Overwatch Director Would Pick Tracer To Represent The Game In Smash Bros. Ultimate

Wouldn’t be too thrilled with an overwatch character.. but if it had to be one D.va would be my choice. Genji would be cool but if a ninja is getting into smash Ryu deserves it the most.. I really hope Ryu gets in!!!

@CharlieGirl I’m so glad Blizzard acknowledge that they have fans of all walks of life. Even if the representation I get is... an old man. But at least Soldier’s a badass gay, not too many of those in the media.

Tracer is in my top 3 characters for visual design, but I never really could play her and not just die repeatedly...

I'm looking forward to playing this game again when it comes out on Switch.

Now if only Blizzard would give me Hearthstone on Switch too...

Dva please! At a certain amount of damage she could lose her mech and play similar to zero suit.

I'd say Genji, but people would whine about another character with a sword for some reason lol

@JR150
anime sword fighter bad, another Mario character good

@Toy_Link Which Mario characters are really left, out of interest? I would understand Dixie Kong but she’s more a DK character than the main Mario series.

I wonder if there are any game developers out there who just say, "... MAN, I hope Nintendo never approaches us about being in Smash. That just would not work at all."

And before you mention Square Enix, Nomura himself was elated to give permission for Cloud; the music rights are another issue, and who knows what went on with the (lack of) Spirits.

Phew, by them talking about it openly now, we won't be getting an Overwatch rep until the next game at least.

@nessisonett
The Mario characters I've seen requested most often are Waluigi, Toad/Captain Toad, Fawful, and Geno. Personally I think there's enough Mario characters already in Smash.

I wouldn’t mind an Overwatch character in Smash. D.Va, or Reaper would be cool.

Do not want Blizzard rep. Unless it's circa Activision

@CharlieGirl This is exactly why I don't want Tracer in Smash. I just don't think they could put her in without her preferences being the main focal point everyone talks about.

I’d like it if Blizzard went with Thrall. But I get Overwatch is really big.

@nessisonett Metal Mario, Baby Mario, Racoon Mario, Goombario, Baby Peach, Pink Gold Peach, Wiggler, the second Goomba in Super Mario Bros, and Gold Metal Cat Luigiette.

@Kalmaro - Everyone has a narrative to write. Even with the way Blizzard handled her story of clarification really well, everyone wants those sweet, sweet clickbait articles.

Even if Nintendo handled it with a non-issue, we know how the coverage will come about.

Then again, this comes from a dude who can't have his Diablo in the game, so what good is my opinion, right?

I WANT HE-MAN AND SHE- RA! (Sry for caps.)

@Paraka It would be a nightmare and would just be bad PR in the end. Best to play it safe and avoid her, Blizzard has PLENTY of characters to use.

@Kalmaro - Of course, they also have fan favorites with D. Va and Genji. Zarya would be an amusing kit we have not seen, either.

Honestly, if it wasn't for that PR of overreacting types, I like Tracer's design and personality and would be okay with it. She'd be fitting flagship character.

But I was a Junkrat main, so I'm biased.

@Paraka Mercy main here, back when I played. I don't think she'd fit in Smash but it would be funny to see them try to make her work.

@Sabrewing I didn't even think about how there are no FF spirits! I want Moogle. Moogle is love.

One can not deny the cultural impact and relevance of Overwatch.

I feel, as a hall of fame, having an Overwatch representative would do nicely.

@ShadJV None of those are even a slight possibility, sorry.

@Kalmaro Would it be bad PR though? The people upset about Tracer's sexuality are a small minority. And honestly having some LGBTQ representation in a Nintendo game is not a bad thing.

@Kalmaro Honestly, don’t take this the wrong way but the importance of having Tracer and Soldier openly gay might only make sense if you’re that way inclined.

Obviously, I love Nintendo being on this site but when I was about 10, I only really had my games because of the fun combination of children being cruel and me very clearly not being straight. It got to the point where I basically would rather shut myself in and play games than go to school. At that age, with that level of negative feeling about being who you are, it’s hard for any sort of positive message to sink in.

I really do think that by having positive role models that kids can see themselves in and look up to is really important, whether they’re a footballer, an actor or a fictional character. Blizzard having both Soldier and Tracer be gay in Overwatch might be scoffed at by some but for a kid who’s struggling with themselves to see their favourite character being fully themselves and still kicking ass? It would be like having a gay footballer in the Premier League for all those kids into football and struggling with their sexuality, it’s speaking to kids at their level. There was a similar situation with Into the Spider-Verse, kids love to see themselves in their heroes and shouldn’t they all have that, bad PR or not?

Yeah no thanks

@Toy_Link I don't think people have any problem with anime sword characters. People have a problem with characters who share 80% of their moveset identity with Marth. Marth, Lucina, Roy, Chrom, Robin, and Hero all share very similar aerial and tilt normals, so even with what quirks they do have individually, there's not much distinguishing their neutral interactions.

Meanwhile over in Mario land, the only characters with comparable play styles are the Peach/Daisy echos. Luigi somehow has less in common with Mario than Robin does Lucina. I reckon Genji's OW moveset would be conducive to a really cool and unique swordie playstyle in Smash!

As for my choice of OW rep in Smash, I think Zenyatta could make for a very interesting set-up based character. The idea of a second hammer heavy in Ultimate is also very appealing so Reinhardt is high up on the wish list!

Based on what little I actually know of her, I think Tracer would be a great choice, and any arguments against her that have to do with waifus, feminism, sexuality, and/or sexual orientation wouldn't change my mind, just make me lose respect for whoever uses those arguments.

@Kalmaro - Not gunna lie, imagining her smash attacks is amusing.

@Indielink - It's likely due to the fact that Nintendo is multinational, some regions not too keen on homosexuality, it's why Tracer's comic isn't even in Russia.

That and even small groups (on both "sides") have too much power to sink something over a non-issue. I mean, there is a reason ResetEra has the reputation it does. All over knee-jerk reactions and high political climates, it's why Nintendo removed the trans rights flags off their Smash stage maker, they don't want the political PR jargon.

@nessisonett - I have nothing but respect for what you're saying, but as a straight dude... Is it implying that my relation to my favorite characters is gone about all wrong. I don't think any of my top characters are even remotely... Me, per se. One of my favorite characters is an explosive rodent, but I ain't a mouse. I loved the poncy Lara Croft cause how she acted, too, related to her sense of adventure.

When I see you statements, and I understand there should be more gay characters (more choice makes plenty of new ideas), but it also stating that characters need to match the "us" we are. Meaning, would it be wrong to associate ourselves to things that aren't human?

This might sound like it's belittling, but I found it always curious that certain aspects had to be met for someone to relate to characters. Always something I pondered about what makes being not straight so expected to qualify relating to the character, what is restricting if it's not confirmed otherwise.

Just rambling from curiosity, I don't mean anything dismissive of your points.

Undertale and Overwatch have only had one game. So, if Sans is a Mii Costume, Shovel Knight is an AT, it's really only fair for Overwatch to get the same treatment.
Minecraft could be an exception seeing as it's supposed to be a single game that lasts a very long time. Overwatch, like many shooters, still feels like it'd be due for a sequel given its story to gauge if the franchise and characters are going to stick around.

loot boxes in smash?

@Toy_Link You have to wonder why Nintendo hasn’t pursued putting Toad in Smash. I’ll admit that that I wouldn’t want to see him kicking Mario’s a**. He’s much more of a lover than fighter to me.

I always thought there would be something extra “meta” about D Va being in Smash. Considering she’s a pro gamer in universe and all.

@Jayofmaya wait, did you think I was serious?

@Sabrewing I don’t think Nomura’s feelings necessarily reflect Square’s. Likely Square wanted to charge Nintendo for every property they used and asked for too much money so Nintendo just took Cloud and the stage, the bare minimums. It wouldn’t be out of character for them.

@Kalmaro so?

@Kalmaro first of all it’s kind of funny you think it would be a “nightmare” and “bad PR” if a character 90% of people don’t know is gay showed up in another game.
Second,we shouldn’t let our games have diverse casts because bad people won’t like them?

@rxchrisg "Second,we shouldn’t let our games have diverse casts because bad people won’t like them?"

If your goal is to make money, then yes, absolutely. You always do what your target group wants.

@Indielink I'd have to disagree. Think of it this way: if we are against doing what would make a small minority happy (in this case, not having a character with Tracer's preferences included), then wouldn't it make sense not to have her at all since people with her preferences are in the minority in the first place?

Tracer would make the most sense but deep down I just want as a clever joke for the 76th fighter to be Soldier 76.

Can't wait to experience this game when it launches the day after my birthday.

Is it just me or the female characters of Overwatch seem far more interesting then the male ones?
Pharah, D. Va and Mercy seems like the sort of characters I would play.

Overwatch has nothing to do in Smash.
This is not even a series. This is just a single game.
I would understand putting a Warcraft char to the smash but not an Overwatch one

@CharlieGirl that t-shirt is a disgrace, an outrage, I’m offended to my very core...

Her quote is “The Cavalry's Here” so the shirt should read “The Cavalry’s Queer” - there should be no “is” in it anywhere!

Jeez! What is the world coming to with all these people thinking they can go around loving whatever grammar they want. I don’t care if you want to change your grammar, there are rules!

Yes, this was meant as a joke -

@Gau @KingBowser86 there are other characters in Smash that are not in more than one game.

Shulk only appeared in one game before Smash, for example.

Tracer is in two games, Overwatch and Heroes of the Storm. Both as playable characters.

I don’t think there is a steadfast rule in Smash apart from the character has to have been birthed from a video game. And they also have to be on (or coming to) a Nintendo console. So Overwatch matches the criteria.

Overwatch is one of the biggest selling games of all time and won game of the year. It has a massive fan base. It’s a no brainier to me.

Make WoW classic switch edition or smth

Fans were asked who they wanted in the game. I would now like to see some Nintendo characters in the game as DLC. I do not feel Overeatch characters would fit well and prefer the Japanese feel of all the fighters (apart from the welcome edition of Banjo Kazooie

No love for Reaper, no?

@ancientlii I would'nt be surprised if they made a loot box into an actual character at this point, lol.

Nah, rather not have an Overwatch character.

But I'd love to see some rep from Skyrim! That game has been on all sorts of silly platforms and arguably influenced BOTW. Deserves a place in the gaming museum that is Smash methinks.

That's a no brainier, but if I were to choose a Blizzard character for Smash it would be either Kerrigan or Diablo.

@CharlieGirl "Yes good consume product, praise us for having a gay character, don't pay attention to how we treat our employees or fans."

@Kalmaro Non-white people and avowed white supremacists are both minorities in the U.S. Should American movie studios only ever cast white people as heroes so as to avoid controversy? I'm being hyperbolic, but I genuinely don't think your argument is any different.

2019 LGBTQ Alphabet people!

I don't have any interest in overwatch and I also have no interest in the sex lives of videogame avatars.

We already got Hero in Smash, we don’t need another one, especially from Overwatch and even more especially, not Tracer.
Luckily, this gives off the vibe that Sakurai hasn’t considered an Overwatch character anyway.

ITS HIGH NOON

As long as her obnoxious voice acting isn't included I wouldn't mind though I'd prefer characters from different games

I would rather have a character from a game series like Thrall or Art has from warcraft. At least they have been in multiple games with more established and older series

@Paraka It’s not that all characters must represent a specific human group but representation is definitely important, especially in a group that has been legally oppressed until very recently. The very idea of a badass gay such as Tracer and Soldier is something very seldom seen in the media and I do think that’s a problem, since the main goal (yes, I’m aware of the nutters but they exist in every group) is to get across that people are people, regardless of their preferences.

Blizzard have done a pretty good job in helping to normalise gay characters in video games, a veeeery small group, by choosing Tracer and Soldier, the two most played heroes by beginners. I played a game the other day where there were 2 boys that sounded about 15. One went Soldier and the other told him that they had heard he was gay. He replied ‘Oh, right, cool’ and still went Soldier. Yeah, they both continued to use homophobic slurs the rest of the match but I’d like to think the irony of that boy playing as a gay character would sink in.

Of course he would pick Tracer for Smash.
He picked Tracer to go on the box. Tracer to go in all the press material. Tracer to have an "offensive" pose altered on public outcry, and Tracer to be their first holiday comic highlight, complete with a reveal that she's dating another woman.

Tracer is, and I'm not even trying to be harsh, the only decent character design in her wildly successful game. And she's been dragged through the PR mill because of it.

There would be no other choice, unless one also was to argue that Tails is the better representative for the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise.

@nessisonett I'm a very sorry that you were being bullied so much as a kid, no one deserves that.

Children and their own preferences is a tough subject though, when it comes to that the discussions should be between them and their parents about what is going on. It think it's important to keep in mind that children are often not concerned about their own preferences and even when these things do come up, like your case, they are in the extreme minority.

In a lot of cases these kids will naturally 'grow out' of those preferences. What you are instead suggesting is that we reinforce what they are going through. I'm don't think that is the best idea when we are talking about impressionable children. Especially when we consider that Nintendo is a game company and not necessarily here to help raise kids.

I hope none of that sounds like I am belittling what you went through.

@turntSNACO I'm having trouble seeing the similarity, I think there's a misunderstanding.

Look at what was said again:

"first of all it’s kind of funny you think it would be a “nightmare” and “bad PR” if a character 90% of people don’t know is gay showed up in another game."

Here, it was suggested that she be put in because you're only going to upset a small minority of people and you want to please the majority.

My counterpoint was that people with her preferences ARE the minority and by not including her, you'd only be upsetting the minority, which they basically just said was okay.

I was just pointing out the flaw in their logic. Using their logic they shouldn't Tracer in the game at all.

@Zuljaras It's definitely more important than being a decent human being.

@Kalmaro Honestly, Mario and Link both have a princess love interest. If, for the sake of argument, one of the two had a prince love interest, wouldn’t they both equate to the same thing? If kids shouldn’t be exposed to gay relationships in the media they consume, why should they be exposed to heterosexual relationships? As for kids ‘growing out’ of their sexual preferences, I think, from personal experience, it’s more likely them burying their feelings and trying to lead a ‘normal’ life due to the struggles they would face otherwise.

@Kalmaro "People with her preferences?" You say this like the ONLY people who would be happy with her inclusion would be gay females.

In the US, some 70% of the population is in support of gay marriage. That percentage is even higher in most big chunks of Europe. And Japan itself is at 51%.

People are gay. It may not be the most common thing in the world but including them in our media and normalizing their presence is a good thing.

@nessisonett waluigi?

@Kienda Shulk, yes, although Xeno_____ has been around for some time. Anyway, this isn't a hard and fast rule (Lord knows Sakurai's broken his own several times), just a comparison.

Would rather have D.Va or Roadhog personally

@KingBowser86 yeah, I understand. I just think it doesn’t matter if they have been in a single game or not as the Overwatch characters are well know to many.

Overwatch is the fifth best selling game of all time. Has Has over 85 million players and is no doubt going to continue for a while now.

The one thing at the moment is they may not be well known to Nintendo fans yet, but that will change after it is launched on Switch.

I had no idea Tracer was gay until I came here. Apparently, everyone else does and, wow, do they have opinions on it...

Who cares...?

Why do people want an Overwatch character? Why not a character from a more iconic franchise? Like TF2? Every character has a unique design and personality that will automatically fit in Smash.

I am pretty sure y'all can figure out who I would want.

@nessisonett I can't speak for your personal experiences, I'm just going off the data used for kids who express trans tendencies.

As for the kids being exposed to heterosexual relationships, as the only way to naturally get a kid is with heterosexual relationships, it would be hard not to show that.

That said, you'll notice that Nintendo never makes a big deal about the relationship, with the exception perhaps of Bowser since he's always kidnapping peach. Even then, it feels a bit different.

One thing I've noticed in Nintendo games is that relationships tend to be on the back burner. Possibly because they are trying to not step on too many toes.

@Indielink There's a big difference between being in support of someone being married and wanting to play a game as a character representing that same person.

Much like people on both sides found that Tracer pic in the first comment kinda cringy. If there was a way to put Tracer in and her favoring women wouldn't be a focal point then there wouldn't be an issue, but you KNOW that it would be and then it would become a hassle for no real reason.

@nessisonett - Blizzard handled sexuality (and basically background stories in general) very well. The fact it's background helps for those who simply don't care to know characters continue to... well, not have to care. Those who do, are treated with interesting bits of info. As a Junkrat main, I was pleased to see more of their origins and how Australia looks and acts in the game. Tracer's love interest was no different. My discovery of this was basically a nothing burger, had no influence on me, but it was still background.

And I think Nintendo alone wouldn't have a problem either. Pretty much probably where I stand. However, even with how Blizzard was subtle, the media coverage was the exact polar opposite. Some sites were so forceful in the championing of this that if you had your opinion of it being "pointless" it was deemed homophobic. I received some of that backlash cause my opinion was not glowing with positive notions, it was "meh" at best. And like with what Kalmaro said, Nintendo may not want to dip their toe into it simply cause her sexuality existing period is going to be politicized. I don't think that's good for the character, or for the people that like her and her traits. No one truly wants a part of their identity politicized.

As for those kids, their kids. They just know those slurs are intended to be hurtful so they use them in that way. They're still young and disconnected from the social workings of growing up. I personally had a viewpoint at that age that could be declared pretty racist, but my grandfather pulled me aside and asked questions that got me thinking and in the end I grew up being slightly embarrassed how disconnected it all was. Best we can do is point out that irony and laugh to ourselves knowing it. They'll come around, most do.

@Paraka The way I see it, it's about the same as seeing the 'token black guy'.

Its so annoying seeing someone and knowing in the back of your head that they are only there because of their skin color. Well this strikes me as the same.

If Tracer gets put in, I don't believe it will just be because they just like her for no reason, it will be to because they just want attention due to her preferences. In other words, they are using LGBT people to make a profit.

They way Blizzard introduced her sexual life was pretty mild but it's clear that they had an agenda. They announced earlier before that reveal that there would be more representation of the LGBT group and sure enough, they've been popping out of the woodwork.

This isn't to say that is good OR bad, but rather that they clearly aren't doing this for purely innocent reasons. They just want attention. I think Nintendo has done a good job of just avoiding that altogether by just focusing on gameplay and not the characters too much.

@Kalmaro - I don't disagree with that, but I don't think Blizzard just looked at a group and thought how to capitalize it, either. They have been asked about it quite often, even before OW came into reality. Surely there was influence of wanting to do this, but also not make it feel like it is part of their grand game design. I do believe Blizzard's course to appeal to those asking was in good gesture, but at the same time they also felt the need to also appeal to the potential market that COULD be buying the game. So the angle becomes that sexuality is now a marketing ploy. I am not directly effected, but I never liked the token traits just being there to serve up from a plate. Makes character development (sometimes) feel baseless.

That being said, I wouldn't entirely agree that Tracer is part of that. I do believe it happened organically for Tracer, the aftermath feels more artificial. And her story handled it well.

Cause in the end our sexuality, regardless of what it is, is very background encouraged. We never truly "need" it for anything. A small cog of the machine of our personality. Yet, curiouser still, we have so much riding on that. Gay or straight, it functions the same, yet so many are driven on such a small asset of ourselves.

@Kalmaro Is there really a big difference though? How many people do you know who are cool with gay marriage but are also like, "playing a gay character in a game? Ewww." If representation as a gay character was a significant put off, even amongst supporters who happen to be straight, we would see play rates for both Tracer and Soldier 76 near the bottom of the cast in Overwatch. But both of them are in the upper half of the play rate with Soldier 76 often cracking the top ten. In Apex Legends, another very popular character shooter, Bloodhound is a non-binary character who is also right in the middle of the pack in terms of pick rate. (In the interest of fairness, Gibraltar is another openly gay character who is one of the least picked but is also regarded as the weakest character in the game.)

Her sexuality isn't a focal point, it's a background fact that isn't even introduced in game. It was revealed in a comic that you are free to ignore. Yeah we'll see a stupid AngryGamer video against it and the girl who posted the t shirt about will bounce around like an excited kid for a minute but it'll all die down in like a week. Just like every videogame character sexuality reveal we've had in the past few years.

Now now overwatch stuff nintendo is the boss so back off boi.

@Indielink I'm not saying they'd be grossed out by playing a gay character, but might be putt off by it with how everything is being politicized for no real reason these days.

It would be different if Blizzard just made Tracer gay, and everyone acted like it wasn't a big deal and then nothing else happened.

Instead, you had the woke game journos acting like this was some massive deal, Blizzard having already said that they were looking to add more representation, as if people were asking for that, etc.

They took something that could have been presented as nothing major and made it something so big that it's hard to separate it from the character. Now Tracer is becoming a symbol, she's not just another person you play as in OW. She's the 'gay forerunner' and a 'bold move by blizzard'. It's just so... exhausting.

It would have been better if they just never mentioned it. No one should be playing games to validate themselves anyway. If I did that as a child I'd have been stuck playing NBA games all day or something. Not that many black folks on the games I played as a kid.

This better be Pokémon G'OH SNAP! for mobile devices.

I'd prefer Hammond, personally. We have enough humanoids running around in Smash. Imagine adding a hamster to the roster!

@Kalmaro Yeah when the poster character of the biggest game in the world was revealed to be gay it was a big deal. For like 2 weeks. It's not like people are still running through the streets screaming about it. And to come back to LGBTQ characters in Apex Legends, three years later it isn't any kind of big deal at all. Most game sites gave it a quick article the day that character bios went online and that was it. Because it's become the norm for LGBTQ people to exist openly.

People WERE asking Blizz for more representation and they handled it in a really tactful manner. It's there for whoever wants it and can be ignored by those who don't. It's not actively pushed anywhere in game.

You are right that nobody should be playing games to validate themselves. But it is still incredibly cool to see a character who is like you. We shouldn't let the fact that some people have garbage views on race or sexuality stop representation in games.

@Indielink They talked about her for w ehile, then they dropped it until the next person came up, and so on and so forth.

The real question is if we need representation in games in the first place and how should it be done.

I'm fine with whoever being put in a game, but I'm not a multi-billion dollar company with profits on the line. If they want to avoid any significant controversy then they have better options for a representative.

That's too bad because I don't think any sane person would ever want and Overwatch rep in Super Smash Bros. What would you all rather have as a FPS rep? The Doom Slayer? Who's game revolutionized the FPS genre and to this still is still a major inspiration for games today.
Or... a charactetr from an FPS that's no more than a lame fad?

@nessisonett BOO for smash

@Kienda don't be such a grammarphobe

@nessisonett Walugi

@Porky Kaplan only talked about it because someone asked him a question. I think it would be rude if Jeff just answered "next question" to a totally harmless question ultimately.

@JaxonH Smash is not intended to be a hall of fame for game characters. If it is, Warcraft would be a bigger cultural icon from Blizzard than Overwatch. It revolutionized the RTS genre and spawned a legendary MMO that's still around when most of its peers have died.

Or if you really wanted an FPS character to use for representation purposes, Gordon Freeman, B.J. Blazkowicz, and Chell are more historic characters than Tracer, all trailblazers in FPS history that paved the way for Tracer and her Overwatch peers.

Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease never. Anti-Hong Kong tumblrites should stay away from Smash.