A Deluge of News

So, I feel that I've had enough time to mourn the delay, and am now able to resume discussion on the topic of Brawl. Nice timing, as the Japanese release grows ever closer and game information floods in. At this stage, it's hard to say what's real and what's fake out there, but there has been a fair amount of information accepted from Japanese press, including the relative weight of each character in the opening roster, stages (like Final Destination), and new techniques like the "wall cling." But, the biggest news comes from Nintendo itself; in a video released to promote the game, the Big N apparently slipped up and mistakenly confirmed returning character Jigglypuff, newer and far more popular Pokémon Lucario, and, a huge sigh of relief for EarthBound fans unsatisfied with just the inclusion of Lucas, Ness was confirmed to be rejoining the fray as well. Oops!

See, Sakurai explained last week that the stickers introduced in this installment of Smash were not only collectible, but can actually provide various boosts to your character during the Adventure mode of the game. He went on to say that certain stickers can only be applied to particular characters. Well, in this video Nintendo released, this sticker system was put on display, and as a Groudon sticker was highlighted, tiny sprites of what appeared to be Lucario and Jigglypuff appeared below. The same with an EarthBound sticker and Ness and Lucas. I actually saw the video in question when it was first released, however Nintendo apparently removed it rather quickly after debuting it, lending credibility to the theory.

Of course, this is still all speculation. But, I'll give you the opportunity to decide for yourself. Here are the screen captures in question (pulled from IGN), and the original Japanese trailer video that Ninty pulled. The sticker screens are from 4:20-4:22.