A few things you won't find in Smash Bros. Brawl
Posted Feb 21st 2008 7:00PM by Candace Savino

While you already know tons of information about the upcoming Smash Bros. game, you should probably know what not to expect. Many of your hopes and dreams have given birth to compelling rumors, but it's time to put those rumors to rest (and never wake them again).

Masahiro Sakurai managed to clear up some things in a recent interview with IGN -- things we may have already known, but didn't necessarily want to believe -- so check after the break to see what's not in store for you this March (or June).

1. There will be no voice chat
This was already a given, but some of you hoped that Brawl might one day adapt to the ways of voice chat. Unfortunately (or, fortunately for those of you in the "who needs little kids cursing me out" camp), there are no plans to add voice chat to the game in the future. Sakurai thought the feature would be a good addition to the game, but too many "rules and regulations regarding communication on the Wii platform" caused him to nix that idea. He suggests using Skype with friends while playing if you're desperate for voice chat.

2. There will be no downloadable content
Lately, rumors have been popping up that the American version of Brawl would feature downloadable content. You might have heard whispers of this around the internet, or just thought to yourself that it might happen. Well, it's time to let it go. Even if Sakurai wanted to add this feature (which he doesn't), he cites the "no harddrive" issue as being a nail in the coffin.

Now, we really think that Brawl will be rich enough in content without having to download characters, stages, and whatnot -- but, maybe that's just us.

3. For the love of all that is holy, there will be no Mega Man!
Even after we told you ages ago that Mega Man wouldn't be in Brawl, and we spoiler-liciously (link contains spoilers!) revealed all the characters that would be in the game, some of you still believed that the Blue Bomber would make an appearance. It hurt us to see some of you so adamantly in denial, knowing that you'd have to face the truth one day. And, that day is today.

Even if there was downloadable content (which there isn't), it's likely that Mega Man still wouldn't be in the game. According to Sakurai, there were enough obstacles in adding Snake and Sonic, let alone another outside character. Unless Mega Man is so well-hidden that the developers don't even know about him, you won't be seeing Capcom's robot in this fighter.

Good news: None of these things are dealbreakers. Most of you are still going to buy Brawl, and most of you are probably going enjoy it. All the good things about this game definitely outweigh the bad. So, if we happened to dash some of your last hanging hopes here, cheer up! Or, you could make a statement and not buy the game -- but then, it would sell millions of copies anyway and you'd just be "that guy without Brawl."

To find out more of Sakurai's thoughts on the upcoming Nintendo fighter, you can check out the rest of the interview by clicking here.

Today, during a GDC presentation, Nintendo's Takashi Aoyama announced a new expansion to Nintendo's Wi-Fi services called Wii Pay & Play. Aoyama explained that Nintendo will begin "collecting fees for some services [that] will allow us to adapt flexibly." In other words, by subsidizing additional, unnamed service and feature costs to consumers, Nintendo feels they can explore new concepts and channels.

He added that it was a Nintendo initiative to avoid misleading consumers into thinking they can buy games that can be played entirely free when they cannot (whether or not this implies an initiative to begin charging for multiplayer content was unclear). To aid in a clear cost presentation, the blue WFC logo will be joined with a similar red logo featuring the line "Pay & Play."

While we were offered no additional details, we understand that the red stands for danger.