• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

Sakurai discusses George Lucas and fan criticism

Cerium

Member
http://www.sourcegaming.info/2015/12/24/people-are-free-to-criticize-but-dont-lose-faith/

By the time this column has been published, the final Smash special presentation should have debuted, offering some new information. But, as of my writing this, nothing has been announced. Please watch it!

Around the same time, the new Star Wars film is going to premiere, something I’m also anxiously waiting for. I’m so excited! However, George Lucas is not directing it. He’s not even a producer. Lucasfilms, and the rights to the movies, were purchased in 2012 by Disney. This time, J.J. Abrams is directing. The reason for the buyout was “to protect Star Wars and Lucasfilms.”

Separate from that, in an interview in the American edition of Vanity Fair, Lucas himself apparently said “you go to make a movie and all you do is get criticized. And it’s not much fun. You can’t experiment.”

A truly serious problem….! He’s such a big name, and to hear him leave this franchise that has impassioned so many fans, a person who worked on the originals with his own hands, is incredibly sad and frustrating. Personally, George Lucas’s work is the work I would really like to see.

However, I truly understand his feelings. You could say my body is filled with these feelings.
Making something, and completing it is a huge undertaking, and there are a lot of places where fans can’t see. It’s like building a house, but people focus on a single painting that’s hung up on a wall in one room, and fixate on it, and keep listing off their complaints of that painting. These situations are very common.

Edit: Trimmed to comply with SourceGaming's request. Rest of the article is at the link.
 
This is not a flattering comparison.

Edit:

It seems no one actually read the piece at all. Most, if not all of the comments are very embarrassing.

I read the article too, but I admit, I chose to respond to the title instead. I regret doing that. I took the bait and I'm embarrassed. In retrospect, it wasn't worth the joke.

The real core of this article, that Sakurai (as a creator) doesn't want creators to be discouraged by criticism, is genuinely a more interesting point of discussion. Because Sakurai has famously ignored or disregarded a lot of fan criticism in favor of what he wants his games to be. I think this enabled him to make some great games, but with a lot of elephants in the room.

Still, Sakurai is an idealist. I admire his commitment to his material, even if I don't agree with all his logic. He picks and chooses what kind of feedback he incorporates, but you would be wrong to ever assert that he doesn't care.
 
I hope Sakurai doesn't leave the franchise a la Lucas.

I also hope he doesn't make a Smash game as bad as the prequels though lol.
 
Its an apt comparison.

Sakurai made a good game by accident (melee) and then made a bunch of trash under the same banner because he failed to realize what people liked about it in the first place.
 
Ah jeez.

Well, as I said in another thread, at least he never went back and took Melee and modified it to play more like Brawl while making it impossible to play the original Melee again lol

Also, maybe if Sakurai leaves Smash, the next director will make it play exactly like Melee...to the point where people complain about it, haha.
 
64 and Melee are the original series, Brawl and "for Wii U" and "for 3DS" is the prequel trilogy.
seems like he doesn't like all the criticism he gets from fans and less him making bad sequels
 
I can't quite tell, but Sakurai seems to be following the misunderstanding that George Lucas had much to do with the success or even the making of the original trilogy.

If we had gotten the Star Wars that George Lucas wanted to make, let's just say there would probably only have been one movie.

EDIT: I made this post when the thread was still off-topic. Some people have been reacting very strongly to this post. You can PM me if you want to talk about it, but this thread is about Sakurai, not George Lucas.
 
Its an apt comparison.

Sakurai made a good game by accident (melee) and then made a bunch of trash under the same banner because he failed to realize what people liked about it in the first place.

How is Smash 4 trash though :l?

It fixed the tripping problem Brawl had, the characters feel faster and the game as a whole (across both, the 3DS and Wii U versions) has a good deal of content to dive into.

Smash 4 isn't perfect but it is a damn good game. Sorry you hated it though :(.
 
I don't understand?
His games aren't bad
But he don't like criticism?
Criticism exist since everything can always be better?

Need to make a difference between assholes and constructive observation
 
He made Melee and approved of Bayonetta. He doesn't have a clean track record. :(

Lk50XZK.gif
 
I can't quite tell, but Sakurai seems to be following the misunderstanding that George Lucas had much to do with the success or even the making of the original trilogy.

If we had gotten the Star Wars that George Lucas wanted to make, let's just say there would probably only have been one movie.

Funny enough, a lot of people have been under the assumption that Sakurai wasn't responsible for what made 64 and Melee good and it was all HAL Labs' doing or some crazy shit like that.
 
Has a Smash have ever been called bad? Aren't all of them critically acclaimed?

Brawl has a lot of issues but it was still a good/great game despite them. Really loved the single player modes and addition of third party fighters :).
 
Sakurai, you're 1000 times more legit than George Lucas, and have never lost the purity of your vision. Gamers can be fickle, but on the whole most of us love and respect your dedication to craft, and look forward to whatever you decide to create next.
 
Has a Smash have ever been called bad? Aren't all of them critically acclaimed?

A lot of people (including me) weren't fond of Brawl but it did receive great reviews, I suppose.

That being said I think he has a good track record outside of that. Kirby games and the other Smash games range from good to great and Kid Icarus Uprising is my favorite 3DS game so I wouldn't compare him to George just because of some missteps.
 
It seems no one actually read the piece at all. Most, if not all of the comments are very embarrassing.

He only compared himself to Lucas because the amount of work put into their respective work, there is always heavy criticism that follows which is devoid of actual knowledge of making such franchise.
 
It’s particularly easy to voice criticisms, and opinions are very strong. When people yell loudly, it also invites mob mentality and conformity. It’s easy for negative opinions to be amplified, while positive opinions are quieted.
The opposite is just as true. Sacred cows tend to not invite much criticism without counterattacks.
 
Smash fans and Star Wars fans, two peas in the same pod. Insatiable and always complaining. Well done Sakurai.
 
Top Bottom