Did Sakurai botch the E3 reveal?

[I_hate_usernames]

Melee was all overtime hours. Not a human work schedule.

Sakurai is not doing the whole things solo this time, he's letting a team of experts help with development and balance.

 

[ChozoBoy]

Sakurai is not doing the whole things solo this time, he's letting a team of experts help with development and balance.

I know just as well as anyone else here what he had and what he did and Melee was definately not a solo effort.

Hint: The credits would have been much shorter if it was.

 

[I_hate_usernames]

I know just as well as anyone else here what he had and what he did and Melee was definately not a solo effort.

Hint: The credits would have been much shorter if it was.

Yes, but what I meant was Sakurai did not let anyone else but himself alter certain mechanics of the game such as stage and character balance. Post-brawl he said how he'd stayed up almost 24/7 just constantly tweaking the game mechanics, he also said that he would never do that sort of time again.

After the announcement of SB:4, he stated that he is letting a team of experts work with him for these alterations so he can maintain a melee level of quality without overcommiting himself again.

And I think this team is going to be larger anyway, just because of it's joint development and the sheer amount of resources thrown at them from Nintendo.

 

[volbound1700]

MY ISSUES WITH MEGAMAN WAS NOT THAT I DIDN'T LIKE THE TRAILER. I THOUGHT IT WAS AWESOME. I THINK IT WAS BOTCHED BECAUSE IT WAS OVERSHADOWED LATER THAT DAY WHEN WII FIT TRAINER WAS ANNOUNCED AND EVERYONE WENT NUTS. Please read my posts before commenting.

 

[lordvaati]

^ That was the point though. A grand majority expected Megaman. NO ONE expected WFT.


Let me put it this way-people were hype over Pit being in Brawl, but possibly expected him due to the Melee trophy hint and so forth. but NO ONE saw Snake coming. same reaction here.

 

[Vann Accessible]

I think people were a little disappointed at the amount of newcomers shown (compared to Brawl's reveal), and that two of them were not highly desired as much as others. I wouldn't have lead with Wii Fit Trainer and the Villager in the reveal, but that's just me. But I get it. Little Mac and Ridley, would've generated hype, but then they would've fought Megaman for the spot light.

I personally thought it was a good reveal. I considered Megaman + removal of tripping + faster gameplay speed = Win.

 

[NINmann01]

We needed another STAR character, likely from Nintendo. E3 showed that Sakurai once again failed to listen to the fanbase. Give us Ridley, K Rool, or some other star character the fans wanted with this reveal. We got 4 1/2 newcomers with Brawl (I count Zamus as a half). We got Final Smashes with Brawl. We got Assist Trophies with Brawl reveal.
No new game play and very little revealed with Smash 4. Overall it wasn't a hype generator.

What? Just because they didn't show more than 3 newcomers during E3 you assume any more newcomers don't exist? And, you don't consider Megaman, a "STAR" character?

Your whole post made my head hurt. To much opinionated blather. Just because they didn't flaunt any new mechanics NOW doesn't mean it wont be coming.

SSB4 has barely been in development since Uprising launched, its barely in BETA now. When Brawl was revealed it had been in dev for a while longer.

They released this new game now as a teaser, to sell consoles and to prove to fans it exists. I don't expect any new ground breaking mechanics every release of a tittle. It will have new physics, improved lighting and texturing, music and thats all a new Smash Bros. needs.

 

[volbound1700]

@ NINmann01 You didn't read the word *another* before STAR.

Brawl and Melee had a lot better reveals at E3 than this one which was my point. No one has proven me otherwise.

 

[Frostwraith]

@ NINmann01 You didn't read the word *another* before STAR.

Brawl and Melee had a lot better reveals at E3 than this one which was my point. No one has proven me otherwise.

Being better or worse is entirely subjective.

You can't prove which trailer is better or worse since it's a matter of opinion.

 

[Johnknight1]

The timing of the Wii Fit Trainer really I think unnecessarily killed a lot of hype. If Sakurai showed us something else, spaced her reveal for the end of E3, or heck, showed the Wii Fit Trainer before Mega Man, or another character after the Wii Fit Trainer then things would be a lot different. The pessimistic nature of the fans would be replaced with a more mellow and neutral reaction. Maybe if Sakurai actually gives us news via the Dojo (sorry, pictures of crap we already know doesn't mean squat), much of the fanbase would get over this.

Mega Man was my most wanted newcomer, but after the Wii Fit Trainer (and to a slightly lesser extent, the Villager) was revealed, even I can't help but feel worried than all the other top wanted newcomers myself and others want don't have very good shots at being playable. Hopefully Sakurai is as serious as he sounds about the roster, and doesn't do dumb crap like put in ROB or Pit over Mewtwo (BAMF God > campers).

MY ISSUES WITH MEGAMAN WAS NOT THAT I DIDN'T LIKE THE TRAILER. I THOUGHT IT WAS AWESOME. I THINK IT WAS BOTCHED BECAUSE IT WAS OVERSHADOWED LATER THAT DAY WHEN WII FIT TRAINER WAS ANNOUNCED AND EVERYONE WENT NUTS. Please read my posts before commenting.

Pretty much this is the sum of what I'm saying, plus (again) the 3DS character technical and programming issues, which have both seemed to have lowered expectations and hype for Smash Wii U and 3DS, despite the fact everything else we saw was hands down fantastic and looked like what we all dreamed these 2 games would be. There's so much to be hyped about and discuss, and yet the new smash hype fanbase seems to be stuck in something on an depression, despite all the other news being near perfect.

That is why I think your 3rd point in the OP is really bad. That and the Brawl reveal trailer was very generic, and we got a lot less stuff, including literally no gameplay. All we got were newcomers, the Final Smash, and Nintendogs. Sure, the trailer hyped us up for the roster and Final Smashes, but nothing out. This time, we got loads more to be hyped about.
You know what my biggest disappointment was=??? The 2014 release date. I think it should just get pushed back to 2015 in the next trailer. If that happened, I think these 2 games could go from being great games to all-time classics with the direction they are headed in. No really, I mean it.

I think the overwhelming amount of gamers sense of entitlement is ruining the game for themselves, these guys don't owe you characters or a certain style of gameplay. They are going.

Nintendo isn't entitled in any way, shape, or form to appease us, but on the flip side, we aren't entitled to spend our money on their games. And last I checked, Nintendo was having some money spending issues involving the Wii U. Ultimately consumers decide if a product is successful or a failure. If the roster sucks, the sales will be less than what they could be. After the Mewtwo fiasco, I think Sakurai and co. will be more careful about selections.

Still, you are right about one thing: let's best wait to see the final product of these two games. If the roster is good, no one will care about disliking the Wii Fit Trainer, especially if either game is good, and even more so if both games are good.

While after the fiasco that is Brawl, people do have good reasons to feel a bit nervous, what we've seen aside from the 3DS programming issues and the WFT has been incredible, and very detailed, and yet, leaves me wanting more (Sakurai, tell us about the stages). That and Namco Bandai really knows what they're doing. What we've seen aside from those 2 weird steps IMO has done nothing but dispelled my great fears for these 2 games.

 

[Homelessvagrant]

IDK, I think the fact that everything seems so underwhelming is probably a good thing. I think the last thing we need is the hype train that was brawl.

Personally the inclusion of Wii fit trainer got me more excited, but then again Im excited for her inclusion.

 

[SSBCandidates]

I agree with volbound1700 and his followers. After the Brawl introduction, we needed something with a similar or higher feel. When Brawl appeared it had quite some excellent music which we were used to hearing on games like Final Fantasy and such; plus the Snake reveal just took things higher than the sky. And while I did expect that a possible Mega Man introduction would not top Snake, I do was expecting something proper to introduce him; but it just was not the same feeling.

Now, I am not against the game being colorful, but on Brawl they already had gave more detail to clothing; and now once again it is cartoony, almost like they are trying to limit the graphical power of Wii U. Maybe this is what Sakurai meant with returning the game to its roots, in that it has to be somewhat a direct upgrade from the 64 game when it was a lower budget randorm, but fun game. But just because it is now meant to be even cartoonier than Brawl, doesn't mean there should no be great music or lowering graphic detail. That is what I loved about Brawl! The mix of silliness with character like Snake and Zero Suit Samus around. The clash of cartoony, anime-like and pseudo-realistic designs (now PSASBR is the one to win in that department), was what gave that game and the Smash series some sort of higher recognition. Like Sakurai said, he tried to place the history of Nintendo in it; but maybe he realized that by doing that he lowered the quality of the actual play by rather looking at muisc, levels, trophies and stickers; so now all of that might be gone in order to please Melee fans.

I was really looking forward for muisc like this one:

But it seems that was a Brawl once in a time chance.

And sorry to stray off topic but Mega Man's design is not that good, seems as a direct translation of the NES games than how he would look actually on a Smash game. When he has actually already official art and games where he looks in an appropiate way to be in these sort of games, just look at Power Fighters 2:

Yes, he is not suppoused to be older looking as X; but he is not a child robot with dwarfism. So if Ryu gets in... would he be based on this?:

Maybe so, as Sakurai seems to want a cartoony approach; despite Link doesn't look like in his very first game.

Also, the lack of actual title on the game is stupid. It was OK for the very first one, but after Melee and Brawl we were expecting something like that. At least the Wii U version should had been called Universe and the 3DS; Dimensions like some people say.

 

[Erimir]

The reason Mega Man looks like that is because Mega Man's strongest connection to Nintendo is the NES games. Mega Man 2 and 3 are also the best selling games in the original Mega Man series (MM2 is also the best selling Mega Man game overall). That's why he was in Captain N: The Game Master. His appearance is pretty consistent with the artwork from that era and his in-game artwork (both when played and in the intros, weapon get segments, etc.)

I do think that they could've given Mega Man a bit more facial expression though.

 

[Johnknight1]

^^^^^^ We haven't seen enough to say whether or not Mega Man has a lot of facial expressions.

As for his design, it is perfect. The whole point was to go for the NES look, which Sakurai and Namco Bandai totally nailed.

IDK, I think the fact that everything seems so underwhelming is probably a good thing. I think the last thing we need is the hype train that was brawl.

Honestly outside of the roster, these 2 games look better than Brawl ever did. Plus, unlike Brawl, this has a grade-A developer in Namco Bandai, rather than a D-grade developer in Game Arts (that TMNT fighting game was dreadful).

Personally the inclusion of Wii fit trainer got me more excited, but then again Im excited for her inclusion.

I like her moveset, I just hate the timing. If she was shown after we got say Ridley and K. Rool, I would be 100% okay with her inclusion.

 

[Morbi]

^^^^^^ We haven't seen enough to say whether or not Mega Man has a lot of facial expressions.

As for his design, it is perfect. The whole point was to go for the NES look, which Sakurai and Namco Bandai totally nailed.

Honestly outside of the roster, these 2 games look better than Brawl ever did. Plus, unlike Brawl, this has a grade-A developer in Namco Bandai, rather than a D-grade developer in Game Arts (that TMNT fighting game was dreadful).


I like her moveset, I just hate the timing. If she was shown after we got say Ridley and K. Rool, I would be 100% okay with her inclusion.

Yes. I am so excited that Namco is developing this game. I loved Soul Calibur and Tekken. Hopefully their fighting game experience helps. They also have a lot of classics under their belt. It is really great to see a grade-A developer on board. It puts me at ease. I mean I was a little disappointed by Brawl. Not because of the hype not living up. I actually didn't think anything was wrong aside from the snail pace and most of the stages being crazy. I enjoyed the game though.

 

[SirGalvan]

Don't think he botched it at all people who think he did are the ones who overhype everything.... We got actual gameplay footage character announcements and a lot more veterans shown than most of us thought we were going to get

Also was very glad to see him changing up some characters like pit and bowser makes me more excited for the future of the series

 

[Bowserlick]

Wii Fit Trainer is still making people talk. Animal Crossing and Wii Fit Trainer show a more playful direction this game seems to be taking. I think the final roster is going to be bursting with flavor. In this edition, even regular A attacks seem flashy. Nice.

 

[Wyoming]

Initially not happy, but then realised it's better off as it is. No hype like Brawl = a better Smash game I hope.

The fact that the gameplay speed went up is also a good enough feature for me! Especially if it's a centre between Melee and Brawl - seems perfect for Smash.

 

[Homelessvagrant]

I like her moveset, I just hate the timing. If she was shown after we got say Ridley and K. Rool, I would be 100% okay with her inclusion.

I can't say I agree with that bro. It really doesn't matter when she was revealed, people would be in an uproar about her inclusion either way. Better to get her reveal done and over with I'd say. And the fact that they didn't unveil Ridley (assuming he's in the game) gives us that much longer to discuss things like body size, personality validity, and cultural disposition that are oh so necessary in deciding a characters validity in regards to roster inclusion. It just excites me thinking about it.

 

[Johnknight1]

I can't say I agree with that bro. It really doesn't matter when she was revealed, people would be in an uproar about her inclusion either way. Better to get her reveal done and over with I'd say. And the fact that they didn't unveil Ridley (assuming he's in the game) gives us that much longer to discuss things like body size, personality validity, and cultural disposition that are oh so necessary in deciding a characters validity in regards to roster inclusion. It just excites me thinking about it.

I think the Wii Fit Trainer inevitably took away some of Mega Man's thunder away. If their two reveals were spread apart say 2 days, that would generate more hype, interest, and publicity IMO. If say the Nintendo Direct was 2 days earlier, and then the Wii Fit Trainer was revealed when she was, I think it would have been much more exciting timing, especially if more of E3 was about showing off how great she plays.

I haven't really touched upon this, but I liked the gameplay we saw of her, but it felt more "compressed" and "boxed in" than the Villager or Mega Man, despite the fact we saw about the same (if not more) moves from the Wii Fit Trainer. We saw her in a much more limited way that only highlighted some of her offense in very specific situations, whereas we saw a lot of Mega Man defensively and especially offensively. Even though we didn't see too much of the Villager, what we did see was more diverse and had more situations, which made the footage of the Villager feel less "compressed." Overall I think that lack of Wii Fit Trainer buildup in terms of seeing her in multiple situations hurt my initial perception of her. But hey, I'll take her over the Pichu we got in Melee any day!

As for Ridley, eh he was an example. Actually, I thought we'd get a new-ish or retro character and K. Rool, along with possibly Mega Man pre-E3. K. Rool I think would have made a great reveal, but I think that even if he was planned for an early reveal, Nintendo didn't want to take away from DKC: Tropical Freeze's hype. As it stands, K. Rool is still the one potential newcomer I am really sure about (Ridley isn't too far behind, though). I still think K. Rool is probably the best next "high profile" newcomer revealed (if the next newcomer is revealed around November). The timing... would just be perfect.

 

[Homelessvagrant]

Am I the only one who thinks K. Rool could secretly be behind the vikings (despite no kremlings). IDK just a thought.

Anyways I think the reason why WFT feels more limited is because from what we've seen she's more of a straight brawler with little to no specialness to her known basic attacks. Villager and Megaman however are downright quirky from their specials to their basic moves. However I'm more curious for the attributes around the moves. Things like sweet spots, special interaction animations, and whatnot. I know we don't have any of that info right now but I feel confident WFT will have enough shenanigans in her own right. Still I'll give you the timing on WFT. It may have been better if they saved her for day 3 of E3 or something of that fashion.

I don't know why but I can't get hyped up for megaman. Its not that I don't like the character (he's a great addition) but he just seems to scream "annoying to play against." I never have fun with these kinds of character whether I'm playing as or against. I mean I could be dead wrong about this but when has a character with a movepool of spammable projectiles ever been fun to play against? Not to mention from what we've seen he has a great recovery and even a projectile based spike.

 

[[Legend]]

I wasn't really overly stoked for any of the revealed character inclusions, I was just hyped that I was actually watching a Smash 4 trailer. The new characters are fine, I agree that Megaman does look annoying, just seeing that snippet of those damn lemons apparently being able to stop jump momentum in the air on hit (at least that's what it looked like to me) and the spike looking relatively cheese to land, BUT cant really complain, I'm sure there will be some mechanic that balances everything out. Maybe he overheats after so much use of abilities ;P

But like I said, I'm just stoked for the game, individual character hype is a fleeting thing for me regardless and as far as timing of character reveals, I'm okay with the pace at which we are (or aren't) getting anything new. Gotta keep in mind that unfortunately this game may still take quite some time to be released and how much do you really want to be revealed before then anyway? Talk about self hype-sabotage! I almost thing the thrill of seeing the "New challenger approaches!" screen and having no idea who I could possibly be fighting until that moment would be infinitely better than seeing the character almost a year before the game is even out.

I think hype shouldn't entirely be a feel reserved for the pregame aspect of things.