on the Wii U this year.

Even still, if you want quality games for the Wii U you just have to look no further than Nintendo's own wheelhouse and some of the indie devs, like Shin'en Entertainment. You can grab Super Smash Bros. on the Wii U starting November 21st. For more information feel free to visit the official website.

[Warning: Spoilers]

Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 3DS launches this week in North America. The game is already receiving rave reviews and pushing sales pretty hard for Nintendo. Fans who want to jump in and find out what they need to do and how they need to do it in order to unlock all the characters in the game will find it available right here in this guide.

YouTube user Arekkz Gaming offers up a five-minute video on how to effectively setup the matches to work in your favor and so you can blast through the matches quickly in order to unlock all the characters. In total you'll need to play 120 matches to unlock each of the hidden characters. The best way to do that is to set the difficulty level to '1' and then turn the stocks down to '1'. You proceed to either turn-off items or only turn on the baseball bat (as Arekkz suggested) and then pick a small stage with edges you can easily fall off. However, for the item, the hammer might actually be the better item since it's pretty powerful and makes the job even easier yet.

Here's a list of who you unlock after completing so many matches in the game, courtesy of YouTube user Community Game.

Play 10 Vs. Matches to unlock Ness

Play 20 Vs. Matches to unlock Falco

Play 30 Vs. Matches to unlock Wario

Play 40 Vs. Matches to unlock Lucina

Play 50 Vs. Matches to unlock Dark Pit

Play 60 Vs. Matches to unlock Dr. Mario

Play 70 Vs. Matches to unlock R.O.B.

Play 80 Vs. Matches to unlock Ganondorf

Play 90 Vs. Matches to unlock Mr. Game & Watch

Play 100 Vs. Matches to unlock Bowser Jr.

Play 110 Vs. Matches to unlock Duck Hunt Dog

Play 120 Vs. Matches to unlock Jigglypuff

He also has a 22 minute video showcasing each match against the unlockable characters and how to defeat them.

The Super Smash Bros. game for the Nintendo 3DS is currently available in Japan, and has already managed to sell more than 1.2 million units, according to a report by Venture Beat. While there were a lot of common reports that the Wii U was dying and over with, if Super Smash Bros., along with the recently released Hyrule Warriors and the upcoming Bayonetta 2 sell anywhere near as well as Smash Bros. on the 3DS, then I think Nintendo will be just fine.

You can look the grab up a copy of Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 3DS in North America this Friday on October 3rd. If you need a taste of the game before putting any money aside for it, feel free to grab the demo for the 3DS right now. For more information, feel free to visit the game's official website.

For those who came to smash: The 3DS version of Super Smash Bros. is nearly upon us and, to celebrate, Nintendo has announced the first big tournament, which is set to begin on Oct. 4 and will be hosted out of GameStop locations around the country.

Word trickled to our ears from a Neogaf post, which sourced back to an original announcement made earlier today by Nintendo. What's especially interesting about this tournament is that it takes place almost immediately following the launch of the actual game, so players won't have much time to bone up on their skills before entering this open tournament.

Sure, the demo has been around for a couple of weeks and there are likely plenty of folks who have now gotten quite good with the likes of Mario, Link, Pikachu, Mega Man and the Villager, but once that full Smash roster opens up, there's no telling what sort of interesting new challenges the competition will bring. Even carry-over characters from previous games may be slightly altered, so this is the closest to level footing any player could hope to enjoy in a tournament setting.

Super Smash Bros. launches for the 3DS next Friday, Oct. 3, with the 64-player local tournaments set to take place on Oct. 4. Rumor has it that the Wii U version of the game will be here in time for the holidays, but that hasn't been confirmed just yet.

As for the tournament, the event will be hosted out of 15 GameStop stores across the U.S., as well as the Nintendo World store in New York. The format will consist of three rounds of four-player battles and matches will be a first come, first served basis, according to the press release. You are not required to bring your own console and copy of the game to the tournament, but you may do so if you like. I'm gaming on an OG 3DS, for instance, and might prefer to take advantage of a 3DS XL for that extra screen real estate if one is available at-store, for instance.

Your road to glory won't end at the local arena, if you manage to win. Each tournament winner will then be flown to New York to participate in the National Open Tournament on Oct. 11, which the rest of us will be able to watch through Nintendo's Twitch channel and on YouTube beginning at 6 p.m. ET. In that final leg of the tournament, character customization will be allowed, making for even more interesting match-ups.

Whoever pulls off the final win will earn a shiny trophy and, appropriate for such a slugfest, a champion's robe from Nintendo. They'll also earn the right to attend the World championship at some point in the future.

There are loads of additional details on rules, prizes, etc. You'll also want to check the list of participating locations to see if a GameStop near you is hosting a tournament. For all of that info, visit Nintendo's official site.

If you ever wanted to punch Pikachu in the face while humming the battle theme to Final Fantasy V, then this week’s lineup of new releases on the Nintendo 3DS is just for you. Get ready for the Super Smash Bros. demo and Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call.

It’s a good week to be a Nintendo fan gaming on the go. First up, let’s talk battling Bowsers and brawling Links. With the 3DS version of Super Smash Bros. launching on Oct. 3, Nintendo is priming the pugilistic pump with a public demo, available right-bloody-now through the 3DS eShop. While last week’s demo was available via invite only, anyone with the portable console can jump into the fray starting today.

I’ve only spent a little time with the demo so far but, from what I’ve seen, Nintendo has done a fine job of porting Smash action to the palm of your hands. You can pick from Mario, Link, Pikachu, the Villager and Mega Man in the demo, with only one arena available in this trial version. My only real gripe is that the controls aren’t quite my cup of tea, but I hear we’ll be able to customize them in the final build, so no worries on that front. Otherwise, get in a few fights and let us know what you think in the comments below.

This week’s other big release is Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call, AKA “The game I’m always certain I’m spelling horribly, horribly wrong.” A rhythm game boasting more than 200 songs from the storied franchise’ long lineup of games, Curtain Call is an enhanced version of the original Theatrhythm offering loads of content and unlocks, as well as online/offline multiplayer. Look for the Gamingblend review over the weekend!

Also arriving on the 3DS this week is Cooking Mama 5: Bon Appetit, the latest in yet another long-running and beloved game from the Nintendo camp that has you completing cooking-themed mini games in order to learn some legit recipes.

You can also get your hands on the Game Boy Color hit RPG, Legend of the River King 2 through the 3DS Virtual Console this week, as well as eShop titles FIFA 15, Horse Vet 3D and Secret Empires of the Ancient World.

Goings are quite a bit slower on the Wii U this week, however, with the Virtual Console release of the NES title, Wild Guns, joined by eShop titles Arrow Time U and Spikey Walls.

The “Super Smashing Sale” continues this week with discounts on various games featuring combatants in the upcoming Smash Bros. game, as well as sales on Renegade Kid and Big John titles, a handful of Atlus games on the 3DS, and a 50 percent discount on Classic Games Overload: Card & Puzzle Edition.

While most of the latest buzz surrounding upcoming Nintendo brawler, Super Smash Bros., revolves around the soon to be released 3DS version of the game, we finally have a scrap of news pertaining to the home console version of the game, namely a potential release date for the Wii U: Nov. 21.

If you aren't talking about Destiny these days, chances are pretty good that you're spending your time diving into post after post talking about Super Smash Bros. It's been quite a while since the last title in the series dropped and Nintendo has done a good job of slow-dripping information to the masses leading up to launch.

The 3DS version of the game is set to release Oct. 2, a tad later than the originally noted “summer 2014” window. No real word on the Wii U version of the game's release date has been mentioned; until now. As is becoming increasingly the case, Twitter has proven a good source of possible news leaks. As user BluesDriveBuster discovered courtesy of a pre-order card, it looks like Super Smash Bros. could be arriving on Nov. 21.

Since Nintendo hasn't said word one on the subject, that release date should be taken with a very large grain of salt for the time being. The picture Rogers posted looks legitimate enough, but it's amazing what kids can do with there fancy computer machines these days. If it holds true, though, that means that console gamers won't have much longer to wait in order to get even more brawling action on the Wii U, just shy of two months following the portable release. This could also help really boost up the appeal of the Wii U heading into the holiday season, as the last NPD results hinted at the Wii U having dipped below the 70k mark for August, and Nintendo really needs some huge, heavy-hitters for the fall to regain the momentum they had during the spring.

And speaking of that portable version of the game, Nintendo has been gearing up for the Oct. 2 launch, this week kicking off a demo program that gives everyone four ways to try out the game. Per our recent coverage, if you met certain requirements, Nintendo would have sent you a download code for the demo earlier this weekend. They would have sent your four codes, in fact, which is the second way you could have grabbed a demo: From a friend. Don't worry, though, because everyone will be able to download the 3DS demo off of the eShop starting Sept. 19. Finally, select stores will host demos of the game starting Sept. 18, just in case you're in the market to see is Smash Bros. is worth purchasing a 3DS for.

So, there you have it. The 3DS demo is rolling out and the game proper is due in just a couple of weeks. If the latest rumor holds true, then you may also be playing Smash Bros. on the Wii U in late November, just in time for the holiday season.

Until then, take a gander at the roster and get to imagining how amazing all of these fights are going to be.

Nintendo announced that Super Smash. Bros 3DS will be getting a demo prior to the game's launch in North America and Europe. Select 3DS owners are already receiving download codes for the demo.

"Today, Club Nintendo members who have achieved Platinum status between July 1, 2013, and June 30, 2014, have registered Nintendo 3DS hardware or software, and have opted in to receive emails from Club Nintendo will receive an email containing four download codes for the demo," Nintendo announced on Friday.

You can share your extra codes with friends who own a 3DS or 2DS. They'll be able to play the demo regardless of whether they're Club Nintendo members. Some gamers are also giving away their surplus through online communities like r/Nintendo.

The Super Smash. Bros 3DS demo allows players to compete with each other via local multiplayer. They can use five playable characters (Mario, Link, Pikachu, Villager and Mega Man) in matches on the Battlefield level. There's no limit to how much you can play the demo other than your boredom. Here's some footage from the demo courtesy of a Club Nintendo member:

If you can't get a code for the Super Smash Bros. demo, don't worry about it. Everyone with a 2DS or 3DS will be able to download the demo through the Nintendo eShop starting on September 19th. The public demo does have a limit on how many times you can play, though.

"This demo includes the same content and features as the Club Nintendo demo that select members will receive one week earlier, and can be opened from the Nintendo 3DS Home Menu a maximum of 30 times," Nintendo says. "A Nintendo Network ID is required to download either the Club Nintendo or Nintendo eShop demo."

Gamers who don't even own a 3DS/2DS will get a chance to play the demo as well. Nintendo says that select retailers will have demo kiosks starting on the 19th as well. They don't actually mention which stores will have these kiosks, though. Best Buy hosted special preview events for Super Smash Bros. earlier this summer, however, so they may be involved with this latest push.

Super Smash Bros. launched on 3DS in Japan today. Europe and North America will receive the game on October 3rd. You can check out the full roster for the game here.

With the launch of a new Super Smash Bros. just around the corner, it's time to start thinking about what surprises might be in store for that final roster. Here are my top five dream picks for Nintendo's latest mascot brawler.

First, the parameters: This is a dream roster for a fighting game where Mario can punch a Pokemon in the face, so I didn't worry about whether or not my picks were all that realistic, or if licensing would be impossible, or anything like that. Put simply, these are the five characters I most want to play as in the upcoming Smash Bros. for 3DS and Wii U.

Second, I wanted to think a little bit outside the box for some of these. A couple will be rather obvious, but I really wanted to dig into memories of some of my favorite Nintendo experiences to come up with a couple less likely (though equally awesome) candidates.

Finally, I didn't want these characters to be from any of the franchises already included in the game. As much as I love Smash, I'm a little frustrated by the fact that Nintendo consoles are home to thousands of amazing characters, yet a handful of series get half a dozen brawlers thrown in while plenty of other great franchises go unrepresented.

Nintendo has made quite a few roster announcements up until this point (some of which were not exactly intentional), but I'm still hoping that someone from my dream team will make an appearance. So, without further ado, here's the list.

The Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy)

It can be easy to forget that the Final Fantasy series got its start on Nintendo consoles, and some folks even hold that FFVI for the SNES is the best of the lot, period. As for me, I'll always remember my first trek through the original Final Fantasy. I absolutely adored the artistic representations of the original Warrior of Light, complete with blue armor and a helmet sporting massive horns. The guy just looks legendary as all get out and his sword/shield combo are a perfect weapon set for a game like Smash. Final Fantasy is ripe with magic and summons to help round out his abilities, and of course we'd need an appearance from a chocobo for good measure. (Side note: I would be willing to accept a member of the Bravely Default cast as an alternate inclusion, since that's a bit more relevant to modern gamers.)

Simon Belmont (Castlevania)

This is another candidate I've wanted to see in Smash for a long time, and I think now would be a good time to remind people why the Belmont clan is worthy of our respect. Simon's trademark whip could allow for some interesting attack, AOE and grapple abilities, while his sub weapon arsenal is pre-made for a variety of great support moves. The crucifix would work similar to Link's boomerang, the ax can attack in an upward arc and the holy water can be thrown on the ground to create a chain of fire. It might also be cool to see a couple of trademark baddies from the Castlevania series make an appearance, including the Medusa head and a charging wolf.

Crono (Chrono Trigger)

With his legendary katana and sweet, sweet sword skills, Crono would make lots of sense as an addition to the Smash Bros. lineup. Even though Chrono Trigger was only a one-game series for Nintendo (Amazing sequel on PSone, btw), there's a large number of games fans who still include it among their top games of all time. For something so small to have such a big impact on gaming in general, I saw we pay Chrono Trigger its proper dues and add Crono into Nintendo's upcoming brawler.

Mia (Golden Sun)

Rather than pick yet another angsty sword-wielding hero from a favorite game series, I decided to change things up a bit with my pick for Golden Sun. Mia is a wonderful character who sports a unique look, complete with a flowing set of robes, striking blue hair and a magical staff that packs a mean punch. Along with adding a much-needed additional female option to the Smash roster, she could be a super strong combatant to boot. Mia's staff could be utilized if the fight gets close, but I see her using her magic and all of those wonderful Djinn summons to keep things interesting as a mid to long-range character.

Neku/Shiki (The World Ends with You)

One of the most beloved games from the original DS era, The World Ends with You is all about fast-paced, customizable combat that had players madly tapping and swiping their screens while simultaneously inputting button commands to take out hordes of enemies. Combat took place across both screens, with one character fighting on the lower half and their partner waging war on the top. Shiki is Neku's first partner in the game and, together, they could make for an interesting stance fighter duo. A handful of fan-favorite pin attack abilities could be bolted onto Neku to make him into a caster, with the ability to swap into Shiki as a heavy brawler, pummeling enemies with her stuffed animal.a

A new leak has gone viral concerning the alleged complete roster for Super Smash Bros. on the Wii U and the Nintendo 3DS. The roster list and some of the images showcase some of what gamers can expect from the upcoming fighting title from Nintendo.

GameSpot spotted a detailed thread over on NeoGaf that rolled out all sorts of amazing information on the characters, mods and even some videos of the leak. However, Nintendo quickly swooped in and filed copyright claims on the YouTube videos, effectively having them shutdown.

Nevertheless, a complete list of the characters and some of the unconfirmed characters planned for release were made public. Some of the characters that have been possibly leaked from the event are as follows:

* Doctor Mario

* Dark Pit

* Alph (as one of Olimar's costumes)

* Shulk (from Xenoblade Chronicles)

* Bowser Jr.

* Ness (from Earthbound)

* The Dog from Duck Hunt

* Mr. Game & Watch

* ROB

* Wario

Very interesting to see some returning faces from Super Smash Bros. Brawl on the Wii. Doctor Marrio seems like an odd choice, but whatever. Shulk is a nice addition, and seeing the return of Mr. Game & Watch isn't too surprising, neither is ROB. It's completely shocking seeing the dog from Duck Hunt make the cut, though. It's a classic game for sure, but... um... I don't think he would make for that great a smasher. Then again, who knows? I never would have thought the Ice Climbers could have carried some players so far into the finals of the Evo Championships.

What some people might find a bit shocking are the characters who aren't yet confirmed to make the cut. Check out the list below.

* Snake (Metal Gear)

* Lucas (Earthbound)

* Ice Climbers (Ice Climbers)

* Wolf (Star Fox)

Speaking of the Ice Climbers, it's interesting to note that they aren't yet in the game. I'm sure many of the gamers who play on the competitive scene would probably have a heart attack not seeing the Ice Climbers in the upcoming game.

There's also tons of images that have leaked of the game's Trophies that you can view over on Imgur.

A lot of this hasn't come for free, though. It's being reported by GoNintendo that Nintendo of America has allegedly identified who the leaker is and has fired and sued the individual. It hasn't been confirmed yet, but this is what's being reported at the moment.

Additionally, previous leaks for games have received some rather unfavorable feedback from developers, with Halo 5's director chastising leakers and calling it illegal.

Earlier this year it was also rumored that Microsoft had pursued legal action against an employee who leaked the Halo 2: Anniversary Edition and Titanfall bundle.

It just goes to show you that this leaking business is serious business, and anyone caught doing it could face some stiff penalties from the companies they work for. Of course, in the end, they still have to ask themselves if it was worth the risk in the first place?

Ubisoft's CEO recently made some inflammatory comments about the Wii U, noting that the system just isn't much of a carrier for mature-rated games and that the audience isn't there to support them. This caused a lot of uproar from within the community, and quite naturally there was someone from Ubisoft available to quell the flames.

Ubisoft's European boss, Alain Corre, spoke to GamesIndustry.biz recently about the issues plaguing Nintendo's system and how the momentum could shift with a few key titles... specifically a Ubisoft title and one of Nintendo's own, saying...

It seems unlikely that Just Dance 2015 would really be that much of a shaker and a mover for the Wii U, but maybe it will garner a couple hundred thousand in sales.

The core crowd has decided to take a different route to supporting the Wii U, starting a social movement called #OperationPlatinum in an attempt to get core gamers to support hardcore titles like Bayonetta 2, and potentially move the sales gauge over the million mark once the game releases for Nintendo's console in October.

It's hard to get a gauge on the spread and breadth of the campaign since it's taking place in the underpinnings of social aggregation, but the YouTube videos are popping up and the Facebook and Twitter shares are spreading like wildfire.

But that hasn't deterred larger publishers like Activision and Electronic Arts from picking up their toys and heading home. In fact, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare is no longer coming to the Wii U, and Electronic Arts had mentioned before that they were dropping support for Nintendo's console.

Ubisoft is now fully focused on the Xbox One and PS4, with Corre making it known who their target audience is...

The above statement applies to games like The Crew, Assassin's Creed Unity and the upcoming shooter The Division. The company is slowly letting go of the seventh generation consoles, and the Wii U, as they focus primarily on the PS4 and the Xbox One.

It's interesting though that PC gamers were once treated the same way as Wii U gamers, but Ubisoft quickly turned around their position about PC gamers mostly being software thieves when they saw how lucrative Steam had become. Maybe we'll see a similar thing happen after Super Smash Bros. and the Amiibo line drops later this year during the holiday season?

There are some new rumblings happening within the Nintendo news circles indicating that Super Smash Bros could become a bundled item for the Wii U, and that the newly announced Amiibo devices could also be included in the bundle.

The news comes courtesy of My Nintendo News, where they are reporting that a GameStop store manager revealed to them in a conversation that Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U could become part of a bundled package and that Amiibo units could be included in the package. The store manager apparently didn't want to go on record with a quote and wished to remain anonymous, as noted in the article...

There have been far more outrageous claims that have circulated throughout the game industry, such as Nintendo canceling their efforts on the Wii U and scraping their games in order to push out a brand new console, only a year after the Wii U had launched. Now that's pretty outrageous.

In this case, the bundle for Super Smash Bros. actually makes a heck of a lot of sense. Not only is the game one of the most anticipated titles launching for the Wii U this holiday season but it's also one of the biggest games set to arrive for any home console this year.

Super Smash Bros. was promoted quite heavily leading up to Nintendo's showcase at this past year's E3. The company touted big things by dropping lots of information during Smash invitational tournament that saw the return of one of Super Smash Bros. most legendary and most notorious tournament players, Ken.

At E3 we also learned about a brand new feature for the Wii U: near-field communication through toy devices called Amiibo.

The Amiibo are very similar to the Skylanders toys that can be used with the stands that enable users to interact with the toys with various in-game activities. Disney also recently employed a very similar set of tactics with their Disney Infinity line of toys that accompany an ever-evolving interactive game.

In the case of Amiibo toys, you can use them with the Wii U's GamePad without requiring a separate platform. Gamers can simply take the Amiibo toys and place them on the GamePad and the game will read the device. What's more is that Amiibo toys can be used with multiple games, which means that you can have a single statue that holds and contains data for more than just the game you may have initially bought the Amiibo for. Additionally, you can gather up the toys as collector items, if you so choose.

As for the Super Smash Bros. bundle dropping on November 21st? Well, I wouldn't put it past Nintendo. They're an unorthodox company and a Smash Bros bundle could be the one bundle that elevates their Mario Kart 8 into super omega-sales mode. That's assuming that the bundle turns out to be true.

Several new characters have been added to the roster for the Wii U's version of Super Smash Bros. We get to see quite a few new characters on display for Nintendo's prime-time fighting game, including several new characters from Fire Emblem and the always indomitable Captain Falcon.

The trailer starts with Lucina battling it out against Falcon, while a downed Chrom lays in the corner. Falcon proceeds to lay a whooping on Lucina and preps for a Falcon Punch to finish the fight. However, Robin swoops in to save the day, giving Lucina some respite from the battle with Falcon.

The trailer then transitions from the cinematics to the actual gameplay, and we get to see Robin dropping some magnificent swordplay and magical spells against all on-comers.

Robin looks a lot like Palutena, as far as play-style goes. There's a strong mix of swordplay and magic attacks thrown into the mix that offers gamers what looks to be a nice mid and air game for players who don't like sticking to the ground.

Lucina, alternatively, is all about brute force and fast attack strikes that gives players something fast and snappy to throw out against opponents. She's almost like a mix between little Link and Ike.

Of course, we can't forget about Captain Falcon. He comes in bringing all sorts of agility and power attacks. That's not to mention that he looked pretty darn good fighting in that cinematic sequence. You could tell that the artists and animators really enjoyed putting Falcon on a pedestal of awesome.

In addition to this, they also reveal that gamers who would prefer playing Robin as a female can do so with a template swap. Yes, one of Robin's alt costumes is to turn into a female Robin. I'm willing to bet all the fallout over the Ubisoft situation caused Nintendo to throw that in there for all the Social Justice Warriors out there.

Super Smash Bros. is scheduled to arrive this holiday season for the Wii U. The game will bring together a lot of old favorites and new faces. There were some hints about the game's content at this year's Smash tournament that took place at E3, but the stages and items were kept to a minimum.

Even still, we did get to see how some of the specials worked out for characters like Mega Man and Little Mac. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see any of Pac-Man's gameplay on display and we also didn't get to see any of the characters from the reveal that took place at this year's E3.

Nevertheless, Nintendo has done a fantastic job of showcasing various characters and content leading up to the game's release this holiday season on the Wii U. You can learn more about the characters and content by paying a visit to the official website.

One of the big reveals at this year's E3 was that the legendary icon of video games – dating back to the very first cabinet days of the coin-slot arcade machines – would be making his grand appearance in Super Smash Bros. To be clear, Bandai Namco had confirmed that Pac-Man would be in the upcoming Super Smash Bros. for both the Nintendo 3DS and the Nintendo Wii U. However, this wasn't the first time that Pac-Man was supposed to appear in a Smash Bros. outing.

Kotaku captured a very interesting article from Famitsu Weekly that describes exactly why Pac-Man, as a character, didn't appear in Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the seventh-gen Wii.

According to the article Mr. Nintendo himself, Shigeru Miyamoto, approached Masahiro Sakurai the series creator of Pac-Man and asked if it would be possible to include Pac-Man into Brawl. Here's what Sakurai recalls...

Is that not something or what? “A little too farfetched”? For a Nintendo game? I mean, this is the same company where you play a miniature sized Italian plumber who travels into a magical land and grows big by consuming magical mushrooms and “fire” flowers in order to defeat a giant, princess-starved lizard who lives on a castle that floats on lava. I think “farfetched” is the sort of adjective that doesn't belong in the same sentence when talking about a Nintendo property, because everything Nintendo does is far-fetched.

Well, Sakurai had a lot to consider in regards to bringing Pac-Man to life in Smash Bros, stating that...

Well, Pac-Man eventually did become a prime-time fighter in Capcom's Street Fighter x Tekken, along with many other Bandai Namco characters.

It was Pac-Man's inclusion in SF x Tekken that seemed to work as a catalyst of sorts for his involvement with Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo's latest systems since his fighter model from Capcom's title seems to be the basis for his appearance in Smash Bros.

In regards to Pac-Man making his debut into Nintendo's prime-time fighting series this year, Sakurai simply stated that...

If Solid Snake from Metal Gear Solid could make it into the previous game, it's definitely a lot less odd to see the giant yellow blob from the early days of arcade gaming make a debut in Nintendo's title.

Super Smash Bros for the Nintendo 3DS is due for release on October 3rd and later on in the fall for the Wii U.

It's not out yet, it's not here, it's not finished and Nintendo is still adding content to the game in preparation for the holiday launch this year, exclusively for the Wii U, yet somehow Conan O'Brien managed to get his hands on the game for a review. Lucky him.

On the latest episode of Conan's Clueless Gamer, the late night talk show host put in some time with one of the games that's expected to skyrocket sales for the Wii U right into the stratosphere... Super Smash Bros.

The video is pretty hilarious and shows just how easy and how hard it is for newcomers to get into the Smash Bros., game. While the button combinations seem easy enough in the one-on-one bouts, you begin to see how difficult and chaotic things become when four player step into the fray.

Funnily enough, anyone looking to get into Super Smash Bros. would really do themselves a favor by doing one-on-one bouts before trying to Royal Rumble their way through the four-way battles.

Of course, none of that really matters when your job is to simply entertain, and that's primarily what Conan does in this latest episode of the Clueless Gamer.

He constantly peppers the staff with questions about the game and then juxtaposes that with knowledge about the history of U.S. Presidents, only for his cohorts to fail miserably on live television. Fail... so much epic fail. By the way, the second POTUS was John Adams... anyone with a cell phone and access to the Whitehouse.gov website could have guessed it (I guess in the heat of the moment it was the one time you couldn't find someone neck-deep in their handheld device). It also seems like John Adams is talked about almost as much as George Washington, so not knowing about the guy is a little saddening. That's not to mention that the guy just had a rather recent and popular HBO mini-series starring Paul Giamatti... so um, yeah.

Anyway, Super Smash Bros. looked good on the Clueless Gamer, with Nintendo managing to overcome the biggest hurdle for games that aren't finished: locking up mid-game. There were no glitches, no hang-ups, no black screens and no hardware failure. Well played, Nintendo.

This also follows shortly on the heels of some mega-hype that the Big 'N' generated ever-so-recently when they held an invitational only Smash Bros., tournament live at E3 this year. The huge event saw an auditorium full of gamers coming out in support of Nintendo to showcase brand new characters and content for the upcoming game. It was also an event that saw Mega Man steal a lot of the show, and gamers literally jumped out of their seats every time the little blue bomber pulled off special moves or used his Smash Attack.

Even though Super Smash Bros. looks like it's done and finished, it's actually far from it. The game won't appear on store shelves until this holiday season. Even still, it's never too early to pick up a Wii U, and Nintendo seems to have given gamers plenty of reasons to do so... one of which includes an excellent showing during Conan's Clueless Gamer segment.

Nintendo has rolled out the official tournament for Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U, it's gotten underway and has compiled 16 of the very best players from around the world to compete to be the undisputed grand champion for Nintendo's invitational for Super Smash Bros.

Nintendo dropped massive bombs for this year's E3, ranging from brand new IP such as Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker and the highly anticipated Splatoon, but they also brought a lot of the content and intellectual property that helped shape the Nintendo brand over the years, including a live Super Smash Bros tournament that's currently take place, as of the publishing of this article.

Earlier in the day Nintendo revealed during their Nintendo direct for E3 that there is a brand new character joining the roster for the game's launch this holiday season, along with brand new features such as the Wii Brawler and the NFC figurines that interact with the Wii U's GamePad called amiibo.

These amiibo figurines will be collectable for various games, including but not limited to Super Smash Bros, Mario Kart 8, Skylanders and more. The amiibo will completely change the way a lot of gamers interact with games on the Wii U and could completely help revive and keep the Wii U moving regularly in the retail market, especially amongst casuals. We've seen how big a game like Activision's Skylanders can be using figurines in correlation with an interactive game, and Nintendo is now hoping to achieve the same thing with their amiibo, which will be introduced with Super Mario Bros. exclusively on the Wii U.

Super Smash Bros. has looked unbelievably impressive so far. As far as balance goes, it's almost impossible to tell exactly how well the game will work in its final form given that it's still quite a few months off from release. However, I can say that from what I've seen so far the game looks absolutely stunning.

During the tournament it was such a cool thing to see Mega Man on the screen and opening up a can. The biggest drawback of the tournament was that we didn't get to see Mega Man's smash special in action. The hype levels would have gone through the roof if we would have been able to see Mega Man's smash on display.

Even still, new characters like Greninja and Wii-Fit Trainer were also part of the tournament, along with Little Mac from Super Punch Out. Little Mac really is a surprising entry here because his limited mobility is definitely compensated for with some amazing up-close-and-personal melee attacks.

Thankfully you won't have to wait for too long to get in on the Smash Bros. action because the game is due for release this holiday season, exclusively for the Wii U.

It may still be a while before anyone can pick up their very own copy of Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U but, for those looking to visit Best Buy in the next month, you’ll at least be able to get your hands on the game via specially hosted demos at select locations.

I remember the first time I saw the original Smash Bros. commercial for the Nintendo 64 version of the game. It featured Mario, Donkey Kong and Co. strolling through some flowers all lovey-dovey before turning on each other in a frenzy of kicks and punches.

Up until that point, Nintendo’s iconic characters had basically been the equivalent of Disney legends: Pure, kind-hearted heroes who fight against evil. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would see the day when these guiding lights of morality would dive into an all-out brawl with one another. It felt so wrong and so right all at the same time.

Now, several iterations into the series and we no longer bat an eye at throwdowns between Kirby and Link. The game’s unique breed of melee combat has been finely honed over the years, too, turning what many initially assumed would be one-off side project into one of the most beloved fighting series of all time.

This year, that legacy will continue with a brand new version of Smash Bros. for the Wii U. Sure, there’s a 3DS version coming out, too (and most likely quite a bit earlier than the home console version), but today’s news specifically relates to the upcoming fisticuffs set to take place on Nintendo’s living room machine.

The publisher has partnered with Best Buy this summer to give players a chance to take the latest Smash Bros. for a test drive long before it’s available in stores.

“On June 11, from 4 to 9 p.m., and June 14, from 12 to 5 p.m., more than 100 Best Buy stores around the US will host ‘Super Smash Bros.’ Smash-Fest @ Best But,” reads a statement from Nintendo. “An event that features the same demo version of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U that people will get to play at the e# 2014 video game trade show in Los Angeles.”

Nintendo hosted a similar event out of Best Buy last year, letting visitors to the store play games that were otherwise only available on the showroom floor at E3. For Smash Bros., battles will be open to four players with characters coming from your favorites Nintendo licenses, as well as characters like Mega Man and Sonic the Hedgehog.

As an added bonus, the first 70 folks to visit the event and pre-order either the Wii U or 3DS version of the game will also receive a commemorative gold coin.

To find out with Best Buy locations nearest you will be hosting events, simply visit the Smash-Fest official website. Then, all you have to do is show up during one of the scheduled events and get to playing.

Oh yeah, buddy. It's about to get serious in here. One of the many highly anticipated AAA exclusives coming out this year has just slid down a hallway and kicked opened the door for pre-orders, allowing for any and everyone to start prepping to get in on the action.

GenGame reached out to a GameStop store manager and received confirmation that Super Smash Bros for the Wii U is currently available for pre-order. You don't have to take my word (or GenGame's word) for it, just check it out over on GameStop's official website.

This marks the second big title of 2014 for the Wii U that's become available for pre-order, well ahead of release. When this originally happened with Mario Kart 8 we saw the title skyrocket to the top of Amazon's best-sellers list and then sell-out rather quickly.

The pre-order campaign for Super Smash Bros follows closely on the heels of Nintendo's announcement, just yesterday, that the game would be receiving additional playable characters in the form of Charizard and Greninja. They also unveiled additional details about the gameplay for both the Wii U and the Nintendo 3DS, confirming a neat four-player dungeon-battle mode for the handheld and a new “For Glory” mode for the home console, primed and ready for tournament play.

The Nintendo Direct also confirmed that this side-scrolling 3D, burly brawler would be scheduled for release this summer on the 3DS and this winter for the Wii U.

While the news about the release of the game coming in the winter for the Wii U definitely peeved off a lot of the core gaming audience still hanging on to the tassels of the Big 'N', everyone should keep in mind that Super Smash Bros will definitely be a better game in the long run with a nice, juicy delay. Also, unlike their competitors, Nintendo games usually launch without any major bugs and without any game-breaking errors. For as much as they receive flak from EA, Nintendo surely outshines them when it comes to releasing quality software products that aren't broken out of the box.

In the meantime, you can still pre-order the game as you wait for the winter 2014 release on the Wii U, or you can pre-order Mario Kart 8 if patience isn't a virtue, and get the game when it drops on May 30th next month. Either way, there are good things ahead in the Nintendo camp and gamers definitely have a good reason to be excited.

The Fighting Game Community (or FGC for short) has been making waves lately in the gaming community (for better and sometimes for worse) but today is one of those days where it's for the better. Apex Series has announced that they will be hosting a tournament next year that will bridge the gap between the FGC's greats and the FGC legends.

Previously, a press release was issued indicating that Apex would be upping their game and bringing in a new breed of fighting game blood, and hoping to reach some of the top competitors the world around when they bring the event to New Jersey next year in mid-January.

As noted in the press release...

Apex is going all out by bringing together every single Super Smash Bros. game to date, into a smorgasbord of Super Smash Bros. goodness. In fact, they're reaching deep down and even unleashing the highly praised community modded rendition of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, called Super Smash Bros. Brawl Project M, where the game has been refined and finely-tuned to suit the very stringent needs of the most ardent Smash Bros. aficionados within the Fighting Game Community.

There's also a list of all the Smash Bros. titles and additional fighting games that will be in attendance, which you can check out below.

(All games will be played on Xbox, while Smash will be played on Wii/GC/N64 respectively)

• Super Smash Bros. Brawl Singles ($15)

• Super Smash Bros. Brawl Doubles ($10 Per Person) - 128 Team Cap

• Super Smash Bros. Melee Singles ($15)

• Super Smash Bros. Melee Doubles ($10 Per Person) - 128 Team Cap

• Super Smash Bros. ($10 Per Person) - 128 Man Cap

• Project M ($10 Per Person) - 128 Man Cap

• Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition Version 2012 ($10)

• Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 ($10)

• The King of Fighters XIII ($10)

• Tekken Tag Tournament 2 ($10)

• Injustice – Gods Among Us ($10)

• Pokemon X/Y ($10 Per Person)

Basically all the big players will be in attendance, except for Capcom's money-grubbing DLC monster, Street Fighter X Tekken. Yeah, that game that contained a healthy dose of well over $100 worth of disc-locked content. The game that also single-handedly gave DLC a bad name... that and the Asura's Wrath ending... but that's beside the point.

Anyway, most of the top-tier fighting games that the community has endeared themselves to will be on hand at the Apex 2014 Tournament. This will also give those EVO junkies a little bit of something to hang on to while they wait for next year's tournament to roll around.

If you think you have the cajones to hang with the big boys and girls of the FGC, feel free to learn more about qualifying for the Apex 2014 Tournament over on their official website. Good luck... your thumbs will need it.

Reggie Fils-Aime had a small segment on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon recently and in the clip fans on Twitter asked Big Daddy Reggie if he would possibly appear in Super Smash Bros. Wii U and his response was “My body is ready”.

The Nintendo of America Chief Operating Officer addressed the question at the 53 second mark – which you can watch in the video above courtesy of Nintendo Everything – where a fan asks if Reggie will be a playable character in the upcoming Super Smash Bros due out next year, exclusively for the Wii U, with Reggie responding, saying...

Perfect answer!

I think this is the sort of thing that will end up getting a ton of fans running to Change.org for a petition... oh wait, they already have!

Nintendo Enthusiast noted how fans came together to start a petition in order to include “The Regginator” in Super Smash Bros. for both the Nintendo 3DS and for the Nintendo Wii U.

The idea, as ludicrous as it sounds, isn't all that far-fetched. The reality is that a lot of gamers feel as if Reggie belongs on the roster just as much as say... the Wii Fit Trainer. By that token, it's hard to argue with fans when Sakuari adds in someone like the Trainer over more important Nintendo icons like Big Daddy Reggie and Shigeru Miyamoto, who is also known as Mr. Nintendo.

Could you imagine The Regginator and Mr. Nintendo teamed up together to take on the Mario Bros.? Or facing down against Ganondorf and Bowser? That's an EVO moment waiting to happen!

Unfortunately, there's no way to know if this will ever happen because Sora, the game's producer, had previously mentioned how difficult and arduous it can be to add a single character to Smash Bros. games.

Perhaps if enough people send tweets the way of Sakuari and pester him enough to interrupt his work and disturb his mental feng shui, he just might be inclined to take gamers up on their little petition.

If you want to make your voice heard you can send a (kind) tweet the way of Sakuari to potentially persuade him to include Reggie or you can sign the petition with more than 28,000 other gamers over on Change.org.

It’s a new month, which means it’s also time for a new crop of goodies being offered in the Club Nintendo Rewards program. Four new offerings are being made available for the next 30 days, including two games for the 3DS and another two for the Wii.

For those unfamiliar with Nintendo Rewards, basically it’s a program that rewards loyal customers for buying Nintendo products with, well, more Nintendo products. Pretty much any Wii, Wii U, DS and 3DS console or game you buy these days will have a little slip of paper in it inviting customers to register their latest purchase with the program. Doing so earns you points that accumulate over time. You can even take a survey following registration to get additional points, as well as a follow-up survey a week or two later for even more points.

Every month, the Nintendo Rewards program offers a collection of digital download games in exchange for points. If something pops up on the list that you have an interest in, simply claim it and get to downloading. There’s also a collection of physical prizes, like pencil bags, patches and postcards, but they usually swap out on a much slower basis and often cost quite a bit more points than the digital prizes.

But enough backstory. You came here to find out which games are being made available this month. So, without further ado, here’s the rundown. As far as the exchange rate is concerned this month, Nintendo chose to keep things nice and simple. All four of the games for August can be yours for 150 points. These games will all be available through Sept. 1, at which point a new selection will become available.

First up, we’ll start with the 3DS offerings. For the next month, Rewards members with enough points in the bank will be able to download Mario Golf or Brain Age Express: Sudoku. The Game Boy Color follow-up to the NES Mario Golf, this colorful version of the classic golf game is one parts sporting event, one part RPG as you tackle four courses, multiple mini-games and try to level up your characters’ abilities. Brain Age Express: Sudoku, on the other hand, bolts the popular number game onto a framework based on the Brain Age series.

Over to the Wii offerings and we’re looking at Wario’s Woods and NES Play Action Football. Wario’s Woods is a Dr. Mario-esque puzzle stacker while NES Play Action football gives modern gamers a chance to see what sports games were like a good 20 years ago.

If nothing caught your interest this month, be sure to check back in early September, when a new crop of four free games rotates into the list.

In order for Super Smash Bros' sequel to expand beyond the inclusion of simply more content, its producer has stated that the key to the successor will be Wii U and 3DS connectivity.

Masahiro Sakurai told IGN that "there is a certain dead end we come to if we just expand the volume of the game," and that he intends "to change direction a little as we go. The key to that's going to be its dual support for 3DS/Wii U."

Work on the sequel is currently in its early stages, admitted Sakurai, but implementing some sort of connectivity between both the Wii U and 3DS would be a defining factor for the brawler. Nintendo global president Satoru Iwata had also mirrored the producer's enthusiasm for linking the 3DS and Wii U versions of the game.

"I'm really just getting started on this so it's going to take time, but I'll come up with something that uses that link as the game's central axis, so I hope you're looking forward to it," said Sakurai.

Ultimately, when Super Smash Bros' sequel does eventually release, it'll have competition in the form of Sony's own brawler. SuperBot Entertainment recently unveiled PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, a title that undoubtedly bears resemblances with Nintendo's fighter.