Nintendo Knows We Want Waluigi in 'Smash Bros. Ultimate' — But Does It Care?
This doesn't look great for Waluigi fans.
Waluigi mania has reached a fever pitch after Nintendo declined to add the Mario villain to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, instead keeping the suspenders-wearing weirdo on as an Assist Trophy in what feels like a pretty blatant insult. You might think the Japanese gaming giant is just oblivious, but it turns out Nintendo knows exactly what we want — it just refuses to give it to us.
In an interview with Waypoint, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aimé finally addressed the big purple elephant in the room, essentially confirming that the company is well aware of the the world’s Waluigi obsession.
After revealing that he prefers to play the new Mario Tennis games as Waluigi, Fils-Aimé had no choice but to respond to the countless fan requests (and demands). He explains that no, Nintendo does not “hate Waluigi,” adding that the company had hoped bringing back every character from previous Super Smash Bros. games would have been enough to keep fans happy.
“But noooooo!” Fils-Aimé complains. “The fans have to focus in on one character that isn’t part of the series and to demand their inclusion”
He goes on to admit that Nintendo takes all this feedback very seriously and plans to tell Smash Bros. director Masahiro Sakurai about the “groundswell of support that appeared for a Waluigi.” That makes it sound like the game’s director may not have known about the popular fan request before the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate lineup was revealed, which is pretty ridiculous considering that we’ve been asking for a playable Waluigi in the game since as early as March, 2018.
Unfortunately, Fils-Aimé ends his response with a statement suggesting Nintendo may never bring Waluigi to its fighting game.
“Just like when we were getting ready to launch the Wii U and 3DS version there was this groundswell asking for Reggie to be a playable character in the game,” he says before trailing off. “I mean…”
Clearly, Nintendo didn’t add Fils-Aimé to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate after fans demanded his inclusion in the previous game. So it seems unlikely that Waluigi will get any better. Then again, Waluigi is already a playable character in other titles like Mario Tennis Aces, so we wouldn’t count him out entirely either.
