Sakurai Answers 100 Questions From Fans

[J.P]

Sakurai made Mii Brawler's moveset based on his dad.


I feel terrible for making that joke.

 

[darkrailink1 (dl1)]

A translation of a Q&A session with Sakurai has been released on Source Gaming the covers "fans’ questions about games, his personal preferences, and life in general." While this is slightly older coming from the book 桜井正博ゲームについて思うことDX which was released July 30th 2008 it still provides some interesting insight on the creator and director of the Smash series right in the Brawl era. There were too many questions to fit into this post, so we included some of the more Smash related questions or just plain curious answers. To see the rest, check out the original article here.

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100 Questions for Sakurai​

Q1: What was the first game you ever played?

Sakurai: Hmm, I’ve forgotten. It might have been Pong, or something like that.

Q2: What was the first game you bought with money earned from working?

Sakurai: When I was a child, I would help my parents with things and receive allowances — does that count? It was probably the first Famicom console with Game and Watch.

Q4: Where do you think the boundary line between heavy users and casual users is?

Sakurai: I don’t think there is such a line between users. I think it’s good to keep your target audience in mind, to a certain extent, but from a creator’s viewpoint, I don’t differentiate users like that.

Q5: What is your mental state like on the days when something you worked on first goes on sale?

Sakurai: A lot of times, I think about the parts that weren’t completely finished and I feel a bit heartbroken. However, I deeply thank the people who buy it.

Q6: When you go to game stores, do you wear a disguise?

Sakurai: Very rarely. (On Smash Bros.’ or other games’ release dates). But, the secret is out……

Q7: In Smash Bros., which characters do you use often? Also, which characters do you not use much?

Sakurai: I don’t really have any preference when I play. When picking who to play as, I just choose who I want to play as at that time.

Q8: I don’t think there is a particularly strong character in Smash Bros, but what do you think, Mr. Sakurai?

Sakurai: We try to create each character so that they have both strong points and weak points. Later on, we try to get a feel for how big those strengths and weaknesses are, based on fighting methods and data.

Q12: In your job as a game creator, what moments make you go “Ah, thank goodness” the most?

Sakurai: I say that every month, but I’m especially relieved when customers enjoy a game.

Q13: It’s often said that “It’s good for people who want to work in the gaming industry to do various things while they’re young that aren’t related to games.” What sort of things did you do other than games?

Sakurai: I did a variety of things. Other than computer related things, I did a fair bit of flipbook animation, as well as making plastic models.

Q14: For college students who want to be game creators, are there any part-time jobs that you think would be helpful?

Sakurai: I recommend working in a game store. After all, it’s important to keep an eye on the kinds of people who buy what you create.

Q16: In the games you’ve designed, the ways in which you cleverly guide the player through the game’s mechanics can be seen everywhere. Did you ever study psychology?

Sakurai: No, I’ve never studied psychology. When thinking about things from the user’s perspective, I think it just happens naturally.

Q18: Are there things you want to make outside of the world of games, like movies or toys?

Sakurai: I’m open to all kinds of things people can enjoy, not just games. Nevertheless, there are much greater filmmakers out there, so I’ll stick to my area of expertise.

Q19: Which makes you happier: when a game is played so much that the disc surface becomes covered in scratches, or when a game is played carefully so that the disc doesn’t get a single scratch?

Sakurai: It depends on the situation, but I think it’s better to handle discs carefully. With normal usage, no matter how much you play, they shouldn’t get scratches or smudges.

Q20: What is your game-making motto?

Sakurai: See things from the player’s perspective. Don’t limit the possibilities of gameplay.

Q21: Mr. Sakurai, are you the type that naturally comes up with a lot of ideas? Or, are you the type that works out ideas under pressure?

Sakurai: Definitely the latter.　I’ll continue to be an improviser.

Q22: At what kind of moments does inspiration strike you?

Sakurai: When an important deadline is impending… It makes me work harder.

Q23: Who do you think inspired you the most?

Sakurai: Nobody in particular comes to mind. On the contrary, I respect people who do great things, regardless of their field.

Q30: What are your current and long-term goals and aspirations?

Sakurai: My number one priority is finishing Super Smash Brothers Brawl and taking a break. But naturally, I have plans here and there.

Q35: What place do you want to visit before you die?

Sakurai: Excluding places where you need air, I’d like to visit space, where there is nothing. If possible, somewhere where there’s no gravity.

Q40: When you were a student, what things are you glad you did? What things do you wish you had done?

Sakurai: I’m glad I played a lot of games. I wish I had dated more.

Q41: About how much sleep do you get every night?

Sakurai: If I’m busy, 3-4 hours. If I’m not, I get about 6 hours.

Q43: How often do you play analogue games ?

Sakurai: I don’t have any board games, or anything like that. I’ve played “Settlers of Catan” a little bit. Also, I once played Othello with Bose from Scha Dara Parr and lost because of one mistake.

Q44: How much do you read/watch manga and anime?

Sakurai: I don’t really do much of either, but I buy Weekly Morning (a manga magazine) every week. It’s like an exhibition of manga techniques, at least in my opinion.

Q52: If you had a cat, what would you name it?

Sakurai: I think I would decide intuitively, based on my impressions of the cat. “Shirataki” is a strong contender.

Q53: Besides games, what are your other hobbies?

Sakurai: If I had to say, it would probably be driving.

Q63: How do you ask a girl out?

Sakurai: You can’t overthink it. If you have the mentality of “Chasing and escaping” , then people can really see through that secret intention.

Q64: Mr. Sakurai, do you break girls’ hearts? Or do they break yours?

Sakurai: They break mine.

Q65: What are 3 of your strengths, and three of your weaknesses?

Sakurai: My three weaknesses are that I’m very timid, I find a lot of things bothersome, and I’m very fickle.

Q66: What is your secret for staying so great?

Sakurai: I’m not great, so I don’t know. I’ve gradually gotten older, with good feelings.

Q68: If you had a signature fighting move, what would it be and when would you use it?

Sakurai: I would split up into multiple people, so I could get several times more work done. My staff really wants this, but it’s impossible.

Q78: When you’re late, what is your best excuse to get you through any kind of dilemma?

Sakurai: I say, “I made a mistake! I’m very sorry! It won’t happen again!” to apologize. In the end, I think that’s the best way of solving a problem.

Q79: If you had some clay in front of you right now, what would you make with it?

Sakurai: I would make a man striking an acrobatic kicking pose.

Q83: Do you believe in fortune telling?

Sakurai: I only believe in it when it’s convenient.

Q88: If you had one day off, what would you do? Games are prohibited — tell me your ideal schedule.

Sakurai: I’d go somewhere like a river beach. I’d enjoy staring off into the distance. I sometimes actually do this.

Q90: Has your father ever hit you?

Sakurai: Many times.

Q95: Do you forget about things often?

Sakurai: I try to empty my hands whenever possible, so I do lose things often.

Q96: Are you good about keeping things neat and tidy?

Sakurai: I’m really not. I always make the excuse that it’s better to mix my possessions.

Q98: If the green light is running out, do you accelerate and go for it?

Sakurai: I was taught to step on the gas when the light is yellow.

Q99: Do you gamble?

Sakurai: No, I never gamble. Honestly, I’m not very good at it.

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SmashCapps found there were some curious questions and even more so curious answers. To discuss this or keep up with all things Smash follow him on Twitter.

"has your father ever hit you?" wtf why

 

[Buffoon]

Q90: Has your father ever hit you?

Sakurai: Many times.

Judging by the reactions to this quote, I'll assume that some readers have never experienced a leather belt (or another equally painfully object) being brought upside their rears if they're devastated by the knowledge that some parents whup their children.

 

[90007000]

 

[Nefnoj]

This is the greatest thing I've ever read. Sakurai is so awesome, I'm pretty sure he doesn't age.

Though I heavily disagree with "I don’t think there is such a line between users". Put a casual like me in a room with a competitive, and I'll want to turn items on high, go to Mushroomy Kingdom in a timed match. Yeeeaaah.

Judging by the reactions to this quote, I'll assume that some readers have never experienced a leather belt (or another equally painfully object) being brought upside their rears if they're devastated by the knowledge that some parents whup their children.

Spankings is one thing, beatings is another, and I think most people in this case are imagining the latter. Does a wooden spoon on the butt work as an equivalent of a leather belt? It's not too bad for a child. I was personally more scared of emotional or mental pain than physical pain, I still am to a degree, so usually being yelled at was enough.

 

[SmashJC]

w-w-w-w-w-why nobody asked him about Crash Bandicoot?

 

[HalcyonDays]

Q90: Has your father ever hit you?

Sakurai: Many times.

Well that took a dark turn, also privacy man. You don't ask a person a question like that.

I think he's talking about spankings...hopefully.

Speaking of which, are spankings illegal these days? Still remember when my mom would grab the slipper. My dad wielded the belt.

 

[smokebomb12]

"I was taught to step on the gas when the light is yellow.

 

[Dragoncharystary]

Nice to see how Sakurai handles things. I give much respect to the man.

 

[3D Dillon]

A question for you, Mr. Sakurai.

If you ever come to E3 again, you could please please PLEASE start your conference with something to say in English like:
"Settle it in Smash!"
"Who loves Smash Brothers?"
"Falcon Punch!"
OR
Like Miyamoto often said
"Hello everyone and welcome!"

It's quick to learn to say a phrase in English.
I've heard Miyamoto, Aonuma, Masuda, and Eguchi do that
so why not you, Mr. Sakurai?

 

[SpandexBullets]

"Has your dad ever hit you?"
"Many times."

WHAT.

 

[dahuterschuter]

I don’t differentiate users like that.

That's a load of malarkey. He's made statements specifically differentiating hardcore from casual users before.

See things from the player’s perspective. Don’t limit the possibilities of gameplay.

Uhhhh is that why he downgraded the physics of Smash from Melee to Brawl/4U? Having more gameplay possibilities was limiting?

Q64: Mr. Sakurai, do you break girls’ hearts? Or do they break yours?

Sakurai: They break mine.

That feel.

 

[MopedOfJustice]

Q35: What place do you want to visit before you die?

Sakurai: Excluding places where you need air, I’d like to visit space, where there is nothing. If possible, somewhere where there’s no gravity.

He simulated this experience as best he could with his new game, Super Smash Brothers Brawl, so he could share with players that little-known fantasy of his.

 

[Daftatt]

Q20: What is your game-making motto?

Sakurai: See things from the player’s perspective. Don’t limit the possibilities of gameplay.

LMFAO sakurai pls

 

[Chaozrush21]

I think he's talking about spankings...hopefully.

Speaking of which, are spankings illegal these days? Still remember when my mom would grab the slipper. My dad wielded the belt.

Spanking is still legal, I saw my young niece get spanked more than once. I also saw one of my older family members get whipped with a stick a few years ago, so it most definitely legal.

 

[FieryRebirth]

"Q40: When you were a student, what things are you glad you did? What things do you wish you had done?

Sakurai: I’m glad I played a lot of games. I wish I had dated more."

That made me crack up a lot.

There are a lot of lonely Japanese people, developers included. Japanese society and their views isn't exactly a blooming rose of love and compassion, it's pretty depressing.

Which is what ties into the "moved past it" part. Someone would have a much easier time admitting their father hit them many times later in their lives than in an era where you're still very close to your parents, when one might retain some unpleasant memories.

Psychological help is such a minimal thing over there that people are often forced to keep their personal problems internally or aka "bottle up feelings". We know where that will get them later on in life.

 

[BBC7]

Wait, it's a bad thing if your father hits you?

 

[PushDustIn]

Thanks for posting this!
If you guys have any questions, let me know. I helped Sutamen with the translation.

A couple years late on this one smashboards

It's never been translated before! There's a ton of stuff Smash-related that's never been translated. Like I recently discovered there was a cut racing bonus game from Smash 64. Sakurai mentioned it in an interview with Itoi (before Iwata Asks, there was Itoi asks). Also, I've been going back and re-translating stuff. There was a ton of misinformation surrounding characters in particular.

The year is 20XX, Sakurai now has a cat.

April 6th, 2009. She's exactly two years older than Junichi Masuda's cat.

Read the whole thing. I was really eager to see his thoughts on non-vidyagaem things. Not too sure why they asked him if he had a fetish, but a neat article nonetheless. It is always interesting to hear Sakurai's opinions.
I really wish it was easier to hear and read Sakurai's interiews and opinions and such.
Dammit why don't you speak American Sakurai?

We are translating a ton of stuff Sakurai said over at Source Gaming. Recently, I translated a column where Sakurai worked in a video game store. I'm almost finished with a translation of Sakurai discussing simple game design, so that will be posted very soon.

 

[Geno Boost]

Sakurai wants to die in space? SPACE PIRATE RIDLEY CONFIRMED!!!

 

[Benny P]

Q79: If you had some clay in front of you right now, what would you make with it?

Sakurai: I would make a man striking an acrobatic kicking pose.

C.FALCON AMIIBO CONFIRMED

 

[Code Bread]

Sakurai: See things from the player’s perspective. Don’t limit the possibilities of gameplay.

Sakurai wat.

Also why is this 2008 article being posted anyway.

 

[Evil Burrito]

"They break mine" AND THUS THE FEELS FROM SAKURAI WENT INTO SMASH BROS WITH BREAKING RIDLEY FANBOY HEARTS

 

[Trigspro789]

Reaction to Q20: SAKURAI 4 NINTENDO PRESIDENT!... I was joking when I said that, obviously.

 

[Rukia]

I think my heart broke from reading this.

 

[XStarWarriorX]

I think with the "limits", nintendo had to step in at times, i mean the wii was casual and put two and two together so (even tho brawl can be pretty" techier" then the latest installment, it just was floaty and defensive is all..... and for 4 dat dere 3ds was pretty limiting (you wanna tech skill on that? it'd break), so i think he was honest, not really his fault on how the games turned out, he did his very best. This is coming from someone who likes the gameplay of 64/melee/PM more.

As the only game dev I look up to, and his creations are responsible for introducing me to the gaming world i cant help but feel for the guy even more so. I can easily relate to heartbreak...

 

[C_Mill24]

So Sakurai basically confirmed there should be no tier list for Smash Bros. for Wii U.

There shouldn't be one, but one will be made regardless.

 

[Steelo Rivers]

I literally hit control+f and typed "melee" to see if he said anything about it.

 

[Venus of the Desert Bloom]

Sakurai wat.

Also why is this 2008 article being posted anyway.

I think because translation on it had just finished. It's fairly interesting to read regardless. Quite a long time to translate it though but maybe it was a stop and go process for most of it.

 

[ShadowGanon]

Q63: How do you ask a girl out?

Sakurai: You can’t overthink it. If you have the mentality of “Chasing and escaping” , then people can really see through that secret intention.

Sakurai be handing out the deep relationship advice, people. Better pay attention. Lol

 

[MarioMeteor]

Wow. It's pretty damn interesting when Sakurai gives straight answers.

 

[L1GHT]

Q20: What is your game-making motto?

Sakurai: See things from the player’s perspective. Don’t limit the possibilities of gameplay.

Brawl is the epitome of limits

 

[Newt Floss]

Not too sure why they asked him if he had a fetish

Sakurai admitting to being a boob man was my favorite part of the interview.

 

[StripedNinja]

So Sakurai basically confirmed there should be no tier list for Smash Bros. for Wii U.

When has he ever been a credible source of competitive knowledge.

 

[Wanderer from Roseyard]

Q90: Has your father ever hit you?

Sakurai: Many times.

"You cut Lucas!?" *crack! crack! crack!*

...

 

[Venus of the Desert Bloom]

In regards to the "father hitting" question, it could of been that the question included both hitting and play hitting. Hitting kids isn't that much of a taboo as in the States. Now...wailing on them is obviously bad but I don't think that's what the question is implying.

It's like maybe Sakurai did something bad as a kid and got a spanking or a small punch yo the forehead. I've see teachers haul the off and throws kids onto the ground, hit them in the forehead, yank them by the collar, kick them, and slap them with the book when they do something stupid or bad here in Japan. Sometimes, it's like "hahaha the teacher is being goofy with the teacher" while other times its like "holy **** that teachwe just pushed the kid out of the classroom."

 

[Brickbox]

Is no one paying attention to the fact they can't count?!
Where is question 3? why does it go from question 68 to question 79?!

There is no sexy question 69

 

[Venus of the Desert Bloom]

Is no one paying attention to the fact they can't count?!
Where is question 3? why does it go from question 68 to question 79?!

There is no sexy question 69

There were too many questions to fit into this post, so we included some of the more Smash related questions or just plain curious answers. To see the rest, check out the original article here.

Lol

 

[Brickbox]

Oh thanks, my mind focuses on things like the numbers not being right but I completely miss the fact that was posted.

 

[Radical Larry]

When has he ever been a credible source of competitive knowledge.

Well, he's the creator of the game series, so he has insight on every little thing within the series that we possibly don't even know about yet. Ever thought about that?

 

[JagoTheTiger]

sakurai has no emotions