Hector

Nintendo was practically asking for someone to make these sorts of games when they went with the "Touching is Good" theme.

I'd actually prefer if Nintendo tried its best to ensure that third-party characters stay secret. Keep everything secret about them until the "OMG I unlocked *****" or "****** is in event match **, but I can't figure out how to unlock him". Something to make the completionist quest a little more rewarding (and I'm thinking of a robust adventure mode that is at times like Super Mario World with secret endings).

BS touch screen control? I'm not looking for anything innovative for touch-screen control, but I love the idea of touch-screen menu interaction. It just feels right.

They have good reason to be elitist considering how much better they are at the game. And most of the tactics used in tournament play are not glitch exploits, instead just amazing strings of normal attacks. As for tiers, level restrictions and item restrictions, tournaments need some sort of rules to ensure a level playing field. Items often bring too much randomness to the game (bombs appearing in the path of one's attack) while some levels can create impasse situations.

I'm not sure about this new list. Falco is deadly, but Peach can shred Falco with the mere twirl of her dress. Though Tiers are perhaps the wrong way to organize things. Maybe a logical counter-web given graphical form? Too many A beats B and C beats A but B beats C instances.

What about those bosses that instant-kill you without any recourse when you walk in the room? And does the party-composition or character-design matter? For instance, fighting Irenicus without releasing the lunatics is impossible. But I remember watching my brother fight mimic-Lavos when he forgot to bring lightning magic (took an eternity to kill the Nizbel mode).

I'd be a little disapointed if Ike makes it. Marth and Roy already will the role of guy with nothing but a sword. But the Black Knight would be a fine addition to the heavyweights. I'm a bit curious though how Kalas got on the list but not Lloyd or Kratos. Oh well, whatever caught the man's fancy is on the list.

This might be a little off-topic, but what's the best method for cleaning one's DS? I've noticed that handhelds tend to get a bit dirty over time.

The quiz is good for some characters, giving answers that clearly denote them. But I'm having hell getting it to spit out "Peach" for an answer. I can get Ness, Game & Watch and the Mario Brothers but it won't give me my main.

For extra characters, I think they should handle as many as possible as being same characater, different "costume". If Nintendo goes for as many characters as possible, many of them will be slightly altered clones and will seem ridiculous. Marth & Roy are great, but I don't feel like also having Eliwood and Ephraim's sister added to the mix. SSB has a higher tolerance for more characters then other games simply because of what it represents, but that tolerance does not allow too much more flexibility (and the general rule is each character can have one near clone).

If your team training, your training to fight two human foes; not 8 computer foes. I used to train against two computer foes in lieu of a human opponent, but then I realized that it only really trained my reflexes (unless you plan to fight the Ice Climbers). Its best to train against the number of opponents you are going to fight. Though now that I think of it, SSBM did support four/five CPU foes in certain modes and adventures. But this fully customizable thing does pique my interest a bit. Being able to unlock the Master Hand for special VS. mode would be amazing. It would probably be best if it had a unique wand-based control scheme though. But I'm even more interested in better training AIs. When I was learning the game I would have appreciated being able to have the AI concentrate on dodging or spam certain moves. Perhaps even being able to program combos for practicing (come up with a series of inputs that you can replay at a push of the button or have the CPU employ). An example would be programming a computer to use Fox's infinite damage combo to see which characters can get out of it.

I don't really see the point of adding many more computuers for SSB. Just like in any fighting game, computers eventually are to be takekn merely as a tool for training or staying sharp. I've seen too many instances of people being amazing at fighting computers but not real people.

How about Axe and Blade from Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones? It took forever to figure out how to even hurt them, the method to hurt them made you vulnerable for an extended period and they dealt a ridiculous level of damage.

Brilliant opening, but the piece gets far too into techno as it progresses. I would have much preferred if it stuck to the same array of instruments present in the first two minutes.