Overwatch Director Reminds Us Which Hero He Would Like To See In Smash Bros.

We could get a Spirit event at least. Considering that the "No Spirits" rule was broken the odds of Overwatch characters coming to Smash is slim at best.

Blizzard is one of the worst companies on earth right now, especially due to the recent Hong Kong debacle. They will never get a cent from me...

@DoktorTotenKopf It’s not like Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony weren’t implicated in the whole Uighur Muslim concentration camp scandal. If you’re going to boycott Blizzard, you’d have to be consistent and boycott basically all tech firms.

On topic, Tracer would be a pretty good fit for Smash, she’s already an icon and Recall could be a really interesting move.

Has Activision Blizzard done anything right this past decade?

Ngl it'd be nice. Overwatch is pretty fun and the dev team has done a lot to support it. That being said, the suits at Activision/Blizzard have painted a negative image of the company as of recently, and thus, I'm not sure how well their character would be received in a game like Smash Bros. I don't intend to spend a dime on lootboxes. They're worthless. (Not to mention the meshing of both communities...I shudder at the thought.)

If it DID happen, I wouldn't complain, though. In my honest opinion, the colorful and peppy Tracer fits the game better than someone like the overly gritty, serious, and quiet Doomguy. (Side note: I don't see the appeal for Doomguy in Smash. Yeah I love Doom 2016. It's a great game. But he's a silent dude who just shoots everything. That kinda personality would be boring in Smash. He'd fit better in Mortal Kombat). In terms of FPS characters, I'd rather someone from a more light-hearted game whose personality could shine through, but that's just me.

I used to want Tracer in, but now I don't. Keep your Hong Kong trash out of my game. TF2 rep is better because they re-defined the genre, is still super active, and doesn't have...corporate scum

It's a really good multiplayer game owned by one of the most sleazy companies out there. If wealth and success makes people stop caring about freedom and rights and humanity than it's better and happier to die starving in a hole than to be a CEO for Activision.

But the devs shouldn't take all the blame for a corporation which cares more about making another buck than about human rights or freedom. It's a really good game sold to the worst people.

No thanks, Blizzard’s brown nosing to the CCP, firing people when they make their best financial results in years, doesn’t listen to its fans (nobody wants overwatch 2). Stay away from them nintendo.

@nessisonett to the rescue of the poor multimillionaires who are treated unfairly.

Don’t imply people are hypocrites because they aren’t criticising every one in this industry. The article is about blizzard and nintendo. Stay on topic, whataboutism is a strategy for the morally bankrupt.

It’s good for everyone to have critical thinking, even more now that the CCP pissed on international law so many times theses last years.

@Dodger I couldn’t agree more, it’s such a shame for the devs who have no control over this sorta thing, Overwatch has one of the most positive, diverse and unique casts of any game out there. The game is incredibly fun and the community’s so much less toxic than CS:GO and COD. Just crap that it’s owned by a company who think human rights are optional.

@PBandSmelly
Sadly, neither TF2 nor its characters are on Nintendo hardware, so it wouldn't make much sense. Until then, we don't really have a good FPS rep. But if by some miracle Tracer does get in, no one's gonna force you to play her.

No thanks. What a waste of a character slot that'd be.

@Khalic Whataboutism is pointless but so are inconsistent boycotts. If your morals are that flexible, what’s the point in boycotting in the first place. You call out all forms of human rights violations or none at all. You’re right that this article is about Blizzard and Nintendo, both companies have jumped in bed with Chinese investors and have ties to slave labour. The tech industry is full of this crap but personally I don’t think it’s fair to these individual devs to give them a hard time because of what their fiscal overlords do. If nobody buys Overwatch, the devs get fired and the shareholders take their bonuses. Protest is more effective from within the community than through inaction.

@JR150
You know who else wasn't on nintendo hardware? Joker.

@PBandSmelly
Wrong. He's in Persona Q2, a 3DS exclusive, and Persona 5 Scramble on Switch. (Not to mention Catherine on Switch, as well as a cameo via costume in Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore).

The game he originates from isn't on Switch, but he has made other appearances on Nintendo systems.

To my understanding, that seems to be the bare minimum requirement for a character to get into Smash Bros. And TF2 does not fit either. So I don't see it happening.

You’re not giving devs a hard time, they get their check, go to work (if they still have it). It’s the guys upstairs that have their bank account directly linked to sales numbers.

I agree the devs made a great game and it’s killing me not to play it on the switch or any of my consoles. And I won’t criticise people for playing it.

But not playing/buying the game is a measured response, it’s non aggressive and can be very effective. Don’t believe the BS about « cancel culture ».

But there need to be red lines, and blizzard crossed a lot of them.

@Khalic
Sadly, none of that matters. Hundreds of thousands (probably million) of people still play the game. Suits don't care about losing a few branches as long as the tree still bears fruit.

@JR150 Those rules of having to be on a nintendo system do not exist though.

@SwitchplayerJohn
While that sounds like a good idea on paper, Fortnite is merely about shooting and gliding. I don't think it'd be easy to make a moveset based around such simplistic gameplay that is universal to every third-person shooter.

@JR150 there are multiple examples of this working. The semi apology from blizzard was only thanks to those protests. Otherwise blizzard hong kong would still be writing pro CCP propaganda on their social media and the protester wouldn’t have gotten his prize money.

It helps, it just doesn’t change everything at once. Small steps

As if Hong Kong was their only screw up lately.

@PBandSmelly
Hey, if that's what you wanna think, go ahead. I'm just saying it's very unlikely given that TF2 has no presence on Nintendo hardware. Since Nintendo chooses the DLC, I don't think they'd select a game franchise that doesn't appeal to the people who buy their products. For example, trying to sell a TF2 character to Switch owners wouldn't make much sense, since it hasn't been on their hardware before, so most Nintendo fans probably don't care about it.

Compared to Joker who was in a 3DS game, so Nintendo fans had some knowledge of him, even if it was minimal. Therefore it made sense to add him.

But things like TF2 or 2B aren't going to appeal to Nintendo fans since they aren't familiar. Thus, NIntendo isn't likely to add something to Smash Bros from those games. We'd more likely see Ninjala or Travis Touchdown in Smash before something like TF2.

@nessisonett Recall would be interesting, sure, but maybe if Shulk was actually a faithful, well-designed fighter we'd already have a somewhat similar mechanic. But of course, instead of making major changes to Shulk, they changed his Final Smash to spoil Xenoblade.
🙄

@Braok
Eh, after having played Xenoblade, I think he's designed well enough. The Monado Arts was the gimmick they wanted to push, and while they aren't all 1:1 copies of their Xenoblade versions, they do a good job of representing Shulk's abilities in a fighting game.

Vision acting as a counterattack sucks, but it was likely their best option to avoid breaking the game with a mechanic they were unfamiliar with at the time.

@JR150 Really, I'm sure P5R will come to Switch sometime next year, but Joker's inclusion and announcement was mostly to sell the fighter's pass. There wasn't a soul who didn't know of Persona 5 in December 2018, so of course it makes sense. Most of the first FP is fanservice, not there to advertise a game but rather to sell the DLC to Smash fans (aside from Byleth, we saw how that went...).

If TF2 were more relevant, it would be a strong candidate I'm sure (though being a PC game limits that quite a bit outside of a massive game like LoL).

@Braok
I don't think so. Seeing as Shin Megami Tensei V is still locked in as a Switch exclusive. It seems like Atlus wants newer games locked to certain platforms.

SMT 3 HD is gonna be on Switch and PS4, but SMT V is only gonna be on Switch because to Atlus, the audience for a new SMT game is on Switch since SMT 4 was on 3DS. Likewise, Persona 5 is stuck on PS4 because that's where Atlus sees that audience. As far as P4G on PC goes, that simply might've been an intervention from Sega, as Persona may still be a PlayStation console exclusive. Many don't know this, but the OG Persona 1 had a PC release in Japan. So P4G on PC changes nothing.

And sorry, but that's all rather moot given that Hero was released right around the (at the time) exclusive DQ11S was released on Switch. And while we may not have newer KoF games, Terry could easily be seen as a way to push the Arcade Archives series so people will play his older games. Banjo-Kazooie could simply be a way for Nintendo to push their relationship with Microsoft. Byleth was added to push Three Houses (though the game sold well beforehand), and Min-Min was clearly added to Smash Bros to make ARMS relevant again. Joker was likely added to help sell Persona Q2 and Persona 5 Scramble since both games probably would've fallen under the radar had he not been in Smash.

In other words, all the DLC is an ad in some form.

@JR150 I guess the arts are fine, but visions are really what bother me. Imagine if when Shulk gets hit by a KO move there's a large chance that time will rewind by 1-2 seconds (depends on the move, no point receiving a vision for an inescapable throw so it would go back to before the grab).

@Braok
Yeah no, that'd break the game. Sorry, but a counter seemed like the best option. Maybe if it reset the opponent? But that'd still require lots of memory to be readily available to rewind. XD

I love Overwatch and play it almost daily. The main go-to game on my Switch.

Could somebody break down for me what Blizzard has done in one or two sentences? Reading all your comments here seem to require a basic knowledge about the situation that I don't have.

I am a complete casual by choice when it comes to video games, and avoid the drama surrounding it as much as possible. That's why I have no problem with EA for example. Ignorance is bliss.

But hearing about human rights etc. I feel like I should not ignore the subject in this case regarding Blizzard.

@Yanina Activision Blizzard are partially owned by Tencent, the same company with vested interests in Nintendo, Game Freak and 90% of game companies at this rate. A Hearthstone player protested on behalf on Hong Kong at an event and his prize money was revoked because Blizzard clearly feared for their relationship with the Chinese government and Tencent. Cue rightful public outcry and they gave Blitzchung his money back. They’re clearly into some dodgy sh*t.

@nessisonett @Yanina
Though it should be noted that they did eventually return his money and reduce the ban. I'm not defending their actions, but this story does have a happy ending.

Why would we want a random Overwatch or Fortnite character when there are so many iconic gaming stalwarts still not in the game? Would you really want a dancing idiot Fortnite character over Crash Bandicoot/Spyro/Rayman/Bomberman etc.?

No Blizzard, no Activision, and no EA for me.

@Alaninho
Tracer is arguably just as iconic despite Overwatch being only four years old. She's the face of the game, and it's who the average person immediately thinks of when they hear the name of the game (between her, Soldier 76, and Mercy). Fortnite on the other hand, yeah. That game merely exists to sell outfits.

But don't discount someone like Tracer just because you don't like the game. Personally (if it wasn't for Blizzard's suits and their recent actions) I'd rather have her over all of those other characters you mentioned because I haven't played those games so I don't care about them. (Though if they did get in, I wouldn't be upset.)

But just because you don't like something, doesn't everyone else thinks the same way.

@PBandSmelly Joker is on the switch, with the game Persona 5: Scamble.

@yanina Kudos for informing yourself. It’s the only reason I post these annoying political comments, people need to know to make a decision.

We all die in ignorance otherwise

Overwatch Mii fighter costumes would be a reasonable fit. They did loads of Mii fighters for 3DS and Wii U, they could do even more for Switch with it's support. Or just give us a costume editor for Mii fighters so we can asset bash our own homages.

@nessisonett Nintendo hasn’t been directly involved, dealing with such matters as of yet it would seem.

Even if they did, I’m assuming they’d sever ties with such heinous companies/individuals engaging in such human rights violations...

Companies like Blizzard on the other hand...

@SwitchplayerJohn Fortnite is rubbish. There’s no way in nonexistent hell any of those so called characters should be added to Smash. Keep that garbage out of my favourite fighting game, thanks.

Get in line XD need Crash first

Nintendo should go back to theor original smash rule, only a few third party and more Nintendo related characters, or at least some legendaty game characters, like we already have, megaman, sonic, cloud, ry and ken etc etc. So more of these gems would be nice. Characters thad made people cry on youtube when announced.

I would say Dva is probably the most iconic in Overwatch if the playersbase is to be believed.

@JR150 "reduce the ban" = happy ending? He was still banned, it only lasted shorter, but I wouldn't say it was a happy end.

@Octane
That and he got his money back. It was certainly a happy ending for the player since everyone was on his side. Rightfully so. Don't you think raising awareness of a company's misdeeds and rallying for support of human rights is a good thing?

Is overwatch still a thing?

@nessisonett Thank you a lot for the rundown!
I was completely oblivious about the relationship with Tencent. That sucks.

The Blizzard I remember from the Warcraft II and Blackthorn days where rather conservative and doing their own thing.

Overwatch and that whole genre of online players entertaining each other in lieu of game content really do not interest me. Perhaps, if overwatch becomes a franchise that sticks; I'm not sure if any of the characters are actually recognisable yet, but perhaps in 5 or so years, glasses girl could stand in line behind more recognisable unseen fps characters like doom guy and Gordon Freeman from Half Life. I don't really see the point though.

@Khalic It is only possible because the people here are nicer then most other places. I would have never dared to ask the same thing on Reddit.

Blizzard has done nothing to affect me personally, I ain’t no social justice warrior. I loved their Warcraft, Starcraft and diablo series and still play them to this day. If they make a game I don’t like or announce a mobile game being made I just don’t buy it. No reason to take up arms and cry. Recently overwatch is my go to multiplayer game, because it’s fun to play with friends and randoms and the community ain’t as toxic as other games. The way people here act like Blizzard created coronavirus.

@Moistnado
It already has, though. Overwatch has sold millions of copies on all consoles and PC all over the world, has spun off into various types of merchandise including figurines, books, web animations, and LEGOs. I'd argue Tracer is more iconic to the average kid nowadays than Doomguy is. Which is the target demographic for Smash.

Just because she's newer doesn't mean she's not iconic. Look at Joker. Persona 5 isn't even 5 years old and a lot of people know who he is. So yeah. Many probably think Tracer would be a good fit even if you don't.

I do think if they were too add an overwatch character to the game I do think Tracer is a good choice. I am trying to think of other characters move sets in overwatch that would transition well.

While dva is my main in the game I don't think her move sets would transition well for smash.

Without running the risk of being thrown out of the gaming community, I find Blizzard designs to be either generic or derivative. Their 'inspiration' can sometimes be far too close to other popular tropes. However, I will say they are very well done. But I don't usually find them endearing.

D-VA would be a great choice. She could have quite the moveset be it on foot or in the mecha.

I don't understand what Blizzard is doing with this series. A big part of what I like about this IP is just how enormously flavorful the world and characters are. And the comics and animated shorts are so good. Where is the anime/cartoon for it? Where is the movie? Where is that Overwatch 2 with a full story mode? It's such a massive waste of an IP overflowing with potential.

This would be a great idea for a poll nintendolife. I would love any Overwatch representation. I know for some this fame has become stale. But it has been a hit and I still play this game and have a great time. My pick would be Winston. He’s not my Overwatch main at all but I like his character a lot. He brought the team together so I see him as a great Overwatch ambassador. Or at least he should be an assist trophy or be a part of a 6 man final smash team up with whoever is selected. For sure this rep should be a hero and not a villain like doomfist I think. This could work with so many really, the music selection would be good, the stage could be a scrolling stage where you fight upon a payload for something different. Maybe Rialto with some boats in there upon the water they part of it. Overwatch and Geralt would be my favorite new guest character pics.

I doubt any Overwatch character will be added. It's just not big enough I feel. There's plenty of other series that can get represented before Overwatch.

I doubt they're gonna get in as Mii costumes as well. See, unlike the other three special guests who's companies were not yet represented in Smash, Overwatch characters don't already have a cartoony appearance. That's why Sans, Cuphead and Vault Boy work so well; even if they're not full characters, their proportions are already roughly Mii-like, so including them like this just really works.

And yes I know there's plenty of costumes for characters who also don't have such Mii proportions, but those were all from companies already within Smash. Overwatch would be another special guest, and while I wouldn't say they're 100% off the table (it's certainly not one of those silly fan made rules), I do think this would at least be a reason for the team to opt against this choice.

Of course the Smash team is free to prove me wrong any day of the week though.

I want spyro/ crash or one of the skylanders 😅

Nice I would just Loooove to see tracer dashing around the stage and reset 3 seconds of damage I just did. (this is just what i think i love overwatch as a game just cant see her in smash)

@nessisonett some issues are more important to some people. you dont have to be consistent and boycott everything. bad take

@HypnoVike
World of Warcraft Classic and, er, hmm. 🤔

@Kitoro It’s the same issue though, companies with ties to the Chinese state. If it were completely different issues fair enough but it’s pointless being so drastically inconsistent. If someone cares more about the Blitzchung incident than console components being built in concentration camps then that’s obviously up to them but it’s more than a bit hypocritical to act morally superior.

@DoktorTotenKopf https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2020/03/nintendo_named_and_shamed_as_benefiting_from_the_use_of_chinese_forced_labour_camps
This is an article from this very site in March. Nintendo haven’t done a thing since then and in fact look at all the deals they’ve done with Tencent even since it came to light. Corporations aren’t our friend, they care about profit and slaves are cheap. The fact there were people defending the practice in the comments before they were deleted genuinely made me appreciate how the slave trade went unchecked for so long.

@JR150 the classic doomguy used 4 out 256, see? Colorful!

Now seriously, apart from Mario, any smash character repesent a less important game for the gaming history than Doom. If smash ultimate proclaim itself as a celebration of gaming, then representing Doom is almost a requirement.

@nessisonett You’re 100% right. There’s little point in morally ranking corporations when they all outsource from the same place. Nobody is going to speak up and willingly end their relationship with the Chinese market.
Fun fact: The NBA recently allowed customers to customize jerseys with any 12 character slogan on their jerseys. You could write absolutely anything except “FREEHONGKONG”. I think they have since reversed this due to the backlash, but it goes to show how adamant these corporations are in keeping their relationship with China intact.

cool I don't want any of them.

@DoktorTotenKopf Freedom for Hong Kong! Freedom for US!

@DoktorTotenKopf More and more I’ve been trying to support small and local businesses. These big corporations are all corrupt (that is to say, there are high level players in each that are bought and paid for by the highest bidder, just like our government).

Tracer can go die. Overrated and annoying. Roadhog is the way to go.

Too bad Blizzard itself doesn't deserve ANYTHING in Smash. :/

@JR150 fair enough, I don't know who joker is either. And I also don't know the fire emblem characters. I suppose there are already quite a few characters that are not broadly known. If it made other people happy, especially as paid dlc that I didn't even pay for, I guess it's no skin off my nose.

@Fandabidozi I would even argue that not being good since they had to shut down a massive fan project in order to do it, but it's also something Nintendo has done countless times.

I'd rather see D.Va or Mei, personally.

How about Overwatch stays away from Smash?

but she's too boring

Too bad your company is straight up evil and influenced by an even more shady one. Keep them out of Smash.

News just in. Nintendo add Overwatch character along with loot boxes.

@nessisonett Imagine getting a 0-90% combo off and she uses recall and combos you back lmao

@nessisonett eeyugh.. how depressing.

@Reydn very well said. I completely agree.

@Reydn FREEDOM FOR HONG KONG! FREEDOM FOR THE US!

@TYRANACLES It would have to be Kings Row! Fight over the point for an attack boost or get healed by like 1%/s on the payload! have the payload explode at the end like on Kings row! HAVE THE MAP MUSIC THE MUSIC FOR THE MAPS IS SO GOOD! If you haven't I recommend listening to them in full!

Would like to remind everyone that the competitive player was banned not because he spoke in favour of Hong Kong but because he used Blizzards competitive platform as a way to promote his political opinions which is against code of conduct, this led to Blizzard trying to appease all audiences with various different statements while maintaining their ties with China (because whether you like them or not China is an economic powerhouse that you'll have to deal with). Not saying being pro Hong kong affected nothing because I don't know that but either way the player broke the rules whether it was in favour of china or not.

@abdias
And yet we got Joker from Persona. A game franchise that, while it does have some history, it's not exactly the most influential or groundbreaking RPG franchise. Nowhere near as major as Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Fire Emblem, and arguably Xenoblade Chronicles.

So I don't think it really matters. Overwatch has easily been described as an influential FPS. It redefined the Hero shooter genre and stole the crown from TF2. Like I said in another comment, the average kid nowadays is more likely to recognize Tracer over Doomguy.

Plus, she's got personality. She's fun, she's sassy, she's annoying (for better or worse). Doomguy says nothing, shows no emotion, and just kills. He'd fit better in Mortal Kombat since he could be fully brutal in a game like that without having to censor his attacks while someone brighter like Tracer fits better in Smash Bros.

But again, that's just my opinion. I don't really care who gets in at this point.

@VexingInsanity yeah that is a good and would suit tracer well. My personal favorite stage is Hollywood for its music and I just like the props. Blizzard world would be a good one to because of all the other references you’d get from other titles. Judging by the responses tho, this as a character, probably wouldn’t go over well.

@TYRANACLES I don't think most characters would go down well tbh, but I am hoping for Tracer personally, my all time favourite game is probably Overwatch. People are really picky about what they deem worthy of being in smash, anything can get in, it's not "the gaming hall of fame" or something. Just popular characters, every character has some "flaw" that means they can't get in or aren't "worthy" these days. I just want the characters I want!

Blizzard World would be a good one!

The Blizzard character should be a Hong Kong protester.

I want none of them.

@HypnoVike wow classic

@RetiredR yes ‘we’ do.

@VexingInsanity I don't want to sound aggressive or disrespectful because you're right: there was an agreement there. But in the real world, rules get bent in exceptional circumstances. Independent Hong Kong being annexed is not a normal political event like "oh do you think congress should raise taxes to fund a new transportation program" or whatever. This is a people and political entity whom China agreed to the world to leave as independent being for all intents and purposes conquered with threats of draconian treatment. In the real world, there's events which rise above being merely political, where it's reasonable to accept rules to be bent or ignored, where it's honorable to use one's platform to show support and to talk about it. What the streamer did was courageous and Activision had the option not to enforce the rule or to let him off with a finger wag and a warning. But they didn't: they made a strong statement by publicly enforcing the rule.

I have a certain fondness for the city, having briefly been there and known a number of people there: it was a corporate and travel hub for organizations working in the South Pacific, where I used to live. But maybe that's neither here nor there. The point I'd make is that rules go both ways: the streamer had a choice to keep the rule or to break it. He decided it was worth it to break it and face the consequence. That can in some situations be the right thing to do. But the human beings working jobs at Activision were moral actors too: they had a choice whether and how to enforce the rule. It isn't fair to them to treat them like they're mechanistic. They had a right to enforce that rule, but enforcing a rule isn't always right.

@Dodger Yeah I suppose you're right they're no mechanism, but they probably had to consider how letting that stand affected the company and whether it sets a precedent.

If he was let off who else would try to abuse this and then claim it was on the right side of a political discussion?

If Blizzard let this one slide does China remove them? Do they lose money?

Does letting this slide give the impression blizzard has a political stance it doesn't want to have and be neutral?

There's a lot to consider and I think they took the right route, it could end poorly no matter what.

Hong Kong is also not an independent entity, it is owned by China and is Chinese territory, it just had it's own laws thanks the to deal Britain made upon its return under the 1 country 2 systems. China is breaking this agreement and violating rights which is wrong but it's sadly nothing new, china is powerful enough to get away with this and there's not a whole lot we can do except let them until their is internal reform.

It's a massive grey area but I don't think I'll of blizzard any more than just about every other large company who abuses cheap labour, supports things that violates rights.. etc.

Of course I would love change but china is one of those entities that must change from within not externally. They have too much influence.

Hulk for smash

If they put Tracer and Twintelle in, I'll seriously consider buying this game.

No thank you, keep it more cartoony characters please

@VexingInsanity I’m with ya! It’s my favorite online multiplayer experience for sure and has also held my attention longer than any game before. Each character is fun and unique and I just love working as a team for that win. I’m at my best as a healer.

@RetiredR we do, actually. Take your virtue signaling elsewhere.