Okay Cool recently did an interview with Nintendo of Canada’s Andrew Collins. There, Collins discussed Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. At one point, the interview shifted to the reception to Waluigi’s exclusion from the character roster, as well as the reactions to King K. Rool being confirmed a playable character. Here’s the discussion they had about the matter in full:

Riley: *laughs* Okay, okay. What did you think of the reception to Waluigi being excluded? Because it took me by surprise and I’m a big Smash fan. I mean, obviously the Washington Post article was satire, it was comical…

Andrew: I think it’s great when something builds naturally because, you know, as a marketer, when you have something that goes viral like that it’s brilliant. You can’t buy that. You can’t create it. And when the fans do something like that, it’s amazing. But it’s so good to see from a passionate side of things. And let’s face it, it’s funny.

Riley: Okay! Did you see the fan-made thank you letter to Sakurai for including King K. Rool?

Andrew: I did, yeah.

Riley: What did you think of that?

Andrew: I thought it was sweet. It’s nice when… every developer gets letters and emails and I think that as a developer – back when I was a developer and working now – we work long hours. And this isn’t supposed to be about us, but when you see something from fans saying about how much they love what you do… it’s brilliant. You know, I love to go to a game store on the day that they’re out and watch people pick it up and buy it. It’s really satisfying. I’ve loved that since I made magazines, and it justifies all those hard hours and the long hours that you put in to know that you’ve created or helped do something which gives people that special moment.

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