Super Smash Bros.

[Spark Of Spirit]

The direct is starting in 20 minutes. Keep an eye out for comments, you might get gems like this:

I would honestly be okay with an okay anime charecter (for smash), not like ichigo or nauruto or goku, someone more like kirito from sword art online or yurmaza from angel beats

[Spark Of Spirit]

So Pokemon Trainer has been axed. Charizard is now a fighter as is the unexpected (but welcome) Greninja. Shiek and Zero Suit Samus are now completely standalone characters and there are no more character transformations. Oh yeah, and they finally confirmed Yoshi who looks a bit like he probably will in Yarn Yoshi. Before I get on with everything announced (it was a LOT) here is the current character standings. Bold is confirmed, italics is almost certainly confirmed.

Mario
Link
Kirby
Samus
Donkey Kong
Fox
Pikachu
Yoshi
Luigi
Captain Falcon
Ness
Jigglypuff
Bowser
Peach
Zelda
Shiek
Ganondorf
Marth
Mr. Game & Watch
Ice Climbers
Pit
Diddy Kong
Wario
Metaknight
King DeDeDe
Olimar
Zero Suit Samus
Greninja
Charizard
Wolf/Falco
The Villager
Little Mac
New Fire Emblem rep *No word on Ike, so if he doesn't come back I expect a new replacement
Dixie Kong
Mewtwo *New form, new movie, was in Melee
Palutena
Surprise retro character like Takamaru or Mike Jones
Wii Fit Trainer
Mii
Lucario
Toon Link
Rosalina
Mega Man
Sonic
Pac-Man

29 confirmed. 14 most likely. Makes 43 total so far. I would reckon that is close to the final list. I'd guess 45 is the final total.

Now for direct news, uh...

-3DS version of Smash Bros due Summer 2014, Wii U Winter 2014

That is news I did not expect. They share the same roster, but the stage line ups and modes are incredibly different.

-The 3DS version is 60fps locked
-The 3DS version has 2 musical pieces per stage like Melee (Wii U version has tons apparently)
-Balloon Fight stage on 3DS
-The 3DS and Wii U versions have totally different retro stages like Halberd for Wii (meh unless tweaked) and Jungle Japes for 3DS (Ugh)
-There are boss characters in some stages that must be fought off to give you an edge against other characters (basically deconfirms Ridley)
-Both versions have online, but there's a funny tidbit for the WiiU version
-There are two modes called for random called For Fun and For Glory
-For Fun is every stage except Final Destination with every item on
-For Glory is no items, Final Destination, but...
-It tweaks every stage in the game to have a Final Destination shape with no obstacles. Tourny players are currently weeping with joy.
-Friend matches are full customizable
-Custom movesets announced: you can tweak the attribute to any move in different ways to get different results (not available online/random)
-3DS single player mode announced: Smash Run- Basically a dungeon where each player fight through from different corners for five minutes to gain items to use in a battle at the end of the limit. Yes, it's like that mode from Kirby's Air Ride.
-Lucario has a Mega-Evolution transformation after taking a certain amount of damage
-Olimar was nerfed, only uses 3 Pikmin at a time now and has a recovery move
-There was a lot of other stuff, but I didn't catch everything

Now to preorder this sucker.

Edit:

AND THIS

[Rynnec]

I was a bit bummed to see Midna, Lyn, and Ashley deconfirmed, but damn did everything else look hype as hell. And Yoshi's officially back!

Smash Run is going to be the highlight of the 3DS version easily. City Trial was the best mode in Air Ride.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Neat that they chose Elec Man as an assist trophy (still hoping for Protoman) since he was the one robot master Keiji Inafune designed himself. That had to be a conscious choice.

I have to admit, though, I didn't expect Pokemon Trainer to be cut like that. But I will enjoy stomping Charizard into the dust. Maybe I'll even use Greninja to do it. Overrated fire-breather...

[Daxdiv]

Greninja in the house! Well, he is probably is the most popular starter in Gen VI, hell, he's even considered OU by competitive standards thanks to it's hidden ability. Shame about PKMN Trainer, but I guess Charizard is OK, even though I prefer Squirtle and Ivysaur.

Also, I find the notion of For Fun and For Glory to be quite fun. It's like, having your cake and eating it too.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Greninja in the house! Well, he is probably is the most popular starter in Gen VI, hell, he's even considered OU by competitive standards thanks to it's hidden ability. Shame about PKMN Trainer, but I guess Charizard is OK, even though I prefer Squirtle and Ivysaur.

Do you think this means a Grass starter has a chance of being a character too? After all, we now have both a fire and water starter.

[Avaitor]

It looks like I need to save up for a Wii-U ASAP.

[Daxdiv]

Greninja in the house! Well, he is probably is the most popular starter in Gen VI, hell, he's even considered OU by competitive standards thanks to it's hidden ability. Shame about PKMN Trainer, but I guess Charizard is OK, even though I prefer Squirtle and Ivysaur.

Do you think this means a Grass starter has a chance of being a character too? After all, we now have both a fire and water starter.

People are pretty demanding about a Hoenn remake, so I guess it could be Sceptile, but on the other hand, out of the Hoenn starters that got a Mega evolution, they gave it to Blaziken. If Game Freak decides on having a Hoenn remake... it could be a toss up between those 2.

[Spark Of Spirit]

I forgot to mention that most every character seems to have been buffed a lot. For instance, Sonic's dive kick is now apparently a meteor.

Greninja in the house! Well, he is probably is the most popular starter in Gen VI, hell, he's even considered OU by competitive standards thanks to it's hidden ability. Shame about PKMN Trainer, but I guess Charizard is OK, even though I prefer Squirtle and Ivysaur.

Do you think this means a Grass starter has a chance of being a character too? After all, we now have both a fire and water starter.

People are pretty demanding about a Hoenn remake, so I guess it could be Sceptile, but on the other hand, out of the Hoenn starters that got a Mega evolution, they gave it to Blaziken. If Game Freak decides on having a Hoenn remake... it could be a toss up between those 2.

Actually, there hasn't bee a Hoenn Pokemon as a playable character yet, has there? That might actually be a good excuse to have one. Assuming they're even bringing back Pichu, anyway. Pokemon's gonna have quite a few reps this time, I mean:

Pikachu
Charizard
Jigglypuff
Mewtwo
Lucario
Greninja

That's a lot of reps, but it's pretty lopsided in favor of Gen I. Adding Pichu, that's 7 reps. And adding a Grass starter would be 8. I don't think they'll put that many in, even if Pokemon is second only to Mario in popularity.

[Eddy]

Everything in the Direct was awesome. I welcome the solo Charizard and Greninja, too! I also really like Zero Suit Samus and Sheik being standalone characters now and finally seeing Yoshi. It was all so much to take in!

I also think, in addition to the Pokemon we have now, we'll still be getting Jigglypuff and Mewtwo. Brawl had six Pokemon characters. Charizard being solo drops two of the ones from Brawl, leaving room for two more. It may be in favor of Gen 1 but Gen 1 is arguably the most important and memorable gen and the most easily recognizable to people. Also, Lucario and Charizard being able to go Mega (and assuming he's in it, Mewtwo as well) gives good representation for Gen 6 (as well as Greninja).

[Spark Of Spirit]

Jigglypuff is a lock for being a Smash 64 character and I would assume Mewtwo is as well for the new form and popularity boost (plus already having a moveset from Melee) so I basically consider them confirmed already. But you're right, six was the amount in Brawl, so it will probably be the amount here. If we have one more than the six, I would bet on a Grass starter over anything else.

I'm not so certain that Pichu are Roy are going to make it back in, though. (Wire-frame Mac makes me think Dr. Mario will be back as a costume this time)

All in all, the roster is so far shaping up to be the best so far.

[Eddy]

Here's a whole bunch of screenshots showing the characters, assist trophies, and various items we haven't seen yet: https://www.flickr.com/photos/48280274@N02/sets/72157643678092364/

Some things worthy of note: Blue Shell item, Tanooki leaf item, Galaga assist trophy, R-Type flag item, beehive from Animal Crossing item, Chespin from Pokeball

[Spark Of Spirit]

So there IS a SNES portion of the PilotWings stage.

I have to say, so far I'm liking all the new stages.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Greninja, huh? I didn't know it was that popular to be considered for the game, but it'll have an interesting move set, so I welcome it. Don't care for Charizard. Would have rather had Blaziken replace it, but oh well.

Olimar being nerfed is surprising to hear, but hey, if it means Vlord will no longer be able to completely dominate me in one-sided matches, I ain't complaining. 

[VLordGTZ]

Olimar being nerfed is surprising to hear, but hey, if it means Vlord will no longer be able to completely dominate me in one-sided matches, I ain't complaining. 

I still have Sonic 
Anyways, the game looks awesome!!!!  Even though it probably won't happen, I'm kind of hoping that Shulk from Xenoblade will make it in as a playable character.