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[Oersted]

Wow...the amount of negativity, jumping to conclusions, and non-developers thinking its "easy" in this thread is pretty silly. He didn't say no single player. He just no specific cinematics for the single player. He didn't say he wasn't going to patch, just that he needs to be aware and carefully consider the issue. So many people just want to jump on the bandwagon.

The amount of work and effort Sakurai puts into this games is nothing short of amazing. Anyone talking as if they know better or can do better...yikes.

Not even this is true. He said it won´t be unlockables, they will be there right at the beginning.

Shit people, reading comprehension.

 

[Darryl]

Awww I liked the SSE, it was a lot of fun!. I never beat it alone, I always had my sister to play co-op. maybe it was boring alone. But it was a lot of fun co-op!

But I definitely still want and adventure mode, even if we won't get all those CG cutscenes.

i played it co-op too and it was OK. me and my friend basically tried to cheat our way to the end. i mean it was awesome because it was a co-op bonding moment, but c'mon we should've been able to enjoy it and not feel like we were trying to skip through it. they could use a lot of fat trimmed out of that mode.

 

[astarisborn94]

Keep in mind that the translation isn't the most accurate, so Sakurai may have mentions things differently than what the translation provide.

Nintendo Power: on the occasion of the E3 2011, Satoru Iwata has surprised everyone by announcing that the next Super Smash Bros. game. beyond on Wii U and Nintendo 3DS. What are the main differences between the two versions? Can we expect a few surprises, especially at the level of connectivity?

Masahiro Sakurai: While the development of Kid Icarus: Uprising was at its end, Satoru Iwata came me propose to develop the new Smash Bros game, and asked me if he should be on 3DS or Wii U. We were arrived at a point where the series could not evolve too, and we wondered if the passage on handheld console was the solution. In the past, we have increased the number of characters and arenas, but this was not enough.

At that time, we could have chosen to develop a 3DS version only, but we realized the presence of several limitations. I am referring to the fact of playing a game like Super Smash Bros.. on a small screen. Thus, even if it is not easy to develop two versions simultaneously, we chose to adapt the game experience to the specificities of each platform.

Even though the characters will be the same in the version Wii U and Nintendo 3DS, the arena will be completely different. In the 3DS version, they are based on games released on portable consoles, while Wii U, arenas are based on articles on home console games.

I think this is our answer as to why the 3DS version is being developed; because it was the first thing on his mind. I'm curious to see if the 3DS will actually stand out of if its just going to be a portable Smash 4/5 with different stages and the customization gimmick (not pleased with the lack of cross play. At least do it with stages that are on both versions).

PN: In all your games, and particularly Smash Bros. and Kid Icarus: Uprising for example, the density of content is very important, sometimes offering up to 100 hours of game play. Why do you integrate as much content in your games? Could this be because you do not really like the DLC [additional downloadable content], and you prefer to enjoy the gaming experience complete at the outset?

Sakurai: Oh, it is not as if I did not like the DLC, it is just that I do not really have the time to think. I'm too busy to work on the game and to include a maximum of content. The goal is to propose a complete and interesting gaming experience for players.

In principle, I am not opposed to the DLC. I loved those proposed for the game Fallout 3, for example.

I honestly would not be surprised if Sakurai were to use DLC for this game due to this statement. Obviously not in the same way Capcom does it, but in a way where Sakurai can add what he couldn't get in the initial game due to time constraints.

PN: Music has always held an important place in the Smash Bros games, with a large number of pieces, remix and composers, but for what reason exactly?

Sakurai: I think it is a matter of respect. I have great respect for all these characters, and the experience that people have been playing these games. I believe that music plays an important role in this experience, and so in order to please fans of these games and original series, we need to recreate the same music to match their memories and their expectations.

PN: In the past, you indicated always wanting to involve the artist or the composer. Why is it so important to your eyes, that these people work at your side?

Sakurai: I never really decided that one specific person was appropriate for a given situation. But in general, what I do is that I talk with people who have composed the original music for a game, like the composer, for example, and I ask them how they would like to contribute to the project. In general, we find an agreement, and they come to compose the special versions of their music for Super Smash Bros. games.

I'm glad Sakurai takes such good care of the game when it comes to the music. One of my favorite parts about Smash is the great music provided in the game and hearing him emphasizing the importance of music makes me feel optimistic about what will happen with SSB4's music.

PN: Several months ago, in Famitsu magazine, you express the regret of not being able patcher Super Smash Bros.. Brawl, especially at the level of online. But with the Wii U and the 3DS, it is now possible to modify a game after its release. What are the aspects of the new Super Smash Bros. game. which will be the subject of scrutiny, for possible patches?

Sakurai: It is difficult to say at present, but rather obviously, we always try to keep the best balance. Nevertheless, I do not yet know if it will be really easy to patch these games once they will be released. For example: you have a person with a patched version of the game, and another with a non-patched version. If these two people play together, do they meet no problems? We will have to do extensive research about it.

That said, I think the patches are an important tool to maintain the balance of a game, once this last released. As you surely already know, the reputation of some characters, who are considered weak or powerful, is something to which players are very interested on the internet.

And sometimes, you have to ask if these perceptions are correct, or if people simply to join a popular opinion and to follow the movement. We really want to make our characters each have their specificities, with statistics that compensate their strengths.

We want to highlight these individual characteristics, but at the same time, players must also be asked whether they accept the reputation of a character on the internet. This is something that we will also have to take into account when creating patches.

Mario will face a newcomer among the fighters: Mega Man!

Hopefully Sakurai won't require the latest patch in order to play online. I remember Gran Turismo 5 doing this and I can understand that was aggravating for many fans out there. Nevertheless, glad to see that Sakurai is taking into account patches. Also, *grin* at the last line.

PN: With each new opus, you have added still more characters, arenas. But with Brawl, the game appeared less polished than its predecessors. For the new Smash Bros., will you change your approach by including less content, but making sure that all is well polished?

Sakurai: Until now, I am always considered myself personally responsible for specificities of each characters, from the balance at all, so I came to create each attack separately, for each display. But it is a task that I have to share with others this time, so if ensure that the right balance is found for this game.

In the past, I have often been exceed, and this is something that I now try to avoid. Of course, working on such a game is really very time consuming as much as we are currently developing two different versions. It will therefore have plenty of time to refine everything, and achieving the required balance. Of course, I always assume my duties as Director for these two games, and I test every aspect of the latter, but I also try to not take care of each task by myself. I just try to focus on things that I am the only one to occupy me.

At the very least we should be seeing better balance for this game than we did with Brawl, which is good to hear. Hopefully this mean no more Meta-Knight and Ganondorf in terms of overpowered/underpowered characters. Seems as Sakurai is really trying to focus on balance this time around.

PN: In Brawl, he had a large focus on history, with notably the Subspace Emissary: the first mode 'History' of the series. Are you going to propose something similar in the new Smash Bros. ?

Sakurai: in fact, we do not expect to include a similar story mode this time. As you already know, Smash Bros. has a large number of different characters, which were entitled to their own cutscenes in the story Mode. These were supposed to be rewards for players finishing this mode with each of the characters.

I think it was something fun for the players, but at the same time, all the cutscenes finally found themselves on the internet. Players watched them online, which was not really sticking with what we had originally planned. It is for this reason that we are not going to do something similar this time.

Nevertheless, we expect well introduce new characters with cinematics of introduction, as we already did for the villagers of Animal Crossing Mega Man or even the coach WiiFit. We have several ongoing collaborations to propose several cutscenes of this kind there.

I think Sakurai is hinting at something closer to Melee's Adventure Mode here more than ever. My guess is a glorified version of that.

PN: During the development of Brawl, you you are shown very open with fans via the Dojo, where you have shown many elements of the game with infos, pictures and videos... Will you show so much content this time for the new Smash Bros., or well do you plan to keep more intact surprises before the release of the game? With Brawl, many were the players to have had the impression of having any discovered before even leaving the game...

Sakurai: This time, we will not share as much info than [for Brawl]. You will have information about the characters via the official website, with images, but we will not always have very detailed info, as in the past.

Won't lie, I'm kind of disappointed here, but with Sakurai working incredibly hard on this game, it's not hard to see why he went with this route. Wonder when he'll do reveals for Assist Trophies, stages, music, items, etc?

PN: What level of customization will be proposed in the game? In the past, players have always had access to a large number of options, including at the level of the items. Are you going to propose new, as for example the ability to disable the damage caused by the stages?

Sakurai: You can still manage the appearance of items, but you cannot disable the damage caused by the stages. If we propose such an option, it might as well be PlayStation all-stars!

Not that PSABR can match up to Smash, but this was a good idea. Pretty dumb move for Sakurai to not allow stage hazards.

PN: You receive many requests for new characters, and this on the part of fans and even developers. Do you take into account those requests, or do you prefer to keep your vision of the game intact, and thus to maintain the balance in not taking into account these suggestions?

Sakurai: in fact, I would indeed like account requests from fans. But the phase during which I am collecting this kind of information is already complete, and we are currently integrating this content to the game. We always try to incorporate a maximum of content in our program.

At least we can say that whatever bandwagons form on characters won't do anything. At this rate, it looks as the roster has all of the pool in and that there will only be cuts and maybe one or two clone additions.

 

[Mistle]

No subspace is welcome

 

[Joni]

- Si nous proposions une telle option, vous vous retrouveriez alors avec PlayStation All-Stars !
- If we were to add such an option, you would find yourself with PlayStation All-Stars.
-> I think it sounds more like they don't want to copy it instead of wanting to insult PSABR.

 

[Ushojax]

DLC is my most wanted feature by a mile. Surely they have to do it.

If they regularly added new fighters, stages, etc and the online mode is well done it would probably be the most popular game of all time.

 

[peanutbutterlatte]

Sakurai likes Fallout 3 type DLC? Respect Sakurai. Respect. Imagine a Point Lookout tier expansion for Kid Icarus...

 

[Psycho_Mantis]

Theres no story mode? Well fuck.

 

[Easy_D]

All I want is event mode. Gimme that and I'll be there.

 

[Soler]

That's not really a shots fired...

.

 

[BladeoftheImmortal]

SSE was boring as hell. Glad it's gone. Also hope he got rid of unlocking characters. It's one of the things that puts me off the genre. By the time I unlock everything I'm bored to tears and don't want to play it anymore.

 

[Thoraxes]

They never said no SP, just no story mode.

I hope this means more challenges though, and hopefully character unique target tests again. Maybe even leaderboards for them with replays too.

 

[Hero]

Why would you want to play a stage if the hazard is off?

 

[peanutbutterlatte]

Why would you want to play a stage if the hazard is off?

Tourney tiems.

 

[I NEED SCISSORS]

"For example: You have a person with a patched version of the game and other with a non-patched version. If these two people play together, won't they run into problems? We need to do a lot of research about this."

This is one of the saddest, most out of touch Nintendo quotes I think i've ever seen.

 

[SatoAilDarko]

Its funny that one of the reasons stuff like Injustice and MK9 are applauded for are their extras like the Challenge Tower and STAR LABS. Having a platforming/brawler mode is a great diversion like this.

SSB physics are descended from Kirby and are still workable (not well mind you) in a simple brawler with some platforming. The actual fighting already has insane verticality and a big part of the arenas are platforms so the basis is there. One of the great things about Smash is that its so different from a regular fighter in terms of content. Stuff like home run derby and target smash already use the game systems for different gameplay experiences from regular fighting. It would be a shame if these modes and a adventure mode were not in the new Smash.

I have a bad feeling that two productions, the rushed schedule and the size limitations on 3DS (4GB card vs 25GB disc) are going to cause a lack of content. If it is light I'll happily buy more content as DLC that's developed after. Even a light Smash offers an insane amount of content.

 

[freddy]

Shots fired at PSABR

There's getting more and more of these attention fishing 'headlines' on GAF. If that's the way the admins want to push GAF, then fine, but I'm not a fan of bullshit. It's bad enough when websites do it for hits but I don't see the motivation here from posters.

 

[axisofweevils]

"For example: You have a person with a patched version of the game and other with a non-patched version. If these two people play together, won't they run into problems? We need to do a lot of research about this."

This is one of the saddest, most out of touch Nintendo quotes I think i've ever seen.

Not really. He's almost certainly talking about 3DS local play, which doesn't require online - if MH is anything to go by, it will probably be a big thing in Japan.

 

[PrivateRyan]

Came for shots fired

Still looking for shots fired

 

[Foshy]

I thought it was odd how he mentioned "it might as well be PSA" as if turning off stage hazards was a bad thing. He includes a fuckton of options in his games, why not have one more? Sounds like an odd arbitrary choice, just like the lack of dual-stick controls in KI:U when ABXY aiming was allowed.

Unless he means he doesn't want to copy that, but I don't think anyone would look at incorporating such a simple option as "stealing".

 

[v1oz]

Err, the solution to this is force the unpatched person to patch by requiring the most recent patch to play online. This is not a problem for anyone who has ever played a game on a non-Nintendo system before.

I think Mario Kart 7 forces you to patch for online.

The main problem I see is how undemocratic forcing people to patch is. There maybe genuine reasons for some players to stick to an older version if a patch alters gameplay balance.

 

[Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew]

I hate it when people make such thread titles and they expect some decent discussion. Are you getting paid for all the 'hits' this thread gets? Did you write that article? Are you looking for "BURN!!!" gifs? Is this all this has become: a charade of bullshit to see which thread title can get the most ridiculous replies?

What's with the whole "OMG OP FOOLED ME!" that I've been seeing lately? Its quite ridiculous that people here make fun of game journalists making sensational articles with no basis to back their shit up, yet here we have such an openness with bullshit. People will tend to reply to thread titles rather than responding to articles. People will respond "Where are the shots fired?" rather than showing decent interest in the game.

Shit like this is the reason why I avoid certain games in the first place. Some fanboys are a major major turnoff for any game or console out there. You reach for discussion to get a good glimpse of the future and what to enjoy, and it all becomes a cockfest of people rubbing their keyboard against their cumshots. I'm a bit backwards with the jokes; Is it Wii U or PSVita or PS3 that has no games? Is it the PS4 or Xbox One (Xbox 180 HURR HURR) that has more GIGARAM?

Maybe I'm tired of participating in such bullshit. I try to justify it by saying that its all about the games, but there's no denying that shitty influences like this is what makes no avoid such participation.

Sorry for the rant. Good night.

 

[v1oz]

Not really. He's almost certainly talking about 3DS local play, which doesn't require online - if MH is anything to go by, it will probably be a big thing in Japan.

You're right about local wireless play. People seem to think all 3DS are connected to the Internet but they're not.

 

[peanutbutterlatte]

I hate it when people make such thread titles and they expect some decent discussion. Are you getting paid for all the 'hits' this thread gets?

For all the threads that get made criticizing sensationalism on the behalf of outlets such as Kotaku, it's fairly ironic. Just put the actual subject matter of the article in the thread title, that's enough to get people to read, we're super hungry for any Smash Bros tidbits right now.

Not really. He's almost certainly talking about 3DS local play, which doesn't require online - if MH is anything to go by, it will probably be a big thing in Japan.

Plus, add in Download Play, which I assume will be an option.

 

[televator]

I love you, internet.

 

[pa22word]

Interesting interview. I find it really cool how they're balancing portable game stages (GHOST BABEL STAGE PLZ) on the 3ds and console stages on the Wii U. Also the bit about playing with the model size seems like it would change the game too much between the versions to be convenient to implement or play with when jumping between versions. Hmm...

But holy hell at this:

PN: In all your games, and particularly Smash Bros. and Kid Icarus: Uprising for example, the density of content is very important, sometimes offering up to 100 hours of game play. Why do you integrate as much content in your games? Could this be because you do not really like the DLC [additional downloadable content], and you prefer to enjoy the gaming experience complete at the outset?

What the hell kinda question is this? This is so obviously headline bait it almost reaches out through the words and punches you in the face. Glad Sakurai took the high road, even if it wasn't entirely intentional.

 

[Professor Beef]

Maybe even leaderboards for them with replays too.

Now now, we don't need people's feelings getting hurt.

The main problem I see is how undemocratic forcing people to patch is. There maybe genuine reasons for some players to stick to an older version if a patch alters gameplay balance.

This is not a thing for people who play any sort of fighting game regularly and competitively.

 

[Mockingbird]

SSE was the worst and most disappointing thing about Brawl, so I'm glad it's not back.

 

[Hermii]

.

 

[Forever]

Are you getting paid for all the 'hits' this thread gets?

Totally. A penny each bruh.

 

[Spinluck]

I love you Sakurai.

I love this interview also. He comes off really smart, and he really puts his heart and soul into these games.

Interesting what he said about the balance though. It's totally understandable. Meta-Knight is only overpowered at high levels of play, meaning, that casual players will never notice. I run across casual Smash players who think Ganondorf, Kirby, Ike, and Capt. Falcon are hands down the best characters in the game lol.

More times than not, they will think the roster is balanced. Smash has too much depth to bring on the balance issues Playstation All-Stars has at both high and low levels of play.

I'm Glad He's :

-not opposed to patches
-keeping the game between Melee and Brawl (it's own thing)
-something different than story mode ( loved playing SSE with my bro on Intense though)
-not going all out with info on the Smash Dojo this time
-suggesting we might get a cinematic trailer for most character reveals
-focused on improving online
-cares about balance

I'm Afraid He's:

-ok with gimping the Wii U version so the 3DS one doesn't get left behind

 

[SovanJedi]

I wouldn't mind a simplified Adventure Mode like the one Melee had. That one filled me with hype at the time.

 

[Leezard]

The stage hazards in PSASBR are often way more imposing and worse than the ones in Smash, and I don't get why they had to have stage hazards on for the ranked play in PSASBR. The stage hazards in Smash don't bother me nearly as much.

 

[A Sentient Keyboard]

This is the second time I've heard Sakurai position Mario Kart as an example of fantastic balance, and it makes me worry for SSB every time.

I can't think of a series that implements balance worse than Mario Kart.

 

[deleted]

I hope they'll do DLC.

Don't add SSB, Melee or Brawl maps at launch and start working on porting them after the release. Release Map packs and offer the player the choice between his favourite maps. It would also make this version the definitve version regarding content.
Another plus would be, that they can focus exclusively on entirely new maps and maybe take the same road with the characters. Make something new and release the missing chars in the following year after release.

 

[AnkiRendan]

I wonder if Sakurai played the Jump games for DS. You could turn off stage hazards in that as well.

And Sakurai didn't fire any shots at PASBR. What a stupid topic title.

 

[chaosblade]

Thinking on it, I'm not sure which I disliked more, SSE or Melee's adventure mode.

On one hand, I just didn't find SSE to be very fun. It was long, and I didn't really like using Smash Bros mechanics in a platforming game.

On the other, Melee's adventure mode was shorter and more tolerable... except for the fact you had to do it with every character, which probably took about as much time as a run through SSE.

This is the second time I've heard Sakurai position Mario Kart as an example of fantastic balance, and it makes me worry for SSB every time.

I can't think of a series that implements balance worse than Mario Kart.

I'm probably the only one who feels this way and will probably get a lot of hate for this, but I don't really trust Sakurai much with Smash Bros anymore after a lot of his comments, and after Brawl.

Smash Bros 64 seems like it was "saved" by technical limitations and it's simplicity. Melee was a rushed fluke. Brawl, despite being loaded with content, was less fun to play but seems to be a lot closer to Sakurai's vision. And to me that's unfortunate.

I hope they'll do DLC.

Don't add SSB, Melee or Brawl maps at launch and start working on porting them after the release. Release Map packs and offer the player the choice between his favourite maps. It would also make this version the definitve version regarding content.
Another plus would be, that they can focus exclusively on entirely new maps and maybe take the same road with the characters. Make something new and release the missing chars in the following year after release.

I can't believe Sakurai/Nintendo hasn't considered using Smash Bros as an online pass sort of thing. Imagine if new Nintendo games used Smash Bros for advertising. New game comes out and along with it a new character is available. If you buy the game you get a code with it to unlock them. Otherwise, you have the option to buy the character and unlock them.

And the general idea of DLC characters and stages just seems like it would rake in huge amounts of money for Nintendo in general. No doubt people would pay out to get the opportunity to play as their favorite characters that might not be popular enough to make the main roster, even if some are just skins for other characters and not entirely unique/semi-clones.

 

[Snowden's Secret]

We won't get character DLC.

There are only three ways to add characters, and they are:

-Newcomers, new to the series at large. Almost a zero percent chance of this happening because a) the amount of work needed to do this would be staggering which means b) there'd be no good way to price it and because c) they do have to save unused Newcomers to market the sequel (unfortunate reality)

-Returning Veterans, DLC for the older characters that got cut. Even though it's a reality that there have to be cuts (and there were cuts from Melee->Brawl), trying to sell cut characters would cause an uproar and they'd be accused of intentionally holding them back to sell. Imagine if Brawl let you buy Mewtwo and Roy? "They're already on the disc!" (which is sort of true).

-Clones of existing characters, the most likely but least palatable. How much would you pay for Dr. Mario? A Slippy/Krystal clone of Fox? Would you even need these clones?

 

[Raist]

Err, the solution to this is force the unpatched person to patch by requiring the most recent patch to play online. This is not a problem for anyone who has ever played a game on a non-Nintendo system before.

Shhhh. They need extensive research!

 

[The Lamp]

Err, the solution to this is force the unpatched person to patch by requiring the most recent patch to play online. This is not a problem for anyone who has ever played a game on a non-Nintendo system before.

I feel like they haven't let Sakurai leave his office or play another game besides Fallout 3 in a long time... XD

 

[TreIII]

I wouldn't mind a simplified Adventure Mode like the one Melee had. That one filled me with hype at the time.

In both Melee and Brawl, I actually ended up enjoying the "Mission Mode" more than anything else. Fanservice, funny interactions, small bits of narrative acted out by characters and their surroundings. That's all that I think was really necessary, for a game which still has its primary focus on the combat aspect. Brawl made the welcome addition of adding an entirely separate level of "Co-Op" Missions, which was even better, and didn't force Mario/Superstar-level coordination in case you have a partner who sucks at platforming.

To me, I would focus on fully fleshing out that Mission Mode and make it the crux of the gameplay. Add a bit a more "story" if you must (I'm thinking sketch comedy would fit better), but MM's strength is that it's highly replayable. You have people to this day who may still attempt to get the best time attack score possible on the final Events in both games. And isn't that the very thing that should be focused on the most in a game of this sort?

 

[.la1n]

Sensationalist headline? Sensationalist headline.

I know, for a second I thought I had ended up on IGN or Kotaku.

 

[Snowden's Secret]

Err, the solution to this is force the unpatched person to patch by requiring the most recent patch to play online. This is not a problem for anyone who has ever played a game on a non-Nintendo system before.

The only thing I can think of is what if a player doesn't want a patch? You see this in World of Warcraft all the time, where they buff some and nerf others, and much gnashing of teeth follows. What if you bought Brawl because you love Snake, love how he plays, and like dominating your friends, but then he gets majorly nerfed because he's too good in tournaments? How might someone feel about their purchase at that point (because the game you bought is not the game that exists after the patch)?

Maybe that's the research he's speaking of? Because clearly Nintendo can and will patch games (and require all users to patch prior to online play, see: Mario Kart 7) so that's obviously not what he's talking about.

 

[Stumpokapow]

Not even this is true. He said it won´t be unlockables, they will be there right at the beginning.

Shit people, reading comprehension.

That's not what he said either, but I don't blame people for poor reading comprehension when it's a machine translation.

He said "Just the same, we expect to give the new characters cinematic introductions like we've done with the Villager, Mega Man, and Wii Fit Trainer. We have many collaborations in the works to make cinematics of this type." -- my translation -- you can read into that what you'd like in terms of what's going to be in the game and what won't.

 

[entremet]

I'm surprised Sakurai has even heard of PSABR.

Sakurai is no Miyamoto. He stays current with games.

 

[deleted]

I can't believe Sakurai/Nintendo hasn't considered using Smash Bros as an online pass sort of thing. Imagine if new Nintendo games used Smash Bros for advertising. New game comes out and along with it a new character is available. If you buy the game you get a code with it to unlock them. Otherwise, you have the option to buy the character and unlock them.

And the general idea of DLC characters and stages just seems like it would rake in huge amounts of money for Nintendo in general. No doubt people would pay out to get the opportunity to play as their favorite characters that might not be popular enough to make the main roster, even if some are just skins for other characters and not entirely unique/semi-clones.

I don't believe it's quite as easy. DLC characters for new games coming out would mean that Sakurai isn't free in the work he wants to do for years and he wouldn't agree to that most likely. I don't think he would agree to someone else taking the lead in the DLC and 'invent' and balance the characters though either - that's his baby.
Porting old maps and maybe old characters from older games could be somewhat different, especially for maps, since there wouldn't be a lot of balancing involved and they wouldn't need to change the look of the maps.
But even then, Nintendo would have to find a deal with Namco to leave a small team working on the game to port new/old stuff. Otherwise they'd need to fund a new team new to the code to do the DLC and I don't think they'd do that.

 

[chaosblade]

I don't believe it's quite as easy. DLC characters for new games coming out would mean that Sakurai isn't free in the work he wants to do for years and he wouldn't agree to that most likely. I don't think he would agree to someone else taking the lead in the DLC and 'invent' and balance the characters though either - that's his baby.
Porting old maps and maybe old characters from older games could be somewhat different, especially for maps, since there wouldn't be a lot of balancing involved and they wouldn't need to change the look of the maps.
But even then, Nintendo would have to find a deal with Namco to leave a small team working on the game to port new/old stuff. Otherwise they'd need to fund a new team new to the code to do the DLC and I don't think they'd do that.

I don't think having a small team work on it wouldn't be a big deal, and it shouldn't require a long term partnership with Namco. If the game had DLC it would be assumed that there would be a (presumably well documented) framework in place for creating and adding new characters. And since stages don't really have to be balanced I don't think adding those would be nearly as difficult.

But you're right, DLC will probably be minimal or non-existent as much out of ignorance as anything. Sakurai not involved = no go.

 

[SodaBeam]

I liked the SSE :|

It had great cutscenes that I thought told the story quite well without using words, good boss battles, awesome music, decent beat 'em up gameplay. Guess I'll settle for a new Adventure mode to play through with 35 or so characters.

 

[Kurtofan]

My translation :

Puissance Nintendo: At E3 2011 Satoru Iwata surprised everyone by announcing that the next Smash Bros. game would come out on 3DS and Wii U. What will be the major differences between the two versions?Can we expect a few surprises, regarding for example connectivity?

Sakurai: While the development of Kid Icarus Uprising was coming to an end Satoru Iwata came to ask me to develop the next SSB and asked me if it should be developed on 3DS or Wii U.We arrived to the point where the series couldn't really evolve anymore and we wondered if going handheld was the solution.In the past we raised the number of characters and stages but it wasn't enough.

Around this time we could have chose to develop only a 3DS version, but we realized that there were several limitations.I'm talking about playing a game like SSB on a small screen.So even if it is complicated to develop two versions of the game at the same time, we decided to adapt the Smash Bros experience to the characteristics of both platforms.

If on the one hand the characters are the same on Wii U and 3DS, the stages will be on the other hand completely different.The 3DS stages are based on games released on handheld consoles while the Wii U stages will be based on games released on home video game console.

PN:How did you organize the development of two versions of the same game?Is there a "lead platform" or are both platforms developed simultaneously, with a dedicated team for each versions?

Sakurai:The team is the same for both versions of the game, which are developed side by side.There's no "lead platform".

PN:In the E3 2013 Developer Direct you mentions the fact that characters on 3DS are circled in black in lines in order to distinguish them a small screen.What kind of technical limitations did you have face on 3DS?Did you have to reduce the number of items or special effects on screen?

Sakurai: We had to take several factors into considerations to produce a satisfying experience for both platforms.

On the 3DS version for instance, we had to look at characters' bodies proportion on home consoles and adapt them on 3DS to make the characters look more recognizable on a small screen.Same thing for the hands' deformation.[when you punch a character, see article screenshot]

All of this serves to make the 3DS game a pleasant experience.

PN:Considering there are two versions of the game, players are expecting a form of connectivity between the two.Can you give us some examples of connectivity features?Monster Hunter Ultimate 3 allows save data transfer between its two versions, can we expect similar features in SSB?

Sakurai: The save data of the two games are completely separate, but there will be some degree of interaction, as it will be possible to transfer data relatives to the characters from one version to the other.

PN: In all your games, and especially in Kid Icarus Uprising and Smash Bros, the amount of game content is very important, with sometimes hundreds of hours of game.Why do you always put so much content in your games?Is it because you are not really fond of DLCs and instead prefer to have access to a complete game right away?

Sakurai: Oh it's not that I dislike DLCs, it's just that I don't really have time to think about it.I'm too busy working on the game and put as much content as I can. The goal is to give a full and interesting game to players.

I'm not opposed to DLCs on principle. I really liked the Fallout 3 DLCs for example.

PN:Music always had an important role in SSB games, with great number of tunes, remixes and composers, why do you think that is?

Sakurai: I think it's a matter of respect. I have a lot of respect for all these characters and for how all these games affected people while playing them. I believe that music played an important role in these games and so to please the fans of these games and original series we have to recreate the same music so that it corresponds to their desires and expectations.

PN: In the past you said you want to work with the original composers. In your eyes why is it so important to work with them?

S:I've never really said that only some specific composer can work with some songs and not others.Instead I talk with the people who composed the original tracks of a game, like the composer for instance, and ask them how they want to contribute to the project. Usually we find an agreement and they compose special versions of their songs for SSB games.

PN: You take an active part in your games' playtesting, every nook and crannies: details, changes etc...You even playtest the multiplayer yourself.Why do you do that? Is it the only way for you to be sure that a game stays on the right path?

S: It's hard for me to find an easy answer to a question like this one about the nature of my work. I can explain it this way: developing a game is way harder than it looks like from the outside.

That's why I think the Director has to involve himself a lot and care about even the smallest details of his game, each gameplay elements. It's hard for me to conceive developing a game any other way.

PN: In Famitsu magazine a few months ago you said regretted not being able to patch SSBB on Wii, especially the online mode. This is not case anymore on Wii U and 3DS where it is possible to modify a game after its release. What aspects of the new SSB game will be scrutinized in prevision of possible patches?

S: It's hard to tell right now but of course we always try to keep the best balance.Nevertheless I do not know yet if it will be easy to patch the games once they are released.For example, if you have a person playing a patched version of the game playing against a person without the patch problems may occur. We will have to do a lot of research about this.

That said I think patches are very important to keep the game balanced once it's out.As you already know players are very interested in knowing whether a character is considered strong or weak on the Internet.

And sometimes you have to see if those perceptions are correct or if people are just following the popular opinion.We really want each character to have their special abilities, with statistics balancing their strong points.

We want to put forward specific each characters' specific abilities but at the same time players have to ask themselves if they accept the Internet reputation of a character.It's something we have to take into account when we will create patches.

PN: With each new game in the series you added more stages, more characters, but Brawl felt less polished than its predecessors. For the new Smash are you going to change your approach by including less content but making sure the game is more polished?

S:Until now I always considered that I was responsible for each and every aspects of every characters, the balance of the game, to the point where I created each different attacks separately for every characters. I'll share this work with other people this time around, to make sure a good balance can be found for this game.

In the past I was often overwhelmed and I'm trying to avoid that now.Of course working on a game like this one takes a huge amount of time, especially since we have to work on two different versions.Polishing and finding the right balance will take a lot of time. Of course I fully assume my role as a Director of those two games and test every aspects of them, but I also try to delegate some tasks.I try to focus on the things only I can take care of.


PN: Will the new SSB game players looking for a casual experience or the players looking for a competitive experience? Is this something you pay a lot of attention to when making the game?

S: If you consider that Melee is perfect for fighting game experts who are only interested in competitiveness and that Brawl is more suited for newcomers trying to discover the series... then maybe we have to find the middle ground for the new Smash Bros game?

I'm not talking about changing the game system, but rather to take into consideration the level of each players. Mario Kart is often described as the most accessible game for players of all levels. This series has several gameplay mechanics reducing the gap between the players.

But Smash Bros is a radically different series compared to Mario Kart, it has to find its own mechanics to offer a similar level of accessibility,offering a neutral ground for new players and experimented players alike.Nonetheless it is still a game requiring some experience to master it, we just want to make sure everyone's having fun with it.

PN: There was a big focus on Story with Brawl, notably with SSE, the very first "story mode" of the series.Is there anything similar with the new SSB.

S:Actually we are not planning to include a similar story mode this time around. As you already know SSB has a great number of different characters who all had their own cutscenes in Story mode. These were supposed to be rewards for players finishing this mode with every characters.

I think this is fun for players but at the same time all these cutscenes ended up on the internet.Players watched them online, which didn't correspond to our intent when we made them in the first place.That's why we won't do the same this time.

Nevertheless we will still present the new characters with intro cutscenes, as we already did with the Villager, Megaman and Wii Fit Trainer.We have several collaboration to make these cutscenes at the moment.

PN: In the weeks preceding the release of Kid Icarus Uprising you released several animated cutscenes to the players, are you going to do the same with Smash?

S:As you've seen with WFT, which we revealed earlier this week, I like revealing characters with cutscenes before the game is released.But they have a cost so I can't promise.

PNuring the development of Brawl you were very open with the fans through the Dojo, where you revealed many a lot of information on the game.Are you going to do the same or are you going to keep some surprises for the release of the game? Many players felt like they knew everything about Brawl before it was even released...

S: We won't share as much info this time around.You'll have information on characters and pictures through the official website but not always detailed info like it was the case in the past.

PN:What level of customization will be present in the game?In the past players had access to a great many options, notably regarding items.Are you going to implement new ones, such as being able to switch off damages caused by stage hazards?

S:You will still be able to control the apparition of items, but you won't be able to turn off stage hazards.If we did that, you'd find yourself with PSASB!

PN: Will the new SSB have players created content, with a stage or character editor?

S: I'm sorry I can't talk about this for the moment

PN:Let's talk a bit about the new characters, Megaman looks "normal" for the series, but the Villager and WFT who are pretty surprising choices, not so much.Why did you choose to include them in the game? Do you want to appeal to those games' players?

S: The first thing I want to say about those characters is that they're pretty fun to play with, and that I understand that people think that Megaman is perfectly suite for the series.

But when we decide to include characters in the series we ask ourselves: "What can this character do that existing ones cannot?" and so I've spent a lot of time thinking about what Villager and WFT could do. I've realized that they were many interesting things to be done with these two characters.

PN:You receive a lot of requests for new characters, from fans and even developers.Do you take those requests into account or would you rather keep your vision of how the game should be pure, keeping the sought-after balance intact?

S: Actually I do take into account fans requests.But the phase where I gather this information is already over and we're currently adding content to the game.We always strive to put as much content as we can in our program.

PN: In conclusion, can you tell us what you prefer when developing SSB games?Something you love to take care of. What is the most complicated aspect?

S: I think it's by making the game system itself, by trying to create a neutral ground for players of different levels that I have the most fun. I want to make an interesting gameplay, making sure players never get bored requires a lot of efforts.As for what is the most complicated aspect of development...I'd say everything else!

To be fair we have to deal with a huge volume of content and so we have to think on how to balance it all: there are many hardships.That said even if making Smash Bros requires a lot of effort, it is absolutely worth it and that is why I am so serious in my work

 

[phosphor112]

Man, as much as Nintendo makes great games with great mechanics, they are all Luddites. They are afraid to look forward. It's crazy.