Dojo Day: Leap Week Edition

Yeah yeah I know. There was no Dojo Day article last week, a blasphemic fact that has probably sent all three of the people who read this column into unstoppable withdrawal seizures. This week is the last Dojo Day article before Brawl weekend, when Super Smash Bros. Brawl will finally release to the North American market. Can't wait? That's what I'm here for, ranting about Nintendo's smash hit (see what I did there?) fighting game franchise. This week I'll be talking about R.O.B. and everything I missed for the past two weeks. Welcome to Dojo Day.

Discussion Topics

Don't Mess with This R.O.B.ot: So, I've heard a lot of complaints from friends of mine about this whole R.O.B. business.

"He's another character from Starfox?"
"He's too powerful!"
"I don't even know who he is. Why is he in the game?"

So, I feel that it is necessary to--how do I put it--enlighten some of you Brawl fans in regards to the story of a certain Robotic Operating Buddy.

R.O.B., short for Robotic Operating Buddy, began its life not as a video game character per se, but as a peripheral added to the NES. The little one-foot tall gray plastic robot served as an add-on playable with two games for the NES, Gyromite and Stack Up. His duties consisted of throwing up small plastic discs and catching them, and while playing the (admittedly terrible) games, you would have to balance the action both on-screen and right on the floor in front of you.

More importantly for you video game fans, R.O.B. served as the primary reason why the NES, by extension Nintendo, and by extension video games as we know them even exist. After the death of the 1980's video game boom, nobody thought that games could sell any more. Nintendo, who couldn't sell their Nintendo Entertainment System to anyone in America, decided to use R.O.B and the NES Light Gun as ways to sell the console to places like Toys R Us. After all, it's a "toy," not a "video game," right?

Soon, Nintendo was selling millions of NES's, and had dropped the Robotic Operating Buddy altogether. Video games were back in business. Years later, R.O.B. made his first reappearance, as the pilot of the Great Fox in Starfox 64. He would become playable for the first time as a secret character in Mario Kart DS, before joining the cast of Brawl.

So next time you're complaining about the inclusion of characters in Brawl, remember what R.O.B. did for video games. After all, doesn't he deserve his chance to beat a certain pretentious fat plumber around a little?
[Thanks to Gamespy for providing historical information for this section]

Dojo Topics

Luigi's Mansion: While we already knew that this stage existed, what we didn't know was that it can be broken down when players knock down the foundations of the house. However, this ghost house quickly rebuilds itself, restarting the cycle.

Falco: Fan-favorite Falco flies in for some fast fighting. (phew!) While Falco's main special moves (including his Landmaster Tank FInal Smash) remain the same as in Melee, he has new Smash attacks. For example, he can perform a "spinning 100-slash attack" wihle running at an enemy.

Meteor Smash: I'm not sure if this was in Melee (can anyone confirm or deny that for me?), but here's the rundown: While in the air, you can hit your opponent downward and create a "Meteor Smash" that will immediately smash them down instead of to the side.

Captain Falcon: He's back, and now he's got a new way to perform a Falcon Punch. If you're winding up your punch, you can now reverse the direction at the last minute, adding a little damage and eliminating the longtime problem of the Captain's vulnerability during the windup. In addition, Captain Falcon's FInal Smash calls in his "Blue Falcon" racecar, knocking around opponents who get in the way.

Master Hand: Yes, Master Hand and Crazy Hand are both in the game, and they're pretty much the same as always.

Samus: Special Moves: This is all just Samus basics, except for her new missile. By holding the special move button after performing a missile attack, you will launch a green super missile instead of a purple homing one.

Clear %: For every time you play through Subspace Emissary, you will be given a percentage representing how much stuff you have collected. To increase this percentage to a 100%, enter every door in the game (Kirby-style), clear every stage, collect the mysterious "orange cubes" (they contain items), and collect all the character trophies.

Lucario: So, he is in fact quite a bit different from Mewtwo. Most interestingly, Lucario's attacks become more powerful the more he gets damaged. His special attacks include an "Aura Sphere" nearly identical to Mewtwo's "Shadow Ball," a quick, adaptable-range side-special called "Force Palm," and a counter move called "Double Team" for the down-special.

Spear Pillar: Wow, there actually were stages that were not revelaed in that initial list? Anyway, Spear Pillar is from Pokemon, and features a staggering amount of dynamic effects. The stage has a sort of Battlefield-like ruins structure on the top, but also contains caverns beneath. Depending on the color scheme of the stage (Diamond or Pearl, chosen at random at startup), either Dailga or Palkia (both Pokemon) will appear. Dialga will tilt or flip the camera, causing the stage to change view while characters stay on the ground. He can also make the whole fight occur in slow-motion. Palkia will crumble parts of the stage or send beams of energy at the players.

That's it for this week everybody. Next week I'll either be out at midnight waiting for my copy of Brawl or sleeping at home so I can have some rest for when I pick it up the next morning. I'm not sure what will happen with Dojo Day next weekend, but be assured that I'll have something for you guys. See you all next week, and good luck getting your hands on Brawl!

[via Smash Bros. Dojo]

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Dojo Day: Triplets Edition

Hey there buddy, how ya been? Today is Saturday, and this is the first time in a while that I've posted a Dojo Day article on the correct day. In case you're not keeping a running count, I'd like to remind everyone that as of today, Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Nintendo Wii releases in exactly 22 days. I haven't heard anything yet about playable demos, but if any of you find out about one in your area, be sure to let me know and I'll put a notice up in this column. Welcome to Dojo Day.

Discussion Topics

FAINARU SUMASHU (Final Smash): Everybody else is talking about them, so why not me? In case you haven't heard yet, every Brawl character's Final Smash has been revealed and compiled in a video posted by a guy in Japan. Most of these are some pretty cool stuff, such as Bowser's Giga Bowser powerup, Ganondorf's transformation into Ganon, and Link's Triforce attack. The most interesting new addition is Luigi's Negative Zone, in which the whole color scheme in the center of the stage inverts, and opponents are affected by various status changes (slower speed, damage). While I don't know if this is from any particular game, it's still a pretty cool move. I'm glad that we're seeing more variety in the Final Smashes with weird ones like that.

Even so, the ever-present problem of clones appeared in the video so it could maul our serene, Final Smash-driven bliss with boring monotony. First off, I'll express my brief happiness that most of the apparent clones (Cpt. Falcon-Ganondorf or Marth-Ike) are actually considerably different, especially in their Final Smashes. However, there are still two sets of clones, and one of them is a triplet! Yep, not only is there the Ness-Lucas clone, but Fox, Falco, and Star Wolf are all essentially the same character (excluding speed/damage differences), right down to their Landmaster Tank Final Smash. I'm quite disappointed in the implementation of these characters, since furries Starfox fans are really only left with one distinct character in the game, albeit cloned into three. It wouldn't be that hard to create different Final Smashes for each one, perhaps featuring things like bombing runs or Arwing aerial strikes.

Dojo Topics

Quick Techniques: Some basic "quick techniques," most of which are from Melee as well.

• Hit shield before hitting the ground to jump back up.
• Shield right as a blow hits to eliminate lag time after shielding.
• Hit with the same move too many times and it will do less damage.
• Glancing blows don't knock your opponents around.
• You can swim now for a short time.
• Press the jump button quickly to perform a short jump.
• Quickly pivot and grab to grab from a long distance.
• You can eat food while knocked on the ground.
• After multiple reflections, an attack can become so strong that it breaks the reflector.

Mario Bros.: This retro stage has solid floors that you can't jump through as well as occasional Koopa and crab enemies.

Hidden Parts in Stage Builder: Throughout the game you can acquire new parts for the Stage Builder, such as Ferris wheels, conveyor belts, and springboards.

Yoshi: Special Moves: Yoshi throws eggs and eats people. Can you sense my surprise?

Green Hill Zone: This classic Sonic stage contains the iconic shuttle loop in the background, as well as images of Tails, Knuckles, and Silver riding past. Plus, the ground can sometimes crumble under your feet. This stage should be a true treat for fans of the old (with the shuttle loop and crumbling floor) and new (with Knuckles and Silver) Sonic series.

Luigi: Luigi joins his brother Mario for another Super Smash Bros. game.

This has been a presentation from your local channel 34. Tune in next week when we will be showing the recent high school debate competition. If you'd like to contact us and request that we talk about Super Smash Bros. Brawl instead, please email us. Now we must part for yet another week, dear friends.

[via Smash Bros. Dojo]

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Dojo Day: New Format Edition

Welcome to the first week of Dojo Day that we totally depart from our previous article format. With some suggestions from friends of mine who read the column, I decided on a rough new way to organize this here article. This is still not finalized, though, so you can still tell us how you want it changed. Welcome to Dojo Day.

New format goes like this: Discussion Topics (with one or two random Smash topics I want to talk about), followed by Dojo Topics (extremely brief summaries of recent important Dojo updates).

Discussion Topics

On Release Dates: I'm sure a ton of you are just itching for Super Smash Bros. Brawl here in North America, but that March 9th release date just keeps slapping you in the face. Instead of boycotting Nintendo games in your anger or annoying the Joystiq bloggers with a barrage of comments, try thinking about why they would delay it. It doesn't make business sense to delay a game that big when it's already essentially completed, unless of course there is a different, unmentioned reason for the delay.

If you remember what happened at the Japanese launch, Nintendo was only able to fulfill approximately one-third of their pre-orders, causing a massive shortage in the game. Now, if the game is already done, and ready to be shipped to North America, that extra month and a half allows for a whole lot of extra production time. So, hopefully when you walk into your local game store on March 9th to pick up your pre-ordered copy of Brawl, you'll be glad that Nintendo delayed the game. If they didn't, you'd probably have to wait until March 9th to find a copy anyway.

Furries? In my Brawl?: Unfortunately, it's more likely than one would think. Last week we were witnesses to the unveiling of the complete Brawl roster, which included a new character, the fox Pokemon Lucario. I'm not one to complain about character inclusions, but when a new character replaces an old one, and I much prefer the older one, then there's a problem. Mewtwo is no longer in the game, and Lucario will have a very similar moveset to his predecessor.

I didn't want a furry in my game! Now if I (and many others who enjoyed playing as Mewtwo) want to play using essentially the same character moveset as before, I will have to play with a new Pokemon who I do not recognize and who also happens to be complete furry bait. (Furries being animals with human characteristics and any fans of these characters) I don't exactly understand why Mewtwo had to be taken out, seeing as he was still a fairly relevant Pokemon, and Lucario is much less well-known by the gaming public. Does anyone here actually like Lucario? What's your opinion on the Mewtwo-Lucario switch?

Dojo Topics

Port Town Aero Dive: This F-Zero stage is pretty much just like Mute City from Melee.

Final Destination: Final Destination is (predictably) included, so hardcore fans can sleep peacefully now. The background for this one transfers between outer space, a wormhole, and an evening scene over an ocean.

Assist Trophies: Newly confirmed Assist Trophies are:

• Metroid from Metroid (latches onto and damages enemies)
• Tingle from The Legend of Zelda (causes random effects)
• Kat & Ana from WarioWare (perform an X-slash)
• Jeff from EarthBound (shoots 5 guided bottle rockets)
• Helirin from Kuru Kuru Kururin (spins around the stage, creating an obstacle for players)
• Jill & Drill Dozer from Drill Dozer (um, drills enemies)
• Nintendogs from Nintendogs (gets in the way of the screen)
• Lakitu from Mario Bros. (drops Spinies)
• Hammer Bros. from Mario Bros. (throw hammers)

Zero Suit Samus: Final Smash: For her Final Smash, Zero Suit Samus puts on her armor again, doing damage to nearby enemies in the process. You can also select her on the character select screen without having to use Samus' Final Smash. Finally, by rapidly pressing up-down-up on the d-pad, you can change quickly between normal and Zero Suit Samus.

Enemies and Allies: While I still maintain that I don't particularly like Subspace Emissary, this video is pretty cool. Marth and Meta Knight meet each other and begin a fast paced fight, but are soon forced to work together to fight the Primid.

That's it for this week folks. If you want me to talk about something, or maybe have an opinion about Brawl that you want to get out there, feel free to let me know.

[via Smash Bros. Dojo]

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Dojo Day: Japan's Got Dibs

This was an exciting week for Smash fans. After months and months of trickling information and tiny leaks, the Japanese version of Super Smash Bros. Brawl released, garnering huge sales. And of course, the good people of Nihon decided to treat us jealous Americans to some spoilerific screens, videos, and confirmations of our favorite characters. While we already posted the list in a quick news post, here at Dojo Day we like to get a little more in-depth with our coverage. (Why do you think we're always late? It takes time to formulate our brilliant opinions!)

In case this isn't already evident, this particular edition of Dojo Day, and for that matter all editions henceforth, will contain spoilers of Super Smash Bros. Brawl. If you still want to retain your Smash virginity, please...stop reading? Aww, but that means less readers. I guess we gotta do what we gotta do, right? Here goes. List of characters in 3, 2, 1.

Bold names are newly leaked

Characters Bowser (Mario) Captain Falcon (F-Zero) Diddy Kong (DK) Donkey Kong (DK) Falco (Starfox) Fox (Starfox) Ganondorf (Zelda) Ice Climbers (Ice Climbers) Ike (Fire Emblem) Jigglypuff (Pokemon) King Dedede (Kirby) Kirby (Kirby) Link (Zelda) Lucario (Pokemon) Lucas (Mother) Luigi (Mario) Mario (Mario) Marth (Fire Emblem) Meta Knight (Kirby) Mr. Game & Watch (Game & Watch) Ness (Mother/Earthbound) Peach (Mario) Pikachu (Pokemon) Pikmin & Olimar (Pikmin) Pit (Kid Icarus) Pokemon Trainer (Pokemon) R.O.B. (Gyromite) Samus/Zero Suit (Metroid) Snake (Metal Gear Solid) Sonic (Sonic) Star Wolf (Starfox) Toon Link (Zelda) Wario (WarioWare) Yoshi (Mario) Zelda/Sheik (Zelda)

Stages Battlefield Battleship Halberd (Kirby) Bridge of Eldin (Zelda) Castle Siege (Fire Emblem) Classic Mario Bros. (Mario) Delfino Plaza (Mario) Distant Planet (Pikmin) Electroplankton (Electroplankton) Final Destination Frigate Orpheon (Metroid) Green Hill Zone (Sonic) Luigi's Mansion (Mario) Lylat Cruise (Starfox) Mario Circuit (Mario Kart) Mushroomy Kingdom (Mario) New Pork City (Mother) Norfair (Metroid) Pictochat Pokemon Stadium 2 (Pokemon) Pirate Ship (Zelda) Port Town (F-Zero) Rumble Falls (DK) Shadow Moses Island (Metal Gear Solid) Skyworld (Kid Icarus) Smashville (Animal Crossing) The Summit (Ice Climbers) WarioWare (WarioWare) Yoshi's Island (Mario)

Yeah, that's 35 characters and 27 stages for you. I'm liking these additions, though a few are missing that should have been included. Where's Megaman? Where's a Tetris stage? There were a lot of things left out, but the complaints are far outweighed by how awesome some of these inclusions are. Toon (Wind Waker) Link, R.O.B. (who has made cameos in various Nintendo games since his debut on the NES), and stages like Electroplankton round off an already extremely varied game.

This week, we're still going with the normal article format, but next week we just might switch it up, since the Dojo is now only telling information that we already heard from Japanese spoilers. Do you have an idea for a new format? Email us, use the contact form, or comment in the Forums to let us know what you think!

Vault: This simple update really just shows off the features we already heard about in the "Vault" section, such as Trophies, Challenges, and Video Replay. A new feature is the "Chronicle," which gives a chronological list of Nintendo's release history that fills in as you complete the game. Not too useful, but an interesting addition nonetheless.

First Songs in My Music: This massive list tells us what songs you begin with in Brawl. The sheer number should leave any fans of Nintendo music frothing at the mouth. There are some interesting additions, like songs from Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, Chosoju Mecha MG, Balloon Fight, Shin Onigashima, Brain Age/Big Brain Academy, and Wii Sports.

Brawl: This really just goes over how to set up a Brawl for newcomers to the franchise. However, in the process of his explanation, Sakurai revealed three things: First, the fact that Random now does not show the character it has selected for you until you start playing, Second, the ability to choose which Pokemon the Trainer starts with and if you want to start as Sheik or Zelda. Finally, there is a full shot of the items roster, including a few we haven't seen yet.

Game Mode Introduction Movie: This simple yet fast-paced video is a fun little intro to the insane amount of game modes that Brawl has. Nothing new, but still interesting for antsy fans.

Ness: At this point and on, Sakurai announces that there will be spoilers, and anyone who doesn't want to know secret characters should stay away. Essentially, this is admission that most people already know all the characters, so he's only giving repeated information now. To make up for it, the info will now include things like how to acquire the character, and tips on how to use them. Ness is back (and I breathe a sigh of relief), with a slightly different moveset from Lucas. Lucas' PK Thunder passes through enemies when it hits them, and moves slower than Ness', while his PK Thunder-propelled self-launch makes multiple hits unlike Ness' single big hit. The Dojo page has full info and pics for you Ness fans.

So, the Dojo takes a backseat to the actual leaks this week, as we really start to look over who we'll be playing as in March. I don't have a full analysis for you this week, because the Dojo blog is still going. But come on, I want to change this format as much as you probably want me to. So go ahead and send me in some emails. Whether you want to suggest a new format, ask a question, or even just tell us how much you love the column, send in an email or comment in the official thread. Next week, unless the format is changed by one of your suggestions, I can guarantee some hardcore opinion-giving on the new characters and such.

[via Smash Bros. Dojo]

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Dojo Day: Retro Edition

Aw crap, another Sunday edition! If you want to blame anyone, blame Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson. Why write a Dojo Day article when you've got a bunch of people downstairs watching Die Hard With a Vengeance, right? Well, I wrote quite a bit this week, so I hope you enjoy. Welcome to Dojo Day.

Zelda: Final Smash: Zelda (and Sheik, since they share the same Final Smash) pulls out a massive bow and fits a light arrow to the string. As is to be expected of an arrow, it shoots straight forward, though this one has a long trai of light that damages anyone in the way. It's a rather thin point, however, and looks quite easy to dodge in a one-on-one situation.

Manaphy: This cute(?) little Pokemon will "Heart Swap" between you and an enemy, temporarily switching control so that you control your enemy and they control you. Both players retain their damage meters and if they self-destruct while possessing the other, it still counts against the player controlling the self-destruct, not the original owner of the body.

Iwata Asks: Satoru Iwata, famed president of Nintendo, has been holding "Iwata Asks" interviews since the launch of the Wii, in which he interviews Nintendo employees and developers about the games they create. This time, though he has interviewed Masahiro Sakurai, director of all the Smash Bros. games, including of course, Brawl. The multi-part interview is a really fun insight into not just the development that goes on behind the scenes at HAL and Nintendo, but also the longtime professional relationship between Sakurai and Iwata. Give it a read.

Mushroomy Kingdom: A side-scrolling stage that looks nearly identical to Stage 1-1 from Super Mario Bros. However, it now has a dusty, desert motif, since apparently everyone's favorite fungal feudal realm has been worn down to ruins over the ages, until it is nothing more than a Mushroomy Kingdom. Sometimes, the stage will take place in the underground Stage 1-2. This is really a very cool idea, and this is the first time that what is essentially a full game level has been included in Smash Bros. Oh crap, I think all of us have played Stages 1-1 and 1-2 so many times that we've got the whole place committed to memory! No more Nintendo! No more SMB!!!

Super Mario Bros.: Ground Theme: Okay, I'll concede, I can handle a bit more Mario, especially if Koji Kondo is still composing rad beats for Nintendo's overweight mascot. This neat little arrangement, created especially for the game by famed game composer Koji Kondo, is a remixed Mario Bros. theme with a very bouncy piano part in the foreground.

Test Battle: Tokyo vs. Kyoto: In order to assuage fears of laggy online battles, Nintendo conducted a test Brawl between Nintendo's Kyoto HQ and HAL's development center in Tokyo. (It's like the distance between Los Angeles and Las Vegas) The first battle between these former Japanese caiptals in centuries resulted in a stunning victory for...Mario? Also, Sakurai is a clever little boy, because the "lag" he was about to show us is actually NOT THERE AT ALL!

Masterpieces: Oh yeah, baby! In what is quite possibly one of the coolest announcements in recent weeks, Sakurai mentions a feature very reminiscent of Animal Crossing, called Masterpieces. Every Brawl disc comes with set of retro games that correlate with the characters in the game, such as Super Mario Bros. for Mario, Super Metroid for Samus, Kid Icarus for Pit, and Starfox 64 for Fox. These are only timed demos, though, and you can play them as many times as you want. (After, say, 5 minutes, you'll have to start over) If you like it, you can download the game on Virtual Console. Hopefully, there will be Virtual Console integration with Brawl in the future, so that you can play your demo, and buy the full version directly without returning to the Wii menu.

What's not to love about this Retro-filled week for those of us who "remember the NES"? Not only did we get a remixed Mario stage (and remixed music to go with it), but Sakurai also revealed the super-cool option of playing the original games that Smash Bros. is based on! For people like me, who love old games, but missed out on a ton of them due to late entry into video games, this preview option is perfect.

On a bittersweet note, I think that the "TBD" MSRP on Brawl just might turn into a $60 pretty soon. The game is so packed with features that it just might rival The Orange Box's title last year as the "Best Deal of the Year." Aren't you glad that the devs have time to finish it? See you next week, and remember to send in those emails!

[via Smash Bros. Dojo]

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Dojo Day: March 9th Edition

Yes, it's true. Super Smash Bros. Brawl has been delayed once again, and this time to March 9th. But come on, don't tell me that good old Murphy and his ever-present Law didn't tip you off about that one already? Still, this a little odd, since the Japanese version (which just received an elusive 10 score from Japanese gaming mag Famitsu) is still releasing on January 31. It can't take over a month for localization of a game that already seems to have much of the English work finished from what we see on the blog. Possibly, they need time to prepare the online servers for the undoubtedly massive strain launch day will cause, but I still think that a month is a bit long to delay for.

Challenges: You are provided with a long wall of blue glass squares, and every time you acquire a new character, trophy, CD, or any other unlockable, you will open up its square. In addition, surrounding squares will turn red, and you will be able to see what the requirements are for getting that unlockable. (i.e. completing an event, playing a certain amount of hours) Plus, you can use Golden Hammers at the bottom to smash open almost any square that you want, regardless of position.

Distant Planet: On the suspiciously Earth-like planet, the setting of Pikmin, players will be able to fight on a variety of natural landscapes. They can stand on the leafy platforms, jump down to the dirt slope (susceptible to landslides in the rain), or onto the head of a dangerous frog-like creature.

Sheik: Zelda's alter-ego is back, much the same as she was in Melee. The major difference, however, is that she has been completely redesigned based on the art style for Twilight Princess. For those who were disappointed in the lack of Sheik in TP will be delighted with her new, really hardcore ninja-looking design.

Pikmin & Olimar: Final Smash: Olimar, with one of the more unique Final Smashes, climbs into his spaceship as the stage turns to night. Wild creatures then appear and stampede over his opponents, until daylight comes and Olimar's rocket comes crashing back to the ground.

Sticker Power-ups: So stickers do have more purpose than making little kids feel special! Each sticker has a power-up based on the picture is represents, and you can apply these power-ups to your character in story mode by placing your stickers onto the bottom of your character's trophy stand. The power-ups include things like Attack +13 and Launch Resistance +20. However, when you peel off a sticker to apply a new one, you will lose that sticker forever. Of course, for the lazy ones out there (i.e. me), you can hit a button to randomly select powerups for your character.

So it seems that we have another whole month of waiting for Super Smash Bros. Brawl to come out. What does that mean? For one thing, Nintendo is still doing what they always have done: delaying games over and over in order to iron out problems. That means you will have a near-perfect rendition of Smash Bros. when you go out to buy Brawl on that indefinite date in the future which--just our luck--is probably after March 9. For me, that means one more month of friggin' weekly Smash articles!

On a lighter note, this column feels sort of boring and played-out, so how's this for an idea? You guys can write my articles for me send in emails to anigamers.contact@gmail.com and tell me your thoughts on Smash Bros. and the latest announcements. Or, to make it even easier, you can also post them in the Dojo Day Forums thread. Good responses will be posted in the next Dojo Day article, for all the world (maybe just a bit of it) to read. See you all next week!

[via Smash Bros. Dojo]

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Dojo Day: Teletubbies with Flowers

Happy New Year everyone, and welcome back to the traditional Dojo Day format! Today I'll be talking about Teletubbies Pikmin, Solid Snake, and (possibly) Animal Crossing. What do they all have to do with each other? Why, they're all animals, or people with names like animals, or plantish-animal creature things. It made sense when I first wrote it. Welcome to Dojo Day

Melee Stages: Part 2: The thrill known by Joystiq's Chris Grant as the "trickle strategy" doesn't get any better than this! Guess what! There's more Melee stages in the game! In case your hands are shaking too much to check it yourself, the confirmed ones are Yoshi's Island, Corneria, Onett, Brinstar, and Rainbow Ride. </sarcasm>

STADIUM: Multi-Man Brawl: Multi-Man battles are back as expected, but this time the different characters you fight are "Alloys" instead of "Wireframes." There is the "Red" male Alloy, the "Blue" female one, a conspicuously-horned short "Yellow" one, and a "Green" Kirby-esque one. In addition to single-player mode, hardcore nerds can also play co-op Multi-Man, either local or online. Dang, with all these awesome online modes, you'd think they would give us a little more freedom.

Pikmin & Olimar: Wow, spot-on there, Oracle! Captain Olimar and five colored PIkmin join the fight, further rubbing in the face of fans the fact that there is still no info on a potential Pikmin Wii. Even though they're just Teletubbies with flowers on their heads, I'm pretty interested in this character. I never played the original game, but this looks like a great, unique addition to the roster (similar to Pokemon Trainer).

Pikmin: World Map: The epic score for Pikmin makes its debut with the World Map music. I'm loving the sound of this fun song, even without having played the game.

Snake: Final Smash: Snake calls in a helicopter, jumps onto its drop-down ladder, and takes out a grenade launcher. Floating in the foreground with the stage in the background, Snake shoots 12 shots at his enemies before returning to normal. I'm interested in the new items and attacks that take characters to the foreground of the battle, but I think a much more unique Final Smash could have been developed for Snake.

Pikmin & Olimar: Special Moves: One of Olimar's special attacks is to pull up Pikmin from the ground, and he can have up to six of them following him at one time. The five types are red, yellow, blue, purple, and white, each with elemental powers (fire, electricity, etc.) and different features (arcs when thrown, weight, durability, etc.). If Olimar runs out of Pikmin, he has to either pull more up, or fight with his insufficient individual attacks. This mode of play is so radically different that I just might consider him among my new favorite characters.

First off, let's get past OMGZORSPIKMIN. I'm really hoping that the inclusion of Captain Olimar shows that Nintendo is willing to create a new Pikmin for the Wii, which would help satiate clamoring hardcore fans. HAL is also (refreshingly) breaking into new turf with the series, adding two characters already (Pokemon Trainer, Captain Olimar) with unique, "backseat" fighting styles as they send others to attack for them.

As I mentioned above, the "Yellow Alloy" in Multi-Man Brawl has some very familiar horns. Remember a little game called Animal Crossing, in which every human character had the same odd-shaped horns? With an Animal Crossing stage, Pitfall, and this character included, I believe that an Animal Crossing human is a completely plausible, and in fact extremely likely addition. Who knows, maybe his attacks will use his shovel, axe, and other items, and one of his costumes could be the femal AC character model. This would also coincide well as promotion for the planned Animal Crossing Wii game.

Only time will tell, but expect that Animal Crossing announcement in the next week or two, as it has now been almost totally confirmed. In closing, I'm sorry about posting this on Sunday again, but I had that Gundam SEED review to write. Vampt Vo, signing out!

[via Smash Bros. Dojo]

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Dojo Day: Best of 2007 Edition

It was a painful first week of 2008 for Smash Bros. fans, as the Super Smash Bros. Dojo blog took a brief hiatus to give its staff a much-needed break. But since I'm a cruel, whip-cracking slave master, my staff doesn't get a break at any time of the year! So, I present to you the Dojo Day "Best of 2007 Edition." Below, I have provided you with my choices for the coolest new announcements for Brawl. If you need to recover from your week-long withdrawal symptoms, look no further.

Best New Character: Snake
While legions of Smash purists can attack me through the internet all that they want about how Snake doesn't "fit in" with Smash Bros., I will remain adamantly excited about the inclusion of one of gaming's most memorable modern mascots in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Face it: nothing beats a showdown between Nintendo, SEGA, and Konami. Nothing.
Runner Up: Pokemon Trainer

Best New Stage: Frigate Orpheon
Stuck in retro-land, Sakurai was somehow unable to get us a Metroid Prime stage until now. Finally I get to play a stage from one of the best video game franchises of the last console generation. Plus it's a really inventive, dynamic stage.
Runner Up: Shadow Moses Island

Best New Item: Banana Peel
This no-brainer Mario Kart item should have been in the first Smash Bros., so getting to use it at last will be a ton of fun. I'm also glad to see some Mario Kart representation in Brawl.
Runner Up: Smoke Ball

Best Assist Trophy: Gray Fox
I don't care if I sound like a Metal Gear Solid fanboy with all my choices from the MGS universe. Gray Fox is by far the coolest character in the entire MGS saga, and having him in the game (hopefully with some lines about bone and sinew) is really awesome.
Runner Up: Andross

Best Overall Announcement: Sharing
With Halo and other online games hot on their heels, Nintendo decided to ratchet up their online strategy (at least in the DLC realm). Player-created stages, videos, and pictures can all be sent both to friends and anonymously to the WHOLE INTERNET! This is sure to keep my childish mind interested for months and months.
Runner Up(s): Four Control Schemes/CPUs Replace Disconnectors

Biggest Disappointment: Crippled Online
Most of you have already read my extensive rant on the subject of Brawl's online, and if you haven't, then read its enlightening words of wisdom now. However, I will continue to stress how downright stupid the online mode is in Brawl. Fanboys can sugarcoat it however they want, but the truth remains: Brawl's online has been severely crippled in order to protect the minds of a casual demographic. Rankings, the one thing that would have really made the game great for hardcore players, has been cut as an online feature. I'm disappointed in you, Nintendo...disappointed.
Runner Up: Color, not Costume Changes

I hope you enjoyed rereading all about the best Smash Bros. Dojo announcements of the year. Do you have different choices? Want to complain about the article? Use the link below to discuss with your fellow nerds in the Forums.

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Dojo Day: Happy Rainbow Dragon Edition

The Dragoon is an amazing creature. It flies the across the world, using its patented rainbow jets to move at supersonic speed. And when it passes little villages, it spreads joy and funtime to all the children. It's sort of like... Santa Clause. Yeah, Santa Clause.

Whatever, welcome to Dojo Day.

Overalls Wario: YES! It seems that the guys at HAL pulled a fast one on me when Sakurai mentioned color changes. At least in the case of Wario, there is a complete costume change to the original Wario look, instead of just a color change. You can either play as the denim-jacket-wearing WarioWare version or the yellow-and-purple overalls Wario. Hopefully this trend will continue to characters such as Samus, who would greatly benefit from things like the Dark Suit.

Sonic-Final Smash: Chaos Emeralds swarm around Sonic, and he turns Super-Sayian into "Super Sonic." With power that is clearly over nine thousand, he can fly around the stage damaging anyone he touches, but he is very hard to control.

Sonic The Hedgehog-Angel Island Zone: I love old video game music, but this stuff doesn't really pique my interest very much. Never being much of a Sonic fan, I find this relatively unchanged old song from Sonic 3 interesting, but not particularly exciting.

Trophy Stands: Trophies of enemies in Subspace Emissary mode are not just acquired automatically--they must be "caught" using trophy stands. If you are carrying a trophy stand, you can throw it at a damaged enemy or boss to capture them Pokemon-style. Since bosses will be hard to catch, they will be replayable after you beat them.

Coin Launcher: Instead of using a lottery system, trophies will now move in front of you in classic Galaga fashion, and as a stationary launcher, you will have to shoot coins at the moving trophies. If you hit multiple trophies in formation, you will gain stickers and other bonuses, and if a missile hits you, you will lose coins. This sounds like a pretty cool secondary mode for the game that you could play in your spare time, but I doubt it will keep anyone particularly interested when there are Brawls to be had.

Dragoon: Players can collect three parts of Kirby's Air Ride's Dragoon (head, body, and tail), and when they collect each part, it is shown next to their character's picture at the bottom. If you are hit hard by an enemy, or you die, you will lose your parts. When the three parts are finally brought together by a single person, they form Voltron the Dragoon, which can do more than simply be a rainbow-colored Santa wannabe. The player aims their shot, and then flies forward at their enemies atop the Dragoon, essentially causing a one-hit-KO.

Share: This is generally just a technical overview of the sharing features we already heard about. The ability to send and receive content from online is called the "Smash Service," and must be turned on in the options. Content sent anonymously through Nintendo is deleted and replaced periodically, but content from your friends must be managed by you, either by placing it on an SD card or by deleting it. Another simple but awesome feature is the ability to send content to multiple friends at the same time. It's so brilliant! Wii firmware, why didn't you think of that?

And that concludes this week's edition of Dojo Day! Why such a short conclusion you ask? Well, if you had Super Mario Galaxy, BioShock,and a Spiral boxset to finish before the release of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and you were the writer of a column for AniGamers, you'd probably want to end quick too. Oh, but I guess you're not. Too bad. Chump.

And of course, I'd like to wish everyone a Happy New Year. Have fun, drive safely, and feel free to post in our comments section while nursing your New Year's hangover.

[via Smash Bros. Dojo]

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Dojo Day: Incredible Helium Edition

Check out that amazing atom right there. That, my friends, is Helium. It does a lot of incredible things, among them blowing up party balloons, keeping blimps afloat, and making your voice really high while simultaneously killing your brain cells. But most importantly, it heals people in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Unless, of course, under some rare circumstance, that is actually not Helium. There's no way. Sakurai, you silly little trickster. Welcome to Dojo Day.

Co-op Events: This time, you can force your unwilling girlfriend to play co-op Event matches with you. (It only accepts up to 2 players) The events, however, are from a separate selection designed specifically for Co-op mode. Additionally, Target Smash can be played cooperatively.

Frigate Orpheon: Finally, a Metroid Prime level. This one is the Space Pirate Frigate Orpheon, the setting of the opening scenes of Metroid Prime. The Parasite Queen lies in wait in the back, while the dark and futuristic stage sporadically flips upside down!

Mother-Porky's Theme: The epic theme song of the evil leader Porky from Mother 3 is pretty entertaining. With a heavy drum beat and horn part, the song easily fits in with the other classic themes in the game.

Team Healer: This shiny little ball of helium is an item that, when thrown at another player, heals them instantly. It adds an interesting level of strategy, however, since it can heal either friends or foes. Expect obsessed teenagers everywhere to hate this "n00bish" item with a fury only equaled by their hate for the corrupting effect of sunlight on their pasty skin.

Kirby-Special Moves: Spoiler Alert: Kirby suck in enemies and absorbs their abilities. This simple post has a large gallery of the new looks for Kirby when he absorbs said abilities.

Subspace Emissary Movie: This promotional video for Subspace Emissary Mode looks and sounds nice, but does nothing to convince me that this new mode will be any better than the previous story modes. As a matter of fact, the new footage includes quite a lot of actual gameplay, and it actually looks startlingly similar to previous story modes. Seriously, don't get your hopes up for the Emissary.

This week's announcements were rather unimportant, but no less interesting. Frigate Orpheon is a great breath of fresh air after all of these damn old Metroid levels. I've been itching for a Prime stage since the game was first released. (Now all we need is something more specifically from a place like Tallon IV or Aether)

Team Healer is a pretty cool concept for an item, and I am loving the design. On the other side of the coin, though, I have no idea how people will keep track of all of these shiny ball and things. (Sticky Bomb, Smash Ball, etc.) "There, I healed you. Crap, never mind. You just got stuck!"

Well, this will be the last Dojo Day before Christmas, and I am actually putting up Christmas lights with my family as I speak. For all of our Dojo Day readers (you know, both of you), please have a safe, happy holiday season, whether you're celebrating Christmas, sulking about the annoying Christmas songs, or just having a nice Festivus meal.

[via Smash Bros. Dojo]

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Dojo Day: Real Men Use Items

You may or may not know this, based on the extent of your Super Smash Bros. dedication, but there is a large debate among fans on if you should use items or no items in a match. The items users claim that it brings variety and luck into the battle, while the items-haters feel that items are cheap, and diminish the effects of truly dedicated players' skills. On that subject, I actually know two people who have gotten into a physical fight over items in Super Smash Bros. Yeah, I'm completely serious.

One guys starts off with "Let's use items."
"No, I don't want to play with items."
"Dude, let's just use items."
"HELL NO!"
"ITEMS!"
"NO ITEMS!"
Punched.

I wasn't actually present for this battle of the ages (if ages is to mean over-testosteroned teen-ages), but I hope I was able to do justice to the epic battle. And that, my friends, is my lesson on how not to handle a friendly game of Super Smash Bros. Please play responsibly, and for God's sake, let the man use items if he wants to.

On another note, I'm sorry about being a little late, but I was at the New York Anime Festival all day yesterday. You'll just have to get over not reading my beautiful writing for a whole day. Welcome to Dojo Day.

Friend List: Besides getting a stunning revelation from one Nate involving the alleged manliness of items users, this update also included an explanation of the friends lists. Not only are still using friend codes, but there is also a 64-person friend cap. Luckily, the friend codes stay at 12 digits as opposed to the 16 of the Wii system. In addition, you can create a little comment that your friends will see when you're online, and your friends can see both your status (Online, searching, Brawling, etc.) as well as your connection rating (in the form of a colored dot).

Returning Pokemon: As expected, all the old Pokemon will make an appearance, though they sadly don't seem to have had their 3-D models changed at all. When Mew appears, it can drop things like CDs.

X-Tunnel Scene: This is some pretty sweet stuff. The "tunnel scene" music is from "X," the classic Gameboy game known as arguably being the first 3-D game on a handheld system. In addition, it was created by Argonaut Software, who later went on to develop Star Fox, and directed by Yoshio Sakamoto, creator of Metroid. The music is some awesome retro stuff, and while I've never played X, this definitely perks my interest in the old game. Also, you might want to note that there is no stage currently confirmed that would logically use this music. Is there some sort of retro stage in the game that we haven't heard about, or will this just be used in a Star Fox stage? Finally, I'll let everybody know right now that I almost had a heart attack when I read the title of Sakurai's post, originally believing Megaman X to be confirmed for Brawl.

The Battle for the Smash Ball: To make a long story short, when you finally break the bouncing Smash Ball, you can unleash your Final Smash with the special attack button. Enemies can hit you to make you lose this powerup, and sometimes when you're doing badly, the game will respawn you with Final Smash ability.

King Dedede-Final Smash: The King can summon an army of Waddle Dees that speed around the stage attacking opponents, and Gordos (those spiky enemies) can also appear.

With Anyone/Basic Brawl: Once you connect online, you choose "With Friends" or "With Anyone," and then choose Basic Brawl, Team Battle, or Spectator. Once you get into a room, you select your character (with a 45 second time limit), then choose your stage. The stage you play on is selected lottery-style a la Mario Kart DS or Metroid Prime Hunters. As you wait for the game to start, you can amuse yourself by hitting a Sandbag. Now here's where we reach the cool part: When another player disconnects, a CPU takes their place, and there is never any notification to give them the satisfaction of knowing that you heard of their desertion. That is a brilliant idea that will hopefully turn the disconnect from being what it is now: the sanctuary of sore losers and quitters. Your online matches will almost always have 4 players in them, and this might even open the possibilities of adding CPUs to matches at the beginning, a feature we never saw in the online components of most Nintendo WiFi Connection games.

There was just a little too much online stuff for me this week. Every time Sakurai mentions a "feature" of Brawl's online mode, it makes me angry as I remember all the awesome online modes we've seen over the past few years, and even some of the mediocre ones we've seen from Nintendo. That's why it's great to finally hear some good news among the slog that is Sakurai's online announcements. By replacing disconnectors with CPUs, Brawl will at least have an online mode that completely eliminates one of the few stains on most online games. The other small victory in the online arena is the ability to see your friends' connection levels. Meanwhile, I just can't get over things like the lack of rankings or any sort of chat. While you will likely lament the online mode if you are an experienced player, newbies to online play should find the little touches to be really fun. See everybody next week.

[via Smash Bros. Dojo]

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Dojo Day: Super Garlic!

Today's wonderful edition of Dojo Day is being released on a Sunday, and a busy one for me, at that. I was sick for two days earlier this week, and ended up missing a few days of posting on AniGamers. So, to make up for it, here you have a Dojo Day article on the previously unpostable Sunday. (Admittedly, the article is a day late) And looky here, tomorrow is the release date of Super Smash Bros. Brawl! Oh, waaaaait... Yeah, it turns out that the game is actually coming out on February 10! Darn you, Nintendo, you tricksters. As you lament the non-release of your favorite new game in true nerd shame, take solace in this article, into which I poured lots of otherwise useful time, a fair bit of effort, and--some claim--my soul.

Controls: After typing in a name, you can set your control scheme for any of the four different possible control schemes in the game. For each one, every single button in customizable, but you can also set things like the ability to tap up to jump, and the ability to swing the Wiimote to perform a smash attack.

Donkey Kong (Music): Longtime Nintendo composer Hirokazu Tanaka returns to create a really fun composition that combines retro sounds with some very nice mixing effects.

Widescreen Support: Brawl plays in widescreen. This megaton announcement is just overwhelming. Someone stop it, it's just too unexpected.

Wario-Final Smash: Wario eats a clove of garlic, and turns into the infamous Wario-Man. Using his superpowers (and ridiculously stupid costume), Wario-Man runs around the screen, using superpowered versions of Wario's normal moves. (Some midair moves even make him fly) However, if he uses his motorcycle, it will often be too fast for the player to control.

Events: Themed event matches are back, and they have three levels of difficulty. Some cool new events include: -Two Trouble Kings - You play as Mario against Bowser and Dedede in Delfino -Pink Ball Repulsion - As Meta Knight, you defend the Battleship Halberd from Kirby -Cleaning House in Skyworld - Pit breaks all the terrain in Skyworld, and Wario both helps and gets in the way -Dark Link Duel - Obviously, fight as Link against Dark Link (On the Bridge of Eldin)

Melee Stages: Some stages from Melee, including the ever-popular Hyrule Temple, have been included with some minor changes in Brawl. Also, in addition to the original music, there have been new tracks added, like a cool remix to the original Hyrule Temple music from the ill-received Zelda II.

Dammit, this week was dead boring. I had to friggin' title this thing "Super Garlic" for crying out loud! Some of the music was cool, but nearly everything was a confirmation of what we already knew or guessed. Whatever. It's midnight, and I'm tired. Now that I've knocked down the fourth wall with a bulldozer, I might as well be signing off. See you all next week, when we will discuss how we got a demo version of Brawl free from Nintendo due to our great column that everybody reads. (This may or may not be a complete and utter fabrication)

[via Smash Bros. Dojo]

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Dojo Day: Intoxicated Edition

It's our twenty-first Dojo Day article, so i decided to take Dojo out for his first drink. Seeing as "Dojo" is actually an online column, and therefore cannot sit next to me and drink, I ended up drinking my troubles away, ending up spectacularly drunk.

Then, amidst my massive hangover, I was hit with a startling and distressing piece of news that wouldn't have bothered anyone else in the slightest. But since my ears really hurt, and I was sure that the once-straight staircase had been replaced by a nice spiral one, the news hit me real hard. Here it is, but make sure you're good and sober when you read it, or you might end up at the bottom of a straightened staircase with a three-day-long concussion. (Okay, I'm not 21, and no I didn't get drunk, legal people. It's a joke.)

Ice Climbers-Final Smash: With "Iceberg," The twins send down a massive Iceberg that takes up most of the screen, makes the remaining ledges slippery, and freezes anyone it touches.

Smart Bomb: Hailing from the Starfox universe, this deadly item creates a massive explosion when thrown. The Smart Bomb, as well as things like the Pokemon Electrode, will occasionally just not explode at all.

Color Changes: I've been arguing for full costume changes for the longest time, but what do they do? Yep, they give us more cheap color changes in an attempt to imitate costume changes. You can change the color of your character as usual for Smash Bros., but this time they are trying a little harder to make the colors look like different characters. there's Fire Mario, Dark Link, Dark Fox, Fusion Suit Samus, Ocarina of Time Zelda, and Snakes with different camouflage. While these are pretty cool, the character models never change, so that options like Corrupted Samus or a true Ocarina of Time Link are impossible.

Saki Amamiya: In the "pretty frickin' sweet" category, Saki from the cult classic Sin and Punishment is an Assist Trophy. The game was never released in America until just recently, when Nintendo kindly translated and released the N64 game on the Virtual Console. Saki wields a "Cannon Sword" that predictably acts as both a gun and a sword, and does the usual beat-everybody-up Assist Trophy routine.

Lucas-Final Smash: With Smash Ball in hand, Lucas rains fiery destruction upon his foes as comets of energy fall from the sky and decimate both the stage and his opponents. Meanwhile, Lucas and Sakurai stand in the corner taking turns at punching a bound and gagged Ness in the face.

It's really annoying that we didn't get something as cool as costume changes. I mean, playing as something like one of the Metroid Prime Samuses, or Shadow the Hedgehog, or Ocarina of Time Link, Zelda, or Ganondorf, maybe even being able to keep Ness in the game as a costume of Lucas. Those things would be a ton of fun, if only we weren't stuck with the same costume format we've had for two games already.

All of my mad (often alcohol-induced) rantings about costume changes have been in vain! IN VAIN, my friends! 'Tis a sad day for everyone who cares about costume model changes in Super Smash Bros. Brawl (i.e. me).

[via Smash Bros. Dojo]

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Dojo Day: Gambling Edition

By Vampt Vo (11/17/07)

Super... Mario... Galaxy. It's right here in front of me, but duty (and lack of a free TV at the moment due to family) must intervene. So instead I come here to Dojo Day, where I will wash my troubles away in sweet, sweet alcohol cocaine gambling on Super Smash Bros. matches. Welcome to this week's Dojo Day, in which there will be lots of adult themes, but mostly just gambling. Yeah, pretty much.

Ike-Final Smash: After getting the Smash Ball, our blue-haired friend will be able to attack an opponent, launching them into the air. In midair, he will swing his flaming blade in a circle, then slash down at his enemy (and anyone nearby) while plummeting to the ground. When he hits the ground, he will create a huge explosion that damages any character standing there.

Three Different Taunts: Each character will have three different taunts, and each will be assigned to a different d-pad direction on the Wiimote. Link's three are his TP sword spin and sheath, a fairy appearing in front of him, and his one-legged pose from the original Smash Bros. Here's some of the cool ones:
-Fox yells while creating an aura of fire (I hear his power level is over nine thousand)
-Ike jams his sword in the ground then crosses his arms
-Snake gets in his favorite cardboard box and hides.

Handicaps: Just general handicap explanations, but Sakurai also mentions that you can now set a damage percentage that you will start with every time you respawn.

Kirby-Meta Knight's Revenge: It's a peppy jazz number to go with the Battleship Halberd stage. It's a pretty nice song, but in my opinion it's not dark and epic enough for the stage it is being placed in.

Meta Knight-Special Moves: This post contains full explanations of Meta Knight's abilities. He can glide through the air, as previously seen. Here are his special moves:
-Standard: Mach Tornado - Turns Meta Knight into a tornado that can whirl around the stage and toss enemies into the air.
-Side: Drill Rush - Involves him thrusting his sword while spinning around like a drill. Using slight movements, you can direct the attack to go diagonally up or down.
-Up: Shuttle Loop - He leaps into the air, slashing with his sword.
-Down: Dimensional Cape - This one is the most interesting. Meta Knight wraps his cape around himself, disappears, and reappears based on where you direct him. By holding down the attack button, you can also attack as you reappear.

Spectator: One match a day from someone else's game will be saved onto your system, and you will be able to watch it in Spectator mode. Of course, all names and info are stripped, Nintendo-fashion, so all you will see is Players 1 through 4 with their characters. In addition, you can bet coins on who is going to win, and you will always win stickers for watching matches. Of course, if your bet is correct, you will get a large sum of coins. Also important to note is that the match that is broadcast is the same each day across all systems. It is unconfirmed if this match follows the 3-minute time limit for video presented in an earlier post.

Spectator obviously takes the cake this week, but I have to say that I'm excited about the new taunts. Hopefully this should be able to add some form of the customizability that many had hoped for in online matches. It's not much, but right now, anything along that line of game design is worth something for us online-deprived Smashers.

Spectator mode is a really awesome idea. It might not be the most prominent feature of the game, but it will surely add a lot of replay value to an already endlessly replayable game. Personally, I doubt I'll use it much, but it's great to know that it is there in case I'm ever bored enough to watch some matches. Plus, this should surely invoke some social discussion of the game about the latest Spectator match, much like a football game invokes discussion among, you know, normal people. However, what really got me thinking is a few things that Sakurai accidentally slipped into those screenshots. You see, some of those characters are using different costumes. Samus has the Gravity Suit on, Link is wearing the Zora Tunic, and Peach looks like Daisy. What distresses me about this is the lack of changes in the costume system. I was hoping for some really cool new costumes, allowing the entire costume model to change (a la Soul Caliber 2), rather than just the colors (as we see in these shots). Unless that is a feature that has not been included yet, I would have to guess that we are sadly stuck with the old costume setup.

[via Smash Bros. Dojo]

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Dojo Day: Crushing Of Bone And Sinew

(Ed: Dojo Day has been moved back to the blog now) What's this? Dojo Day is no longer on the blog? How can we possibly disturb the natural order like this? Well, let me explain. It's a complicated process involving an Aztec priest, freshly grown cabbage, and usually a pint of blood from a newborn child. (Sometimes we use The Oracle's blood) We have to put all this together in just the right way, while chanting the Astro Boy children's chorus theme song, and then we have the gods' power vested in us in order to perform this monumental task. In all honesty though, I just felt that Dojo Day was sort of cannabalizing the blog, so I wanted to move it to its own area. Enjoy the news-only blog my friends! (previous entries will NOT be retroactively moved to the main site) Let's get started, shall we?

Fox's Misfortune: Here come more really high-quality yet oddly out-of-place videos. This one shows Diddy Kong finding Fox's crashed Arwing in the jungle. As he finds it, a Pokemon emerges from the lake and grabs him. Fox saves him, and the two leave together. (presumably to go on action-packed adventures and not for any sort of gay love scene by the lake) The video is, of course, a really nice looking piece of work. Even so, the lack of voiceovers continue to bring down any sort of cinematic experience Nintendo tries to create.

Fire Emblem-Fire Emblem Theme: With lyrics directed by Sakurai himself, the Fire Emblem Theme is a really nice sounding bit of music. The lyrics are in Latin to aid Fire Emblem's epic feel, and Melee players will recognize the tune.

Items from Previous Installments: This pretty much just confirms some classic Smash Bros. items. Set to return are the Beam Sword, Fire Flower, Freezie, Home-Run Bat, Party Ball, and Super Mushroom. The Beam Sword received a considerable aesthetic upgrade, and can stretch much further than before.

Gray Fox: Frank Jaeger, known to fans of Metal Gear Solid as Gray Fox, will be an Assist Trophy. With cybersuit donned, Gray Fox slashes up his enemies with his samurai sword. Those who have played the Metal Gear Solid games will remember Gray Fox as the awesome boss who chased you around asking for you to "hurt me more!" Of course, he also loved to discuss "the crushing of bone and sinew" with the hapless Solid Snake as Fox hunted you down.

Lucas-Special Moves: Welp, it's confirmed. Lucas is a slightly modified clone of Ness. His standard attacks are the basic fare, while not exact copies of Ness. He also apparently has some sort of rope snake attack (grab?) with which he can grab ledges. His PK Fire flies straight, his Standard B works the same way but is now a freezing move, and everything else is the same.

Norfair: This is a lava stage from Metroid similar to the Zebes stage from Melee. The platforms are the usual, but occasionally a lava wave will appear and engulf the entire stage. When this happens, everyone will have to fight to enter a small capsule that will shield from the lava.

It's a shame that this week's cool announcements are almost all hampered by small problems. For one, the lack of voice acting in Smash Bros. has never been a problem, but now that a plot is forming, it is important that Nintendo make that leap. In addition, Lucas being a clone is a disappointment, especially since I believe that Sakurai was quoted as saying that, for all intents and purposes, there would be no more clones. This also adds fuel to the vengeful fire of rumors that Sakurai will cut Ness and replace him with Lucas. I seriously hope not, since Ness has been a fan favorite since the first game. Finally, Gray Fox quite simply should have been a playable character. He's so damn cool, and as an Assist Trophy he is just saturating the lineup with another swordfighter. (Remember, we've already got Samurai Goroh and Lyn) Here's hoping for more MGS characters to get in, like Liquid or Ocelot.

Thanks for reading everyone. See you next week! Or not.

[via Smash Bros. Dojo]

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Dojo Day: Forge Edition

Here it is, the feature everyone's been waiting to try out! Bungie just sold the rights to the "Forge" real-time level editor to Nintendo, and they're using it in Super Smash Bros. Brawl! If you believed a word I just said, then you need to smash your head against a wall three times! Do it now! Exactly three! I'll know if you didn't do exactly three! Every sentence in this paragraph ends in an exclamation point! Welcome to Dojo Day!!!

Stage Builder: In all seriousness, this is a simple stage editor, not Forge. That's not to say that it isn't awesome, because this is probably one of the most interesting announcements the Dojo blog has made in its entire lifetime. You will not only be able to create, name, save, and of course play on your own Smash Bros. stages, but you will also have the ability to send them to your friends. Also, Sakurai revealed that the pink button that was blurred out a few weeks ago is a "submit" button that allows you to send stages and snapshots to Nintendo, who will send out a new stage (and presumably snapshot) to players each week. If we want to get speculative, the three minutes of video footage just might be able to be submitted as well.

Classic: As expected, Classic mode is back, and it still has the usual one-on-one random battles mixed in with special battles like teams and giants. You get coins in each battle, but Sakurai was very vague about what they would be used for. "No, no. You earn and save these up little by little as you play. And supposedly you can use them somewhere. But no—you don’t use them to shop."

The Summit: It's an Ice Climber stage that looks pretty basic as far as stages go. It takes place at the top of Icicle Mountain, and there are some vegetables up there, as well as an Aurora in the sky. At some point, the stage will break away, and slide down the side of the mountain. After that, it will land in the ocean, where it will float for the rest of the battle. Sometimes, a scary-looking fish (presumably from the Ice Climbers game, though I've never played the original) will jump out of the water and attack.

Meta Knight: Final Smash: Meta Knight has the first Final Smash not to either affect everyone or give the ability to rage across the screen killing anyone in your path. He swings out his cape, and if he catches and enemy in it, the entire screen goes black. Then, Meta Knight starts to slash at his opponent, damaging them and anyone near them. Fascinatingly, if the initial cape move misses, the entire Final Smash does as well.

On-Screen Appearances: Yes, they're finally back from the original Smash Bros., and you're as excited as I am. The characters will all have special entrances in each battle, such as Mario jumping out of a green pipe. Sakurai shows a few, but the highlights are Fox jumping out of an Arwing, Pit coming down through a beam of light, Ike warping in with a warp circle, and Snake dropping to the ground, where his optical camouflage starts to break up.

It's been a pretty good week, and not just because I won the lottery on Monday. What's making me even more excited than the end to the sentence "If I had a million dollars..." is that I will be able to edit stages in Brawl. The possibilities are endless, and this shows that Nintendo is definitely committed to providing a robust online for Brawl. However, it still clashes with their previously mentioned crippled online. Hopefuly that means that the delay will allow them to put more time into the online mode and possibly make it fun for those of us who are, you know, not soccermoms. I'm even starting to feel that Brawl could turn out to be another StarCraft, a game that is played online consistently until the release of the sequel, even when the original becomes an old and outdated game.

Other than that, the custom entrances are also fun. It was a small touch in the original Smash Bros. that was missing in Melee. It's this sort of attention to detail--the kind that includes fun little extras like snapshots and custom entrances--that makes us love Nintendo and their games. Or maybe it's just their ass-kicking, name-taking American president that does that...

[via Smash Bros. Dojo]

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Dojo Day: Penguins, Targets, and Pictochat...

Oh my! This week's Smash Dojo has left us with some new and exciting information, including a pleasantly plump penguin in a royal costume, a target testing system that appeared in the previous games, and a doodle-like, Nintendo DS-based stage. Welcome to Dojo Day!

PictoChat: This stage, I have to say is one of the most interesting thus far. The stage is based off of the wireless doodling and chatting software on Nintendo’s latest handheld system, the DS. The stage is normally flat, but soon a random sketch will appear on the screen, and that screen automatically comes to life as platforms, moving objects, and drawings that have effects like flames or someone blowing the characters away.

Donkey Kong Makes his Stand: Uh oh! It seems that Bowser’s minions have stolen all of DK’s precious bananas. This is the cinematic that begins Donkey Kong’s journey in Adventure Mode. And this time, he’s not alone. His trusty sidekick, Diddy Kong has his back. Together, they’re ready for anything!

STADIUM: Target Smash!: Returning from the previous installments, this mode has characters breaking 10 targets in a limited amount of time. However, this time all of the target challenges are outdoors and there will only be five different target stages, so character-specific stages for this mode have been sacked. Another tidbit of information Sakurai announced is that you will be able to record up to three minutes of Brawl footage to replay later!

King Dedede: Yet another new character has appeared. And completing the Dreamland trio is King Dedede, brought into the Brawl battlefield by his trusted Waddle Dees. This self-proclaimed king of Dreamland has been sought out as a character since the first Super Smash Bros., he was cut from Super Smash Bros. Melee due to time. Finally, he makes his debut in Brawl as one of the heavyweight characters who delivers quite the punch.

King Dedede: Special Moves:
UP Special Move: Super Dedede Jump: In this attack, Dedede jumps extremely high up, and then comes crashing down with his mallet in hand. This is similar to Kirby’s up special move from the previous games. An interesting part of this attack is that when Dedede comes crashing down, he hits up stars from the ground, for other players to use. However, this attack could be deadly, as it renders Dedede vulnerable for a moment after he hits the ground.
SIDE Special Move: Waddle Dee Toss: This is similar to a child’s game of water balloon toss, or more like Peach’s Vegetable attack and Link’s Bomb attack. Dedede grabs a Waddle Dee from out of nowhere and can choose to carry it around or throw it at an enemy. When the Waddle Dee is thrown, it continues to walk around the stage, similar to Mr. Saturn, for Dedede or another character to pick up and throw again. Dedede can also pull out a Waddle Doo or Gordo too, which results in different effects when thrown. The Waddle Doos will just shoot beams out from wherever they land, and the Gordo will just be its spiky self as it just lays there, waiting for characters to nonchalantly walk into it and take damage.
DOWN Special Move: Jet Hammer: In this attack, Dedede’s mallet reveals a mechanized jet engine hidden underneath. When charged, this attack accelerates and strengthens Dedede’s mallet swing, smacking anyone around him. However, if you charge it too long, it will explode and cause damage to poor Dedede.

The most interesting pieces of news this week was definitely the inclusion of a PictoChat stage and King Dedede. King Dedede sounds like an interesting character and I’m glad to see more Kirby characters in the game, although this may be the last one. The PictoChat idea looks cool, and I’m excited to see what other drawings show up in the stage. The Donkey Kong video, though it looked cool, was a little disappointing. The video also shows that Dixie Kong will most likely not a playable character. If she was, I’m sure she would have shown up in the video, fighting alongside DK and Diddy Kong. However, don’t lose faith, because she may just show up as an Assist Trophy. This has been another installment of Dojo Day, and be sure to tune in next week!

[via Smash Bros. Dojo]

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Dojo Day: Team Rocket Edition

Prepare for trouble! Make it double! To protect the world from devastation! To unite all peoples within our nation! To denounce the evils of truth and love! To extend our reach to the stars above! Vampt Vo! Oracle! Dojo Day, blast off at the speed of light! Surrender now or prepare to fight! MEEEOWTH That's right!

New Pork City: More Mother 3? Oh baby! This stage looks incredible. With the familiar gimmicks and moving platforms from stages like Rainbow Cruise, New Pork City at first seems like a generic and unintersting stage. However, it's much more massive than it originally looks. (It might even be bigger than Hyrule Castle) A huge stage like that should be a lot of fun.

STADIUM: Home-Run Contest: Ready to beat another helpless Sandbag as he tries in vain to scream for help? This time, the infamously addicting Home-Run Contest has a shield that will stop weak shots from knocking the sandbag off the platform, hence ending the ultimate bane of Home-Run Contest addicts. Plus, it is playable with two players in both alternating and tag-team mode. And just to add to the craziness, both of these modes can be played online.

How to use the Wii Remote: The mysterious Wiimote control scheme is finally unveiled in this post. The 2 button attacks, 1 button does special moves, and the d-pad moves, as expected. However, the strange parts come in with the other buttons. The A button is used for taunts, the B trigger is for shields and doding (before you whip out your Wiimotes to test, I already tried and its not as awkward as it seems), and either the - button or shield+attack will grab. Also, to pick up a Smash Ball, just hit it. Then, to activate your Final Smash, simply press 1. Finally, at E for All, the game will be playable with the Wiimote. I assume, since Nintendo wants to bring in casual gamers, that will be the only option there.

Meowth: This classic Pokemon returns at long last from the original Smash Bros., complete with his coin-shooting move "Pay Day."

Little Mac: This retro stuff is pretty sweet. Little Mac from the classic Nintendo arcade game Punch-Out! is an Assist Trophy, and (predictably) runs around punching people. Punch-Out Wii? Come on Nintendo, you know you want to make it!

Peach-Final Smash: A Peach-themed frame descends around the screen, and Peach starts dancing. Everyone falls asleep, and health-regenerating peaches fall into the stage. Peach can then attack her enemies or eat the peaches.

Of course, the big news for this week is the new Home-Run Contest modes. The online component is somewhat misleading though. If Nintendo is going to give us online modes for everything from the Home-Run Contest to the Subspace Emissary, why would they cripple the online battle mode? Here's hoping that part of the reason for the game's delay is that it is having a more robust online mode added to it.

I also heard a bit of talk over at AnimeLeague that Peach's Final Smash causes a bit of a conflict with Jigglypuff. You see, if Peach has a sleep-based Final Smash, then what does Jigglypuff have? Hopefully we'll see something else, like perhaps a Pokemon attack not yet seen in Smash Bros. While I'm disappointed by the lack of waggle in the Wiimote control scheme, people shouldn't get too riled about it. After all, not every game can have motion controls. Some games simply work better with plain old gaming controls. Even so, the inclusion of an awkward Wiimote control scheme like that is annoying. No serious gamer will play with it, so it seems to just be a way to advertise the game to casual consumers.

Team Rocket's blasting off agaaaaaainnn... *Bwink*

[via Smash Bros. Dojo]

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Dojo Day: Super-Speed Edition

Again, I am sorry about the lateness, but hopefully it will make up for it with the content released this week. This week is so big, we had two staff members comment on some of the new information! Welcome to this shocking Dojo Day, full of revelations and disappointments.

(Note from Vampt Vo: We kind of posted our articles at the same time, so I have included my version of the article, titled TBD Edition, on a page back in our Articles Section)

Zero Suit Samus-Special Moves: Zero Suit Samus’ standard smash attack is called a paralyzer. She shoots a blast from her gun, stunning her opponent. This attack is chargeable, and the more you charge it up, you can strike with additional attacks when you stun your foe. In her side smash attack, Samus utilizes her plasma whip. She can send the whip flying at enemies in different directions. This last attack can also be used as a way of recovering from a fall.

Wario Ware-Ashley’s Theme: This rather annoying musical number will probably be one of the many themes played in the Wario Ware stage.

Kirby-Final Smash: Finally, the specifics of Kirby’s final smash has been revealed. Ever since the trailer from November 2006, fans have wondered what actually occurs when Kirby pulls off his move, Cook Kirby. First, he puts on his good ‘ol chef hat and whips out his giant pot. Then, he smashes a spatula and a pot together, gathering enemies within his pot. He then begins to stir the ingredients together, and items from the Kirby game begin to pop out, followed by the damaged characters.

Nintendo Conference Fall 2007 Movie: Here we go, another movie. Nothing really new, but interesting to say the least. Besides gameplay footage, we also see Kyogre and Torchic are revealed as Pokemon that can appear out of Pokeballs. Kyogre flies onto the battlefield, blasting water at the fighters, while Torchic simply ignites on fire, but then jumps around the stage! Snorlax is also set to make a re-appearance. Lakitu looks like he will be an assist trophy, dropping Spinies onto the brawl-field. Also, it should be noted that Lucas may not be a clone of Ness, as one of his attacks was a move that sent a psychic hexagon upward, somewhat different from a typical Ness move.

Sonic: The long-awaited arrival of SEGA’s mascot has finally been revealed, as mentioned in a previous post.

Sonic the Hedgehog Joins the Brawl!- This is just a video showing Sonic and some of his gameplay dynamics. Sonic is now the fastest character in the game, but by the looks of things, his speed may be quite difficult to control. Also, the music playing in the background is Sonic’s theme, and may be the music in a Sonic-based stage. We can see some of his smash moves, and the ending of the video even hints at Super Sonic making an appearance as his Final Smash move.

Sonic: Special Moves- Sonic’s side smash move is Spin Dash, which he can curl into a ball and zip all over the screen. His down smash move is called a Spin Charge, which he can use to charge up his Spin Dash to make him even faster! However, his up smash move is by far the most interesting. It is called Spring Jump, which involves a typical Sonic-spring appearing under Sonic and flying him high into the air. The spring even stays on the stage for other characters to use. I’m guessing that the first one disappears when Sonic uses the move again. What happens when Sonic is off the ground and uses it? Will it appear and stay in midair?

Taking Snapshots- This is pretty interesting. Whenever you pause the game, you have the ability of adjusting the angle and zoom, and then taking and storing a snapshot.

New Launch and E for All- Unfortunately, the Super Smash Bros. Brawl release date has been pushed back. In North America, the game comes out on February 10th. Also, for the E for All event in Los Angeles on October 18th, the Nintendo booth will have a playable demo for the game, but with strict limitations of course.

This week was amazing, especially due to the cataclysmic revelation of Sonic as a playable character. IGN believes that Tails, his companion, may also be a playable character, but I find that too risky. He might make a nice assist trophy though. What do you think? Due to my love of Sonic, he will be my first character to play as when I get the game, followed by Pit and Lucas.

Asides from Sonic, we also had a lot of good news, along with disappointing news. Samus and Kirby had some moves revealed, which are interesting, but were expected. The snapshots are more interesting this time around, since in Melee they were hard to use and manage.

The video was nice, but there was not a lot of interesting stuff in it. If I missed any important information in the movie above, please comment. ^_^

The delay of the release date by about two months was a downer for most gamers. The dream of adding the game to their Christmas/Hanukah/Kwanzaa/Whatever list has now been flushed down the Nintendo drain. But, on the plus side, this gives the creators extra time to work out the tweaks and add last minute stuff to the game.

Well that’s all for now folks! Be sure to check back tomorrow, when I will post a special Dojo Day blog concerning the Nintendo Conference.

[via Smash Bros. Dojo]

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Dojo Day: TDB Edition

Sorry everybody, but this Dojo Day article is taking a while to write, so we have to delay it. You know, adding the name Sonic to the text requires another week of preparation. But hey, at least you'll be able to be able to read a half-finished version of this article at this year's E For All! You can take pictures of the article too! And at least for now you can settle for J-Vision, right? Welcome to Dojo Day.

Zero Suit Samus-Special Moves: Her moves are--sadly--100% paralyzer based, unlike normal Samus' diverse moveset. Special is a short range paralyzer shot, Side Special is a Plasma Whip, and Up Special is an enemy-grabbing Plasma Wire. The paralyzer can also grab onto ledges.

Kirby-Final Smash: As seen in the first Brawl trailer, Kirby's Final Smash involves him placing all of his enemies in a pot and boiling them into some horrible mass of burnt video game franchises and kirby-related items. Way to go Sakurai. Nobody noticed that your character gets to cook everybody else like they're nothing more than food!

WarioWare-Ashley’s Theme: This is the catchy little tune for WarioWare character Ashley, as seen in WarioWare Touched. While I liked the original on DS, I feel that the desire of the developers to remix it for Brawl has created a very inferior and artificial version.

Sonic: ZOMGZZZZ!11111!!!!1111!!!oneone! SONICIS IN BRAWL!!! I never would have expected THIS one! So there you go, fanboys. Now maybe you can stop playing Sonic Adventure 2: Battle long enough to play Brawl and realize that the former is, in fact, not the best game on the Gamecube. That title clearly belongs to Bratz: Rock Angels. Also, there's a video in here introducing Sonic. It's pretty cool, though we have to hear more of his horrible voice actor, and constantly be reminded that SEGA killed Sonic years ago.

Nintendo Conference Fall 2007 Movie: It's a pretty cool promotional video for the game that was shown at Nintendo's Fall Press Conference. This one's got our first footage of confirmed gameplay, as we can see damage counters on the bottom. There's a few unmentioned Pokemon in the video, as well as some nice footage of characters we haven't seen yet in video form. (i.e. Ike, Lucas)

Sonic: Special Moves: Guess what everybody! Sonic special moves...involve rolling...and SPINNING! So many surprises this week, I don't know what to do with myself. Side Special is a generic spinning dash, complete with aerial combos. Down Special is an apparently similar move which involves charging up a presumably horizontal-only (no combos) spin attack. Up Special is a spring jump that creates a spring for Sonic to jump off of. It will stay for a short time, allowing other players to use it.

New Launch and E for All: In classic guilty schoolboy fashion, they give us bad news coupled with an attempt to keep us happy. Brawl's new North American release date is on Febuary 10th, 2008. Sakurai cites a need for more development time, in order to "make the game the best it can be." As for the (kind of) good news, Brawl will be playable at the E for All Expo, the new public-attended replacement for E3. It will be held in the Los Angeles Convention Center beginning October 18.

Taking Snapshots: Remember all those times when you paused Melee during a funny scene (much to the chagrin of your friends) and wished you could take a picture? Well, now the underused Snapshot feature from Melee will be built into the pause screen of Brawl, allowing you to take pictures at any time and save them either to your Wii or an SD card. You can then send these images to friends over Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. There is a blurred out feature that, according to the blog, is "still in development."

Well, this was sure an action-packed week. Even so, the end of this article will have to wait. I need some more development time to add buttons to my screenshot editor. You know, making a game is hard. And Sonic. Boy, is he hard to deal with. His agents want everything: cereal brands, billboard campaigns, McDonalds Happy Meal toys, you name it. The next thing you know, he'll be running Nintendo, and Iwata'll be out on the streets.

Sonic and the delay are obviously the big talks of the week, but let me put these two things out here. For one, Sonic was nearly guaranteed to be in the game. You can't have Snake from Konami, and not have Sonic from SEGA. Second, the delay is also not a huge surprise. Nintendo is notorious for delaying their games in order to spend more time for development. Anybody remember the nearly 2-year delay for Twilight Princess? So all you newcomers to the world of video games, wake up. Nintendo does this all the time. It's not some crime against humanity to delay Brawl so that they can make it a better game. If Nintendo released their games on time, you'd never play them--they'd all suck.

This delay is actually good for some gamers who aren't totally Brawl-obsessed. You see, now I have one less game to buy this holiday season, taking my already saturated list (BioShock, Super Mario Galaxy, Battalion Wars II, Oblivion) down. Believe me, when you have these games spread out, you'll feel better than having all of them condensed into the same spot. The only reason the delay bothers me is... well, I'll have to keep writing this column till February. The concept still makes me shudder.

Finally, I'd just like to say I'm loving the idea of screenshots. That was one of the most sorely needed (and rarely noticed in its absence) features of Melee. As for that mysterious button, I'm thinking something like an image editor or option to turn it into a sticker.

[via Smash Bros. Dojo]

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