I don't see how anyone can read that article and draw the conclusion that Sakurai is in any way, shape, or form anti-competitive. You are putting words in his mouth that are the OPPOSITE of what he is saying!
Gimpy, you are acting like the man is some mom at a t-ball game with the "everyone wins" attitude... That isn't even remotely right. The article is extremely clear: Sakurai wants a game where the loser can feel good about the game they played. That is the EXACT OPPOSITE school of thought as what you are saying, where everyone wins equally.
I don't understand how Sakurai can give an interview titled "Competition is the Core of Gameplay" and talk about how important it is to the experience of playing the game, only to have people read it and complain that he is against competition.
EDIT: I'm sorry gimpy, but a few specific lines you said were so incredibly... I don't even know what to call them. Quite frankly, I'm disappointed.
Basically rather than considering a loss a learning experience, or motivation to improve, he considers it to be nothing but discouraging, which is so anti-competitive I can hardly even believe it.
...what?!? That's the EXACT OPPOSITE of what the quote says! He wants losing to not be viewed as a negative, discouraging experience, are we reading the same words?
Masahiro Sakurai said:
I set out to make sure the game did not over-emphasize the notions of victory and
defeat.
You seem to have a problem with this line, but I don't. I want it painted on banners hung from every rooftop. See, it is ignorance of THIS CONCEPT that keeps non-competitive players from understanding our game. I will say what I have told them:
Playing to win is about playing, not winning.
Until you come to terms with that axiom, you will never understand the mindset of competition, which is to also say the central design of the game itself.
He went out of his way to make sure Melee wasn't competitive and basically screwed up badly.
After seeing what the competitive players did to that game he had to ensure that the same thing would not happen again in brawl
This is outright laughable. You honestly think that the entire game design of Melee and Brawl is a complete accident, in fact intended to be the opposite? You honestly think Sakurai sat in his underground lair watching videos from FC and plotting how to destroy the game? You think Sakurai resents the community that plays his game? Simply absurd.
I wish somebody who designed real fighting games made Brawl's characters and physics...
Seriously, stop. You have no idea how ignorant you sound right here. No one but Sakurai could have made another Smash game. That is not just an Iwata quote, that is a fact. Sakurai has designed every Smash game ever made, and no one else has made so much as a tech demo.
Tell me, who is anywhere near as qualified as Sakurai to make a Smash Bros game? Of the billions of people on this planet, no one comes even CLOSE.
I don't know why I made this topic, I just found this stuff interesting... getting a sort of look into the mind of sakurai at least in part.
Putting outright incorrect words into his mouth does not constitute looking into his mind. Unless I am very much mistaken, you have never so much as met Masahiro Sakurai. That does not make me more qualified to talk about or enjoy Smash than you or anything of the sort... But I promise that if you got to talk to him, you would see why my position is what it is and why I think your interpretation of this interview is a mile off.