Super Smash Bros. 4 Official Site
The official site for Super Smash Bros. 4 launched on June 11, 2013, shortly after the two games' E3 trailer. Like its predecessors, Smabura-Ken and the Smash Bros. DOJO!!, it is periodically updated with information on the games, but unlike its predecessors, the information is shown mostly through pictures instead of text.
The site gives information about all of the characters and shows videos and images in both Wii U and 3DS versions. On the main page, there is a picture that is changed every weekday. This picture is the most recent "pic of the day", which is also posted by Masahiro Sakurai in the Miiverse community called the Director's Room, where he started providing captions and sometimes additional pictures starting July 2013.
Overview
The language selection offered by the site includes English, Japanese, German, French, Italian and Spanish, like its predecessor Smash Bros. DOJO!!, in addition to the newly-added Portuguese, Dutch and Russian. For some languages, regional variations are available.
When a character is revealed, a banner under the daily photo that says "Warning! Challenger Approaching!" is added. It will remain there for a couple of days. It is interesting to note that the amount of time the banner stays up seems to be dependent on how soon the next character will be revealed, though there is obviously a maximum and minimum timeframe.
Character Pages
Each character confirmed for Super Smash Bros. 4 has their own character page. These can be accessed by clicking on the picture displaying the fighter on the front page. Each character page contains the characters' official render within a frame displaying their name, and ten additional photos. These pictures will be a mixture of Wii U and 3DS screenshots—there are typically more from the Wii U—and the Wii U pictures always precede the 3DS pictures. The background color of the page changes according to character. When applicable, these character pages will link to a recent or upcoming Nintendo game featuring the character. On special characters, such as newcomers and third-party fighters, there will often be a bonus video or piece of artwork alongside the main character render.
Unlike the site's predecessors, the Smash Bros. DOJO!! and Smabura-Ken, there is no additional text on the page regarding the character.
History
| Event | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Site launch | June 11, 2013 | Same day as the E3 trailer. At this time, it had information on Mario, Donkey Kong, Link, Samus, Kirby, Fox, Pikachu, Bowser, Pit, Villager, and Mega Man. |
| Reveal of the Wii Fit Trainer | June 11, 2013 | Accompanied with another trailer. It was also the first character reveal on the site. |
| Reveal of Olimar | July 12, 2013 | His reveal was one day before the release of Pikmin 3 in Japan. He was the first character revealed after the initial E3 2013 reveal of Smash 4. |
| Reveal of Luigi | August 7, 2013 | The reveal corresponded with a Nintendo Direct, as part of the "Year of Luigi". This is also notable in that this is the first time that a traditionally unlockable character was revealed on the site. |
| Reveal of Peach | September 12, 2013 | All four Mario veterans from Brawl have now been revealed. The reveal coincided with the anniversary of the original Super Mario Bros. |
| Reveal of Toon Link | September 26, 2013 | The reveal occurred on the release date of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD in Japan. |
| Reveal of Sonic | October 1, 2013 | The first confirmed returning third-party character, Sonic was revealed during a Nintendo Direct, to celebrate the release of Sonic Lost World that month. |
| Reveal of Marth | November 7, 2013 | The first revealed veteran to not have been related to an upcoming or released game at the time of the unveil in Japan as well as no known birthday or anniversary of the Fire Emblem franchise. |
| Reveal of Rosalina | December 18, 2013 | Coinciding with a Nintendo Direct, Rosalina (paired with Luma) were the first newcomers to be revealed since the Wii Fit Trainer in June, more than six months earlier. |
| Reveal of Zelda | December 26, 2013 | The reveal occurred on the release date of The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds in Japan. |
| Reveal of King Dedede | January 10, 2014 | First new character revealed in 2014. The reveal occurred a day prior to the release of Kirby: Triple Deluxe in Japan. |
| Reveal of Lucario | January 31, 2014 | Lucario was revealed on the same day Super Smash Bros. Brawl was released in Japan six years earlier. |
| Reveal of Little Mac | February 13, 2014 | First newcomer revealed in 2014. Little Mac was revealed via a Nintendo Direct that day, his official Smash Bros. artwork is a reference to both the arcade Punch-Out!!, & Punch-Out!! for Wii, where Donkey Kong appeared as a hidden fighter. His connection to DK is further referenced, as his reveal coincided with the release of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze in Japan. Furthermore, February is the anniversary month for the arcade Punch-Out!!. |
| Reveal of Diddy Kong | February 21, 2014 | His reveal coincided on the international release date of Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze. This is the first character reveal to coincide with an American/European release rather than a Japanese release. Both Donkey Kong veterans from Brawl are now revealed. |
| Smash Bros. Direct | April 8, 2014 | Confirms the return of Yoshi, Sheik, Zero Suit Samus, and Charizard. Greninja confirmed to appear as a newcomer. All of the "Original 8" characters are now revealed. Both Metroid veterans from Brawl are now revealed. |
| Reveal of Ike | May 23, 2014 | Confirms the return of Ike. Just like Marth, his reveal is not for a special date. Both Fire Emblem veterans from Brawl are now revealed. |
| E3 2014 | June 10, 2014 | Confirms Palutena and Mii Fighter as playable characters. Pac-Man was confirmed at a Smash Bros. roundtable later that day. The site was also redesigned on this day. |
| Multiple character reveals | July 14, 2014 | Confirms the return of Captain Falcon. Also reveals Lucina and Robin as newcomers. This date is the same as the Japanese release date of F-Zero X. |
| Reveal of Meta Knight | August 13, 2014 | Confirms the return of Meta Knight. Revealed exactly one month before the release of Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS in Japan. All Kirby veterans from Brawl are now revealed. The site also displayed some information about the 3DS version's modes stages and controls. |
| Reveal of Shulk | August 29, 2014 | Revealed via a Japan-only Nintendo Direct. |
Trivia
- On the character image links, all names are written in capital letters, with the exceptions of the Wii Fit Trainer and Mii Fighter, whose names appear as "Wii Fit TRAINER" and "Mii FIGHTER".
- For a short time after a character is revealed, their image links will have an "UPDATE" banner affixed.
- Characters new to Smash Bros. will have a much larger feature on the main page, which includes their series symbol, "NEWCOMER" and an additional image.
- Lucina, however, does not. This only applies to the full version, as the mobile version fixes this.
- Not counting Lucina, Mii Fighters are the only character not to have additional artwork on the official site.
