Namco Bandai: What's your opinion?

[Chidosengan]

Alright, so we know that Sakurai is still the head of the next Smash. But as you may all know at this point, Namco Bandia has been hired to handle the development, perhaps 60-80% of it. What will come of it?

Namco Bandai has been around for a couple of years now. It has shown that it is a good and consistent game developer, covering genres such as RPGs and platformers. It has also been known to pander to its fans, particularly the Tales series. One just has to look at the its Tales of Fandom series as well as the onslaught of extra material it releases within each "mothership" title release. However, like any other developer, it has it flaws and controversies, such as it unexplained reluctance to release Tales game to the west, and its... well, increasingly ridiculous busty ladies.

Namco Bandai was founded in 2006 of the merger of Namco and the video game division of Bandai. The two developers together hold the properties the .hack series, Tales series, Tekken series, and Klonoa to name a few. It has also worked on licensed properties, creating such titles as the Digimon World series and several Naruto title games. It has worked to develop some Nintendo flagship titles as well, such as Star Fox Assult, and Mario Kart Arcade GP.

And now here we are, at the dawn of Smash 4, with Namco Bandai as a big part of its main development.

How do you guys think Namco Bandia will handle the development? Will its "A Team", composed of its Tales, Tekken, and Soul Calibur dev teams put together, pull through and give us perhaps the best Smash yet? Or will it plummet and we'll end up with a rough, unpolished product? NOTE: this is not a character discussion thread. This is to speculate what will Namco Bandia's job will be and how will things go in the end. What do you guys want it to focus on: speed, balancing, technical aspects, miscellaneous extras, ect?

Discuss away! This dev team may make or break Smash 4!!

 

[Wario Bros.]

I was incredibly shocked when they confirmed this. But I'm totally fine with NB working on the game. One positive thing is that Sakurai doesn't have to stall the development just because he would be still looking for a team so the game should be done faster. I haven't been following the company but they have a lot of experience in games (and will give the Smash games brand new ideas). But I'm wondering is did Sakurai ask NB for help or was it the other way around?

And I'm very curious about that prototype Namco Bandai made (especially since Sakurai said it "looks pretty good." ) How was its? How long has NB been work on it? I have so many questions.

But I don't think Sm4sh will move away from its roots just because a third party company is providing pretty much the whole staff. Maybe E3 we'll get visual/physical results.

 

[AlphaZealot]

I'm looking forward to it a little bit. Namco Bandai has experience with fighters, and I've seen them first hand help with the Tekken community, so I think Smash will get a lot more love/developer support than we have previously seen.

 

[Claire Diviner]

It's a safe bet that with Namco-Bandai helping with development, and given their experience in fighting games, such as Tekken, Soul Calibur, and Street Fighter X Tekken, as well as their great track record, combined with the fact that they have a great relationship with Nintendo which includes selling the rest of Monolith Soft to them, and helping with the development of Mario Kart Arcade GP 1 and 2, there's a great chance that Smash 4 will be very deep, overflowing with content (Wii U discs are about as large in data storage as a Blu-ray), and - most important of all - balanced. I'm expecting every character, including bottom tier characters to be competitively viable, and I also expect random tripping to be removed, or at the very least optional. Suffice it to say, I do have rather high hopes.

 

[smashmanx7]

I'm looking forward to it a little bit. Namco Bandai has experience with fighters, and I've seen them first hand help with the Tekken community, so I think Smash will get a lot more love/developer support than we have previously seen.

Nice avatar . I think when you list the strengths of project sora then list the strenghts of Namco Bandai you get an amazing game with great game play and even better online than the last so I dont worry about those things. They'll just play to the strenghts which is not a bad thing.

 

[Johnknight1]

Did you know Tekken is actually where the term "wavedashing" comes from=???

But regardless, it's a huge upgrade over Game Arts as the primary developer.
Game Arts' (a 3rd party btw) fighting games without Sakurai: TMNT Smash (and that was after their experiences with Brawl).
Namco Bandai's fighting games without Sakurai: The Soul Calibur series (I love Soul Edge, SCI & II and kinda IV), Tekken (I love the 1st 4), and Outfoxies (the original platform fighting game, which actually then consisted of a lot of the staff that now works at HAL Laboratories and also worked on Smash 64 and Melee).

But yeah, they'll help with the balancing, add some new creative ides, and will allow Sakurai not to have all the stress on him (especially in Brawl when dealing with a rookie staff). Namco Bandai would be especially well off in HAL Laboratories focused all or nearly all of their efforts on Smash WiiU and 3DS as well, especially given HAL Laboratories' experience with Smash 64 and Melee, and a lot of their employees' relationships with some of the staff of Namco Bandai.

If the Brawl developers-Game Arts (they just moved their offices a month ago), Monolith Soft (they made the Last Story, and are working on an untitled WiiU game), and CERO (their last game was released a year after Brawl) were involved (obviously along with Namco Bandai and Sora Ltd), I'd be fine with that, too. The more minds involved (with experience), the better. That means we can get more content, characters, stages, original ideas, balance, online stuff, and a better overall game (faster?).

Also, there is no way Nintendo is letting Namco Bandai touch any female's lady parts. They didn't let Team Ninja do that with Samus/ZSS in Other M!

 

[AIM0001]

It's a safe bet that with Namco-Bandai helping with development, and given their experience in fighting games, such as Tekken, Soul Calibur, and Street Fighter X Tekken, as well as their great track record, combined with the fact that they have a great relationship with Nintendo which includes selling the rest of Monolith Soft to them, and helping with the development of Mario Kart Arcade GP 1 and 2, there's a great chance that Smash 4 will be very deep, overflowing with content (Wii U discs are about as large in data storage as a Blu-ray), and - most important of all - balanced. I'm expecting every character, including bottom tier characters to be competitively viable, and I also expect random tripping to be removed, or at the very least optional. Suffice it to say, I do have rather high hopes.

Where did you hear Wii U discs have as much data storage as a Blu Ray disc? Just wondering because if that's true then I will be very happy....

As for the topic my hopes with Namco-Bandai being apart of the Smash 4 project is this

1. Better Character Balancing
Seeing How they make Tekken and Soul Calibur games that have big and diverse rosters. I think balancing a Smash roster shouldnt be too much of a problem since I dont expect this new entry to be any deeper then a Tekken/Calibur title.

2. More Content
I think NB will be able to expand the amount of content on this sequel that has never been seen in a smash game. For example basic but very fun unlocks like Alternate costumes,Color editing, online titles and maybe they can make unlocking character/stages a little more challenging instead of just handing us all the unlocks within the first week.

3. Speed up the process
I think with their experience with making great fighting games and with the help of all their most important developers. They will be able to help Sakurai and company realase this game at a much sooner date the originally planned.

 

[Johnknight1]

Also, I forgot to mention that Soul Calibur V, according to my friend who owns it and really likes it, has one of the best online interfaces and some of the least lag he's ever experienced not just in a fighting game, but in console video games in general. This sounds like the opposite of Brawl's online. If that were brought to Smash Bros and the WiiU (with its' powerful new technology), this could be a very beautiful thing. We could get all kinds of modes, modern console gaming lag (instead of dial-up lag like in Brawl), and all kinds of online content to keep us addicting.

Heck, we might even get a character creator (Miis?), accessories and clothing we can give to characters, and maybe even a color palette for outfits from characters from the art design staff of Namco Bandai. That, of course, can only mean good things. Like more hats for Pikachu, the possibility to give Yoshi black skin, Link wearing a silver tunic, and for Lucas to wear the Masked Mans' Captain Falcon's helmet! If that miscellaneous content stuff doesn't get you hyped, NOTHING RELATED TO BONUS CONTENT WILL!!!

 

[Claire Diviner]

Where did you hear Wii U discs have as much data storage as a Blu Ray disc? Just wondering because if that's true then I will be very happy....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Optical_Disc

Granted, at 25 GB, it has the storage capacity of the smaller Blu-ray discs, but it's still very significant. It's about 10 GB larger than the average XBOX 360 disc, and that's just a single-layered Wii U disc. Who's to say they won't have dual-layered discs like they did with Brawl?

As for the topic my hopes with Namco-Bandai being apart of the Smash 4 project is this

1. Better Character Balancing
Seeing How they make Tekken and Soul Calibur games that have big and diverse rosters. I think balancing a Smash roster shouldnt be too much of a problem since I dont expect this new entry to be any deeper then a Tekken/Calibur title.

Agreed, not to mention that this time, balancing will be done by an entire team instead of a single man (Sakurai).

2. More Content
I think NB will be able to expand the amount of content on this sequel that has never been seen in a smash game. For example basic but very fun unlocks like Alternate costumes,Color editing, online titles and maybe they can make unlocking character/stages a little more challenging instead of just handing us all the unlocks within the first week.

Given how large the Wii U discs will be, this should be easy to accomplish.

3. Speed up the process
I think with their experience with making great fighting games and with the help of all their most important developers. They will be able to help Sakurai and company realase this game at a much sooner date the originally planned.

^ This.

Also, I forgot to mention that Soul Calibur V, according to my friend who owns it and really likes it, has one of the best online interfaces and some of the least lag he's ever experienced not just in a fighting game, but in console video games in general. This sounds like the opposite of Brawl's online. If that were brought to Smash Bros and the WiiU (with its' powerful new technology), this could be a very beautiful thing. We could get all kinds of modes, modern console gaming lag (instead of dial-up lag like in Brawl), and all kinds of online content to keep us addicting.

More than that: If the online becomes as good as we hope, it would make online tournaments a feasibly legit thing to look forward to, which can be an absolute godsend for those who live in areas where Smash Bros. activity is non-existent, and for those who simply cannot or very rarely have the means to travel to tournaments.

 

[AIM0001]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Optical_Disc

Granted, at 25 GB, it has the storage capacity of the smaller Blu-ray discs, but it's still very significant. It's about 10 GB larger than the average XBOX 360 disc, and that's just a single-layered Wii U disc. Who's to say they won't have dual-layered discs like they did with Brawl?


Agreed, not to mention that this time, balancing will be done by an entire team instead of a single man (Sakurai).


Given how large the Wii U discs will be, this should be easy to accomplish.


^ This.


More than that: If the online becomes as good as we hope, it would make online tournaments a feasibly legit thing to look forward to, which can be an absolute godsend for those who live in areas where Smash Bros. activity is non-existent, and for those who simply cannot or very rarely have the means to travel to tournaments.

You know by giving me that link my expectations for content just went up!

 

[Claire Diviner]

You know by giving me that link my expectations for content just went up!

As did mine, and given how much content was in Brawl, an 8.54 GB disc, imagine the amount of content and potential roster/stages could be stored into a 25 GB disc (assuming a single-layered Wii U disc), and that's not counting potential DLC.

 

[Johnknight1]

@ Sol
Don't forget, somewhere about to half to more than half of the Brawl disc spaced was used on the "Masterpiece" games (which included the whole games on it!). The Brawl disc had something like 8 games on it (and BETA elements of the original Donkey Kong Country). Give the extra space, the WiiU's processing power, etc., we can have a ridiculous amount of stuff!

More than that: If the online becomes as good as we hope, it would make online tournaments a feasibly legit thing to look forward to, which can be an absolute godsend for those who live in areas where Smash Bros. activity is non-existent, and for those who simply cannot or very rarely have the means to travel to tournaments.

This will help out people in countries where competitive smashers are few and far apart. It could also get some new blood addicted to competitive smash bros, and may even lead to some of these new blood competitive smashers to attend/host not just Smash WiiU and 3DS tournaments, but maybe Smash 64, Melee, and/or Brawl tournaments!

 

[Wizzrobe]

I basically agree with what AlphaZealot said. Namco has a lot of experience with fighters and all so I think this is going to be absolutely great for Sm4sh and could make it more balanced and more awesome.

 

[Claire Diviner]

@ Sol
Don't forget, somewhere about to half to more than half of the Brawl disc spaced was used on the "Masterpiece" games (which included the whole games on it!). The Brawl disc had something like 8 games on it (and BETA elements of the original Donkey Kong Country). Give the extra space, the WiiU's processing power, etc., we can have a ridiculous amount of stuff!

That's right, I forgot about that. Though, to be fair, the N64 titles are the only ones that's at least 1 GB, while any SNES/NES titles are significantly smaller.

 

[lordvaati]

I guess we all agree that this is the best developer possible, since they have the best experience with this genre(since they kinda created it, and all.) now if only Nintendo had picked Konami for Other M.....

 

[DakotaBonez]

It's BanDAI not BanDIA ya F#@#$@#%%$#@%@#$%$#@%$#@%$#@%$@#%#$

Sorry. I love it when 3rd parties get a chance to work on Nintendo games, bringing them up to date with the latest gaming trends. I love Namco's fighting games like Soul Calibur and Tekken, but they just lack swag and fluidity. Bandai however has those Dragon Ball Z and Naruto games which have fight sequences just like the shows and very smooth transitions (teleporting huge explosions etc.) but they lack the structure of solid fighters. The Deadly duo will combine and add an amazing flavor to the oddball style of Smash Bros. "Platformer meets Fighter"style.

 

[Kink-Link5]

I don't trust this company to make fighting games given the unbalanced, and slow paced and/or glitchy gameplay of the last three soul calibur games.

Yoshimitsu would probably fit in like a favourite cousin at Easter dinner though.

 

[DakotaBonez]

I don't trust this company to make fighting games given the unbalanced, and slow paced and/or glitchy gameplay of the last three soul calibur games.

Yoshimitsu would probably fit in like a favourite cousin at Easter dinner though.

Yeah but this is NamcoBandai, they made very fluid fighters like the DBZ fighting games and Naruto Ultimate Ninja storm....then again those game weren't very traditional fighters in the respect that you see traditional fighters as Street Fighter or MVC3, but neither is Smash bros., I personally preferred the Clash of Ninja Revolution series made by some other company to the ultimate ninja storm one.

Also I too am for Yoshimitsu, how many different fighters has he been in?

 

[Kink-Link5]

Tekken, Soul Calibur, and SFxT at the very least. Likely in TxSF as well. He'd be the most fitting character to represent either of his series, but that discussion is for the character forum.

 

[Johnknight1]

Again, I really hope HAL Laboratories is working all out or nearly all out on Smash WiiU and 3DS alongside Namco Bandai. They both have experience with fighting games, and both companies seem like they would "gel well" given that much of the staff of HAL Laboratories previously worked on/for Namco games (and they both helped make Outfoxies).

That's right, I forgot about that. Though, to be fair, the N64 titles are the only ones that's at least 1 GB, while any SNES/NES titles are significantly smaller.

Yeah, but there were a few N64 games (Ocarina of Time and Star Fox 64 are the only ones I remember; Smash 64 should have been on it, though).

 

[AttackParty]

You know I love and always will love Smash Brothers. But I really want this one to have wavedashing and dashdancing again. Let's face it, all the characters in this game are little kid characters and I really want it to destroy that Sony All Stars game. The only way to do that would be depth and in Brawl the movement was pretty gay imo. I'm not too happy that it wont be as fast as melee, but I WILL be glad for every single thing about this game that strays away from Brawl. Mostly because ever since Brawl came out I just gave up all hope. lol.

 

[Smasher89]

I think it can go either way.
Soul calibur is quite nice (played the 2nd and 5th game a bit, Natsu is cool with her cancels and being everywhere) even though SFxTekken seems not as good, since what i´ve seen and heard most tournamentmatches go to timeout. But i guess that is neccesarely not a bad thing.
What worries me the worst though is that the WiiU controller will all be wireless, therefore have a slight inputlag and cant work perfect on a technical level, but that could be sovled with the USB ports i think i´ve seen on the WiiU

 

[lordvaati]

just one thing to note: Namco had NOTHING to do with Street Fighter x Tekken. Capcom( produced and Dimps(guys who made the handheld Sonic games) were the developers. so that can't be used as an example of Namco's development history.

 

[Claire Diviner]

just one thing to note: Namco had NOTHING to do with Street Fighter x Tekken. Capcom( produced and Dimps(guys who made the handheld Sonic games) were the developers. so that can't be used as an example of Namco's development history.

Wow, you're right. However, Namco-Bandai is working on Tekken X Street Fighter, which will have Tekken gameplay in contrast to Street Fighter X Tekken's Street Fighter gameplay, if that means anything.

 

[Chidosengan]

Wow, you're right. However, Namco-Bandai is working on Tekken X Street Fighter, which will have Tekken gameplay in contrast to Street Fighter X Tekken's Street Fighter gameplay, if that means anything.

Didn't Tekken X Street Fighter got canceled? I mean there hasn't been any news on it for a very long time.

 

[Zzuxon]

I'm worried they'll turn smash into Tekken.

 

[FlareHabanero]

I'm worried they'll turn smash into Tekken.

Smash Bros. is going to remain relatively the same regardless of who develops the game. The only thing that will change is mechanic tuneups and new trinkets to toy with, most likely for the better.

 

[lordvaati]

well Since they made Outfoxies and the Narultimate Hero games(which played like Smash), that may not be a problem.

 

[Claire Diviner]

On top of that, you've got Sakurai overlooking development, and no matter what, he still has the final say on the game.

 

[AIM0001]

On top of that, you've got Sakurai overlooking development, and no matter what, he still has the final say on the game.

People seem to forget that....

 

[Pachinkosam]

Didn't Tekken X Street Fighter got canceled? I mean there hasn't been any news on it for a very long time.

well they made namco x capcom but its in japan obv.

 

[Claire Diviner]

well they made namco x capcom but its in japan obv.

Also keep in mind Namco X Capcom wasn't a fighting game. It was an RPG.

 

[Pachinkosam]

Lol i forgot >.<

 

[umegames]

I was incredibly shocked when they confirmed this. But I'm totally fine with NB working on the game. One positive thing is that Sakurai doesn't have to stall the development just because he would be still looking for a team so the game should be done faster. I haven't been following the company but they have a lot of experience in games (and will give the Smash games brand new ideas). But I'm wondering is did Sakurai ask NB for help or was it the other way around?

And I'm very curious about that prototype Namco Bandai made (especially since Sakurai said it "looks pretty good." ) How was its? How long has NB been work on it? I have so many questions.

But I don't think Sm4sh will move away from its roots just because a third party company is providing pretty much the whole staff. Maybe E3 we'll get visual/physical results.

Agreed, i think some of the nay sayers aren't thinking about the fact that Nintendo and sakurai are still in charge, they're not going to let Namco ruin this game.

 

[Big-Cat]

I don't trust this company to make fighting games given the unbalanced, and slow paced and/or glitchy gameplay of the last three soul calibur games.

Yoshimitsu would probably fit in like a favourite cousin at Easter dinner though.

Well, the Soul Calibur team isn't working on this save for art direction so you don't have to worry about that.

Didn't Tekken X Street Fighter got canceled? I mean there hasn't been any news on it for a very long time.

Harada, the Tekken series director, said that the game might be a next gen game. He may have been alluding to the fact the Tekken team is also working on Smash 4, pushing Tekken X Street Fighter back considerably.

This also begs the question when the eventual Tekken 7 will come out.

I'm worried they'll turn smash into Tekken.

It'll resemble Mortal Kombat in mechanics before it resembles Tekken.

 

[Claire Diviner]

It'll resemble Mortal Kombat in mechanics before it resembles Tekken.

This is probably the best post I've read so far this month.

 

[Johnknight1]

SFxTekken seems not as good, since what i´ve seen and heard most tournamentmatches go to timeout. But i guess that is neccesarely not a bad thing.

That was developed by Capcom. Tekken X Street Fighter is being made by Namco Bandai.

What worries me the worst though is that the WiiU controller will all be wireless, therefore have a slight inputlag and cant work perfect on a technical level, but that could be sovled with the USB ports i think i´ve seen on the WiiU

The WiiU Pro Controller has a mini USB plug similar to the PS3's, and the WiiU (like the Wii) has a USB port. So lag isn't a worry with a real controller, at all.

I'm worried they'll turn smash into Tekken.

Well, Smash already took a lot of the formula of Outfoxies (made by Namco Bandai) and wavedashing (an advanced technique from Tekken).

 

[soviet prince]

You know I love and always will love Smash Brothers. But I really want this one to have wavedashing and dashdancing again. Let's face it, all the characters in this game are little kid characters and I really want it to destroy that Sony All Stars game. The only way to do that would be depth and in Brawl the movement was pretty gay imo. I'm not too happy that it wont be as fast as melee, but I WILL be glad for every single thing about this game that strays away from Brawl. Mostly because ever since Brawl came out I just gave up all hope. lol.

why? imo the games can coexist this is not highlander and I wish both games the best


anyway I just hope this helps the game be released faster, I want me some dojo updates

 

[Tollhouse]

I hope to god there is no Pacman. I highly doubt the game is going to play like any game namco has made.

 

[Retroend]

i am getting tired of people saying "oh i want wavedashing back in" and such. this game isnt going to be melee 2.0, let it go already. seeing how namco is now getting involved and seeing how sakurai said he wants to take the series in a new direction means that theres definitely going to be some kind of new twists and turns. although im sure the formula will be the same, little tweeks here and there aren't a bad thing. shoot i wanna be surprised this time around. my only concern for this game is ultimately character balance. whether it'll happen or not, only time will tell.