As of last night (with the announcement of Pac-Man), there are a total of 33 characters in Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U. I'm watching the Treehouse live stream right now, and some of the guys who work on and test the game just mentioned that they "actually prefer playing as a few characters that haven't been announced yet." More characters confirmed! Hope for Krystal yet remains!

Miyamoto took to video to explain that his three early-development projects, and also told us what we knew from this morning: the Star Fox game is not even ready to be shown. Nevertheless, the video does feature a second or two of footage blocked by the player's head. I'll take what I can get.

The (still ongoing) Super Smash Bros. Invitational Tournament has a Fan Favorite winner:
Fox McCloud, played by Kevin "EG PPMD" Nanney!
Congrats to PPMD!

Still waiting to see the winner of the Grand Final and Celebrity Brackets.

Incidentally, Nintendo released hundreds of high-resolution screens and promo pictures from all of its announced games for both Wii U and Nintendo 3DS. This included a MASSIVELY large picture of Fox McCloud from Smash Bros. 4.

Did you see Miyamoto playing Star Fox on that blurred out screen with the Wii U, because I definitely did. That looked like an Arwing silhouette flying around in all range mode.

Update
The news came a little early by accident. I'm guessing they'll show a trailer for it sometime today.

New Update and Video
Nintendo already gave a secret media briefing to Kotaku. The game is still very early in development, not even enough to know what the gameplay will be like. They expect to be done with the game in a year, so expect a full-fledged trailer by next E3.

Official "Screens" and Another Article
The Time article is now online. Also, Nintendo posted 'official artwork' for the in-development game, which consists mostly of screens from past Star Fox games, no doubt confusing nearly everyone.

The original photo.

My attempt to clean up the screen in the photo.

To kick off the rebuild of the Fangames section, we've got a page for the_randomizer's Brawl Mod, now in version 2! This mod features Krystal from Adventures replacing Princess Peach, including replacing Peach's golf club with Krystal's staff. Version 2 features improved animation and character portraits in-battle and on the character selection screen.

Both versions are available for download on the page. Instructions to setup the mod are inside the Version 2 download.

It's a long-time tradition here at the Krystal Archive to do a joke every April Fool's Day. I did have one planned, but I ran out of time to do it. Plus, it would hardly be fair to make jokes while the site sits unfinished. So in place of a joke this year, I just wanted to let you know that I am actively trying to fix the fanart situation, which I know is one of the most requested and desired features. I'm using the skills and technology I have learned at my day job to bring back the fanart and hopefully keep it up to date at all times. With luck, within a week or so, I should have something to show, even if it's not complete. Enjoy the rest of the Internet's Favorite Holiday, and don't take any news too seriously! :)

A new petition to get Krystal in Smash Bros. 4 has appeared. You can view the petition and sign it at Change.org. Thanks to D.J. for sending this in.

Bonus Extras Video (language warning)

The long-promised second interview with Alésia Glidewell was just put online. DarkFantasyFilm emailed me about it this evening, along with the name of the Alésia-signed poster winner! I'm proud to say that one of our commenters, Nick, was the winner. His fantastic question was:

Is it just a weird coincidence that you're part of the best games ever released, or do you have something to do with them being so amazing?

Nick will be contacted soon to get shipping info for his prize. Meanwhile, the technical issues the interview faced means that a third interview (mostly focusing on Portal questions) will be coming up in a few months.

Let me level with you guys. I haven't posted here in over a month. There are several good reasons for this. I'll list them simply.

• Work went into crunch mode because we were starting to miss deadlines
• I had to pack everything I own in my car, and give away the rest, preparing for a move
• When moving, I ran into some snow and ice in Texas, and ran off the road
• Another car hit the same ice and crashed into me, totaling my car (I'm fine though)
• Lacking a car and free time (because of work) I had to delay moving into my new house (I still haven't fully unpacked after 2 weeks)
• The house is nice, but it's a house, not an apartment, I'm still cleaning it to my level of cleanliness (I'm a clean freak)
• Various members of my family are going through financial and emotional problems that I didn't know about because I was in another state
• I'm moving again in a few months, and I have to go through all my stuff since high school and systematically sell or get rid of maybe half of it
• It also means I have to spend some time scouting out apartments for my next move
• I have to buy a new car, fix my car insurance, and buy health insurance (that I am now breaking the law by not having)
• Taxes are due in about 15 days
• We're probably going to re-enter crunch mode at my company
• And my long standing health issues have decided now is the time to flare up again

Man, that was depressing to write out. It's not all that bad. Everything will work out soon enough, in this life or the next anyway. Be thankful for what you have, kids! I had some good things going for me during this time.

• I have been getting to see my family again
• I barely have to buy food with my family cooking and inviting me to eat with them often
• I still have a great, challenging job
• I finally built my own computer, and it is a beast!

Just want to let you know what's going on, and that I will not abandon this site or you guys. In fact, I'm posting this now so I can post the next story so it will be at the top of the list.

8 years ago today, the Krystal Archive went online for the first time. What a crazy ride it has been! Here's to many more years to come! Cheers!