uhhh
the smartest business move would be to use the game as a billboard. that's why they always do it

...regardless it's an incentive not a criteria.

I think it's safe to assume that something by Namco will be in whether it's a character, stage, assist trophy, something like that.
Character-wise the most likely candidate would be Pacman since he's the most known, but personally I would much rather have Lloyd or something else.

Can someone explain to me what Pacman's chances actually are? Like really, someone explain how significant he is to Nintendo and why a Tales game (don't care which one) isn't more relevant than an old arcade machine with primarily multi-platform spinoffs/sequels?

Tales of is moving more to the Sony systems is the problem since Namco found where their fanbase is and it's on Sony consoles.

not to mention any mainstream tales games on nintendo systems have their latest version on sony console
i say mainstream since there are old crossovers and tempest but lmao tempest

Pac-Man is one of those "obligation" characters, as I've been calling them. Meaning, almost nobody actually wants him in the game, but a lot of people feel like he has some "obligation" to be in (in this case, because he's the most popular Namco character and Namco is working on the game). He has little to no history with Nintendo, and certainly nothing on the level of Sonic or Mega Man.

As compared to Tales, you kind of have to look at the broader picture for that. As much as people here like Tales you can't forget that it's a pretty obscure RPG series. I don't believe I've ever heard it mentioned in reality (hell, I don't think I've seen it in stores either, now that I think about it). When it comes to Smash, Pac-Man would have priority over a Tales character because Tales is a pretty small series with an Internet following whereas Pac-Man is a legendary gaming icon. My mom has played Pac-Man; nobody I have ever known has even mentioned a Tales game. Get it?

Neither series really has any significant "history" with Nintendo to speak of and I personally don't want either one in the game, but if there is a Namco character it will almost certainly be Pac-Man.

only reason you hear lloyd everywhere is because of smash flash just saying
like hell i learned about tales through SSF

I remember when no one even knew or cared about him then Flash came around and everyone's like "We need Loid"

Personally, I playes Tales of Symphonia way way way before smash flash, and It's always been one of my favorites. I knew a few other people who played it as well. Tales never seemed obscure to me, but again that could just be me.

Same, although I'm not sure I'd say SSF alone put him on people's radar. Probably boosted his position a bit though

same here, played Tales of Symphonia on gamecube way back when, that introduced me to the other games.

Congratulations

thanks bro

it alone didn't but it boosted things out of proportion imo

i mean tales of symphonia's a great game and tales is one of my favorite series but i personally don't think it's enough to make a niche series into one big enough for a rep in smash


my other favorite series is shin megami tensei which i guess has a relatively decent chance especially considering fire emblem x shin megami tensei but even that's a longshot