Official DLC Speculation Discussion Volume II

[Þe 1 → Way]

I still think this is bogus, and he just wasn't contacted yet.

I’m not so sure about that. You’d think they would have contacted the major players involved in the DLC before they settled on the characters.

 

[LiveStudioAudience]

I'd be mildly curious to see what Sakurai could do with Kirby again, especially given the interesting gameplay evolutions Return to Dreamland, Triple Deluxe, and Robobot did.

(Plus he might actually discover the value of Bandana Dee like the rest of us have)

 

[UltimateCyborgOverlord]

I wonder what Sakurai will work on after Ultimate.

I hope it's Kid Icarus.

He will go "I don't want to make games anymore" and then he'll go work at Burger King. Making Double Whoppers and occasionally giggling at a drive thru ice cream gag, finding peace at last in doing so. Occasionally another employee fanboys about "working with Masahiro Sakurai at Burger King" and asks him about Smash, but Sakurai just goes "have a Whopper" and makes that guy a Whopper instead of trade secrets. Occasionally he brings a french fry home to his cat. All in all, he finds peace at the Burger King and lives happily ever after.

I'd buy a Double Whopper made by Sakurai.

 

[Otoad64]

I'd be mildly curious to see what Sakurai could do with Kirby again, especially given the interesting gameplay evolutions Return to Dreamland, Triple Deluxe, and Robobot did.

(Plus he might actually discover the value of Bandana Dee like the rest of us have)

honestly I perfer non-sakurai kirby tbh

 

[N3ON]

I still think this is bogus, and he just wasn't contacted yet.

He warned people not to hold their breath over Banjo about two weeks before the character was revealed.

His remix, at that point, was long done.

 

[Mushroomguy12]

I wonder what Sakurai will work on after Ultimate.

I hope it's Kid Icarus.

C'monnnnn..... just do it.

 

[Pillow]

Nah, Sakurai already made Kid Icarus relevant again. His next project will be an Ice Climbers side scrolling puzzle adventure game.


...or maybe a new F-Zero. Please?

 

[Otoad64]

sakurai revived kid icarus and then shoved it back in the grave

 

[Dinoman96]

He's not going back to Kid Icarus or especially Kirby lol. There's a reason he left HAL.

Smash Bros. is pretty much the only established series he'll keep working on, and it's mainly just because it gives him the opportunity to work with a whole load of franchises. Because of Smash, he now has the clout of being the guy who has worked with Final Fantasy, Street Fighter, Minecraft, Persona, SNK, Dragon Quest, and so forth.

 

[Otoad64]

He's not going back to Kid Icarus or especially Kirby lol. There's a reason he left HAL.

Smash Bros. is pretty much the only established series he'll keep working on, and it's mainly just because it gives him the opportunity to work with a whole load of franchises. Because of Smash, he now has the clout of being the guy who has worked with Final Fantasy, Street Fighter, Minecraft, Persona, SNK, Dragon Quest, and so forth.

yeah but we can still hope he goes back to kid icarus though.

 

[Þe 1 → Way]

sakurai revived kid icarus and then shoved it back in the grave

Hes still trying to keep it relevant, he just can’t do much more with KI in Smash without it becoming overbearing.

I pray Kid Icarus comes back somehow, with or without Sakurai. Its just so well written.

 

[Michael the Spikester]

I still want my port of Kid Icarus Uprising on the Switch...

 

[Speed Weed]

pfft we all know the obscure Nintendo IP Sakurai should tackle next

SARU BAND 2 BAYBEEEEEEEE

THIS TIME WITH MORE SARU AND EVEN MORE BAND

 

[N3ON]

The project after Smash might not even be associated with Nintendo. Sakurai is freelance, and what kept bringing him back to Nintendo was Iwata.

I'm sure he'll be courted by all manner of company when this wraps up, and he'll probably end up going to the place that affords him the greatest freedom and artistic control. Or the highest paycheque. Either way, that's not necessarily Nintendo.

 

[GoodGrief741]

He's not going back to Kid Icarus or especially Kirby lol. There's a reason he left HAL.

Smash Bros. is pretty much the only established series he'll keep working on, and it's mainly just because it gives him the opportunity to work with a whole load of franchises. Because of Smash, he now has the clout of being the guy who has worked with Final Fantasy, Street Fighter, Minecraft, Persona, SNK, Dragon Quest, and so forth.

He didn't do Uprising with HAL, he built his own team to do that game.

And if Smash is all that a guy as talented as Sakurai is going to make until he retires... that'd be pretty sad.

 

[Perkilator]

If anything, Sakurai should tackle a remake of Tomato Adventure.

 

[Goombaic]

Sakurai probably still has some interest with Kid Icarus. Otherwise there wouldn't have been any new Palutena's Guidances, especially for veterans that already had one.

 

[Pillow]

He didn't do Uprising with HAL, he built his own team to do that game.

And if Smash is all that a guy as talented as Sakurai is going to make until he retires... that'd be pretty sad.

From the way he looks during some of the smash directs, it’s Smash that will make Sakurai retire

 

[UltimateCyborgOverlord]

Sakurai being a freelance game developer means he's just as likely to return to Nintendo for another game as he is to make a game for Burger King! That's right! Burger King! Getting back into video games! First with an HD remaster of Sneak King, and then an ALL NEW BURGER KING game made by Sakurai himself, and in the name of true creative freedom, Sakurai gets to "have it his way". It is through this possible future that Burger King becomes so successful that they become a player in the console race with the newest console "The King"... with MORE exclusive games designed by Masahiro Sakurai.

Freelance, am I right?

 

[Dinoman96]

He didn't do Uprising with HAL, he built his own team to do that game.

And if Smash is all that a guy as talented as Sakurai is going to make until he retires... that'd be pretty sad.

I'm aware. The HAL bit was directed at people suggesting he'd work on Kirby again.

 

[N3ON]

From the way he looks during some of the smash directs, it’s Smash that will make Sakurai retire

I think Sakurai's the kind of guy who would age much more rapidly doing nothing than slowly killing himself working.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

Sakurai probably still has some interest with Kid Icarus. Otherwise there wouldn't have been any new Palutena's Guidances, especially for veterans that already had one.

I think that's more attention to detail than an interest in a sequel.

 

[N3ON]

Whenever you're making a game, there are always ideas that have to be left on the cutting room floor, which often find their way into sequels. This has certainly been true of Smash. I'm sure Sakurai had that occur when making Uprising, and could incorporate those elements into a sequel.

The question is just whether he has interest in a follow-up. And also if Nintendo has interest in a follow-up. And whether they'd let Sakurai make a follow-up even if they don't have interest in a follow-up, because it's Sakurai. And I think the answers to that, unfortunately, are no, no, and yes.

 

[Þe 1 → Way]

Everyone here trying to read Sakurai is all for naught.
If he wants to go back to Kirby he’ll go back to Kirby.
If he wants to return to Kid Icarus he’ll return to Kid Icarus.
Hell, the guy almost made a Star Fox game before landing on KI.
Sakurai does what Sakurai wants, hes got so much clout theres no shot in hell anyones gonna stop him.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

With his views on sequels and such, I'd say it's more likely that his next project will be a new IP if not Super Smash Bros. again, and if isn't it'll be whatever fits his new idea best just like with Kid Icarus: Uprising. A sequel to Kid Icarus: Uprising is probably the least likely new project for him to take up.

 

[TCT~Phantom]

That's a suspect claim considering when negotiations for Ryu, if not Cloud and Bayo, would've started.

Considering Bayo was in the data in April, which is the month Mewtwo released, it seems like development on all seven did overlap, at least at some stage for each. And given the ten month period between Bayo being in the data and being released, her negotiations would've taken place even earlier. Perhaps a year before she released. So considering Ryu released in June, it's definitely suspect that in November, when that interview is from, they weren't already planning for more.

Remember Sakurai also said Bayo was included due to ballot results. Which isn't true. And that he'd never been turned down for characters. Which isn't true. So you have to take what he says with a grain of salt.

Though tbf the stuff he's been dishonest about is usually behind the scenes stuff that typically can't be verified, and we have to take on good faith. Something like saying the DLC is to end at a certain point is different.

I mean, the claim is suspect as hell, but the thing is that he directly said that they were not working on paid DLC when Mewtwo was revealed. Either he is playing fast and loose with the truth or plans change that quickly. Given we know Mewtwo was released in April and that is when Bayo was started to be worked on based on the data we have, I think its the former.

I will say this, Sakurai clearly loves working on Smash. I mean, he is working on the biggest crossover in gaming. I personally as of now lean towards FP3 being a thing that happens, but I could be wrong.

With his views on sequels and such, I'd say it's more likely that his next project will be a new IP if not Super Smash Bros. again, and if isn't it'll be whatever fits his new idea best just like with Kid Icarus: Uprising. A sequel to Kid Icarus: Uprising is probably the least likely new project for him to take up.

If I had to guess what project he would choose to pursue after Smash that is not smash, I would guess something else that he can remake and push into the limelight. Custom Robo, Murasame Castle, something like that in Nintendo's backloge.

 

[SMAASH! Puppy]

Everyone here trying to read Sakurai is all for naught.
If he wants to go back to Kirby he’ll go back to Kirby.
If he wants to return to Kid Icarus he’ll return to Kid Icarus.
Hell, the guy almost made a Star Fox game before landing on KI.
Sakurai does what Sakurai wants, hes got so much clout theres no shot in hell anyones gonna stop him.

"lol look at all these dudes speculating. Don't they know they ain't gonna be right?"

Just as with on-topic discussion, that's not really the point.

EDIT: I probably should have worded that less rude. I apologize for that.

 

[blackghost]

given everything Sakurai has done and his history he actually might want to develop a traditional fgc game next. if i was at capcom or snk i'd approach him and request he'd do lead on capcom vs snk

 

[7NATOR]

It's possible Mewtwo was perhaps in the Same situation as Fighter Pass 1

They might have intially been the only DLC, and the other characters that we got for DLC (The rest of Smash 4 DLC and Fighter Pass 2) might have been saved for the next game, but perhaps because of the sales of DLC, DLC development was allowed to continue to include those characters in that game now instead of later

I guess that also goes along with the theory of certain characters like Cloud and Ryu being negotiated for both Smash 4 and Ultimate at the same time, since that would have to happen if this theory is true

 

[Þe 1 → Way]

"lol look at all these dudes speculating. Don't they know they ain't gonna be right?"

Just as with on-topic discussion, that's not really the point.

EDIT: I probably should have worded that less rude. I apologize for that.

No worries, I probably should’ve worded what I said better. What I mean is that setting down any concrete rule like “Sakurais not gonna come back to Kirby” is dumb. Speculating on his next move is fine by me.

 

[GoodGrief741]

I can't imagine Nintendo wouldn't be interested in an Uprising sequel if Sakurai was helming it. It sold pretty well on the 3DS, especially for what was for most people a new franchise. And interest in it has only grown since then.

 

[StrangeKitten]

It still wouldn't surprise me much if we got an FP3 or even just a couple additional fighters. Idk, I guess it's just the whole way that a lot of Sakurai statements have been wishy-washy. No Villager or Miis because they wouldn't work as fighters, Ridley too big, Mewtwo as the only DLC. We've seen a good handful of contradictions. Sakurai also has yet to say "This is it!" in a definitive manner as far as his videos are concerned. While I am expecting FP2 to be the end, I kinda feel like more DLC has a decent shot of happening.

 

[SKX31]

It still wouldn't surprise me much if we got an FP3 or even just a couple additional fighters. Idk, I guess it's just the whole way that a lot of Sakurai statements have been wishy-washy. No Villager or Miis because they wouldn't work as fighters, Ridley too big, Mewtwo as the only DLC. We've seen a good handful of contradictions. Sakurai also has yet to say "This is it!" in a definitive manner as far as his videos are concerned. While I am expecting FP2 to be the end, I kinda feel like more DLC has a decent shot of happening.

That sounds like it's going to be a judgement call on Sakurai's end. One way I could see additional characters or FP3 okayed is if Sakurai / Furukawa had a number of additional characters they're interested in and feel that the extra dev time is worth it.

Either way, I can't see development ending abruptly after the last character: Sakurai would probably want to avoid a / or / situation and greenlight at least a couple balance patches after the last character.

 

[Rie Sonomura]

That sounds like it's going to be a judgement call on Sakurai's end. One way I could see additional characters or FP3 okayed is if Sakurai / Furukawa had a number of additional characters they're interested in and feel that the extra dev time is worth it.

Either way, I can't see development ending abruptly after the last character: Sakurai would probably want to avoid a / or / situation and greenlight at least a couple balance patches after the last character.

What if they do indeed decide to go back and tweak some modes as well?

 

[cothero]

I'd love to see Sakurai developing a true fighting game. I remember Maximilian Dude joking about Sakurai being the one who could make an excelent sequel to Capcom vs. SNK 2 during Terry's presentation and i still think the idea is awesome. Sakurai knows the basis of fighting games like no one.

 

[StrangeKitten]

That sounds like it's going to be a judgement call on Sakurai's end. One way I could see additional characters or FP3 okayed is if Sakurai / Furukawa had a number of additional characters they're interested in and feel that the extra dev time is worth it.

Either way, I can't see development ending abruptly after the last character: Sakurai would probably want to avoid a / or / situation and greenlight at least a couple balance patches after the last character.

Definitely hoping for balance patches after the last character! While the DLC characters have been well-balanced thus far to the point that even the best ones aren't unbeatably overwhelming, there is still the worry that one of the last characters will be meta-breaking.

 

[Golden Icarus]

It still wouldn't surprise me much if we got an FP3 or even just a couple additional fighters. Idk, I guess it's just the whole way that a lot of Sakurai statements have been wishy-washy. No Villager or Miis because they wouldn't work as fighters, Ridley too big, Mewtwo as the only DLC. We've seen a good handful of contradictions. Sakurai also has yet to say "This is it!" in a definitive manner as far as his videos are concerned. While I am expecting FP2 to be the end, I kinda feel like more DLC has a decent shot of happening.

I'm still expecting to see more echoes. Sakurai made up an entirely new term for clones in Ultimate, only to add five of them. I've never seen the community so down with getting characters that are blatantly low effort. Impa, Octolings, Rock Howard, Shadow, they could get some really big names with minimal dev time.

The way they randomly added Small Battlefield last year makes me believe that randomly dropping an echo pack isn't all that unlikely.

I'd love to see Sakurai developing a true fighting game. I remember Maximilian Dude joking about Sakurai being the one who could make an excelent sequel to Capcom vs. SNK 2 during Terry's presentation and i still think the idea is awesome. Sakurai knows the basis of fighting games like no one.

I loved Max's reaction to Terry. I remember him being super jealous that Smash fans get exactly what every other fighting game fan wants - they just want the developers to give a ****. The recent KoF XV trailers have been particularly disheartening. Sakurai taking on a project like that could really bring SNK back to the forefront. I did really like Sam Sho, but it definitely could have been a lot more than it was.

 

[3BitSaurus]

I'd love to see Sakurai developing a true fighting game. I remember Maximilian Dude joking about Sakurai being the one who could make an excelent sequel to Capcom vs. SNK 2 during Terry's presentation and i still think the idea is awesome. Sakurai knows the basis of fighting games like no one.

Hot take: while I do agree with Max that it would be awesome to see that... I'm not so sure Sakurai would like it.

You gotta remember that while Sakurai is a big FG nut and an arcade kid, his design philosophy is very much not the same as what you'd expect (or maybe even want) when developing a traditional fighting game.

In fact, an arcade experience where he completely trashed a newbie player at KoF is pretty much one of the things he credits for wanting to make Smash more accessible. So if Sakurai ever went for a traditional fighter, I'm not sure it would be something like CvS. In fact, it's arguably more likely he'd want to develop another beginner-friendly fighter.

 

[Dinoman96]

I can't imagine Nintendo wouldn't be interested in an Uprising sequel if Sakurai was helming it. It sold pretty well on the 3DS, especially for what was for most people a new franchise. And interest in it has only grown since then.

I mean yeah, if Sakurai asked for it, they'd probably greenlight it. Problem is is that well, he just doesn't want to lmao

 

[Michael the Spikester]

If we do happen to get more echos. I find Octoling to be among the most likely.