The only thing to take away from that shitshow.
Bridges burnt due to toxic fanboyism.
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One year ago, the Smash community got Grinched.
- Thread starter TheDinoman
- Start date
The only thing to take away from that shitshow.
Bridges burnt due to toxic fanboyism.
Yep. No way any of the real leakers are ever going to do anything with Smash again after what happened when some got doxxed and received death threats. It was an absolute shitshow.
I'm not pretending anything, the insiders were always dancing around it and not giving clear answers the whole time.
I believed in Box Theory and felt the leak was fake from the start. Several people called me crazy and were otherwise very unkind, but I stand vindicated.
Honestly the story behind Grinch Leak was too fucking weird to accept it being fake and if it weren't for leakers screaming about it being fake to the community I would've believed it was real until the Direct airing.
With that said while the first few days had me being on Team Real I did loosen my stance quite considerably after it seemed every leaker including credible ones like Emily constantly pointed towards the leak being fake. So for the people I might've been confrontational towards at the time I apologize
However as someone who wanted Banjo in the game the most, I kind look back on this leak a little bit more humorously than alot of people would be. I can see why people would consider this the worst the Smash fanbase has been but the insanity of the situation was genuinely entertaining and during the time I was starting to waiver to Team Fake I was kind of having fun with it.
Of course the final word to say is that the people that did harass insiders should actually take a chill pill and hopefully this situation was a humbling one to teach you to not be so damn personal about video game leaks that you harass people for not believing it.
With that said while the first few days had me being on Team Real I did loosen my stance quite considerably after it seemed every leaker including credible ones like Emily constantly pointed towards the leak being fake. So for the people I might've been confrontational towards at the time I apologize
However as someone who wanted Banjo in the game the most, I kind look back on this leak a little bit more humorously than alot of people would be. I can see why people would consider this the worst the Smash fanbase has been but the insanity of the situation was genuinely entertaining and during the time I was starting to waiver to Team Fake I was kind of having fun with it.
Of course the final word to say is that the people that did harass insiders should actually take a chill pill and hopefully this situation was a humbling one to teach you to not be so damn personal about video game leaks that you harass people for not believing it.
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Well, Sakurai did say in 2016 that he actually wanted to put Geno's irrelevant ass in Smash. That's more than you say for someone like say, Waluigi.
Amazing
Grinch Saga made Incineroar as one of greatest heel in the video game history unintentionally.
Pretty much. It's terrible how vulgar and awful people treated insiders around that time. Just because they wouldn't openly out their sources or go into much detail because of how obviously fake things are. Seriously, I remember the heat GX got for basically debunking it outright and calling it blurry, yet because they didn't spend several videos on the matter they were accused of getting secret info from NOA because of Jon. That kinda made me lose a bunch of faith in people I thought I knew to be courteous tbh.
The sad part is I didn't even believe it as I seriously thought nobody would have outside of just hope. The two empty slots on that roster box were clear as day and the fact BK was on there made it instantly fake due to how absurd it would be for him to be in the game. I rooted for Issac and Mach Rider too but sometimes you just have to accept fate.
Yet despite all this, freaking Banjo/Kazooie got in the game via DLC anyway which I still refused to believe until I actually was in control of them on their stage, solely due to how much it doesn't make sense to me. But I eventually grew to accept them since they at least fit the game's theme more than Master Chief which just makes me seriously convinced it's an underground meme pick. Now if he was on that Grinch Leak I don't think anyone would have bought it.
What shocks me the most however is that we don't even know who made this. I was convinced like with the 5.00 System Update leak I fell for out of desperation for the Switch's UI to improve, we'd hear from some artist who would go "haha you got pranked" and then gets free followers as a result of it all. (Props to the community for shutting down that bigot Josh Thomas when he tried pulling that stunt with a Smash Switch port, though)
But despite the year gap... Nothing. We don't have any idea who made this and I find that the most spooky/fascinating aspect of it all. Even a whole year later. I'd really like to know why he did it and why he never really came out after it was all proven false. It's so perplexing to me.
In the end though I adore Incineroar as he's one of the loveliest Pokemon designs from all of Gen 7 (though I would have personally picked Primarina), so I was hyped as heck for him to get in anyway. Ken was oddly the one I didn't like as while he made sense in concept he wasn't nearly as fun to play as Ryu. I would have taken Sakura instead.
They were giving answers as clearly as they could. Why a group of trustworthy people all clearly saying "This is fake" isn't enough to at least make people take pause in their goddamn Grinch mania is another matter.
Was definitely a defining moment where I got less active in the Smash thread. Was eaten alive every moment I brought up that it was fake and could be easily fabricated since they were just blurry blobs.
It's too bad the faker never came forward. My favorite crazy theory about the origins of this leak is that it was viral marketing for the Grinch movie. I don't seriously believe that at all, but it's still fun to think about. Because what a brilliant viral marketing strategy it would have been. I know I definitely hadn't heard of the Grinch movie before the leak.
just replying to thank you for making that lil guy your avatar. I saw him (?) months ago in the indie thread and thought I had lost him to the annals of era. one of my favorite character designs, hope you do great things with him (again, ?)
I'm surprised people took it seriously. Sakurai said there would be less big reveals before release and the leak was talking about 6+ characters, one of them Banjo and Kazooie. I have no idea why they would put Mach Rider in either.
The reactions to the leak confirmed being fake is probably the saltiest I've ever seen the Smash community. Not their proudest moment lol.
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I think it was definitely a big mistake on Sakurai's part to wait to unveil Shadow and Isaac's assist trophies literally right at the very end.
At least the band-aid was immediately ripped off for the fans of characters like Krystal, Waluigi, and Bomberman. The longer you leave Smash fans hanging, the more their imaginations get out of hand. They really should of revealed Isaac and Shadow either at E3 or at the very latest, the August Direct.
I'm typically ultra skeptical of Smash leaks and I bought this one hook, line, and sinker. It was very, very thoughtfully executed. Pretty impressive tbh.
I'm surprised how many people saw Banjo-Kazooie as the "leak killer." I thought ever since K. Rool's inclusion they were a no brainer addition in terms of adding a highly demanded character despite being "dead." Phil Spencer has said several times he would be open to them being in Smash and back in Melee Sakurai said they were an "obvious inclusion." Alongside a Dragon Quest character I saw them as a very likely addition.
personally my reaction to the chibi-robo mii suit was probably my worst moment, in my entire life
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I think at the time, people questioned the notion of Nintendo adding a character owned by a competitor, even if said competitor wanted that character in Smash.
At least, that's what my mindset was. Remember that Banjo and Conker were booted from the DS version of Diddy Kong Racing and that the deal to bring Goldeneye 007 back to modern consoles fell through due to complications with Nintendo (and Activision too, to be fair). Granted, all of that was a long time ago, but I don't think it's hard to see why people didn't think that a usually conservative company like Nintendo would reach out to bring in a now Xbox exclusive character for one of their biggest releases.
This still has to be the most well done leak I've ever seen. It still doesn't even look fake and was only deconfirmed from actual announcements later, unlike...basically everything else where someone eventually finds the source picture someone ripped. I think that old Rayman leak was the only other one I'd say was really damn convincing but the person who actually made that one spilled it pretty quickly.
It has a "sakurai" touch to it with details like Kazooie being afraid of the Snake rocket, an obscure character like Mach Rider doesn't even stand out in a roster that has people like Duck Hunt and R.O.B, and I recall a lot of details just kinda falling in place for it like the print shop company being crossmatched by people and the other details in the picture not painting anything as fake.
Shit was crazy.
It has a "sakurai" touch to it with details like Kazooie being afraid of the Snake rocket, an obscure character like Mach Rider doesn't even stand out in a roster that has people like Duck Hunt and R.O.B, and I recall a lot of details just kinda falling in place for it like the print shop company being crossmatched by people and the other details in the picture not painting anything as fake.
Shit was crazy.
If mariotehplumber was truly involved, any measure of insanity is possible because that guy is an obsessed nutcase.I found that 4chan screencap "proving" the leak:
Regarding the GoldenEye episode, it's hard to fault Nintendo for not accepting the terms of the deal when it meant Microsoft would get a flashy, fancy new version of GoldenEye 007 while Nintendo would just get to rerelease the N64 version.
Duck Hunt and ROB are actually historically significant, though
Mach Rider's only significance is having a badass theme song
Isaac kneeling next to grass gave me pause as well. If it was a fan mural I would think they'd have him swinging a sword or attacking with magic or something. Not a completely nonthreatening, peaceful action. Then there was the "sprout..."
Still, once the Direct was announced, I just felt it coming that it was going to fall apart.
That hasn't really been the case at all for the Switch era though. Nintendo had been shaking up their old traditions constantly and Minecraft even had skins for Xbox characters on it. Spencer's original Tweet even said they had collaborated with Nintendo before (a big example being renewing trademarks on Rare Virtual Console games). I just felt they had a really good chance, whether it was base game or DLC. It was an easy PR win for both companies to "bring Banjo home."
Just want to say I was firmly against this one after the first couple of days.
I was coming off like a conspiracy theorist trying to disprove this but I turned out right.
At the end of the day we all leaned that the logic of "nobody would go through that much effort for a fake leak" doesn't apply ever. Yes people will go through tremendous effort for a fake leak.
NateDrake rant on the Spawncast about this was epic. Just incredible
I was coming off like a conspiracy theorist trying to disprove this but I turned out right.
At the end of the day we all leaned that the logic of "nobody would go through that much effort for a fake leak" doesn't apply ever. Yes people will go through tremendous effort for a fake leak.
NateDrake rant on the Spawncast about this was epic. Just incredible
To be fair, Mach Rider also shares branding with a toy Nintendo released in the '70s.
I let myself be blinded by my own desperate fandom into going on #TeamReal and as such am complicit in the horribly toxicity that came from it.
It is a cross that I and everyone else on that side needs to bear going forward. Always, always assume fake and demand proof of truth, never the other way around. Trying to force proof via lack of disproof is where men like me become monsters.
So, once again, much like last year, I am truly sorry for being even a passive participant, and all I can ask is that I and those like me are not seen as too much lesser.
It is a cross that I and everyone else on that side needs to bear going forward. Always, always assume fake and demand proof of truth, never the other way around. Trying to force proof via lack of disproof is where men like me become monsters.
So, once again, much like last year, I am truly sorry for being even a passive participant, and all I can ask is that I and those like me are not seen as too much lesser.
Smash still won't even acknowledge the Ultra Hand
toys are clearly NOTHING to sakurai
Maybe, but I guess that was more of a broad thing about not really being all that surprised at when I see any character outside of a "excuse me what" third party pull. Like I saw Piranha Plant as DLC and was like...sure, why not.
While I do think the sheer number of people shown here was too high for what the game was aiming for, I do think it also has a natural allure of something that would leave a splash like BK being one of the last things announced. Most pre-launch hype cycles end with a bang, and when we already had Ridley, K.Rool and Simon dropped I don't think most people would have expected them to really end on Ken and Inceniroar. Even in retrospect that's a weird pacing of everything. Just so many small things added up to make this grinch leak more believable than it otherwise would be on the surface.
imo they should have swapped the KenRoar reveal for the Belmonts. A Castlevania blowout would have been a great capstone to the Ultimate marketing hype cycle. The August Direct was godly and will never be topped but even Sakurai admitted they showed too much. Didn't hurt the game any since it went on to sell more than Brawl in a month, but yeah.
That said every Smash game frontloads their biggest and most hype announcements, so it isn't too surprising, either.
EDIT: Also, I think going forward, they should be transparent about exactly how many characters there are, much like the Fighters Pass. It definitely helps for reasonable expectations.
That said every Smash game frontloads their biggest and most hype announcements, so it isn't too surprising, either.
EDIT: Also, I think going forward, they should be transparent about exactly how many characters there are, much like the Fighters Pass. It definitely helps for reasonable expectations.
Yep. See also the NX controller leak which was a 3D printed controller based off a patent. And people ignored context that the patent wasn't a design patent so anyone modeling it off the patent showed their ass as being fake. And people went nuts hunting down trees.
One of the best hype cycles for a game i've ever experienced. The madness, the meltdowns, people unable to debunk it.
It was glorious, just like pokemon XY's pre-launch leaks too.
It was glorious, just like pokemon XY's pre-launch leaks too.
It is what it is. Glad that many who've participated in the toxicity have looked back on it and learned from it. I was majorly turned off from Smash era after that happened and went from an active participant who loved the community, set up games, and engaged on a daily basis to not posting anymore. I still participate in Smash communications in discord, however, I just can't seem to find the groove again on Smash era.
I also wouldn't be surprised if some of the insiders that used to post here more frequently cite the Grinch stupidity as a reason that they're not as active here anymore, if they haven't washed their hands of Era entirely.
And it's good that people are learning and moving on but unfortunately damage is done and cannot be undone. And even more unfortunately it is only bound to happen again, as new people come in and make the same mistakes.
So yeah, special apologies to you and others to have contributed in your own displeasure, disillusionment, and disengagement from a community you once held dear.
That even some are still here (Banjo last E3) is if anything an act of mercy.
I remember how everyone screamed they would never believe another smash leak that doesn't have clearly legit gameplay and not a mod after omni and rayman. Then people believe a cheap blurry mural.
I said exactly this but substituted "a Pokémon" to not just name it outright. I wrote an entire news post on Game Informer about it.
I also kept explaining that Bandai Namco wouldn't be printing character banners, which someone called me stupid for saying.