Confirmed and Unconfirmed

The word "confirmed" is used a lot in the smash community when discussing new tidbits of information. Everyone is anxious to know whether a particular character, stage, advanced technique, etc. is confirmed for Brawl. This is only natural since an official confirmation gives people the green light to start discussing more in-depth possibilities surrounding that which was just confirmed. The problem we run into is that not everyone defines "confirmed" the same way, and various smashers feel offended when "someone dares suggest that Luigi is unconfirmed" since (A) someone high up already verbally leaked the information, and (B) Nintendo would be ridiculous to not include such a key character.

Originally, my definition of "confirmed" as anything that was either presented on the DOJO or explicitly announced by a Nintendo representative on a credible news source (such as IGN). I personally do not believe in mathematical derivation of characters (such as in the Mr. Game & Watch symbol theory); I prefer to just see the character with my own eyes so as to remove any doubt. One day, I had a discussion with Xsyven about the theory suggesting that Samurai Goroh's symbol in the DOJO confirms Captain Falcon (since the symbol belongs to him). He expressed that as far as he was concerned, Captain Falcon was confirmed. I replied that everything is unconfirmed until confirmed and that the symbol simply referenced the F-Zero franchise. Xsyven noticed that my attitude toward the situation clearly reflected my personality as described in Myers-Briggs Typology. He learned about me through my poll posted on Smashboards.

For those interested in learning about themselves, the test is here. Detailed descriptions about the results can be found here. Xsyven pointed out that my personality is INTJ (Introverted iNtuitive Thinking Judge), also known as the "scientist". According the INTJ description, "[INTJs] dislike messiness and inefficiency, and anything that is muddled or unclear. They value clarity and efficiency, and will put enormous amounts of energy and time into consolidating their insights into structured patterns." In other words, my mind simply rejects incomplete or ambiguous ideas. There is no room for doubt.

Xsyven, on the other hand, is an ESTP (a "doer). His personality is described, "They are impatient with theory, and see little use for it in their quest to 'get things done'. An ESTP will occasionally have strong intuitions which are often way off-base, but sometimes very lucid and positive." Xsyven has no interest in waiting for the final work from Sakurai. Small tidbits of evidence are good enough, so Captain Falcon is confirmed whether I like it or not.

So, it all comes down to individual perception. There is no 'official' definition for "confirmed". Many (like myself) reserve the word for those things explicitly mentioned primarily on the DOJO. Others use the word more loosely for anything whose odds are looking pretty good. Members of the smash community must learn to better understand one another, which includes understanding how one another thinks. Just remember that Luigi being "unconfirmed" does nothing to suggest that he will not be in the game. It is a mere formality that expresses his current absence in the DOJO. :)