How would be Smash Bros.' future without Sakurai (at least as Director) ?

[Deleted member]

Topic.

Spoiler

With all his heart he did put on this project to the point to suffer from a calcific tendinitis, and with his recent Famitsu column in which he has implicitly declared to have enough of fans' anger about the roster (which by the way likely wouldn't foster his relation with Iwata in the future), I think it is more and more plausible to see future installments of the Smash Bros. series not made by his creator.

Problem is, none in Nintendo's staff actually has the same aura as Sakurai's, seen for example with all the composers who accepted to collaborate on Sm4sh's OST, but also Brawl's one and KIU's one and all the balance he made on the cast.

I do think however Sakurai will finally find someone worthy enough to be his "heir".
I'm thinking about the guys who made the Smash Bros.-like mini-game in Kirby Triple Deluxe.

 

[AIM0001]

I respect Sakurai for making Kirby and Smash. Havnt played KI to know how I feel about that reboot but I will say this. He's done many things in terms of fan service and had made this franchise what it is today. I think really the only reason I'd be open to a different director making the game is for roster reasons only.

I think a new director would probably bring out more Zelda Star Fox Donkey Kong etc. Characters to the roster. Basically I'm saying he'd have a different take on which games need more reps than the others because at times I feel certain franchises are being both over and under represented therefore making the rosters a bit unbalanced. Not bad but unbalanced. Other then that Sakurai is an awesome director and goes out of his way for us....every game gets bigger. A game like Smash is truly a spectacle in it's own right thanks to this man.

 

[Frostwraith]

I don't think I can imagine Smash going on without Sakurai.

But if it has to be without Sakurai, I wouldn't mind at all if Bandai Namco took the reins of the series. I just can't see an internal Nintendo studio handling the series.

Anyway, I think Sakurai's game design style is very unique and distinct from that of any other develop. A Smash game without Sakurai could be a very good thing or a very bad thing.

Worst case scenario is Sakurai leaving the series and no one else to pick up the series.

 

[LordVacation]

He's responsible for the soul reason we've all met here, right now today.
At the end of the day; The Smash Bros. series is infallibly unique and garners strong attention, especially before it's release.
Without Sakurai... I don't really see the same "magic" or fine-tuning being put into making a TRUE sequel... Sakurai, to me, kinda IS Smash Bros. just think of the Dojo, or the new daily pictures.
Even the trophy's descriptions I can't help but feel came directly from his mind.

I see Smash Bros. without Sakurai like The Boondocks without Aaron McGruder--
Watered down, contrived, forced, heartless.

But what if they'd make the greatest game ever without him? I don't know... I'm afraid of finding out.

 

[ミスティック Speed]

I believe Smash will either rise or flop without Sakurai. Of course, that means there will be no middle ground.

 

[Saltwater Gem]

I would be okay with it. We know what Sakurai will do and will not do. I'm willing to see something else. I think it's really short-changing Nintendo (who makes quality games in general) to think that they could not do it well without a single man. The series is well-established and the nuts and bolts are there.

 

[King K.Smasher]

I honestly don't know what to say other than that, I don't think the Smash Bros "feeling" would be the same with him not being the director.

 

[FalKoopa]

The roster being more fanservice-y is the only positive outcome that might come out of it. The rest of the content - trophies, stages, modes, and even the movesets of characters - might take a little dive in quality.

Sakurai's biggest gift is his creativity. He has the ability to make seemingly impossible ideas not just work, but amazingly so. How Smash 4 turned out is a particularly good example of that. That makes it a bit hard to imagine Nintendo letting go of him anytime soon.

 

[Saltwater Gem]

I would have to believe that stages would be improved as well. I think the Smash stages have steadily deteriorated in quality (just my opinion though).

 

[WaltzForVenus]

I respect the man & all the kirby games hes created, also the first two smash games he made(classic's)

with that being said, i wouldn't mind if someone else was the director, a new fresh perspective could help a lot.

 

[Strofirko]

I cant wait to play as pink golden palutena.

 

[Verde Coeden Scalesworth]

Doesn't sound like a good idea to me. It'd be fairly boring then. The series is so vastly unique that no other Director could pull this kind of thing off at all. Of course, it would improve in some areas, but I feel the roster would be even worse choice-wise. It would just ignore many series or cut lots of neat characters like Duck Hunt or even Zero Suit Samus or Sheik.

 

[Nekoo]

If Sakurai is not Director , we will have Shrek , Goku , OC , All the sonic universe in the game ... and sincerley , i don't want this .

 

[LancerStaff]

My biggest fear is somebody making serious changes to the franchise. I don't want somebody to come in and cut out a bunch of the solo modes for characters or whatever, I don't want somebody rehauling a bunch of characters for the sake of homogenization, and I don't want to lose the casual focus. I love competitive and casual smash, and competitive smash will exist regardless of how the game works. It's nice when a few features are added for it, (making locking only work four times, for example,) but there shouldn't be too fine a point on it.

 

[Wintropy]

It would be more universally applicable in terms of its roster, but the rest of the game would be drastically different. I'm not suggesting it'd be "great" different or "poor" different, just different.

The man is an auteur through and through. Every fibre of his being goes into making these games. To me, it's like imagining Discworld without Terry Pratchett or Lord of the Rings without Tolkien. It can be done, but it's essentialy a different animal entirely.

 

[LordCQ]

Two and a Half Men without Charlie Sheen... Enough said.

 

[Vaughngief]

In all honesty if I had to choose someone from the game industry it'd have to be Yoshinori Ono (Street Fighter 4 series). The guy loves poking fun with his fans, loves going to events to meet everyone, watches Evo with the fans, and puts fan request high on his priority list. That's just wishful thinking though if Sakurai ever stopped.

Plus the guy has a sense of humor. He cosplayed as Poison during a official Street Fighter panel.

 

[BluePikmin11]

The roster is definitely going to be more based on popularity and not having any cuts, not enough fanservice with non-character content will happen, Sakurai has been a Nintendo gamer for quite a long time, with the sheer amount of knowledge he has within the Nintendo company, I don't think anyone else besides top Nintendo guys like Iwata and Miyamoto (The closest you can get as the Smash Bros. director) can bring as much love to Nintendo as Sakurai.

If someone else directs the thing and has little to no knowledge of Smash Bros and Nintendo, I can surely guarantee you Smash Bros. won't feel the same ever again, and there won't be as much DK, Metroid, or Starfox fan service the people want for more representation, because the director will just focus on the new characters and gameplay and not care about non-character content in general.

The people in here in Smashboards asking for a new director aren't going to get their fulfilled wishes, they're asking for less fanservice. And nobody really wants that to happen at all.

 

[True Blue Warrior]

Whether it be good or bad, it will definetly not be the same. Though it will be interesting to see if a different director would handle the DLC roster differently from how Sakurai would have. Regardless, he needs a good solid rest for now considering his injuries.

 

[Fathom778]

I don't think Smash would be the same without the Based Troll God himself.
That being said, it would be interesting to see how the Series would go without him.

 

[Vaughngief]

I don't think Smash would be the same without the Based Troll God himself.
That being said, it would be interesting to see how the Series would go without him.

We'd probably get an official U.S. and Europe character poll.

 

[SmellTheJava]

If Sakurai is not Director , we will have Shrek , Goku , OC , All the sonic universe in the game ... and sincerley , i don't want this .

You forgot Barney and Kratos.

 

[Nekoo]

You forgot Barney and Kratos.

My bad , this mean i will be the worst director possibly for Smash ?

 

[INs4niTY-]

I want Miyamoto to take over the series, he's starting to appeal more to the hardcore crowd nowadays.

 

[BluePikmin11]

I want Miyamoto to take over the series, he's starting to appeal more to the hardcore crowd nowadays.

With the new spy and robot IPs, probably not to the hardcore.

 

[INs4niTY-]

With the new spy and robot IPs, probably not to the hardcore.

Depends on the game of course, this interview was the thing I was getting the impression from: http://www.gamespot.com/articles/nintendos-miyamoto-doesnt-want-to-make-games-for-p/1100-6421955/

 

[Naoshi]

Smash Bros was always for casual players, just not the ones that started with the Wii and stuck to smartphone gaming (with an exception of Brawl).

 

[Snagrio]

I'm sure Smash will still go on even when Sakurai does eventually retire. It's too lucrative a franchise for Nintendo to just let sit on a shelf. How things will turn out when a new director steps in is a whole different debate though, one we can't predict.

 

[Venus of the Desert Bloom]

They should of just hired someone who would slap Sakurai's hand away and give him a stern "NO!" when Sakurai reached for anything Kid Icarus related.

I'm good with Sakurai being in charge still but I would like to see some outside influence but I don't see this happening while he is the director. Sakurai seems to think he knows what's best for Smash Bros. while everyone else obviously doesn't understand his genius.

 

[Funkermonster]

I'd be cool with seeing someone else show what he can do, but Sakurai's the reason we're all here and why we have the game in the first place. hell, when made Melee he referred to it as a destructive part of his life and got little sleep and no holidays, he put up with a lot of tedious development to give us our game. Made a great game series and one of gaming's most popular characters: Kirby.

The only reason I would want Sakurai to take a break is the fact that he is so adamant towards competitive gamers, as evident in multiple interviews he's been in. Views competition as discouraging and felt Melee was too hard, just like many fighting games (even though he once won a 100-man Street Fighter 2 tournament a long time ago). He hardly cares about the competitive community and for the most part, places the vast majority of his attention towards the casual party crowd. I wish he hired people who made real fighting games to help him work on the game's physics and characters, and then let them go and take care of the items, game modes, stage hazards and other stuff.

 

[BobVance_]

It'd probably be better. At the very least, get someone who doesn't hate a large group of his fans. I mean, the guy pumped out a great game(Melee) that over 10 years later is still played at EVO and tourneys in general and if you glance through interviews he sounds like he regrets it...Weird dude, it's like he has some grudge against his fanbase or he's upset that he made a good game. Lol

 

[Smash_Veteran_Amtoj]

I really fear a Smash without Sakurai. I don't think there's anyone else out there who can work the same kind of magic into this series.

 

[LancerStaff]

I'd be cool with seeing someone else show what he can do, but Sakurai's the reason we're all here and why we have the game in the first place. hell, when made Melee he referred to it as a destructive part of his life and got little sleep and no holidays, he put up with a lot of tedious development to give us our game. Made a great game series and one of gaming's most popular characters: Kirby.

The only reason I would want Sakurai to take a break is the fact that he is so adamant towards competitive gamers, as evident in multiple interviews he's been in. Views competition as discouraging and felt Melee was too hard, just like many fighting games (even though he once won a 100-man Street Fighter 2 tournament a long time ago). He hardly cares about the competitive community and for the most part, places the vast majority of his attention towards the casual party crowd. I wish he hired people who made real fighting games to help him work on the game's physics and characters, and then let them go and take care of the items, game modes, stage hazards and other stuff.

It'd probably be better. At the very least, get someone who doesn't hate a large group of his fans. I mean, the guy pumped out a great game(Melee) that over 10 years later is still played at EVO and tourneys in general and if you glance through interviews he sounds like he regrets it...Weird dude, it's like he has some grudge against his fanbase or he's upset that he made a good game. Lol

Even base Melee was much too hard for the average player. Ever notice how most players won't jump off to intercept others? That'd be a direct result of Melee's ledges and high fall speed. That right there explains Brawl's biggest changes: Fall speed and ledges. Yes, he went too far, but for most it was 1000 times more playable then Melee.

 

[BobVance_]

Even base Melee was much too hard for the average player. Ever notice how most players won't jump off to intercept others? That'd be a direct result of Melee's ledges and high fall speed. That right there explains Brawl's biggest changes: Fall speed and ledges. Yes, he went too far, but for most it was 1000 times more playable then Melee.

Sure, and like he said, he wants a game where "Everyone can win." That basically sums up Nintendo's vision for their franchises ever since the Wii struck gold with such a broad audience. Take it as you will, but looking back now, Brawl is easily the worst and most boring in the series. There was no need for the changes; I mean, do you think any substantial amount of people besides the several million that bought Melee were going to buy Brawl? There was no need to dumb it down.

 

[LancerStaff]

Sure, and like he said, he wants a game where "Everyone can win." That basically sums up Nintendo's vision for their franchises ever since the Wii struck gold with such a broad audience. Take it as you will, but looking back now, Brawl is easily the worst and most boring in the series. There was no need for the changes; I mean, do you think any substantial amount of people besides the several million that bought Melee were going to buy Brawl? There was no need to dumb it down.

"Everybody can win" sums up Nintendo post NES pretty dang well. Anyway, the changes weren't necessary, but the overall opinion was that they were good changes. There's a pretty big difference between simply working and being the best it can be.

 

[Kaye Cruiser]

I have no faith, respect or blind unconditional love for Sakurai like majority of the people here. To me, he's just another dude that makes another game series.

He just happens to be a very annoying dude who loves bassackwards "logic" and contradictions that makes a fairly fun and widely enjoyed series that tends to actually be hyped up to be way more than it actually is, when in truth, it can be a bit lackluster and disappointing at times. ¦D

If Sakurai stays with Smash, meh. Okay. Nothings changed.

If he leaves and someone else takes the helm, woo. Okay. Let's hope the next guy in charge isn't such an eccentric narcissist someone who considers himself and the inner workings of his mind an enigma this time. Oh, and that's it's someone who understand the simply concept of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". Maybe there will be less arguments that way.

I'm all for a Smash without Sakurai. It'd be interesting to see things handled differently in someone else's hands.

 

[BobVance_]

"Everybody can win" sums up Nintendo post NES pretty dang well. Anyway, the changes weren't necessary, but the overall opinion was that they were good changes. There's a pretty big difference between simply working and being the best it can be.

Umm, no it doesn't..Donkey Kong Country 2 and A Link to the Past were pretty darn hard, and they didn't have animals with picket signs offering to beat levels for you. Nintendo took the casual and easy approach once the Wii became successful, and it's plagued their games ever since, I think.

And, what Kaye said is essentially how I feel. I'll leave it at that. The guy takes himself too seriously.

 

[D-idara]

Sure, and like he said, he wants a game where "Everyone can win." That basically sums up Nintendo's vision for their franchises ever since the Wii struck gold with such a broad audience. Take it as you will, but looking back now, Brawl is easily the worst and most boring in the series. There was no need for the changes; I mean, do you think any substantial amount of people besides the several million that bought Melee were going to buy Brawl? There was no need to dumb it down.

"Everybody can win" sums up decent game design since ever...
This whole etilist attitude of people not being able to pick the damn thing up and play, IT'S REALLY INFURIATING. Remember, it's not 'Everybody wins' it's 'Everybody can win'.

Umm, no it doesn't..Donkey Kong Country 2 and A Link to the Past were pretty darn hard, and they didn't have animals with picket signs offering to beat levels for you. Nintendo took the casual and easy approach once the Wii became successful, and it's plagued their games ever since, I think.

And, what Kaye said is essentially how I feel. I'll leave it at that. The guy takes himself too seriously.

I just absolutely love how you **** on the COMPLETELY OPTIONAL level-clearing methods on Nintendo games, even though they don't do anything to hinder your own experience of the game and barely anyone uses them, even people who lose a lot.

 

[Funkermonster]

Even base Melee was much too hard for the average player. Ever notice how most players won't jump off to intercept others? That'd be a direct result of Melee's ledges and high fall speed. That right there explains Brawl's biggest changes: Fall speed and ledges. Yes, he went too far, but for most it was 1000 times more playable then Melee.

So what? Did Melee's high speed, hitstun, and other things go as far to ruin the game for everybody? Not at all, it was still critically acclaimed and was the best-selling Gamecube of all time, especially for a fighting game. Hardly anyone noticed how fast the game was and still played it via party smash rules with items, which would bring a luck factor and give people a better chance of winning regardless of skill difference. Aside from a few critics who reviewed the game and Nintendo's Clark Nielson (who are still greatly outnumbered by the sheer amount of competitive players), I don't know very many people who were bothered the game's speed and difficulty. Melee was enjoyed by both competitive and casual players even when they were not playing together, where Brawl could only appeal to the latter, and shies away the former audience. People mostly like Brawl better because it has more content, game modes, and characters. If it had kept the same mechanics loved about Melee without removing any new content, most new players would not even notice it, and would be great for those who want it.

Being that difficult doesn't matter much when people are barely even aware of it, something I think Sakurai oughta rrealize one day. Even though he found Melee too difficult and faster than it should be, few casuals noticed it until the competitive guys pointed it out, which is what caused wars between the two audiences in the first place.

 

[BobVance_]

"Everybody can win" sums up decent game design since ever...
This whole etilist attitude of people not being able to pick the damn thing up and play, IT'S REALLY INFURIATING. Remember, it's not 'Everybody wins' it's 'Everybody can win'.

I just absolutely love how you **** on the COMPLETELY OPTIONAL level-clearing methods on Nintendo games, even though they don't do anything to hinder your own experience of the game and barely anyone uses them, even people who lose a lot.

Funny, his actual quote doesn't include the "can." Lol