Sakurai: Villager was planned for Brawl, talks character decisions

[Fatmanonice]

A nice little article from Famitsu:

http://gonintendo.com/?mode=viewstory&id=206205

Discuss.

 

[Artsy Omni]

What I'm about to say is more a commentary on the community. It seems that in general, people take the phrase "planned for" way out of proportion. People don't seem to understand that plans in a video game project are a very fluid concept. Plans are constantly in flux.

People often like to say things like "Lucas was 'supposed to' replace Ness in melee," as an argument against Ness's return. The fact of the matter is that nothing is ever set in stone...

Anywho, interesting article. =P

 

[Curious Villager]

Well that was certainly a nice read. Makes me wonder what other characters had been left out besides the Forbidden Seven.

 

[Vintage Creep]

I always found odd Animal Crossing didn't have a rep in Brawl, I'm glad they fixed that (even though I would've liked Mr. Resetti a lot more). They clearly put him for economic reasons first though, AC has become huge. I'd put him top tier with Mario and Pokémon, honestly.

 

[FalKoopa]

I'm not sure what it means for the assist trophies since they "couldn't quite make it in as playable characters".

 

[Vintage Creep]

I feel like an idiot, I can't find where he talks about assist trophies.

 

[~ Valkyrie ~]

I'm not sure what it means for the assist trophies since they "couldn't quite make it in as playable characters".

I guess they tried them out, had reasons or another to not include them, and then put them as these sort of items.

Maybe an inner project inside Brawl's development of it's own?

 

[greenluigiman2]

"villager and trainer were not choices we made for the sake of cheap novelty"

Straight from the horse's mouth. WFT =/= joke character.

 

[Curious Villager]

"villager and trainer were not choices we made for the sake of cheap novelty"

Straight from the horse's mouth. WFT =/= joke character.

People thought she was a joke character? She looks pretty balanced to me.

 

[BluePikmin11]

Don't forget what WFT is suppose to represent

 

[FalKoopa]

Don't forget what WFT is suppose to represent

The casual side of Nintendo?

 

[Curious Villager]

Don't forget what WFT is suppose to represent

The Wii Fit series?

 

[BluePikmin11]

Kikwi got it spot on, in addition of the series being very popular.

 

[Big-Cat]

I guess they tried them out, had reasons or another to not include them, and then put them as these sort of items.

Maybe an inner project inside Brawl's development of it's own?

I think it's more likely that there simply wasn't enough time to implement some character ideas so they made them into Assist Trophies. I wanna say Saki is a likely prime example.

 

[~ Valkyrie ~]

I think it's more likely that there simply wasn't enough time to implement some character ideas so they made them into Assist Trophies. I wanna say Saki is a likely prime example.

Might just call Saki likely then.

 

[Dark Phazon]

Soooooo...all the most WTF Chars will get in?

 

[TheTuninator]

Well, obviously Sakurai doesn't pick characters like G&W, R.O.B. and WFT just to troll. She's definitely still the "WTF" pick, though.

 

[Mr. Mumbles]

Well, obviously Sakurai doesn't pick characters like G&W, R.O.B. and WFT just to troll. She's definitely still the "WTF" pick, though.

Like she'll be the only WTF character. Ha. 1, 1 doesn't this remind you guys of any sequence? It's Fibonacci yo. Which means we have one more WTF character to go.

 

[TheTuninator]

Well, if we define "WTF" as "unexpected, unwanted, and controversial" R.O.B. was the only true WTF character in Brawl, right? Am I forgetting somebody? I know PT was unexpected, but he was very much so welcomed.

 

[Moon Monkey]

This is a interesting read. I wonder how many other unknown characters that were planned will show up.
And I am glad he is focusing on gameplay variety rather than, "this character has a good chance because this series needs a rep.

 

[Dr. James Rustles]

Well, if we define "WTF" as "unexpected, unwanted, and controversial" R.O.B. was the only true WTF character in Brawl, right? Am I forgetting somebody? I know PT was unexpected, but he was very much so welcomed.

No, that isn't how we define WTF. Thinly veiled character hatred detected.

I don't mind getting more surprises so long as they are neat as the ones already presented. Anyway, going back to the article, I think it is interesting that he says the villager wasn't included in Brawl because he wasn't suited for battle. My guess is that he means they had not been able to find a good light for him to shine in. I guess it does go to show that the Wii Fit Trainer isn't a cheap novelty inclusion, after all. They actually do wait for something to evolve instead of adding things willy-nilly.

 

[Mr. Mumbles]

Well, if we define "WTF" as "unexpected, unwanted, and controversial" R.O.B. was the only true WTF character in Brawl, right? Am I forgetting somebody? I know PT was unexpected, but he was very much so welcomed.

No no, I'm saying since there was 1 in Melee, and 1 in Brawl, by the Fibonacci sequence which is (1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13...) there will be two in this game. The reason I said this in response to your comment was because one of your previous comments suggested that WFT was the WTF character of this game. My point is that she is not alone.

 

[Renji64]

Interesting read i hope he puts in some good characters too like shulk.

 

[~ Valkyrie ~]

No no, I'm saying since there was 1 in Melee, and 1 in Brawl, by the Fibonacci sequence which is (1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13...) there will be two in this game. The reason I said this in response to your comment was because one of your previous comments suggested that WFT was the WTF character of this game. My point is that she is not alone.

How would someone be entitled on some superstitious sequence without knowing it...

 

[Dr. James Rustles]

No no, I'm saying since there was 1 in Melee, and 1 in Brawl, by the Fibonacci sequence which is (1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13...) there will be two in this game. The reason I said this in response to your comment was because one of your previous comments suggested that WFT was the WTF character of this game. My point is that she is not alone.

Technically speaking, the Wii Fit Trainer is the WFT character of this game.

 

[IsmaR]

I have yet to read the article, but how could people even think Smash isn't made up of anything BUT joke characters?

Seriously, versus , vs , the existence of , , and in a fighting game. And people choose WFT to label as the joke?

 

[Fenrir VII]

Anybody else chuckle at him implying that MvC wasn't creative with megaman? I liked that comment.

 

[Shorts]

He's going for interesting, and if a character (well-received or not) doesn't bring anything to the table in their own right, he's not as interested. Not that I could really point out any specific character that fits this role, considering he considers Fox-Falco-Wolf to have their own merits despite being based off of one another.

Also, it almost sounds like he was thinking Mega Man was going to be boring IF he didn't approach him the way he did. (I could have told you that Sakurai)

 

[Fatmanonice]

He's going for interesting, and if a character (well-received or not) doesn't bring anything to the table in their own right, he's not interested.

Not that I could really point out any specific character that fits this role, considering he considers Fox-Falco-Wolf to have their own merits despite being based off of one another.

I talked about this in another thread but I think the personalities of the characters matter more to Sakurai than their moveset potential in the grand scheme of things.

 

[Starcutter]

Anybody else chuckle at him implying that MvC wasn't creative with megaman? I liked that comment.

yeah, I saw that. I also laughed at that.

 

[Shorts]

I talked about this in another thread but I think the personalities of the characters matter more to Sakurai than their moveset potential in the grand scheme of things.

Yeah, that's a good word to use. It's not LITERALLY there moveset potential, but so much a combination of that, and their... essence and how they themselves would be in the game. Like Wolf and Falco, for example.

Anybody else chuckle at him implying that MvC wasn't creative with megaman? I liked that comment.

It's pretty bland imo.

Smash Mega Man > MvC Mega Man

 

[DakotaBonez]

I'm more interested in the comments below the article, particularly this one

Spoiler

 

[slimjim]

How would someone be entitled on some superstitious sequence without knowing it...

Don't you dare call the Fibonacci sequence "some superstitious sequence" to a mathematician. That's like stacking a poker deck in Texas: you'll get shot that way.
On the flip side, I wonder if we'll have trophies, stickers, or something else in Smash4. Hopefully some good easter eggs though.

 

[PadWarrior]

I'm more interested in the comments below the article, particularly this one

Spoiler

ROFL!!!!!

 

[PadWarrior]

I'm more interested in the comments below the article, particularly this one

Spoiler

ROFL!!!!! Creepy

 

[210stuna]

If Wii Fit Trainer represents the Wii Fit series then can Obese Individual be her eternal rival aka the next player to join the fray?

 

[Zage]

WFT =/= joke character.

I hope people eventually realize there isn't a such thing as a "joke" character in the smash series.

 

[peeup]

Most important part of that for me:

"On the other hand, even if you have a character suited for a fighting game, if you can't make him stick out from the pack and extract something unique from him, then what can you do?"

This is why I don't want Little Mac in Sm4sh, and this would seem to apply to him fairly well.

 

[UberMadman]

Most important part of that for me:

"On the other hand, even if you have a character suited for a fighting game, if you can't make him stick out from the pack and extract something unique from him, then what can you do?"

This is why I don't want Little Mac in Sm4sh, and this would seem to apply to him fairly well.

Sakurai managed to create creative movesets for Wii Fit Trainer, Ice Climbers, Captain Falcon, and R.O.B., so I'm sure he can create some for Little Mac. He actually has a lot of variety in his combat in the two punchout games, so I wouldn't count Little Mac out of the running.

 

[Big-Cat]

Most important part of that for me:

"On the other hand, even if you have a character suited for a fighting game, if you can't make him stick out from the pack and extract something unique from him, then what can you do?"

This is why I don't want Little Mac in Sm4sh, and this would seem to apply to him fairly well.

I think the point of that line was that even fighting game characters still have to fit in the diversity of another game's roster. A roster of the different shotos in fighting games wouldn't be a diverse game.