GDC 2008: Meeting Masahiro Sakurai

[I_R_Hungry]

judging from the OP, sakurai would make a great final boss

 

[SFan414]

3 controllers? I'm never calling him "Suck-it-rai" ever again.

I think it would be awesome to have a smash tournament, and the winner gets to fight Sakurai. They would lose, of course. But, it would still be awesome

 

[Cynan Machae]

Oh wow, that is awesome.

My respect for Sakurai went up tenfold, it that was already possible.

 

[Rhubarbo]

It would have been cool if you sneekingly decided to record it...Anyways, I like the character criteria. The only characters in the roster I have grievances with are Wolf, Toon Link and Lucario. The only grievance is that I'm not a huge fan of their movesets.

 

[Masque]

TC, I love you for posting this. I always knew that Sakurai would prove himself to the masses so they would all share the intense love that I've had for him. This just makes me love him more. So much love! :bigthumbu

I am thinking of maybe going into game designing, I especially want to work side by side on Sakurai on the Smash series, and I am going to try and learn Japanse to at least communicate with him.

If you click on my profile, view some of the threads that I have made to see how much I go into detail regarding things.

I have no knowledge about programming, but I have a lot of creative ideas. I am literally thinking about posting all of what I think Smash 4's content should be on paper. The script alone for the Smash 4 Adventure Mode should be at least 15 pages.

Interestingly enough about the comment how Sakurai had a figure posed as a Street Fighter character (Ken to be precise), according to my plans, I am going to implement Ryu and Ken as playable characters in Smash 4, and they will be interesting....

Edit: Topics you should particularly read are the ULTIMATE Probably Playable Characters in Brawl Analysis Topic, ChronoBound's Thoughts on the Brawl Roster, "Something to remember when the Brawl Roster does get leaked...", and the Story of Roy & Mewtwo Rumor as well as the Brawl Roster Leak.

Kudos to you for being to ambitious. I'd be happy to read through it, so keep me posted. And remember: Smash 4 without Claus / Masked Man just isn't worth creating.

What does all this mean? Simply put, SAKURAI IS GOD.

Yes, yes, and D-U-H.

Cripes, 3 controllers?

I would've loved to hear him sing the SSBB main theme. Brawl Karaoke!

I know! I wish this had been recorded. Hearing Sakurai sing would just be orgasmic in the truest sense of the word.

And speaking of karaoke, I've been singing along to "Snake Eater" for the past few days. It's a much more immersive experience that way.

 

[Patinator]

O_o Someone's gonna make their own Smash game somehow?! o_o

ChronoBound is now on my friend list. :D

And a Smash 4 game without Ridley, Wolfen-equipped Wolf, and Bowser Jr. isn't worth making either.

 

[ChronoBound]

TC, I love you for posting this. I always knew that Sakurai would prove himself to the masses so they would all share the intense love that I've had for him. This just makes me love him more. So much love! :bigthumbu



Kudos to you for being to ambitious. I'd be happy to read through it, so keep me posted. And remember: Smash 4 without Claus / Masked Man just isn't worth creating.

Don't worry Masked Boy has a spot on my tentative roster, and I have already crafted some moveset ideas for him.

O_o Someone's gonna make their own Smash game somehow?! o_o

ChronoBound is now on my friend list. :D

And a Smash 4 game without Ridley, Wolfen-equipped Wolf, and Bowser Jr. isn't worth making either.

Ridley is another definitie in my tentative roster. However, I am only adding one Mario newcomer, and I am trying to evaluate who would be the best (Bowser Jr., Paper Mario, Geno, or Toad).

 

[PanzerOceania]

lets not all forget what this topic is about y'all

 

[smash superstar]

whoah ....the whole knew the roster in 2006 is kinda strange....but i guess it makes since....maybe thats why some characters didnt get in.

 

[brawlmaniac]

Gotta give respect when its due. Sakurai deserves it.

Got that right!

 

[sliceblader]

great post

 

[Blarfenzo]

Wow thanks a lot for the descriptions, good to know Sakurai put so much work into Brawl makes you really appreciate it.

 

[Masque]

Don't worry Masked Boy has a spot on my tentative roster, and I have already crafted some moveset ideas for him.

Ridley is another definitie in my tentative roster. However, I am only adding one Mario newcomer, and I am trying to evaluate who would be the best (Bowser Jr., Paper Mario, Geno, or Toad).

Ah, wonderful. If you ever want to talk it over, let me know. I'm always up for Masked Man-based discussion.

And the Mario pick will be a tough call. My own personal love for Toad would push me to to support him, but it's hard to say if we're trying to be realistic, given the trends we've seen in character inclusion. I might wager that Paper Mario would be the most likely candidate, but there's such an enormous outcry for Geno that it's hard to ignore. It's quite the predicament. Drop me a PM sometime and we'll discuss it further.

 

[Mike87]

Very good read.

 

[MIRAI87]

Ah, wonderful. If you ever want to talk it over, let me know. I'm always up for Masked Man-based discussion.

And the Mario pick will be a tough call. My own personal love for Toad would push me to to support him, but it's hard to say if we're trying to be realistic, given the trends we've seen in character inclusion. I might wager that Paper Mario would be the most likely candidate, but there's such an enormous outcry for Geno that it's hard to ignore. It's quite the predicament. Drop me a PM sometime and we'll discuss it further.

I don't have much seniority on these boards, but I would be genuinely interested in helping create this tentative roster with Chronoound as well. I respect (and sometimes fear :-p) your predictions, many of which have been accurate.

 

[Y34HDUD3!!!]

Wow. I didn't think I could have more respect for Mr. Sakurai. I guess I thought wrong.
This man has inspired me to work in the gaming business. If I'm lucky enough I might even work on one of his future projects, preferably smash .....

<<<<<<<<Totally growing up to be a game designer.

 

[SynikaL]

Masahiro Sakurai personally decides and programs every piece of frame data in the game.

If you are a competitive Smash player, your mind was just blown.

I cannot stress how important this is, how ridiculously crazy news this is: Sakurai himself and himself alone balances the entire game of Super Smash Bros. Every parameter of every move he poured over. He spent endless amounts of time testing and watching others, seeing how players worked with different timings on every attack. He practically devoted his life to this, working into the night analyzing and tweaking the parameters to be "perfect". He stressed to us game developers that not taking this sort of care dooms games to failure.

When he showed a chart of Fox's up-smash, showing the frames 0-44 and which ones hit, I think most of the crowd just saw it as a typical animation timeline. Samples from many other moves he showed I imagine they saw as just screenshots. We see them as the game itself. So does he.

It gives me a headache to even think: Every time I throw out a f-smash, it was Sakurai who spent time watching testers to decide exactly what the start-up, duration, and vulnerable frames should be, not some arbitrary number put in by some junior programmer that happens to work out. Every time I have to decide between a nair and a fair, it is Sakurai himself who stayed up at night deciding what the exact difference in duration and knockback should be. (I suspect l-canceling now was removed because he was able to decide on precise and unique lag times for every aerial in the game according to their balance, which certainly seems to be the case. The ability to half or otherwise reduce these carefully crafted times across the board would defeat the point.)

Smash is our life, but is his entire existence. Sakurai knows this game infinitely better than you or I ever will.

I hate to be a cynic, as these epiphanies spurred by your proximity to this man has obviously become a very defining moment in your life -- but this particular point is not that big of a deal. I don't know if you're implying anything outside the necessary hard work, but for the sake of the game's balance, it'd only make sense for these decisions to be created and funneled into development by a small clique, or single man -- just like most respectable fighting games.

So, no, my mind is not blown.


-Kimosabae
(great post though)

 

[ChronoBound]

Ah, wonderful. If you ever want to talk it over, let me know. I'm always up for Masked Man-based discussion.

And the Mario pick will be a tough call. My own personal love for Toad would push me to to support him, but it's hard to say if we're trying to be realistic, given the trends we've seen in character inclusion. I might wager that Paper Mario would be the most likely candidate, but there's such an enormous outcry for Geno that it's hard to ignore. It's quite the predicament. Drop me a PM sometime and we'll discuss it further.

I might some time in the future. I will be clearing my PM box tomorrow, so there will be plenty of room for PM exchanging.

I don't have much seniority on these boards, but I would be genuinely interested in helping create this tentative roster with Chronoound as well. I respect (and sometimes fear :-p) your predictions, many of which have been accurate.

The roster number has already been decided by me. It will be 54 (not inlcuding transformations). There are only four slots though that have yet to be determined (the Mario one being one of them).

 

[Zeyeth]

I hate to be a cynic, as these epiphanies spurred by your proximity to this man has obviously become a very defining moment in your life -- but this particular point is not that big of a deal. I don't know if you're implying anything outside the necessary hard work, but for the sake of the game's balance, it'd only make sense for these decisions to be created and funneled into development by a small clique, or single man -- just like most respectable fighting games.

So, no, my mind is not blown.


-Kimosabae
(great post though)

I don't think that he's as much trying grant Sakurai divinity as much as he's trying to accentuate how much one man put into a game we all love. You yourself wouldn't have put as much input into the Smash Boards had you not been a fan of at least one of the three installations, right?

I'm not entirely sure how up with the times you are on good fighting games, but these days they're lacking in quality. I could understand your nonchalant shrug upon TC's perspectives had this been the norm for fighting games, but the sad fact remains; It is not.

I don't mean bash on your indifference for my opinion is any better or worse than yours, just pointing mine out. ^^

 

[PWtCB]

This proves, once again, that if you have no idea of what you are talking about, you should STFU. Really good job on the thread. Personnally, I never doubted that Sakurai used all the time even possible for this game.

 

[Diggerzz]

hmm would never have imagined that....

 

[TheOfficialSonicFanboy]

Serious win right here, thank you for that.
3 controllers = super gamer.... they hired the right man...

 

[SynikaL]

I'm not entirely sure how up with the times you are on good fighting games, but these days they're lacking in quality. I could understand your nonchalant shrug upon TC's perspectives had this been the norm for fighting games, but the sad fact remains; It is not.

My fighting game knowledge is better than most, and definitely better than most on Smashboards. Your sentiments towards fighting game quality these days are highly subjective, considering the games that have always been respected for tight gameplay design (VF, GG) still hold their reputations with their latest iterations. On the flipside, games with a reputation for less than optimal gameplay design (Tekken, Soul Calibur), are still being put through the ringer today.

So, yeah, not much has actually changed outside the fact that more fighting games are scheduled for release this year than any other era in a long time, hopefully signifying some type of rebirth for the genre outside the niche fanbase. My recent knowledge may not be as profound of these games, but my general knowledge of what's happening with other fighters and their communities is there.

As I stated in my previous post, I understand what the OP's trying to accentuate, but there seemed to be the pronounced silhouette of a sneaky side agenda being ushered in behind the curtains to address the "Brawl will not be competitive" faction. A high quality casual game still needs to be balanced proper. I'm not trying to turn this into one of those debates, so no one respond to those last few sentences specifically -- you'll be wasting your time.


-Kimosabae

 

[Betrayed]

Chrono, drop me a line sometime if you're ever looking for advice with your project. I've done similair things with C&C and various RPGs.

Anyways, on topic. Sakurai is made of win.

 

[Yojimbo]

What a good read. And I truly believe Sakurai put everything he had into this game.

But...

Three controllers?!? I just can't fathom that. Sakurai for god tier.

 

[GenG]

My fighting game knowledge is better than most, and definitely better than most on Smashboards. Your sentiments towards fighting game quality these days are highly subjective, considering the games that have always been respected for tight gameplay design (VF, GG) still hold their reputations with their latest iterations. On the flipside, games with a reputation for less than optimal gameplay design (Tekken, Soul Calibur), are still being put through the ringer today.

So, yeah, not much has actually changed outside the fact that more fighting games are scheduled for release this year than any other era in a long time, hopefully signifying some type of rebirth for the genre outside the niche fanbase. My recent knowledge may not be as profound of these games, but my general knowledge of what's happening with other fighters and their communities is there.

As I stated in my previous post, I understand what the OP's trying to accentuate, but there seemed to be the pronounced silhouette of a sneaky side agenda being ushered in behind the curtains to address the "Brawl will not be competitive" faction. A high quality casual game still needs to be balanced proper. I'm not trying to turn this into one of those debates, so no one respond to those last few sentences specifically -- you'll be wasting your time.


-Kimosabae

I don't think he's trying to encourage competitive gaming there. He's trying to point what kind of devotion pours Sakurai into his game: He picks the characters, its designs, its moves, its voice actors, he balance its moves personally, he picks the stages, the musicians, the music, he writes the lyrics, the story... he's the most devoted game designer ever, I can't think in another series or game with so much dependance and dedication from a single individual. He's truly the Master Hand of Smash Bros. and without him this franchise won't exist. At least, not with this level of magnificence.

 

[Lord Viper]

This make's me want to face Sakurai.

Great thread, I didn't even know some of the stuff that happend to the game and stuff.

 

[Indignant]

I don't think he's trying to encourage competitive gaming there. He's trying to point what kind of devotion pours Sakurai into his game: He picks the characters, its designs, its moves, its voice actors, he balance its moves personally, he picks the stages, the musicians, the music, he writes the lyrics, the story... he's the most devoted game designer ever, I can't think in another series or game with so much dependance and dedication from a single individual. He's truly the Master Hand of Smash Bros. and without him this franchise won't exist. At least, not with this level of magnificence.

Sakurai is in Brawl then...funny that we joke about putting him in...because he's already there! Go Master Hand!

Who does Crazy represent then? Fans? Us?

 

[Youkai Master]

This thread is awesome and really well written. I love Sakurai.

 

[Vortok]

That's some really cool info. I love the section titles. "Sakurai is more Hardcore than you."

Great stuff.

 

[Witchking_of_Angmar]

I think it's interesting that Sakurai did indeed create every single frame for every move.... I've gained a little respect for the man.

I'd laugh, though, if it turns out that he TOTALLY messed up character balance, and seperation between top and bottom was bigger than in Melee.

 

[IGN Forums]

dang!..........

 

[silver777]

all the other sites says that the final roster was Finalized in May 2005, not 2006...

 

[Seiko Shashude]

Yes, vey interesting, Thank you for sharing, =)

 

[anubis_realm]

Any link/proof of the 3 controllers gameplay?

 

[Sl1th]

I always knew Sakurai was a smash god. I think Ill pray to him every night in thanks of this games, especially if he put that much time into it.

 

[Irow]

I thought seeing ChuDat play Hugs one handed was hard...

Three? That's amazing.

 

[anubis_realm]

proof? link?

 

[Mr. Ocax]

2. The character must be unique.

The character must have identifying features and abilities that would make them different from existing characters, so that they add something to the game.

Wolf and Toon Link say "HAI!"

 

[Thinkaman]

I don't think he's trying to encourage competitive gaming there. He's trying to point what kind of devotion pours Sakurai into his game: He picks the characters, its designs, its moves, its voice actors, he balance its moves personally, he picks the stages, the musicians, the music, he writes the lyrics, the story... he's the most devoted game designer ever, I can't think in another series or game with so much dependance and dedication from a single individual. He's truly the Master Hand of Smash Bros. and without him this franchise won't exist. At least, not with this level of magnificence.

The point was that complexity and balance in smash is not an accidental occurance. This isn't some case of a tornado going through a junkyard and throwing together a 747.

all the other sites says that the final roster was Finalized in May 2005, not 2006...

Sakurai knew who he was going to put in in 2005. He wrote up the design document for the game containing all these characters. Some were cut, but by the end of 2006, all the characters in the game were programmed in except Sonic. Design in 2005, programming in 2006, testing in 2007. That's pretty much how it went if you had to simplify the entire development process to one word per year.

Any link/proof of the 3 controllers gameplay?

Proof? First, why would I lie about it? Second, there were at least 30 people taking pictures, and I suspect that myself or the controllers and LCD monitor are in at least a couple of them, where ever they are... Third, Sakurai did a live demo with Sonic, Pit, and Snake during the presentation; he was the only person on stage, and there were only three wired gamecube controllers. Unless he had hidden ****** slaves playing the game under the stage, it was obviously him.

Wolf and Toon Link say "HAI!"

Everyone gets three guesses as to who hasn't played Brawl; first two don't count.

Wolf plays almost nothing like Fox or Falco, and is more like a slow, powerful Shiek than anyone else. While Young Link was very similar to Link, Toon Link has many completely different attacks and plays completely differently. His up-smash says "HAI!"...