An Explanation for all the Small Stage Updates

[LevesqueIsKing]

So, many have been complaining that all of the updated stages are small (except for a select few) and I too have been curious about this. Many have given into the assumption that Brawl is just going to have a lot of small stages, but that is just illogical, don't you think? So, the question arises, why are we only getting small stages? A question no one seems to have taken the time to answer...Until now.

There is a direct pattern between updates on the dojo and trailers/demos shown at events. Sakurai does his best to update all characters, items and stages that will be shown in trailers (shown at such things like E3, E4All and other events), however, sometimes he can't accomplish that (Shown in DK and Peach, which were shown in trailers before being announced on the Dojo). Having said that, why should it be any different for stages?

Now we're going off topic, but keep that last paragraph in mind. Do you remember Melee's stage select screen? EXTREMELY cramped. Not only did it look bad, but it was hard to even tell which stage was which. Having said this, and assuming that Brawl will have more stages, there must be a solution, right? Now, yet another piece of evidence to throw into the equation (and this one seals the deal). The Stage Builder update. In this update, the stages you create are split into three categories, Small, Medium and Large.

Light Bulb Yet? Here's the equation I've come up with:

Small Stage Updates + Cramped Stage Select + Three Stage Sizes = Three Stage Select Screens

Its obvious now, isn't it? Its the most logical way to split the stages up. You couldn't split them up by series or by name, because it might as well be random. Now, a player who likes to play a certain size of stage will not have to search for their favorite stages. I propose that there will be three different stage select screens which you will be able to scroll between when selecting a stage. The screen shown at E4All would be the "Small Stage" Select Screen, which is why Sakurai had to give us small stage updates, so that that page could be filled. And guess what? Right after E4All we got the New Pork City update. All of the pieces have fallen into place...


I expect this thread to be spammed with posts from people who didn't bother to read this entire post, which is perfectly fine because I'm used to that here. I just hope that a few of the people here can enjoy having this question answered for them. I know this isn't a huge issue, I just like solving puzzles and I thought that some people would be interested to here this.

Have a nice day.

 

[SirPenguin]

I like the thought you put into it, but I highly doubt it. That just overly complicates things, and I doubt most people choose stages based on size alone.

I do agree they did look a little cramped in Melee, though I certainly could tell which was which. Perhaps the stage select screen will have pages, like you said, but sorted by series still.

 

[SSJ4Kazuki]

Nice idea but I can't imagine it happening. Someone made a mock up stage select screen with 48 stages. It's not actually that bad at all, because there is a large preview in the bottom left.

 

[LevesqueIsKing]

So you two are assuming that the stage select shown in the E4All demo was simply that...a demo?

It had 10-15 stages (can't be bothered to look it up) and it looked great, I'd be disappointed if it was scrapped.

 

[Magnacor]

Here's my therory: Small stages = Final Smashes easier to kill.
If you are on a small stage it will be easy to hit people with your Final Smash, whereas, big stages make the opposite true. I think that if the screen had pages, you would be able to sort them like in the trophies section. Game, Name, Size, and maybe favorites.

 

[Percon]

Yeah, I think the Stage Secect screen is a demo screen. Same for the character select screen. I'm sure it'll have the same style, but have smaller icons. If you look at the character select screen, we can't fit all of the confirmed character + the ones we know will return (Cfalcon, Luigi among others), so obviously there has to be SOME change made.

I like the idea, and your reasoning, but somehow I doubt it.