Sakurai: "If we Direct Smash ONLY at The Competitive Players, It Will Have No Future."

[MasterExocuter]

Sorry, my sarcasm skills aren't quite what they used to be.

It's okay, my Melee Zelda tech skill isn't what it used to be either

 

[ZeruSlayer]

Brawl lasted up untill about a year ago. And now Nintendo is supporting tournaments. It'll last a looong time.

Brawl lasted alright, but their populous plummeted. It's not about how long a game would last it's how you can engage your audience in continuing to support the game. That's what I meant by lifespan (amount of audience invested in a game). Nintendo is supporting tournaments to get into the good graces of potential buyers of their products, that can increase lifespan. But without DLC and patches to show the audience that Nintendo actively cares for the game and supports it, what's stopping players from picking a top tier character and dominating tournaments because they refused to nerf or buff characters? What's stopping players from getting bored of the game? Take those questions into consideration.

 

[EthereaL]

I don't understand why saying "Sakurai is dumb for thinking that adding faster-paced tactics limits casual play" means that people are "hating" or "ungrateful" or think that Sm4sh is "uncompetitive". Anything in which the better player consistently wins is competitive. However, from an "enjoyment" perspective, people tend to enjoy watching (and playing) faster-paced, quickly-shifting games -- hence why Chess does not accrue millions of viewers, while Hearthstone does.

 

[ZeruSlayer]

I don't understand why saying "Sakurai is dumb for thinking that adding faster-paced tactics limits casual play" means that people are "hating" or "ungrateful" or think that Sm4sh is "uncompetitive". Anything in which the better player consistently wins is competitive. However, from an "enjoyment" perspective, people tend to enjoy watching (and playing) faster-paced, quickly-shifting games -- hence why Chess does not accrue millions of viewers, while Hearthstone does.

Thank you for bringing up Hearthstone. Even though Hearhtstone is a simplistic card game it has a skill gap which adds depth (ex. Should I commit to having a full board and risk getting flamestriked? Do I play around _______? Should I test for this secret?). These questions bring about depth to a simple card game and makes it into something more which is why hearthstone is so popular (easy to play, difficult to master).

Sakurai limits difficulty, he removes or attempts to remove any form of complicated tech; this removes depth and makes the game overlysimplistic to the point where you can master a character in an incredibly short time. In Sakurai's eyes this evens the playing field which is true, but limiting players is not satisfying for the audience in the long run and can cause a game to get really stale given time (easy to play, easy to master).

 

[RespawningJesus]

When will people realize that Smash does not revolve around the competitive community alone?

 

[Mac2492]

Cross-posting my response on reddit because I feel it's relevant to this topic:

A lot of people here need to realize that we are not the casual audience. If you're deep enough into gaming to browse this subreddit and complain about Sakurai's design philosophy then you are far from a casual player. Casual does not mean "non-tournament" in this context. Casual means those players who call the game "super mario smash" and think jumping and attacking at the same time is hard.

With this in mind, there is a fundamental disconnect between design for "competitive" and "casual" players. More competent gamers are accustomed to managing resources and memorizing inputs, plus have faster response times. Mechanics such as hitstun and priority are invisible to casual gamers but still effect them. Imagine if you were completely ignorant about friction and were asked to walk on ice. You'd keep falling without understanding why. Sakurai isn't just trying to design a game that your 5-year-old sibling can enjoy. He's trying to design a game that they can win and understand on a fundamental level.

I don't completely agree with every design decision in Smash, but I think arguments like "I played Melee without knowing wavedash and it was still fun" are missing the point completely. If anything, that's a testament to the success of Sakurai's design philosophy. Smash games have the lowest entry requirement of any fighting game and even a complete klutz can pick up the game and succeed within a few matches with effort. It's important to realize that even seemingly simple concepts like fall speed and custom moves are too complex for a large portion of the population.

There is almost a decade gap between me and my siblings. Smash is one of the few games we could enjoy together even when they were wee little pups. I've hosted many events in college. Which games draw out the non-gamers? Smash and Mario Kart. Don't just picture games between casual and casual or experienced and experienced. Imagine a game between casual and experienced. In the case of modern Melee the casual player will just think "holy crap what is he doing", plus the experienced player has a wider moveset via advanced techniques. In the case of recent Smash4 both players have the same effective moveset and it boils down to one player using the moveset better.

If you're balancing for competitive players then you generally want to keep these exploits of game mechanics UNLESS they are broken. If you're balancing for a general audience then you generally want to remove the exploits because they create an invisible divide between your audiences. This also applies to game pacing, stage design, and so on. Again, it's not that Sakurai gets everything right. It's just that he's making a game that anyone can play with anyone with as close to equal footing as possible. To this end he has done a spectacular job.

tl;dr Before complaining about Sakurai's design choices just imagine a match between you and a clueless 5-year-old. Does the mechanic support the 5-year-old without hurting you? This is probably the intention.

 

[SpanishMeerkat]

kinda with sakurai here. i play smash for fun, if it were made more competitive, i wouldnt play it. sakurai pours his heart and soul into these games. and even if not as competitive as melee, smash itself is still an enjoyable game to play. and we will all eat it up >.<

Well, I am getting back in to smashing seriously, and even I agree with this article. If you attract only a small portion of people who want to smash seriously, even the people who take it seriously would soon to lose interest, cause what fun is there when you can't goof off every now and then?

 

[THERyanP7]

All the people arguing Smash is strictly a party game are dumb... every multiplayer game is competitive... that's the point! Nobody likes losing (unless you're weird) anything, not just games can have a competition side, and he needs to realize the only reason Smash is as big as it is is because of the Hardcore scene who still play older versions because of the love for the game! The people who try to get better and want to be good should not be punished for it! The difference between casual and skilled player should be big! The casuals will still play regardless and Having a competitive scene makes the game last! Not catering to the casual players who will only play the game a year or so anyway then go back to COD! Which happens to be a great example of a casual friendly game that also has a large competitive side! A casual friendly game that punishes players who take the time to learn it and be good is what kills games! Like Sakurai said some changes only Hardcore players will notice... So stop making changes for the people who don't give a **** about Smash! The ones arguing Smash is strictly a party game need to go play something else cause you'll be the death of a great franchise... Okay rant over..

 

[LancerStaff]

Brawl lasted alright, but their populous plummeted. It's not about how long a game would last it's how you can engage your audience in continuing to support the game. That's what I meant by lifespan (amount of audience invested in a game). Nintendo is supporting tournaments to get into the good graces of potential buyers of their products, that can increase lifespan. But without DLC and patches to show the audience that Nintendo actively cares for the game and supports it, what's stopping players from picking a top tier character and dominating tournaments because they refused to nerf or buff characters? What's stopping players from getting bored of the game? Take those questions into consideration.

Brawl, a complete and udder mess competitively, lasted years. Smash 4 is both supportive of competitive play and has Nintendo backing it's tournaments. It will at least last until the sequel comes along.

 

[Teran]

Spiteful Sakurai strikes again

 

[Vaidya]

Slow and boring? Chaingrabs? Meta knight? Fun party game, but in no way was it competitive worthy...at all.

Slow and boring? It's literally not even slow at the slightest. Don't blame the game on your low level of skill. Brawl is just too much for you, I guess. You can't keep up with it's technical demands. You're just not good at the game, that's all I'm gonna say :D

 

[Earthboundy]

I hope he will one day realize that casuals will play any smash game. They eat up Melee. The only reason Melee didn't sell better than Brawl was because of the systems they were on. Had Brawl been gamecube and Melee been Wii, Melee would have sold 100x better than brawl.

 

[MudkipUniverse]

Lol, it sold well enough for a sequel. A hardcore only Smash would not, being that the hardcore community amounts to less then 1% of sales. Popular games have a future, dude.

"casuals" are stupid

 

[ItsChon]

Not to average people it didn't. Brawl was just as good as Melee in their eyes, if not better.

This is kind of mute as it's really all opinionated. Neither of us are right or wrong in this situation as much as it pains me to say that.

Wanna know what's funny? Most casuals didn't see from your deluded perspective of Brawl being "frustrating" or boring. ALL casuals I've ever known have seen Brawl just as good if not better than Melee. Of course, you obviously speak for the majority despite being a piece of the minority.

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree.

As for Melee as the "Perfect Meal" it was good. It was a fantastic game. Can I stand it when playing casually anymore? **** no. The roster is small. Stages are boring and provide no objective. Music is scarce. Brawl may not have been perfect in the gameplay department, but compared to Melee in terms of content it was the Empire State Building to a crooked-*** shack.

This just ties back in to my other point. Take Melee, with the same exact mechanics and gameplay. Give it a visual update so it looks just like Brawl or S4msh. Add more stages, more music, buff up the single player, add more characters, and add the ability to play others online. Are you honestly going to tell me, that game would not be better than brawl? S4msh isn't bad. I could definitely play it for an extended period of time and have fun. Melee is just better in my opinion. EVEN WITH, the extreme lack of content in comparison to S4msh or Brawl.

I never intended riding Sakurai's phallus as you so presume. He makes terrible decisions all the time. Dark Pit and Tripping were stupid and are definitely terrible design choices. I was simply stating as to how he's used to dealing with people who weren't pompous douches.

Alright fair enough.

 

[ZeruSlayer]

Brawl, a complete and udder mess competitively, lasted years. Smash 4 is both supportive of competitive play and has Nintendo backing it's tournaments. It will at least last until the sequel comes along.

What is your definition of lasting? Brawl went from having millions of copies sold to having people complain about the game for it's bad online and horrible mechanics which then turned into people dropping the game. Online and offline content was the main gimmicks in making the game lasting since gameplay wasn't doing it for a select amount of people but when the online is horrendously bad and all the trophies and stickers are unlocked what's left? The game then becomes stale, which is why Brawl gets the hate it deserves. You can overlook bad gameplay but most dedicated gamers can't look past that.

"Smash 4 is supportive of competitive play" when competitive players are saying that isn't the case (so are they whining for no reason?). Even I know that Smash 4 has no competitive value and I'm not a competitive Smash player. It was designed to make anyone be able to play and to make it so anyone can be at an even playing field with one another. That was the vision of the game and you're telling me it supports competitive play because of things that don't affect gameplay. These are the same people that removed DI and added Vectoring because they didn't want players to have any form of control in terms of survival (I know they implemented DI again but that doesn't excuse the fact that they removed it in the first place to fulfill the Sakurai's vision). These are the same people that removed edgehogging because they didn't want to make it difficult for players to recover...

...you do realize that that's the reason why sequels are even made right? You're stating the obvious, sequels are made when the companies met or exceeded their quota. It's basically like milking a cow, when that cow runs out of milk (money stops coming from a game), they get a new cow to get more (make a new one).

 

[Sleek Media]

Sakurai tailors major portions of Smash4 to competitive players. Competitive players complain.

Sakurai states that competitive players are important but not the center of the universe. Competitive players complain.

No wonder competitive smash has such a good reputation. We are so reasonable and fair minded.

 

[ItsChon]

Sakurai tailors major portions of Smash4 to competitive players. Competitive players complain.

He didn't tailor it towards us. He did it to placate us. And in my opinion, while its ten times better than brawl, it's still not as good as Melee.

Sakurai states that competitive players are important but not the center of the universe. Competitive players complain.

Did we read the same article? He told competitive smashers to **** off and find another game if we wanted to be competitive.

No wonder competitive smash has such a good reputation. We are so reasonable and fair minded.

Your little comment is invalid.

 

[MudkipUniverse]

This article was a kick to the balls. "If you were to play the game competitively, there are much better games to do that."

He just told us all to **** off

 

[Chilex]

Wow. At this rate, we'll hit 1000 comments.

 

[MP8]

As I said back on page 8 of the comments, whether or not this was said will not stop people from playing competitively. Just disagree with the man, move on, enjoy your Smash game(s) and stop being sensitive and over-dramatic.

 

[Nova The Silly One]

Edit: From all of the comments here today and from what people have been saying, the original translation was really not accurate in the one major line people here have been mentioning. A more accurate translation would be: "If we direct Smash ONLY at the competitive players, it will have no future." The title of the article has been changed and the article itself has been updated to reflect this. Thanks everyone!

---​

Recently Sakurai has sat down to another interview with a Japanese magazine to talk about DLC, balancing, reasons for including characters, and a bunch of other interesting topics. While we have not been able to translate the entire article as of now, a wonderful user on reddit named get_in_the_robot translated a small portion of the text and posted it to /r/smashbros. He does mention he talked some about other game modes and other things, but he strictly translated the parts related to patches and competitive Smash. We will provide translations for the rest of the piece as soon as possible. As you can read from the title, there are some very... interesting statements ahead. Put on your seat belts and prepare for a bumpy ride.

---​

Q: Do you think you'll be able to spend your next birthday (August 3rd) in peace?

Sakurai: I wonder (laughs). I don't know, but I think so. For some reason I promised to make Mewtwo, and we might have things like patches on the way. We're working hard on it now, which means everything we make is something we didn't start on until now.

Question from a reader: A question about adjusting game balance. What timeframe did you have in mind when wanting to start making adjustments that led to the release of the latest patch?

Sakurai: The idea behind the most recent patch was timed to match up with the overseas release of the Wii U version, and to make the game a bit more balanced. I had a small team monitoring balance and they made small adjustments. Using data accumulated from all of the online battles worldwide, I had them do research into what kind of problems arose, and how those problems should be addressed. Then I had those changes put into practice, refined again, and then I made selections and brought up my own ideas, and that cycle repeats.

Q: What are the chances of ongoing patches?

Sakurai: In regards to the future, I'm completely undecided. Research on balance is always kept and accumulated, and if we had the manpower it could always be done, but we don't know if those resources can be acquired. If there was an elegant way this could be done, or if there was an extremely large problem, it could happen...is the general feel, for now. However, I don't think anything that was fixed in this patch was particularly critical. Only the most hardcore players would notice. Moreover, in a game where advantage and disadvantage because of the rules, I don't think there's a point in trying too hard. I'm always thinking hard to ensure that I don't erase any unique features of a character.

Q: There are people who play very seriously, in grand finals for official tournaments, and then there are people who are just happy to see their favorite character in the game. How do you feel about that?

Sakurai: If people want to play seriously 1v1, they should do that, and if people simply want to enjoy the game, they should do so. There might even be people who only like to play with their amiibo. I think it's good that there are so many different ways to enjoy this game.

Q: So, then, this is good...

"Mmm. Personally, I feel that if you want to play a fighting game seriously, there are other competitive fighting games that are more suited to that, and people like that could have fun playing those. If you play Smash Brothers seriously as a competitive game, the game itself has no future. If we direct Smash ONLY at the competitive players, it will have no future.""

If I wanted to, I'm sure I could make a more hardcore Smash Brothers game. I could make the game speed much faster, increase the number of inputs...but then, beginners would no longer be able to play the game. When the game becomes more like a sport, a tool that more strictly rewards the player with more skill, the game tapers off more, like a mountain. Just like how a mountain tapers off into its peak, that area becomes more and more narrow.

Q: So only those who desire to reach the top remain.

Sakurai: There are lots of games like that out there. If we downgraded* the game to make it more spectator friendly, that would be a bad thing. Smash needs to be a game that new players can play. Some level of technical skill may be necessary, but if just try and can move your character around a bit, that's the important bit. We do show the results of the battle, but everyone just mashes A, right? To move on, to keep going. Making people feel this way is important.

Q: I'll admit, regardless of whether I win or lose, I always think "just one more."

Sakurai: I fought, I lost...these results and suffering from painful feelings is how the user base shrinks, and we want to avoid that with Smash. In that sense, Smash has many elements that are rather ambiguous and nebulous in regards to competition.

---​

*The translator mentioned that Sakurai used a strange verb here in a way he'd never seen or read before. He thought that it implied that making the game more spectator friendly was a downgrade but he isn't entirely certain.

If you would like to see the article in it's entirety and maybe provide a translation of the rest of the article for people to read, we have linked pictures of the rest of the article below.

Page 1 - Page 2 - Page 3 - Page 4 - Page 5 - Page 6 - Page 7 - Page 8​

SmashCapps wishes he knew Japanese enough to translate the entire article for you guys. Maybe if you know Japanese, or would just like to keep in touch, you could follow SmashCapps on Twitter. He also apologizes for the bad translation from earlier, and hopes you all can "please understand" this error.

I guess i'm fine with this personally but I can already predict a potential upcoming argument from the really hardcore players who were upset by this. Possibly pushing the previously made and heavily supported petition for Nintendo to make Melee available on the Wii U and for there to be an online mode.

 

[LancerStaff]

What is your definition of lasting? Brawl went from having millions of copies sold to having people complain about the game for it's bad online and horrible mechanics which then turned into people dropping the game. Online and offline content was the main gimmicks in making the game lasting since gameplay wasn't doing it for a select amount of people but when the online is horrendously bad and all the trophies and stickers are unlocked what's left? The game then becomes stale, which is why Brawl gets the hate it deserves. You can overlook bad gameplay but most dedicated gamers can't look past that.

"Smash 4 is supportive of competitive play" when competitive players are saying that isn't the case (so are they whining for no reason?). Even I know that Smash 4 has no competitive value and I'm not a competitive Smash player. It was designed to make anyone be able to play and to make it so anyone can be at an even playing field with one another. That was the vision of the game and you're telling me it supports competitive play because of things that don't affect gameplay. These are the same people that removed DI and added Vectoring because they didn't want players to have any form of control in terms of survival (I know they implemented DI again but that doesn't excuse the fact that they removed it in the first place to fulfill the Sakurai's vision). These are the same people that removed edgehogging because they didn't want to make it difficult for players to recover...

...you do realize that that's the reason why sequels are even made right? You're stating the obvious, sequels are made when the companies met or exceeded their quota. It's basically like milking a cow, when that cow runs out of milk (money stops coming from a game), they get a new cow to get more (make a new one).

People will complain about just about anything. Hah, if Smash 4 was Melee with more characters people would still be complaining. It's gotten to the point where nothing will satisfy the hardcore fanbase.

Look, the complaints from the competitive side of the fanbase amount to "not Melee." Why should anybody pander to a fanbase that doesn't even understand what it wants? They're better off making the games the way they have since the beginning.

This article was a kick to the balls. "If you were to play the game competitively, there are much better games to do that."

He just told us all to **** off

He told you to either quit complaining or to find a more competitive game. Simple.

 

[Sleek Media]

It is nice to see Sakurai completely validate the points I've been making for years. INB4 temp ban Sakurai.

 

[ItsChon]

He told you to either quit complaining or to find a more competitive game. Simple.

Wow. You really like sucking his big massive humongous ***-okay fine I'll stop. I don't give a **** what Sakurai told us, he's a washed up old developer that want's to be done with the Super Smash Series but can't. He's lost all love for the game.

 

[LimitCrown]

Wow. You really like sucking his big massive humongous ***-okay fine I'll stop. I don't give a **** what Sakurai told us, he's a washed up old developer that want's to be done with the Super Smash Series but can't. He's lost all love for the game.

How is Sakurai a washed up developer?

 

[ItsChon]

How is Sakurai a washed up developer?

Can you name one significant recent achievement outside of S4msh?

 

[QWA]

Slow and boring? It's literally not even slow at the slightest. Don't blame the game on your low level of skill. Brawl is just too much for you, I guess. You can't keep up with it's technical demands. You're just not good at the game, that's all I'm gonna say :D

Obvious troll is obvious.

Edit:

Can you name one significant recent achievement outside of S4msh?

There's Kid Icarus: Uprising, but the controls on that game are atrocious. Especially for lefties.

 

[LimitCrown]

Can you name one significant recent achievement outside of S4msh?

Can you give a valid reason why you think he is a washed up game developer?

 

[ZeruSlayer]

People will complain about just about anything. Hah, if Smash 4 was Melee with more characters people would still be complaining. It's gotten to the point where nothing will satisfy the hardcore fanbase.

Look, the complaints from the competitive side of the fanbase amount to "not Melee." Why should anybody pander to a fanbase that doesn't even understand what it wants? They're better off making the games the way they have since the beginning.

Fair point . Personally I feel that Melee has come and gone and making future titles a hard copy of Melee is not what the overall Smash demographic wants. I wanted to see something fresh, vibrant and exciting with a new and balanced cast to boot and at first I thought that was Smash 4 but even though it fulfilled some of my criteria it lacked the most in the gameplay department. Sakurai personally went out of his way to eliminate any form of complexity and depth that the franchise once had. I just wish they took what made previous titles great and expanded upon it making players adapt with each instalment and come to appreciate the game more but they try so hard to add in unnecessary things that make no sense and ruins the feel of the game (ex. Rage).

"They're better off making the games the way they have since the beginning."

If you look at Smash as a whole it has no identity and that's its major problem. If Smash was designed as a party game, it would be played as a party game; if smash was designed to be a fighter, it would be played as a fighter. You can't have both (unless you introduce modes or versions to cater to both sides) and with each franchise it flip flops to the point where it confused the fans (no surprise there).

I don't feel it's the communities fault for being confused and for having high expectations. You'll never find another game like this so they're justified for holding this game in high esteem and we have a director that says one thing and does the opposite...I don't blame them for being confused.

 

[DaRkJaWs]

Even I know that Smash 4 has no competitive value and I'm not a competitive Smash player. It was designed to make anyone be able to play and to make it so anyone can be at an even playing field with one another. That was the vision of the game and you're telling me it supports competitive play because of things that don't affect gameplay. These are the same people that removed DI and added Vectoring because they didn't want players to have any form of control in terms of survival (I know they implemented DI again but that doesn't excuse the fact that they removed it in the first place to fulfill the Sakurai's vision). These are the same people that removed edgehogging because they didn't want to make it difficult for players to recover...

...you do realize that that's the reason why sequels are even made right? You're stating the obvious, sequels are made when the companies met or exceeded their quota. It's basically like milking a cow, when that cow runs out of milk (money stops coming from a game), they get a new cow to get more (make a new one).

What terrible commentary. Just pathetic. Claiming sm4sh has no competitive value is as dumb a comment as you could make, especially considering you don't even Have a copy of it. And they removed edge hogging to have all characters be viable, but then again as I have said multiple times, you wannabe alphas don't actually give a **** about parity between the characters.

 

[DaRkJaWs]

You know since you ssbm alphas want to complain about competitive value, I personally have always thought that in terms of technical skills and gameplay ssbm was a small step below ssb64, but you ****heads barely played ssb64 so a far as I'm concerned you can take your terrible groupthink ideology with you and flush it down the toilet. (Btw, all of the things that made ssb64 better? Was all the things that made particular characters OP.). And this is coming from someone who competed against the best and knew what it took to be among the top players in ssbm. I abandoned it though because I had better things to do than waste my time with an old game that was soon to become outdated. In life everything has a time limit, too bad you fanboys want to hang on to what should be a dead game.

 

[ItsChon]

Can you give a valid reason why you think he is a washed up game developer?

Name one good project Sakurai has done in the past 3 years, including Smash.

 

[brodouble]

Heh, I can't stop laughing. You are currently on a largely casual site, and most people sign up because of hype and leave a month later. Take a look at the post after yours, he doesn't believe skill barriers should be a thing.



You can bet that you would of been if Melee had online. Don't believe me? So much as mention Snaking and people know you're talking about MKDS. People say that players mostly wouldn't Wavedash online if SSB4 had it, but that's a lie. MK Double Dash as Snaking just powerful, if not moreso, then DS and yet it was basically impossible to find a non-Snaking match.



Brawl lasted up untill about a year ago. And now Nintendo is supporting tournaments. It'll last a looong time.

they're not casual. that dude in the group who doesn't play video games but will play mario kart if you have it is the casual guy. sorry, again, you're socially out of touch. no one on this site is a casual gamer. now, please, stop posting bs, realize brawl sucks, accept that melee is the best, and life will be easier. meanwhile i gotta go play some exciting ass dodge rolling fests online in some smash 4. hardcore yo

 

[ZeruSlayer]

What terrible commentary. Just pathetic. Claiming sm4sh has no competitive value is as dumb a comment as you could make, especially considering you don't even Have a copy of it. And they removed edge hogging to have all characters be viable, but then again as I have said multiple times, you wannabe alphas don't actually give a **** about parity between the characters.

Um, where did I say that I didn't have a copy of the game? I said I'm not a competitive Smash player so I don't see how you think I don't own the game.

Troll test. Okay, edge hogging is removed are all characters viable? The answer is no. If recovery was such an issue why did they go out of their way to nerf the worst character of the game in terms of recoveries...recovery (Little Mac)?

Clearly you haven't read my other posts about how I want a balanced game and that Smash 4 is the most balanced Nintendo made Smash game to date but it could be better...but continue raging before thinking like you already have, I'm sure you taught me a lesson...

 

[LancerStaff]

Wow. You really like sucking his big massive humongous ***-okay fine I'll stop. I don't give a **** what Sakurai told us, he's a washed up old developer that want's to be done with the Super Smash Series but can't. He's lost all love for the game.

Heh heh. He hasn't, he's said he'd leave if he didn't like doing this. You and everybody else need to understand that this is the same man that made that mistake you call a competitive game. Nothing has changed besides the fact that he's trying to cement the idea that it's hard work.

Name one good project Sakurai has done in the past 3 years, including Smash.

Smash Wii U and 3DS, dur. It doesn't matter if one insignificant fraction of the fanbase doesn't like it, it's still a masterpiece. Hell, Sakurai just told you why you don't like it: You're looking for something it isn't supposed to be. Find a different series dude

they're not casual. that dude in the group who doesn't play video games but will play mario kart if you have it is the casual guy. sorry, again, you're socially out of touch. no one on this site is a casual gamer. now, please, stop posting bs, realize brawl sucks, accept that melee is the best, and life will be easier. meanwhile i gotta go play some exciting *** dodge rolling fests online in some smash 4. hardcore yo

Wrong. Hahaha, you're funny like that, with your narrow definitions of casual and good.

 

[brodouble]

Heh heh. He hasn't, he's said he'd leave if he didn't like doing this. You and everybody else need to understand that this is the same man that made that mistake you call a competitive game. Nothing has changed besides the fact that he's trying to cement the idea that it's hard work.



Smash Wii U and 3DS, dur. It doesn't matter if one insignificant fraction of the fanbase doesn't like it, it's still a masterpiece. Hell, Sakurai just told you why you don't like it: You're looking for something it isn't supposed to be. Find a different series dude



Wrong. Hahaha, you're funny like that, with your narrow definitions of casual and bad.

you eye this thing like a hawk. i think you need to step away from the computer for awhile and socialize. then, maybe you'll realize what casual actually means.

*dodge rolls away*

 

[HeroMystic]

I don't really care for this article, but I will comment on one thing.

"Sakurai: I fought, I lost...these results and suffering from painful feelings is how the user base shrinks, and we want to avoid that with Smash. In that sense, Smash has many elements that are rather ambiguous and nebulous in regards to competition."

This comment is just strange, especially within context. Is he saying he doesn't want people to feel failure? Or is he saying he wants people to not care about losing? Or is he talking about the results screen? I dunno.

I don't really get this comment, but my initial reaction is he just has to realize that any game, including Mario Party, is competitive. Players will win, and players will lose. Whether or not one takes it seriously or not is an entirely different story.

As a player who played 64 and Melee casually, then jumped into Brawl competitively, I would say Sakurai has literally nothing to be scared about. The basics of the game are already suitable for casual play, and it's an amazing game to bring at social gatherings because everyone loves to mess around with it. Even my old group of tournament-viable friends like to play Smash with items on to unwind after a hard day of work.

I personally like to play the event modes and playing VH/9.0 intensity single-player modes because I enjoy stuff like that.

Sakurai and his team has done a wonderful job with the smash series, but it is competitive by nature regardless. Why is he so worried about people getting their feelings hurt?

 

[LimitCrown]

Name one good project Sakurai has done in the past 3 years, including Smash.

How long do you think Super Smash bros for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U took to develop? Also, you imply that the new Super Smash Bros. game isn't important.

 

[DaRkJaWs]

Um, where did I say that I didn't have a copy of the game? I said I'm not a competitive Smash player so I don't see how you think I don't own the game.

Troll test. Okay, edge hogging is removed are all characters viable? The answer is no. If recovery was such an issue why did they go out of their way to nerf the worst character of the game in terms of recoveries...recovery (Little Mac)?

Clearly you haven't read my other posts about how I want a balanced game and that Smash 4 is the most balanced Nintendo made Smash game to date but it could be better...but continue raging before thinking like you already have, I'm sure you taught me a lesson...

Ok fine, I misinterpreted your comment. As far as little Mac goes, he is a different issue entirely as I think he is more of a test subject for Nintendo to see how a character that can kill easily can cope with being unable to come back from many knockbacks.

 

[LancerStaff]

you eye this thing like a hawk. i think you need to step away from the computer for awhile and socialize. then, maybe you'll realize what casual actually means.

*dodge rolls away*

When I say "casual," I mean "not competitive." AKA those here for character discussion and junk. They're there.

I don't really care for this article, but I will comment on one thing.

"Sakurai: I fought, I lost...these results and suffering from painful feelings is how the user base shrinks, and we want to avoid that with Smash. In that sense, Smash has many elements that are rather ambiguous and nebulous in regards to competition."

This comment is just strange, especially within context. Is he saying he doesn't want people to feel failure? Or is he saying he wants people to not care about losing? Or is he talking about the results screen? I dunno.

I don't really get this comment, but my initial reaction is he just has to realize that any game, including Mario Party, is competitive. Players will win, and players will lose. Whether or not one takes it seriously or not is an entirely different story.

As a player who played 64 and Melee casually, then jumped into Brawl competitively, I would say Sakurai has literally nothing to be scared about. The basics of the game are already suitable for casual play, and it's an amazing game to bring at social gatherings because everyone loves to mess around with it. Even my old group of tournament-viable friends like to play Smash with items on to unwind after a hard day of work.

I personally like to play the event modes and playing VH/9.0 intensity single-player modes because I enjoy stuff like that.

Sakurai and his team has done a wonderful job with the smash series, but it is competitive by nature regardless. Why is he so worried about people getting their feelings hurt?

Because people do when there's hard "techs" to perform. In Smash, it's not supposed to be what you can or can't do, it's supposed to be wether or not you made the right choice: Meaning you're encouraged to try again to make the right choice next match. There's nothing on the line besides a useless winrate and stars under your name.