Did Sakurai botch the E3 reveal?

[volbound1700]

I was comparing this E3 reveal of Smash to E3 2006 when Brawl was revealed. Brawl's reveal created a lot of excitement for the game while I think E3 2013 has created a lot of uncertainity and dissappointment. Here is some reasoning on why E3 2013 dissappointed.

1. I saw a reason internet screenshot that had a picture of Megaman and stated: "Has waited over a decade to get into Smash, but all people can talk about is the exercise chick." That wasn't word for word but definitely the hype of having Megaman was totally overshadowed by a reveal that came a couple of hours later. This reveal did not create excitement but compounded problems. It would have been better for Smash if WFT had been revealed at E3 before Megaman, IMO. This would have change the topic to Megaman instead of vice versa.

Note: Megaman's trailer was great but it was massively overshadowed by WFT.

2. Sakurai's comments to reporters only created uncertainity including the one about Ice Climbers or potential cuts. You do not want to throw these comments out this early because it creates this sense of, "Hey we are not going to have xxx character we want or that the game will be a downgrade from Brawl." People are no wondering if this game will even be good.

3. The trailer was rather bland compared to Brawl's trailer. Although AC Villager intro was decent, nothing else in it made me want to buy it. Brawl hit me in the face with final Smashes, new moves, assist trophies, and a great theme that generated hype. It also finished off with the hint of Snake at the end. It was very well done.

4. 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.



Now there is going to be a logn wait and so far, most people have been more annoyed with this game, especially after the comments about cuts related to the 3DS version. I do not consider this a successful reveal of Smash 4. Not like Brawl or Melee which blew away the audience at E3.

 

[Dark Phazon]

RealTalk i totally agree with everything.

 

[Fatmanonice]

With the combined views of all the SSB4 videos released at E3 on the official Youtube channel alone now being close to 4 million in less than a week, I respectfully disagree.

1. Not really. Megaman is still getting a lot of buzz and for nearly three days following his reveal he was in Yahoo's top ten most searched items WORLD WIDE. That's pretty impressive especially when you consider how the PS4 didn't even stay on that list for that long after its reveal.Yes, WFT and the Villager became a memes but the excitement have for Megaman is undeniable.

2. That comes with any game to be honest. There's uncertainty but then again there was a lot of that with Brawl too. Finals smashes were not fully explained until nearly a year later, assist trophies were not explained for 14 months, we had to wait 6 months after E3 06 to see one "new" veteran and only a handful of new stages, and the gap between the reveal of Snake and the reveal of Ike was almost 16 months.

3. The approach was different because they are going about things differently this time around with the biggest difference being that EVERY newcomer is going to get a reveal trailer. This trailer also showed off more than the Brawl trailer did too. The Brawl trailer showed off about 3 stages while the SSB4 trailer showed off 12. There were 9 veterans compared 5. Yes, there were only two newcomers initially shown but, as I noted earlier, this was because every newcomer is getting their own trailer which, as we've already seen, has generated quite a bit of hype for all three.

4. See 2 and 3.

 

[shinhed-echi]

...Actually Wii Fit Trainer´s reveal has nothing on Mega Man. im still hyped beyond all reason for his inclusion.

 

[Jonn]

Well it was initially going to be just screenshots, so I consider this an amazing reveal. We'll likely get a much more reveal-y trailer when the game is further in development. I'd especially like to know what the character customization is, which I don't think even Sakurai really knows what it is yet.

 

[BTmoney]

**** I'm just scared they are going to drop Marth or something ridiculous like that.
I wouldn't mind them being less frugal with the veterans.

 

[volbound1700]

With the combined views of all the SSB4 videos released at E3 on the official Youtube channel alone now being close to 4 million in less than a week, I respectfully disagree.

1. Not really. Megaman is still getting a lot of buzz and for nearly three days following his reveal he was in Yahoo's top ten most searched items WORLD WIDE. That's pretty impressive especially when you consider how the PS4 didn't even stay on that list for that long after its reveal.Yes, WFT and the Villager became a memes but the excitement have for Megaman is undeniable.

2. That comes with any game to be honest. There's uncertainty but then again there was a lot of that with Brawl too. Finals smashes were not fully explained until nearly a year later, assist trophies were not explained for 14 months, we had to wait 6 months after E3 06 to see one "new" veteran and only a handful of new stages, and the gap between the reveal of Snake and the reveal of Ike was almost 16 months.

3. The approach was different because they are going about things differently this time around with the biggest difference being that EVERY newcomer is going to get a reveal trailer. This trailer also showed off more than the Brawl trailer did too. The Brawl trailer showed off about 3 stages while the SSB4 trailer showed off 12. There were 9 veterans compared 5. Yes, there were only two newcomers initially shown but, as I noted earlier, this was because every newcomer is getting their own trailer which, as we've already seen, has generated quite a bit of hype for all three.

4. See 2 and 3.

The song "Friday" got more views and it wasn't because it was a good song. Views doesn't equal popularity.

 

[Fatmanonice]

But it's not negative attention like you suggest it is and there's not very much evidence that shows that your view is the reality of things. The fact of the matter is that hardly anyone has the same view as you and most people are saying that the SSB4 was one of the best things shown at E3 this year and easily the best thing that came from Nintendo.

 

[hydrokyogre]

I think the team is keeping a lot of the new stuff to themselves for now, so they can wow us more later on. The E3 video is titled on Youtube as "1st Trailer", "Trailer 1", etc. I won't be surprised if we see more bursts of revealed information soon, through new videos that are just as big as the first one.

The only thing that I found disappointing about the presentation was the game's title. "Super Smash Bros. for Wii U" sounds kind of underwhelming to me. Of course, the game itself is still exciting so that's no big deal.

Like Mr. Sakurai said, we've only scratched the surface

 

[SirPainsalot]

This was a great reveal, not a botched one.

The only way it was botched was from circumstances beyond Sakurai's reach; lack of press conference.
If it was shown to the press, believe me the hype would've been even more so.

Anyway, the trailer did a good job of getting people's attention because of brand recognition, because c'mon it's Smash Bros. You can't go wrong with Smash Bros and Megaman.

 

[UltimateLoser]

I think the team is keeping a lot of the new stuff to themselves for now, so they can wow us more later on. The E3 video is titled on Youtube as "1st Trailer", "Trailer 1", etc. I won't be surprised if we see more bursts of revealed information soon, through new videos that are just as big as the first one.

The only thing that I found disappointing about the presentation was the game's title. "Super Smash Bros. for Wii U" sounds kind of underwhelming to me. Of course, the game itself is still exciting so that's no big deal.

Like Mr. Sakurai said, we've only scratched the surface

I agree with most of this. I really hope they change the name for the game.

 

[Shun_one]

1. Isn't that because, surprisingly, Wii Fit Trainer was a much bigger surprise than Megaman? The thing is, Megaman was expected by a lot of people. Wii Fit Trainer came out of virtually no where, and caught everyone by surprise. Surprises generate talk, whether people are happy about it or not.

2. If Sakurai says anything it'll be twisted and spiral horribly out of control (just look at all the threads during E3). Most of his "vague" statements were cleared up pretty quickly too, no thanks to all of us trying to interpret his words (is it half full or half empty?)

3. Isn't this subjective? I liked what I saw and it sold me right away.

4. ...Don't you think it's a bit too soon to be saying "Sakurai didn't listen to fans" when we only know 12 out of who knows how many characters? And does not Megaman fit the "someone fans wanted" bill?

 

[volbound1700]

But it's not negative attention like you suggest it is and there's not very much evidence that shows that your view is the reality of things. The fact of the matter is that hardly anyone has the same view as you and most people are saying that the SSB4 was one of the best things shown at E3 this year and easily the best thing that came from Nintendo.

I have only heard that on here and last week that wasn't the case. Go back and read posts from last Wednesday and Thursday in General Discussion board. Most people were on meltdown because of possibility of cuts.

I think people are calming down now but the fact that was even the discussion rather then, "wow I am excited about this new game." shows it was botched. We didn't get that after Brawl's trailer.

 

[Fatmanonice]

So you cite one thread on one forum for two days? Also, I was in that forum for those two days and there were maybe 4 or 5 people who were genuinely negative about the SSB4 reveal. You also have to keep in that people were just as panicked, if not more upset, about cuts for Brawl and this information was also released shortly after the trailer was revealed. Again, the response has been overwhelmingly positive and the backlash is about the same as it was for Brawl.

 

[MasterOfKnees]

I don't think he literally botched the reveal, I still think it was great. I pretty much resorted to ignoring WFT and Villager because of Mega Man, and the only interview which caused concern on my part was the one where he states all characters from Brawl will likely not return.

The trailer is great, not as good as Brawl's, but it's still great. While I would have loved more character reveals it's understandable with the comments that we'll be getting less newcomers this time around. It seems like he wanted to announce the characters from the new franchises right off the bat. Gotta admit though, the sequence with all the franchise logos was amazing, best trailer material I've seen in ages.

I do however hope we'll get some more news soon, the hype seems to slowly go down, we need at least a veteran reveal like Yoshi to keep some interest from the public.

 

[Zaffy]

1. Isn't that because, surprisingly, Wii Fit Trainer was a much bigger surprise than Megaman? The thing is, Megaman was expected by a lot of people. Wii Fit Trainer came out of virtually no where, and caught everyone by surprise. Surprises generate talk, whether people are happy about it or not.

Exactly my thoughts. I think everyone had a faint idea of Megaman making an appearance.

 

[[Legend]]

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 to do what they need to do and really people are shying away from the fact that we should be grateful they're even making another one (granted I hope its next level good since I will be buying it) and not just leaving it Brawl, which a lot of people didn't like. The game has to evolve eventually and as it progresses there may be cuts or changes or maybe not but damn they already made Melee, they already made Brawl, and nobody wants SSB to turn into Mugen where you need a microscope to see which character you're selecting so can we just wait and see what's next instead of condemning something simply because you have the want to be negative about it?

Play the game first, SHEESH.

 

[~ Valkyrie ~]

I don't think SSB-reveal was that botched IMO. I was quite neutral and "oh, seems like he's playable now, not bad" on Villager, and truly hyped and happy for hearing Mega joining in. Miss Fit I have still a bone to pick with because how early she was announced. I hope we'll see more "Star-power" characters later on though, and who knows, Miss Fit's early reveal might indicate that going all out.

IMO, Villager was something new, Megaman should have made you go all AWWWWW YEAS and Miss Fit either makes you laugh hilariously and love her, or get you all confused. Or go butthurt. But that's Smash Bros for you.

It's bit different, but it's not bad. Contrary actually. There's of course some things untold, but we got more usual stuff shown than before. It almost rivals Melee's in that aspect, actually.

 

[Tesh]

revealing 3 newcomers at once might have been overkill imo.

I think it would have been better to space it all out a bit. Villager first, then WFT then at the end of the month we see megaman's silhouette and are left to wonder and argue for the next few days.

WFT reveal wasn't very good, it was just shocking. I was really expecting the mii instead, but in HD maybe it would look too out of place now.

Megaman and Villager had awesome reveals. I think it was just too much at once to be followed by almost complete silence now.

 

[Frostwraith]

People who got disappointed because their wanted characters weren't shown need to lower their expectations. That's all I have to say.

And no, Sakurai didn't botch the trailer, since the characters and the game are being positively received overall. Just because a loud minority of butthurt people are complaining, it doesn't mean the trailer was botched.

 

[Ultinarok]

Trailer was well-done imo. People will just always find reasons to complain. Its what they do. Like: "omg fairy type??!!11 Pokemon is getting soooo stoopppid!" People fight for changes towards things they don't like, yet hate what changes are made when they appear. Similarly, when things don't stay exactly the same, they complain that the series is ruined and doesn't feel the way they want it to, yet will point out other aspects that are significantly improved and say "I don't like that", even if the concepts behind those improvements are exactly the same as before.

In short, you can't make everyone happy. Speculation and fear is going to surround every big, hyped-up reveal. My only fear is that Wolf will go, and with good reason: it wasn't the trailer, its the fact that his place was never completely secure in the first place, and people falsely identifying him as a clone hurts his reputation. That, and the realistic possibility of roster cuts.

The only way to botch this trailer would be to show the game playing nothing like a Smash game. Like being more like a traditional fighter, or having some stupid SA-S: BR system. Only with a complete removal of the game's iconic gameplay would the term "botched trailer" be justified. Sakurai pleased with this trailer by demonstrating a number of great things:

1. A precedent has been set for changing existing character's movesets ala Pit and Bowser.
2. Mega Man is in, and Villager and WFT prove that theories about certain characters being "impossible" are false.
3. The gameplay looks smoother, the HD is amazing, and the streamlined graphics will allow for reduced frame rate drops. This means the game will very likely play faster, like everyone wants.
4. The stages look less gimmicky than Brawl's.
5. Tripping is out.
6. The game will be controller-accessible, and you won't be forced to use a Wii-mote (not that this was much of a concern at all)
7. Certain character designs such as Link, Samus and Fox boost the odds of unconfirmed vets who share similar designs from their universes (Ganon and Wolf, along with newcomer Ridley) by proving that Sakurai isn't ignoring them based on "lack of relevance." Hard to explain, but basically, if Fox still looks the same and Link looks like a modified TP design, Wolf and Gdorf seem more likely.
8. Its f***** Smash Bros.
9. We got a trailer at all, as opposed to a delay or some screenshots.
10. We get another hype-train website.

There are probably others, but I can't think of them offhand.

 

[Z1GMA]

Brawl hit me in the face with final Smashes, new moves, assist trophies.

I'm sure we'll be hit in our faces in due time, bro.

They're saving the reveal of "Wild Card Moves" for later.

The WIldcard is a move/item/weapon your character can only use once per match.
It's not OP in any way, but it's effective if you know when and how to use it.
If you miss/fail, you've used it up.

Again. The Wildcard doesn't affect how good/bad a character is in any major way.
It's just a fresh breeze to the series.

In most cases, it takes skill/brightness/knowledge to get the most out of it, but it basicly won't affect the matches as much as it may seem.
One could say most of them are just slighty more effective than an average B-move.

DK, for example, quickly pulls out a rotating Blast Barrel and jumps in.
He can use it offensively by launching himself at the opponent, or defensively when desperate to recover.
Takes some skill to launch at the right moment.

Megaman pulls out an E-tank, opens it, and restores a very small amount of health.
If he is hit while consuming it, he'll lose it.

 

[Erimir]

revealing 3 newcomers at once might have been overkill imo.

I think it would have been better to space it all out a bit. Villager first, then WFT then at the end of the month we see megaman's silhouette and are left to wonder and argue for the next few days.

Revealing Mega Man during E3 was a good idea. He's one of the most hype-building newcomers, and so it was a good idea to reveal him during a time when more people would notice. Snake was also revealed during E3, for example.

Then again, Mega Man being in Smash would probably be all over the video game sites no matter what.

But then again, Mega Man being in Smash was a good way to draw some attention away from Sony and Microsoft. Also, there's some expectation that E3 is going to reveal more information than is normal, so Mega Man reveal being a month later would build people's expectations for more information, and if they're not planning to reveal a new character every month, then it might give people the wrong idea.

So... I dunno.

 

[Xman321]

No it was not botched. Villagers reveal was nice, WFT was foolish. And Megaman was...well MEGA

We got gameplay, check, newcomers, check, already from that. It is fine. Add the third party character almost everybody wanted, and you got a good trailer at worst!

 

[volbound1700]

I'm sure we'll be hit in our faces in due time, bro.

They're saving the reveal of "Wild Card Moves" for later.

The WIldcard is a move/item/weapon your character can only use once per match.
It's not OP in any way, but it's effective if you know when and how to use it.
If you miss/fail, you've used it up.

Again. The Wildcard doesn't affect how good/bad a character is in any major way.
It's just a fresh breeze to the series.

In most cases, it takes skill/brightness/knowledge to get the most out of it, but it basicly won't affect the matches as much as it may seem.
One could say most of them are just slighty more effective than an average B-move.

DK, for example, quickly pulls out a rotating Blast Barrel and jumps in.
He can use it offensively by launching himself at the opponent, or defensively when desperate to recover.
Takes some skill to launch at the right moment.

Megaman pulls out an E-tank, opens it, and restores a very small amount of health.
If he is hit while consuming it, he'll lose it.

No doubt, what people don't understand is that I do think Smash 4 may be a better game in the long run. I am just saying it didn't show that at E3.

 

[Shun_one]

No doubt, what people don't understand is that I do think Smash 4 may be a better game in the long run. I am just saying it didn't show that at E3.

I don't think you are being misunderstood, just that a lot of us don't agree with you in regards to the E3 reveal. If the reveal was botched for you, it was. I doubt any of us can change your mind on that, but we can discuss what we all got from it.

Specifically, what about the characters did you find underwhelming?

 

[Eternal phoenix Fire]

Sakurai didn't botch the reveal, the only way he could have botched it is if he didn't show it at all. I feel like that you believe he botched it because what was shown didn't live up to your expectations, which is crazy because its the first time anyone got to see the game...ever. I'm thankful we at least got to see the game, because he really doesn't owe us anything.

 

[JPW]

1. I actually think having Wii Fit Trainer Reveal later was a much better idea. If they held off the Megaman reveal till the next day could you imagine how many people would be pissed off seeing Wii Fit Trainer and Villager as the only 2 newcomers. By giving us Megaman at the direct he literally created the hype, the excitement, so come the next day when he reveals the WTF, sorry WFT(love that), the fans would be like OMG I DIDN'T SEE THIC COMING. HAHA!!

Note: I felt WFT trailer was way too short, and Megaman Trailer hed MM2 Theme, Dr. Wily Theme, and Metal Blades Nuff said. Megaman looked kind of badass in the trailer the only badass thing WFT had going was her Final Smash.

2. Game has Megaman. It's good to me. Actually it's AWESOME!!! Now just give me Sonic and Marth and i wont complain. Though i would also like to see Isaac this time round but if you can't promise him i'll understand.

3. The trailer this time had a different dynamic to it. I think Sakurai really wanted to focus moreso on the new look and the 3DS to WiiU comparison. I was quite disappointed only seeing Villager, he looked quite cool though and could be a fun character. I remember at the end my mate and i were like "Only 1 character......" we were kind of disappointed but then Megaman popped up and i was like AWESOME!!! And i was ecstatic it was like the best thing i saw since the Sonic reveal. I was SOOOOO HAPPY! My mate he was happy but he wasn't overjoyed like me. So maybe he would agree with you there. But i found Megaman reveal to be the blow away reveal.

4. I'm really not feeling Ridley anymore. Could be quite a stretch. And i feel sorry for you guys. I will admit though one more wouldn't hurt. I also feel however we have kind of reached the right roster. I can only think of 5 or 6 characters that are missing. The fact that you guys are going overblown with your lists, you're just setting yourself up for disappointment again.

Brawl had 39 characters(all up, counting the double/triple characters). I think 45 is all we're going to get here. a few cuts... probably 3 or 4 again making at least 9 newcomers.

In time i feel we will get more. I'd imagine if the dojo comes back, the hype train will return. They also did shows us a fight(Mario vs Megaman is on youtube) and Sakurai did go into the games mechanics a bit.

 

[Erimir]

Nintendo is not a philanthropic organization just making games for free. We don't have to be grateful for every little thing they do.

They revealed it at E3 for a purpose - to get us excited to buy the game and give them money. It's fair game to criticize their attempts to do so.

Sure, "they don't owe us anything" - LIKEWISE we don't owe them our excitement or our money, and we're allowed to explain why they don't have it.

So tired of people acting like we should kiss Nintendo/Sakurai's feet in gratitude for any little thing shown, no matter what it is.

Anywho, I think they did a good job with the reveal, I'm very excited for Mega Man. But I would've appreciated a LITTLE bit more information about things besides characters - we literally only know that the Smash Ball and item capsule are in the game, and none of the other items, and no information about any game modes or what have you. In comparison to Brawl, yeah, it doesn't quite stack up (although Mega Man being one of my favorite video game characters certainly makes up for that quite a bit).

 

[Bowserlick]

WFT was the smartest reveal. She has people talking. Megaman soothed the blow before it happened. And the Villager is refreshingly creative if you watch the developer's drect

 

[JPW]

Guys it's only been in production for a year, why do you expect so much? He's probably still touching up on characters and such. He probably hasn't mapped the rest out. These things take time.

Also he had to start from scratch. And they're making two games at once. And as we've seen the artwork and style are totally different.

i feel 2014 release is too early now and it's pushing it for a chance. If anything i now reckon April 2015 now.

 

[Aidebit]

Guys it's only been in production for a year, why do you expect so much?

Melee was only in production for a year.
Just saying.

 

[Gene]

Guys it's only been in production for a year, why do you expect so much? He's probably still touching up on characters and such. He probably hasn't mapped the rest out. These things take time.

Also he had to start from scratch. And they're making two games at once. And as we've seen the artwork and style are totally different.

i feel 2014 release is too early now and it's pushing it for a chance. If anything i now reckon April 2015 now.

More like a year and a half in development really. Plus Sakurai has a bigger dev team this time so he's not making/balancing everything himself. 2014 sounds good, for all we know it could come out December of 2014 for a holiday release and including a special bundle or something.

 

[Xman321]

More like a year and a half in development really. Plus Sakurai has a bigger dev team this time so he's not making/balancing everything himself. 2014 sounds good, for all we know it could come out December of 2014 for a holiday release and including a special bundle or something.

No!!! I can't wait that long!

 

[Gene]

No!!! I can't wait that long!

Would you rather wait til 2015?

Personally I would like it to come out next summer but that may be asking for too much. Plus we don't know how much is completed with the game other than what has been shown so far.

 

[Xman321]

Would you rather wait til 2015?

Personally I would like it to come out next summer but that may be asking for too much. Plus we don't know how much is completed with the game other than what has been shown so far.

Lol. But yah I can wait. Also, I agree, I expect it to be a LONG time before it is finished


PS, 1000 Geek Points to anyone who understands what I did there

 

[lordvaati]

The Wii Fit trainer Reveal was great for 2 reasons. one, it showed that no matter how many obscure lists we made over the years, Sakurai was still one step ahead of us. And two, it made everyone reconsider their views on Nintendo reps, because WFT is proof that almost ANY nintendo franchise can get a series rep now.

 

[ChozoBoy]

Melee was only in production for a year.
Just saying.

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

 

[Aidebit]

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

Sakurai has a larger team this time. But if we'll get a quality game, then I guess I can wait.

 

[Krynxe]

The Wii Fit trainer Reveal was great for 2 reasons. one, it showed that no matter how many obscure lists we made over the years, Sakurai was still one step ahead of us. And two, it made everyone reconsider their views on Nintendo reps, because WFT is proof that almost ANY nintendo franchise can get a series rep now.

Well Wii Fit trainer makes sense though. How many Nintendo reps can you think of that are unique to the Wii? exactly, all the games are sequels

So many people bought Wii's just to play/use Wii Fit - it's a face that many casuals are familiar with and is a good rep for the Wii console.