The Next ARMS Party Crash Is Coming Up, But It's Happening On Smash Ultimate's Launch Day

They want to see if people will play anything else besides smash

Can’t have a tournament with less then 4 players.

Yeah, sorry, ARMS... But this might be the first party crash I'll be missing. I supported my girl Min Min last time, but I don't care that much about either Spring Man or Springtron. Maybe I'll get to level 10 or something, because it takes almost no time, but yeah, I'm more hyped for Smash than anything.

Should of kept it at Arms length away.

Seems like a good day to remind Nintendo's not-Smash-playing-crowd that they haven't been forgotten.

This is like when you don't get invited to the cool kids party so you throw your own party and no one shows up

Well that was well timed.

@Pod But normally if you are into one fighting game.....

people are exaggerating with the whole smash thing. Not everyone likes it. Me for example i have no interest in it and I know a ton of people who feel the same. To be honest I don't even see the appeal to that kind of game and I see it as the Call of Duty of Nintendo.

@Bunkerneath
One might argue that neither is a traditional fighting game, but I hear ya!

I know people out there who like ARMS for the lines it draws back to Punch-Out!!, and who never really got in to Smash Bros. in the first place.

And lemme tell you, if you haven't ever played Smash, starting from the current versions is a daunting task. Particularly if you got friends that have been playing for years and years. Ain't no button-mashing or flailing will help you out in Smash.

I think the timing is kinda smart. Not a lot of people are into arms anymore and the amount of people looking forward to it is probably not that high. Having it on the same day as smash makes people see it on their switch, possibly making people think "might as well check this out while I'm here".

@vitelus Really? I'm not into fighting games (like, at all), but Smash is easily among my favorite games ever. They are very unique from pretty much anything out there, they are always stuffed with fine-tuned content including tons of fanservice, characters, stages, game modes, music, collectibles, etc. It's a fighting game where it's much, much easier to get the hang of than most others (like Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, etc), but offers at least as much depth, and pretty much all the characters have a different playstyle, so everybody could find their favorites.
Granted, I don't really enjoy free-for-alls, just 1v1 matches. More than that is just usually very chaotic, and people can group up on a certain player, and also just running away or atttacking blindly could be rewarding. It can be mindless fun, sure, but in 1v1, it's an extremely well-crafted, rewarding game.

I would be honestly interested why you think it's like the CoD of Nintendo or why you don't care about it at all.

@vitelus
That's a little harsh.
It isn't annualized and handled by three different teams just to arrive for every holiday season. Though I get what you are saying.

It does have this air of not taking time out between iterations to redefine why it even exists, and I feel it's dangerous to use it as a marketing tool for other series, when it has such an inconsistant personality of its own.

Appeal though? For me, since the first game, it was always just that it was a fighter that played like a platformer. Much nicer for me than needing to memorize input chains. I'd have been fine with the series sporting its own new cast altogether, like the original pitch was, but in that case it's doubtful whether so many of my friends would have played it with me back then.

Look, ARMS, I love you, but I’ve been counting down the days ‘til Smash, so you’re gonna get neglected.

...Well now.
Doesn't that seem stupid.

When Nintendo put a splatfest the same day as Pokemon let’s go, I thought it was an accident, like the Splatoon 2 team forgot when Pokémon lg was releasing. But now I’m convinced that Nintendo just doesn’t want us to play in their events. Might I point out that ARMS is a fighting game, and so is smash, although yes, one is a 2D fighting game and one is 3D, But it still seems really stupid

Nintendo seem determined to not let ARMS have a fair chance. First they gave it a terrible launch window sandwiched between MK8D and Splatoon 2, now they are pitting it against one of the system's most anticipated releases. How many people who are still playing ARMS are going to put down their brand new copy of Smash Ultimate on that weekend?

In anticipation of one or several "I will!" responses, I know there are going to be a few guys here who will do exactly that, and in fact I plan to be in on the Party Crash because I'm not buying Smash immediately. But I think it's a safe bet that the number of ARMS fans who are not also Smash fans is a very low number indeed. It would have been better to schedule this on just about any other weekend, assuming Nintendo honestly care about the ARMS community.

Oh, again? 😃
Well, I will use Springman on that event. 😏

@Bunkerneath actually your wrong. Just because you like one game doesn't mean you like another. Smash and arms are two completely different styles of games all around. I can see many people that like arms not liking smash.

How about making an ARMS character playable in Smash? That might be a bit more effective at getting people interested in ARMS. Inclusion in Smash has worked miracles for Fire Emblem and Xenoblade.

I think it's safe to say most of the NLife population will be playing Smash day 1. But not all Switch owners will be playing Day 1, and don't forget Smash launches 3 weeks before Christmas. A LOT of early Smash customers are going to be unwrapping it as a gift 3 weeks later. So what better thing to keep them engaged with the system than having a time limited tournament in the other fighting game they may already have during the hype of Smash launching? They aren't being left out of of Switch hype because the game they do have has special content that conflicts with the new game.

Might not be the best timing for ARMS, but it's a good timing to keep Switch engagement and satisfaction at peak for a big crowd during a big holiday game launch.

And for those that weren't buying/aware of Smash it draws a big "quirky fighting game" audience back onto the system to stare at the Smash ads that will be plastering their news feed.

You can bet they put the ARMS characters in Smash down the line. It's a Nintendo fighting game IP FFS, they MUST have thought about it. Maybe this is some sort or cross referencing event...

@thesilverbrick no thanks. Can't mix the duds with the all-stars.

The real party crash should be called "Smash Bros vs Not Smash Bros". Joking aside this is just horrible timing.

Some of us don't care about Smash.

@SARankDirector it was great though. Apparently everyone with bad internet is a Pokemon fan. I didn't have a single disconnect or communication error.

@JasmineDragon Yeah, all ARMS has had without other games being a massive disruption was essentially that month between launch and Splatoon 2.

Who thought this would be a good idea? Party crashes already weren’t that popular, but now they are creating an even smaller attendance because of its release date.

I'll be playing ARMs. Not interested in Smash.

Not as big into Smash as ARMS. I'm mostly a single player at home, and while online will be fun, I get the feeling that I'm going to get a good amount of salt out of fighting more experienced players. Ironically, the Sprits and single player mode are giving me the idea that I'll be more into this version of Smash. Like with ARMS and Splatoon, there's that satisfaction of getting collectibles by grinding away, and doing well to make the experience possible and, in some cases easier.

As for ARMS or Smash... I've gotten more into ARMS than I have for any Smash game, so I'll lean towards that. Gotta support my main man Spring Man! Besides, there aren't an Smash events going on right now that I'll be missing, my biggest concerns are with spoilers and leaks for the game.

@Pod I enjoy ARMS for the same reason I enjoy Smash-there are nuances and details to notice, but I don't need to remember minor details and frame data too keep up with good players. They're both different from other fighters, but in their own ways, with Smash focused partly on platforming, and ARMS focused on spacing in a 3D arena (the latter was also really interesting to me since 3D fighters in general are so rare... though with For Honor, Tekken, and SC coming out along with ARMS, maybe there's some sort of renaissance coming up?)

@thesilverbrick The theory has come up that Spring Man could get in if Sakurai turns his Assist Trophy into Springtron when he's being played, so there's a wider window than most. Still, it comes down to whoever Nintendo picked for Sakurai to choose (or suggested, it always felt vague to me). On the off chance that Spring Man doesn't get in, I'd bank on 1.Ribbon Girl 2.Max Brass and 3. Dr.Coyle having the best odds, in that order.

@NEStalgia Got to remember it's also part of the Party Crash Bash, a larger tournament. If this was prescheduled, we could be looking at bi-weekly Party Crashes going into next year.

@chardir Same here. I'm not begrudging the excitement Smash fans have for their game, but it does get kind of annoying how they're posting "Nobody will ever play (insert random game here) again once Smash comes out!" on ever other games' forums because they believe EVERYONE is into Smash. I had SSB for Wii U, I moderately enjoyed it, but ultimately, it was one of my least played games on that system and I feel no need to go back for more.

@Andrew5678 Spring Man would’ve been ideal as a playable representative, being the poster boy and all, but if they’re going to go off the beaten path, I’d love to see Helix. His stretchiness and freakish personality would make for a very, very unique character.

@Andrew5678 that would be cool if so. I'll be skipping this one due to smash but I've been meaning to play some party crash events.

Wow, this timing is... unfortunate. I REEEALLY want my badges. But I need to unlock stuff in Smash before friends come over on Sunday. But... but... Party Crashes are my best excuse to play ARMS. Oh well, at least it's between two characters I don't really like so I won't feel TOO bad if I miss it this time around.

@Trajan I'm just pointing out that it seems like really poor timing