Sakurai Confirms Smash Ultimate Will Only Include Gaming Content

While giving an acceptance speech for an award received at Tokyo Game Show 2019, Super Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai made a comment about requests from Western fans for characters like Goku, Iron Man and other characters from outside of gaming to be included in Smash. In this comment, which was translated by former Source Gaming director PushDustIn, Sakurai remarks that Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will only include gaming content.

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This isn't the first time that Sakurai has dismissed the idea of characters from outside of gaming in Smash. In a surprise appearance on a Nico Nico show in 2015, he talked about the roster selection process for Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and Wii U and discussed requests for Goku and Spongebob to appear in Smash, dismissing them as "impossible" according to a translation by Source Gaming. However, his acceptance speech at TGS 2019 marks the first time Sakurai has outright said in public that only video game content is eligible for Smash.

Author's note: Who do you think will be revealed as the next DLC character? Where do you think the boundaries lie for what is and isn't video game content?

 

I looked it up, and it seems like he thought that characters from fighting games would not merge well. So I guess that was a portrayal issue as well.

Here's the exact quote:

“The biggest feature we look at in Smash Bros. is, ‘What does this character bring to Smash Bros. that other characters don’t?’ If you look at… someone from a fighting game already, and people like fighting with this character, from my point of view, it’s like ‘this guy does what this guy already does. He fills the role that this character already has. So while you may like this character and he’s interesting, that doesn’t really merge well, here.”

The issue is that one character already in Smash can easily make a fighting game character redundant. Ryu could easily have been just another shoto like Mario if it weren't for his Street Fighter inputs gimmick.

 

I think this is definitive because this is something that outright addresses a whole group of characters and not just "X specific character is this" or "Y specific character is that" Not to mention it is quite clear that Sakurai views Smash as a celebration in gaming. Characters like Goku and Iron Man represent other media such as anime and comic books. Of course are not exclusive from video games as both have appeared in plenty but are not as impactful as gaming characters.

James Bond was considered at one point during melee, and his biggest issue at the time was using Pierce Brosnan's likeness, however since then Sakurai hasn't really looked at many non-gaming characters for Smash since he's focused more on just content from video game IPs.

 

People say that Sakurai goes back on a lot of things. What they fail to explain is why he did so and why such things were said in the first place.

Also, Joker's gun is a model gun given power through the Metaverse. Still falls within such weapons as Bayonetta's guns.

 

Sakurai to these people:

 

im only surprised that people are that in for iron man of all people. not spider-man, not batman, just goddamn iron man

Keep in mind that he's the mascot and starting point of the MCU, which needless to say has become it's own phenomenon in 11 years. He's a gigantic IP because of that, so there'd definitely be an Iron Man craze.

 

Iron Man does make sense to have such popularity thanks to the MCU.

I feel nobody represents that franchise any better than him: he started the franchise, he is involved with most of the stuff going on in it and stars most of the key elements from the various movies that many people remember the most.

The way I see it is honestly this: the Fantastic Four are the best when it comes to representing Marvel’s roots and genesis, Spider-Man is the choice to represent the pop culture impact outside the movies and Iron Man is the definitive way to represent the MCU.

They may not be in Smash now or any time in the future... but these three picks are probably the first to come inside everyone’s minds when thinking about each respective side of Marvel.

 

Well... he didn't disconfirm Waluigi.

 

You mean like how he said that he did not want to include realistic guns, fighters from other fighting games, and Ridley?

...And then you went on and on defending your statement about "whataboutisms" and whatever and blah blah...

But I'm here to outright refute your belief that Sakurai actually said "No" to Ridley. That this a myth born of misconstruing Sakurai's words (who dah thunk?)

Not one, but twice has pre-Ultimate Sakurai clarified his stance on Ridley. Which basically amounted to "We could make Ridley playable, but we'd have to make significant compromises and diminish his integral design." Not the same as an over-simplifed "Ridley can't be playable."

If you recall, Sakurai has gone on to explain things depend on what he's able to envision at the time. That goes for not just Ridley but for Little Mac, Villager, and Pac-Man. All of these characters were never an actual "No", but an "I can't see them working at this time." In these instances, their futures were unclear, but people in the community just HAVE to insist Sakurai is putting his proverbial foot down. It's gotta be "No, won't happen, will never happen". Black-and-white mentality which definitely pervading within the speculation community.

When it came to Little Mac and Villager and Pac-Man and finally Ridley, what simply happened is Sakurai got the vision he needed. Little Mac just punching everything was just fine, Villager wasn't "too soft" to fight, and Pac-Man required some serious creativity. Then Sakurai, always aiming to please his fans, finally responded to the outcries of the Ridley fanbase (who clearly disagreed with his previous stance), buckled down, and produced a very acceptable playable form of Ridley.

Over time Sakurai has realized it's often futile to say "it probably can't work", 'cause he's proven himself wrong on more than one occasion...

BUT this is one thing, and a CLEAR and CUT line has been draw for this particular instance. It had already been drawn before, but people can't seem to tell the difference between "not sure if possible" and "Not Gonna Happen". Goku, Spongebob, Iron Man, any character that didn't originate from a video game or were born for the purpose of the video game medium are not in the cards. At all.

The Smash Ballot disallowed non-gaming characters. Sakurai laughed about Goku and Spongebob requests in an interview. And now he has straight up (re)drawn the line between gaming characters and non-gaming characters. I expect people will now (continue to) try and blur that line with mental gymnastics about how "so-and-so character has X amount of games, they count" or whatever. But those who can actually discern Sakurai's statements already realize that a character's origin tells their medium, as does general public perception (e.g. "Goku" is manga/anime, "Iron Man" is western comics, etc.).

 

But I'm here to outright refute your belief that Sakurai actually said "No" to Ridley. That this a myth born of misconstruing Sakurai's words (who dah thunk?)

...And then you went on explaining how Sakurai's answer to Ridley was different and whatever and blah blah...

But I'm here to outright refute your belief that you are telling me something new. This is a myth born out of not reading the last few posts of the discussion where the argument that you made was already made and was already admitted to by me.


Your post is nice, but it came too late to refute my belief.

 

I’m not surprised people can’t see the bigger picture that this is video games only. Good for Sakurai to put his foot down and say no. If you want to fight as other characters, just play something else

 

Would Captain N count as a video game character? I want the full team back together damnit!

 

Now that I think about it I realise that the Pokémon's voices and Shadow Ball also come from the anime.

 

...And then you went on explaining how Sakurai's answer to Ridley was different and whatever and blah blah...

But I'm here to outright refute your belief that you are telling me something new. This is a myth born out of not reading the last few posts of the discussion where the argument that you made was already made and was already admitted to by me.


Your post is nice, but it came too late to refute my belief.

That's cute.
"What you say may be true, but I'm gonna disregard it because of an arbitrary time limit I choose to impose."

...In that case consider your argument soundly defeated.

 

Now that I think about it I realise that the Pokémon's voices and Shadow Ball also come from the anime.

Yeah and the anime originated from the Pokemon games. Goku and Shrek are never gonna be in smash, move on already.

 

That's cute.
"What you say may be true, but I'm gonna disregard it because of an arbitrary time limit I choose to impose."

...In that case consider your argument soundly defeated.

You made a strawman there. Besides, I already admitted that my original argument was wrong. Twice now, one of those times being in direct reply to you. You are just slow to catch up.

I admit that I compared apples and oranges. Sakurai bringing in a deconfirmed character by solving portrayal issues is different from Sakurai bringing in a deconfirmed character by changing the premise of Smash. Sakurai can solve portrayal issues, but I see no reason to believe that he would be willing to change the premise of Smash.

Yeah and the anime originated from the Pokemon games. Goku and Shrek are never gonna be in smash, move on already.

You are repeating what I said as if I disagree with it. I already moved on, but you have not.

Fun fact: Ash is mentioned in Smash 3DS's Pokemon Trainer trophy even though Ash originates from the anime. But it's just a trophy text and Ash is from a franchise which does originate in video gaming.

With this post the argument ended in an agreement because I admitted my error. Yet you guys keep bringing up points that were already brought up and already agreed on by everyone involved —including me— as if I still disagree with them. The argument ended in an agreement on the side that you agree with as well. Is that not a satisfying way for an argument to end? Why do you insist on acting as if I am still disagreeing?

 

Thank you for this already obvious information. I hope the 2nd Fighter Pass is all Nintendo characters.

 

So how about Twilight Princess Link?

 

So how about Twilight Princess Link?

Maybe as Wolf Link with Midna?

 

So how about Twilight Princess Link?

I'm seriously hoping for CDi Link because it would be hilarious. One can dream…

 

I thought we already knew this.

we did but us stupid westerners dont listen

 

This is something I don't expect to change unless a new director takes control of the Smash franchise and they have a different opinion on non-gaming characters. Sakurai has been explicit multiple times that he doesn't see non-gaming characters as legitimate choices.

 

Maybe as Wolf Link with Midna?

I'm actually serious. he plays different enough imo to be a different character. and not just some meme.

 

Maybe as Wolf Link with Midna?

But the gale boomerang... and he was heavy and slower. plays different enough form the other Links IMO to be a separate character. Same goes for Brawl Pit.

 

But the gale boomerang... and he was heavy and slower. plays different enough form the other Links IMO to be a separate character. Same goes for Brawl Pit.

We have enough copies of characters. The fad needs to go.

 

We have enough copies of characters. The fad needs to go.

True. But you can't lie they would play different. Especially Brawl Pit. You could also mix up Twilight Princess Link's attacks.

 

True. But you can't lie they would play different. Especially Brawl Pit. You could also mix up Twilight Princess Link's attacks.

I don't care if they play different, it's still the same character. If they cared to flesh them out with attacks from their respective games, I would not mind.

 

I don't mind echoes, but I'd rather avoid a 'Pink Gold Peach' situation.

 

I don't mind echoes, but I'd rather avoid a 'Pink Gold Peach' situation.

As much as I dislike her, a Pink Gold Peach fighter that manipulates metal would actually be cool. Like Tremor from MKX
Too bad Sakurai's crew is too lazy to flesh out characters like that. *cough cough*

 

As much as I dislike her, a Pink Gold Peach fighter that manipulates metal would actually be cool. Like Tremor from MKX
Too bad Sakurai's crew is too lazy to flesh out characters like that. *cough cough*

I don't believe it is ever stated that Pink Gold Peach could manipulate metal. Could you show me where you found that?
I also don't understand why you would criticize Sakurai for not wanting to flesh out Pink Gold Peach and carbon-copies like her.

 

I thought that Pink Gold Peach was like Metal Mario who's just Mario transformed. Personally I think that they should include Pink Gold Peach as Peach's metal form. Mario changes into his proper canon metal form when he grabs the metal box, so why not Peach?

 

I thought that Pink Gold Peach was like Metal Mario who's just Mario transformed. Personally I think that they should include Pink Gold Peach as Peach's metal form. Mario changes into his proper canon metal form when he grabs the metal box, so why not Peach?

Pink Gold Peach was created in order to be the Peach counterpart to Metal Mario. Keep in mind, though, that Metal Mario isn't even in Smash, and we have no idea what canonically happens to Peach when grabbing a metal box, as it has never happened.

However, this is a discussion for a different thread.

 

that Metal Mario isn't even in Smash,

Metal Mario is in Smash 64. And in any game where he grabs the Metal Box, since that's supposed to be the canonical item that made Mario Metal. (Even though the Metal Box actually works differently in the Mario canon.)

 

Metal Mario is in Smash 64. And in any game where he grabs the Metal Box, since that's supposed to be the canonical item that made Mario Metal. (Even though the Metal Box actually works differently in the Mario canon.)

Not as a standalone character, which was what I meant. Every character turns into a metal version of themselves akin to how Mario does when they grab the metal box, including Peach. I mean I guess Pink Gold Peach could be a cool easter egg, though, so your point is proven.

Still, a different thread would probably be best for this discussion.

 

Metal Mario was an unplayable standalone character in Smash 64 like Master Hand, Metal Luigi, and Fighting Polygons. Though in the main Mario series Metal Mario is not a standalone character and is just Mario temporarily turned metal by the Metal Cap from the Metal Box.

Ether way I'll drop this now. I do not think this small discussion really warrants an own thread because it probably won't go on all that long because it's rather trivial.

 

There’s already a Pink Gold Peach thread

 

Thank you for this already obvious information. I hope the 2nd Fighter Pass is all Nintendo characters.

Sounds great. Almost certainly not happening though.

 

R.I.P. Scrooge McDuck.

 

Good look I love Dragon Ball and Goku is one of the best anime characters ever created. But he should remain in anime, Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, GT Super.

If people want to play Goku play Tenkaichi or Fighterz.

 

Do people really asked for Spongebob?

I understand why Goku but why Spongebob? he is like one of these "meme characters" lmao I can´t believe that some people really want such characters in Smash.

I accept many picks that people want but characters like Spongebob are just ridiculous they can´t be serious, these characters are just there for the memes nothing else, it should been clear from the beginning that these characters are impossible

 

I don't care if they play different, it's still the same character. If they cared to flesh them out with attacks from their respective games, I would not mind.

And that's what I said. Mix them up a but more. I agree the Links we have now feel lazy and very much the same.

But Twilight Princess Link had a unquie boomerang. And you could give him other items and hidden skills for attacks.