Nintendo Direct
Nintendo Direct is a series of online video presentations made by Nintendo at irregular intervals to demonstrate and announce new games. Alongside other games, announcements about Super Smash Bros. 4 have been made at Nintendo Direct presentations.
Generic Nintendo Directs
- In the E3 Direct on June 11, 2013, Satoru Iwata revealed the first trailer for Super Smash Bros. 4 for the Wii U and the 3DS, which also demonstrated the addition of Villager. After the main trailer, Mega Man debuted in a separate video. Wii Fit Trainer's reveal trailer was also later shown on the same day in Nintendo's E3 booth.
- The normal presentation on August 7th, 2013 confirmed Luigi as a playable character for the new titles, as part of The Year of Luigi. Interestingly, while every other character that has been revealed in a Nintendo Direct had a reveal trailer or video footage showing them off in Smash 4, Luigi's reveal was just an announcement with some accompanying screenshots.
- The normal presentation on October 1st, 2013, confirmed Sonic's return as a playable character, showing his reveal trailer.
- The normal December 18th 2013 presentation confirmed Rosalina as a newcomer, showing her reveal trainer, in addition to indirectly confirming the return of the Fire Flower, Green Shell, and Poké Ball through Rosalina's trailer.
- The February 13th 2014 presentation confirmed Little Mac as a newcomer, showing his reveal trailer, and indirectly confirmed the 3DS version of the Boxing Ring stage through Little Mac's trailer.
Super Smash Bros. Direct 8.4.14
This special direct was fronted by Masahiro Sakurai and was completely focused on giving information about Super Smash Bros. 4, in addition to revealing new and returning elements. It was known as the Dairantou Smash Brothers Direct, "大乱闘スマッシュブラザーズ Direct" in Japan, though this Nintendo Direct was referred to as Super Smash Bros. Direct in Japan as well. [1]
Character announcements
- Zero Suit Samus and Sheik were each confirmed to return as completely solo characters, with it additionally being announced that characters will no longer be able to transform into another character mid-match. While not directly stated, this announcement disconfirmed the Pokemon Trainer returning as a playable character in the same design style he had in Brawl, since his fundamental concept was based around character switching.
- Yoshi was confirmed to return as a playable character, with his altered posture and movement being explicitly shown off.
- After the Smash Direct finished, a reveal trailer was played, that showed off the Poké Ball Pokemon, revealed Charizard's return as a solo playable character, and revealed Greninja as a newcomer.
- Some differences to returning characters' movesets have been shown and explained, including Final Smashes.
- Special moves will be customizable to some extent; though the details have yet to be revealed, it has been shown that it will go beyond just altering a move's damage and knockback output, with the function and properties of special moves being able to be completely changed. However, it was confirmed that, whilst they would be usable during local multiplayer and "With Friends" online play, they would be disallowed during "With Anyone" play.
Stage announcements
Several stages were revealed and/or showcased, including past stages from Brawl and Melee. It has also been revealed that the Wii U and 3DS versions will have different past stages. In addition, it was confirmed that some stages will have boss characters that appear and attack players during normal gameplay, that can be fought and defeated; when defeated, they will erupt in a massive explosion, that will harm all players except for the one who dealt the finishing blow. It was also shown that most stages will have a "Final Destination form", which turns the stage into a single large flat platform with no additional platforms, while removing all stage hazards.
Multiplayer announcements
The Online mode was confirmed to be be present on both versions. In addition, the two game modes for gameplay "With Anyone" were announced: a casual-geared mode similar to Basic Brawl called For Fun, and a competitive-geared mode called For Glory. Also, the 3DS-exclusive Smash Run multiplayer mode was revealed.
Item announcements
- Several items were confirmed via a showcase, revealing previously unseen returning items, and revealing new items.
- The returning items revealed were the Beam Sword and Smart Bomb. Other returning items revealed outside this item showcase during other parts of the Direct or in additional screenshots released to the press after the direct, were the Blast Box, Deku Nut, Franklin Badge, Freezie, Golden Hammer, Gooey Bomb, Hammer, Heart Container, Hothead, Lightning Bolt, Lip's Stick, Maxim Tomato, Mr. Saturn, Pitfall, Poison Mushroom, Sandbag, Screw Attack, Smoke Ball, Soccer Ball, Spring, Starman, Star Rod, Super Mushroom, Superspicy Curry, Team Healer, Timer, Unira, and Warp Star.
- The new items revealed were the Back Shield, Bombchu, Fire Bar, POW Block, and Rocket Belt. Other new items revealed outside this item showcase during other parts of the Direct or in additional screenshots released to the press after the direct, were the Beehive, Boomerang Flower, Drill Arm, Killer Eye, Special Flag, Spiny Shell, and Super Leaf.
- Assist Trophy characters were showcased, revealing previously unseen or confirming already seen returning Assist Trophies, and revealing new Assist Trophies.
- The returning Assist Trophies revealed and confirmed were Andross, Devil, Dr. Wright, Knuckle Joe, Lyn, Saki Amamiya, and Samurai Goroh.
- The new Assist Trophies revealed were Chain Chomp, Color TV-Game 15, Dark Samus, Elec Man, and Midna. It was additionally shown what Ashley, Isabelle, Mother Brain, and Skull Kid do when summoned.
- Poké Ball Pokémon were showcased, revealing previously unseen Pokémon, as well as revealing new Pokémon. The Master Ball was also shown, which only contains rare and legendary Pokémon.
- The returning Pokémon revealed were Bellossom, Deoxys, Electrode, Entei, Meowth, Metagross, and Staryu.
- The new Pokémon revealed were Arceus, Eevee, Fennekin, Gogoat, Keldeo, Kyurem, Meloetta, Victini, and Xerneas (while Xerneas has been previously shown in a screenshot, this is the first time it was confirmed to be a Poké Ball Pokémon).
- Some additional Pokémon that weren't part of this reveal appeared in other video of the Direct or in screenshots released to the press after the Direct. These Pokémon were Chespin, Darkrai, Goldeen, Latias, Lugia, Mew, Snorlax, and Spewpa. While not confirmed, it's probable that these will be Poké Ball Pokémon as well.
- In the beginning of Charizard's/Greninja's reveal trailer, many Pokémon can be briefly seen being spawned from a flurry of Poké Balls. Interestingly, most of the Pokémon are either Pokémon already confirmed to be Poké Ball Pokémon, or Pokémon that were Poké Ball Pokémon in the past games. The Pokémon shown here that weren't shown in the Direct or in any other screenshots, were Gardevoir, Giratina, Inkay, Kyogre, Oshawott, Togepi, Snivy, Suicune, Swirlix, and Zoroark.
- Through the broadcast, some of the new Trophies were shown.
