Topic: 8-player Smash shows a distinct advantage the Wii U could have going forward

This, too. PS3 could supports 7 controllers, I think. Whether it matters is more opinion than anything, though.

I'm not bothered by the lack of voice chat, though. You can still chat with friends, so I don't get why you'd want to chat with much of anyone else. They figure anyone worth chatting with for yourself would be registered as a friend. It makes sense to me.

Because publishers say local multiplayer is dead. That's literally the only reason this is a conversation.

I know more than a few people who say their kids will text friends sitting on the same couch. The art of local gameplay (and communication) is a dying art T_T.

"Why deal with the realistic fallout of breaking up with my girlfriend when I can just text her? Why call the wrath of my friends by playing like a wuss when I can just troll people online?" The interwebz is convenient...for better or worse.