• Welcome to Smashboards, the world's largest Super Smash Brothers community! Over 250,000 Smash Bros. fans from around the world have come to discuss these great games in over 19 million posts!

    You are currently viewing our boards as a visitor. Click here to sign up right now and start on your path in the Smash community!

Sakurai on DLC: “It’s All About Making Players Happy”

LiteralGrill

Smokin' Hot~
Joined
Dec 9, 2012
Messages
5,976
Location
Wisconsin

Masahiro Sakurai, creator and director of the Super Smash Bros. series, released more information about his thoughts on DLC in Smash 4 though his article in the Japanse magazine Famitsu. A translated version of the article can be found below.
---​

“The Creator’s Hands Are Alive and Well!”

In the Users’ Eye section of this magazine, “Sm4sh for 3DS” was the top scoring game of 2014 with an average of 9.58! Personally, I’ve never seen such high marks before, and I would like to thank you for your incredible support.

As I have mentioned in this column, Smash is made up of the incredible hard work and sacrifice of myself and others. I, too, acknowledge, that developing the Smash games is the best way to satisfy the most players worldwide.

And that is precisely why we decided not only to distribute Mewtwo, but to also reintroduce Lucas, the protagonist of Mother 3, as a playable character. In other words, we plan to release premium DLC (downloadable content) for Sm4sh.

These days, the “DLC scam” has become quite the epidemic, charging customers extra money to complete what was essentially an unfinished product. I completely understand how aggravated players must feel. After all, a game should be 100% at the time of release, and I would be livid if it were split up and sold in pieces.

Why, then, do you think so many titles provide premium DLC on or shortly following a game’s release? It’s because that’s the easiest way to make money.

After all, if you wait too long after a game’s release to distribute additional content, players will already move on to the next title. Even long tail titles–that is, ones that perform consistently well over an extended period of time–make more money the earlier they come out.

The same goes for Sm4sh. We could have easily reserved a few characters on the current roster and later sold them as premium DLC. A considerable amount of work went into development, and the game would have already featured a ton of content. Plus, if you were looking to make a profit, DLC would be the way to go. Development is more costly than ever, yet the price of games has remained the same, so more income would help offset that imbalance.

However, the DLC we are releasing for Sm4sh is authentic, developed only after we finished working on the main game. Of course, said content will come to you at a premium as compensation for the work put into developing additional content post-production. Nintendo has the final say on the price, but given the number of man-hours spent on the creation of this DLC, I’d say it’s a great deal.

We originally decided to create Mewtwo on the premise that we would distribute him as a special thanks to users who bought both versions of Sm4sh,but we realized a flaw in our logic. For example, in a family with several children, each child might have their own 3DS but share the same Wii U. If we were to only distribute Mewtwo to those who purchased both versions of the game, only one of the children could play with this new character on his or her 3DS. Thus, we decided to offer Mewtwo as premium content for other users as well.

Moreover, we decided to release other characters as well because part of the fun of Smash is the anticipation: “Which character will join the fray next!?” If we keep distributing content, we can maintain that excitement, and I think that’s a really great thing.

Our team may have shrunk in size, but I’m still just as excited as ever to be pouring my heart and soul into my work every day. Given the different types of content we’re producing, it wouldn’t be surprising for the planning of one item to coincide with the development, balancing, and finalization of several others. We also have version updates, online features, and additional modes to worry about. It can be quite overwhelming, but it’s all about making players happy.

Fighters take an incredible amount of work to develop, so I don’t think we’ll be able to produce that many. Part of me would also love to finish up the project and finally enjoy some rest and relaxation. That said, we’ve already begun development, so I would like to provide as much additional fun and excitement as possible from here on out. We’ll continue working for a little while longer, so please stay tuned!

BOTTOM TEXT:

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U
On the morning of April 2nd, 2015, we announced our plans to release premium downloadable content for Sm4sh. We will be accepting suggestions for future fighters via the Super Smash Bros. official home page until October 3rd, 2015.

Lucas
The once-timid protagonist of Mother 3 first joined the fray in “Super Smash Bros. Brawl” for the Wii, and now returns braver than ever in Sm4sh! Like Ness, Lucas commands a wide array of PSI abilities like PK Fire and PK Thunder. His trusty friend Rope Snake also returns to lend a hand–er, tail–in a pinch!


---​

This article was translated thanks to Masked Man over at Source Gaming. The article with the full text can be found here.

@ LiteralGrill LiteralGrill found this to be incredibly fascinating and is excited to see more DLC for Smash 4. Follow him on twitter to discuss ideas for Smash DLC.
 
Last edited:

Flawed

Smash Apprentice
Joined
Oct 23, 2014
Messages
174
Location
Georgia
NNID
TheFlawedOne
Funny, I originally thought that he was super tired. Now he's super excited. Sakurai moodswings
 

Trieste SP

Smash Champion
Joined
Nov 6, 2014
Messages
2,569
Location
遠東
Changed your mind after having a 'talk' with Iwata huh ?

You better not let me down Massive Hero Sack of Rye.
 
Last edited:

asia_catdog_blue

Smash Ace
Joined
Dec 31, 2010
Messages
994
Honestly, I think this his group should just make a "Complete, Championship Edition" for the New 3DS.
 

ELITEWarri0r115

Smash Ace
Joined
Mar 24, 2015
Messages
990
If sakurai was never here to make great smash bros and kirby games, I don't know if I WANT to play nintendo. He is one of the reasons I still play nintendo over Xbox Live. Keep the games going Sakurai... We appreciate all your hard work bro.
 
Last edited:

BubbaDuke

Smash Apprentice
Joined
Oct 17, 2014
Messages
87
Reading this really makes me wonder how many more fighters we're going to get. Sakurai seems down to keep going for a while.

This also has me more confident about the Ryu and Roy thing. It definitely feels like Sakurai has fighters after Lucas planned already.
 

allshort17

Smash Ace
Joined
Jun 5, 2010
Messages
574
Location
Gwinnett county, GA
Sakurai focuses on making the player happy while also announcing they want lots of DLC for Smash?

Get ready ready for 8 player Smash featuring Lucas, Wolf, Snake, Ryu, Cloud, Goku, Naruto/Sakura team (because who wanted Naruto and Hinata together anyway?), and Vladimir Putin.
 

Dr. Tuen

Smash Lord
Joined
Apr 26, 2009
Messages
1,396
3DS FC
0559-7294-8323
We will be accepting suggestions for future fighters via the Super Smash Bros. official home page until October 3rd, 2015.
That's... a long time. The DLC timeline is so real right now!
 
Joined
Aug 19, 2014
Messages
990
Location
Tazmily Village
NNID
UncleCubone
3DS FC
3539-9630-7110
Sakurai is truly one of the best game developers of all time, let's all admit it. Despite the few missteps he's made here and there, we all know Smash would never be what it is now without Sakurai.

Part of me is still skeptical on whether or not he truly feels this way about continuing the game, or if he's being shoehorned by his superiors to keep working but no matter what, I truly thank you Sakurai. You're a damn good man.
 

Swamp Sensei

Today is always the most enjoyable day!
BRoomer
Joined
Jan 4, 2013
Messages
37,936
Location
Um....Lost?
NNID
Swampasaur
3DS FC
4141-2776-0914
Switch FC
SW-6476-1588-8392
Reeks of PR speak, but still good news regardless.
 

Doval

Smash Lord
Joined
May 16, 2005
Messages
1,028
Location
Puerto Rico
To the people saying it's damage control or PR speak or whatever: I recall an old interview where Sakurai stated he had worked himself to the point of sickness when developing Melee. I also know he's sincere when he says he wants to make players happy; otherwise, the games wouldn't be so insanely full of trophies, music, stickers, assist trophies, cameos, mini-games, and game modes.

I'll be the first to admit he doesn't always make the best decisions with regards to making Smash games viable competitively (e.g. tripping, not separating custom moves from equipment) but it's obvious he works his ass off and that he cares about his fans.

Think about what it really takes to develop a Smash game. We're talking about doing research on 20+ franchises, choosing from a handful of characters out of the hundreds that are requested, overseeing dozens of artists and musicians, constantly playtesting the characters for balance, developing new game modes...it's mind-boggling.
 
Last edited:

Gero Zeal

Smash Cadet
Joined
Mar 7, 2015
Messages
29
Location
Ajax, ON, Canada
Well on one hand, Sakurai needs some well deserved rest and time; after all the work he did with Smash 4 he could use the break and with what he said can wait for a pretty long while before even thinking about a Super Smash Bros. 5 (maybe a 7 - 10 year gap). While on the other hand, DLC will be a somewhat taxing thing now. I'm sure there is a top 10 wanted characters that Sakurai can deliver to us within that time frame (Sceptile would be one, I would be content at that point).
 

Metallinatus

Smash Lord
Joined
Feb 20, 2015
Messages
1,077
Location
Blanka's Lair, Brazil
DLC is fine if priced right and not being too much, so the part about "not being able to produce too many" makes me happy....
Now go back to your lab and give me my girl Lyn, Sakurai-san :)
 
Last edited:

Kirbymeister

Smash Cadet
Joined
Dec 25, 2014
Messages
52
Location
Australia
NNID
hazzahbazzah
3DS FC
3823-8971-1294
this...this is the attitude more gaming devs should have when it comes to DLC.
Awesome work, Sakurai!
 
D

Deleted member

Guest
I hope he takes a break during development and stops working so hard. All that he does is to please the players, something that he recognizes the industry has somewhat forgotten about. Despite his injuries to his arm and the pain that his job causes him, he is willing to go 3 extra miles to give fans more of what they want.
 

K7Sniper

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Jul 17, 2001
Messages
257
Location
Central NJ & Philly PA
NNID
K7Sniper
3DS FC
2595-1237-9071
And this is one of the reasons why people still like Nintendo games.

Think you would ever see this come out of Sony or Microsoft?
 

Shin F.

Smash Master
Joined
Oct 10, 2013
Messages
3,314
Location
The internet, obviously.
Glad Sakurai seems to be happier about how things are going now. He's still working on Smash, but DLC can be distributed any time. It's probably a lot more flexible with deadlines and such, so I imagine he doesn't have to push himself as hard as he does when developing the main game. It must be a lot less stressful, in which case I'm happy for him.
 

Tsutori

Smash Apprentice
Joined
Jul 14, 2014
Messages
137
3DS FC
2320-6305-8112
Props to Sakurai for being honest about how DLC is lucrative. Controversies aside I think it's pretty bold and honest for him to admit that.
 
Joined
Oct 3, 2011
Messages
1,296
This is really good news! It bodes well for Roy, and once he's confirmed (inb4 :4roy:) I'd love to put more effort into helping friends and other players I run into who want support for their characters.
 
D

Deleted member

Guest
sweet more dlc for us get hype!
 
Last edited by a moderator:

X1Type1

Smash Cadet
Joined
Jan 16, 2012
Messages
45
NNID
Delver83
About making players happy? LOL good one. Lie about DLC and patches until you realize that ypu can make easy money. Oh but wait maybe you are for the players, or at leazt the ****ing casual players since you only buff characters that see play online and nerf all the ones that see competitive play because the noobs should have a fair chance against the pros because rewarding noobs for not practicing as hard as pros makes so much sense. Hey now let's add characters that aren't even anything new at all. Just old characters that weren't even gokd paved over in HD. Woot. Oh but that ballot seems interesting. Who's it gonna be? Lemmie guess, another ****ing Mario character? A Pokemon? Another clone? I have an idea, leave the community to its devices and make something else you lazy bums; preferrebly not a ******** Kirby themed leap frog abortion.
 

Zero Suit Wario

Smash Ace
Joined
Apr 14, 2014
Messages
546
NNID
Candytechnics
3DS FC
4081-6017-8838
Switch FC
SW 3576 5099 8787
What a swell guy. I look forward to see what characters they choose from the ballot.
 

Tricky Al

Smash Cadet
Joined
Apr 16, 2015
Messages
34
Location
Dayton, OH
About making players happy? LOL good one. Lie about DLC and patches until you realize that ypu can make easy money. Oh but wait maybe you are for the players, or at leazt the ****ing casual players since you only buff characters that see play online and nerf all the ones that see competitive play because the noobs should have a fair chance against the pros because rewarding noobs for not practicing as hard as pros makes so much sense. Hey now let's add characters that aren't even anything new at all. Just old characters that weren't even gokd paved over in HD. Woot. Oh but that ballot seems interesting. Who's it gonna be? Lemmie guess, another ****ing Mario character? A Pokemon? Another clone? I have an idea, leave the community to its devices and make something else you lazy bums; preferrebly not a ******** Kirby themed leap frog abortion.
As harsh as this is, I have similar feelings about it. I think it's funny he drew attention to the price of DLC and how it's been exploited before but four bucks for one Smash Fighter is kind of pricey and can quickly add up when a few more are released singly for the same price. If we get five fighters that would be the same price as any other DLC out there with significantly less content. If they're really smart about it, they'll gear the new characters for competitive play because it would force a large portion of the community to buy the new characters and practice extensively with them for tourneys.

Edit: Who am I kidding? We will buy every new character they put out unless it's a complete joke.

Don't get me wrong, I'm excited for new fighters but I'll be damned if they don't make some good money off of it.

Black Mage for Sm4sh 2015!!!!!!!
 
Last edited:
Top Bottom