Does Sakurai really hate competitive play?

[Dustmanic]

I'm new to this forum but I've seen others and all of the competitive players talk about how Sakurai hates them and removed wavedashing, hitstun and l-canceling just to piss them off but that isn't what I think happened in brawl. I think that Sakurai saw that in melee he had worked so hard on adding such a variety of moves just to have people ignore them and just jab combo each other, if I were a dev would be a little angry also.

in brawl all of the techniques that were removed were replaced with other techs and systems such as move decay and teching leading me to think that Sakurai had some competition in mind but he wanted more variety than what was in melee.

Anyway, sorry if this post sucks, its my first and I'm using my phone, but here's hoping that kerfuffle will deliver to both party gamers and competitive players alike. And hey if melee was competitive at core for the core oriented gamecube and brawl was a party game on a family console then maybe there is hope for kerfuffle on the Wiiu for striking a balance like the console itself was built for.

 

[Dark Phazon]

If he truly did he would have dumbed down the game more instead of making it a happy medium this time.

 

[Dark Phazon]

Read this:

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/20..._strike_a_balance_between_hardcore_and_casual

 

[Curmudgeon]

Sakurai already said SSB4 will fall between Melee and Brawl competitively, also... "kertuffle"?

 

[KrIsP!]

Do you REALLY think melee was just jab combos? www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbRKqDzKbBc&t=28s It's just ironic because jab locking is a thing in brawl.

He's already said it many times, he wanted to make brawl approachable for new comers. His wards for melee were always "sharp, fast, competitive" ...and also "hard".

 

[Kapus]

No, he doesn't. He's just trying to appeal to a broader audience.

 

[KayB]

Sakurai stated that Brawl was to appeal to a broader audience. For Smash 4, he stated that Smash no longer needed to appeal to a broader audience so now he's targeting an area between Melee and Brawl.

 

[Dustmanic]

Do you REALLY think melee was just jab combos? www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbRKqDzKbBc&t=28s It's just ironic because jab locking is a thing in brawl.

He's already said it many times, he wanted to make brawl approachable for new comers. His wards for melee were always "sharp, fast, competitive" ...and also "hard".

No. I love melee to death but what I meant was more along the lines of people using specials mostly for utility and move decay made you want to use all of your moves more than just for utility. Very nice video btw, Marth and Cap. Falcon have always been my favorites.

 

[CRASHiC]

If Nintendo approached you with the goal for the Wii and told you to make a Smash Brothers around the concept of all-inclusive, you'd probably make something very similar to Brawl as well.

 

[Dustmanic]

Sakurai already said SSB4 will fall between Melee and Brawl competitively, also... "kertuffle"?

Kerfuffle is a slang term for a fight so with brawl and melee already exhausted, why not call it kerfuffle. It reminds you your playing a game where an angel can square off with a plumber, a hovercraft racer and a pink blob.

 

[The World Warrior]

As other folks have stated before me, Melee was made for the "hardcore" (don't really like using that word) players and Brawl was catered more towards the casual market as that was the Wii's primary audience. I'm pretty satisfied to hear that Sakurai wants to reach that middle ground that can appeal to both groups. I'm really hoping it works out.

 

[CRASHiC]

Super smash brothers WiiU is a good name too. If you run in a bar screaming WiiU you'll start a fight I guarantee it

 

[Dustmanic]

As other folks have stated before me, Melee was made for the "hardcore" (don't really like using that word) players and Brawl was catered more towards the casual market as that was the Wii's primary audience. I'm pretty satisfied to hear that Sakurai wants to reach that middle ground that can appeal to both groups. I'm really hoping it works out.

Yeah this game seems to be turning out great so far with the pace and fluidity, pillager seems to do some crazy combos and megaman looks to be fantastic especially with hard knuckle built specifically for meteor smashing. I might even try competing in tourneys when this rolls around.

 

[PiGuy]

No, he doesn't. He's just trying to appeal to a broader audience.

I've never understood this logic. Casuals loved Melee, they loved N64, they loved Brawl. They don't care about how high the skill ceiling is in the game. By not making the most competitively driven game possible you alienate the competitive crowd and in doing reach a smaller audience.

If you want to reach a broader audience, a competitively driven game is the way. Look at SC2 and LoL. The games are balanced around the highest levels of play and have thousands of dollars on the line at their tournaments. Casuals still love the game. The skill ceiling is obscene. SC2 is comparable to melee with how technical it is. Casuals still love the game.

 

[Dark Phazon]

I think its pretty safe say to say Sm4sh > Brawl.
Good thing.

 

[The World Warrior]

I've never understood this logic. Casuals loved Melee, they loved N64, they loved Brawl. They don't care about how high the skill ceiling is in the game. By not making the most competitively driven game possible you alienate the competitive crowd and in doing reach a smaller audience.

If you want to reach a broader audience, a competitively driven game is the way. Look at SC2 and LoL. The games are balanced around the highest levels of play and have thousands of dollars on the line at their tournaments. Casuals still love the game. The skill ceiling is obscene. SC2 is comparable to melee with how technical it is. Casuals still love the game.

As much as I like the direction this iteration Smash is going in I have to say you're right about this. As deep as Melee was/is casuals could still definitely get into it and have a good time. I should know. Most of my friends are casual players and we always have a hell of a time playing Melee. I don't think Brawl would have sold any less if had been similar or exactly like Melee in terms of game-play. Besides, its not like Smash is a series that has Street Fighter's issue. That there is a game that says "play competitive or GTFO". I haven't met many casuals who hold an interest in that game for longer than a match or two.

 

[Snakeyes]

As other folks have stated before me, Melee was made for the "hardcore" (don't really like using that word) players and Brawl was catered more towards the casual market as that was the Wii's primary audience.

"Enthusiasts" is a much more tasteful word imo, just use that.

To answer the OP's question, no. There was a developer interview with Sakurai's studio released a while back where you could clearly see a bunch of arcade sticks in the background, so they definitely play a lot of traditional fighting games. He just had a certain design philosophy in mind when making Brawl.

 

[Snakeyes]

Here's the pic I was talking about;

That doesn't look like like the office of someone who hates competitive play.

 

[Dark Phazon]

No only Ridley.

 

[Kyu Puff]

No. I love melee to death but what I meant was more along the lines of people using specials mostly for utility and move decay made you want to use all of your moves more than just for utility. Very nice video btw, Marth and Cap. Falcon have always been my favorites.

Still have no idea what you mean by this. If anything, a competitive player uses MORE of a character's moveset than a casual player does. You think Sakurai was disappointed that people don't just spam Falcon Punch at each other?