Sakurai on DLC: “It’s All About Making Players Happy”

[Purin a.k.a. José]

Sakurai is such a great guy... I can't see why we blame him so much at so many times. Like, many people were pissed with him because of WFT announcement... Now, we see that character like it were the ones we didn't know that would be so fitting and great. Like, who wanted Jigglypuff in N64?! Yup, and many people love her today. He is also a great developer of games in general, like old Kirby's and Kid Icarus Uprising... Now we have the Ballot. Here it goes a opportunity to receive a fan-favorite, that we must decide who it is.

 

[Doval]

Or, you know, he could just think Sakurai's reasonings are bull**** and is calling him out on it. That's reasonable, too. :/

And to be honest, Sakurai has been pretty bad at choosing newcomers this time; we now have almost a complete top row (on the 3DS game) of nothing but Mario characters. :/ That's a bit too much even for the flagship of Nintendo. Not to mention Kid Icarus, a franchise with only three games, also got three characters (one which was a barely-altered clone), while it's more popular sister Metroid, which has had seven games (not counting spinoff titles) still only has one character; Samus. The only newcomers I think were really keepers are the Mii Fighters, Villager, Duck Hunt, Little Mac, Pac-Man, Mega Man, Dr. Mario and Bowser Junior; everyone else was either really poor clones (Lucina, Dark Pit), really shouldn't have been priority (Wii Fit Trainer) or just a bit too similar to other characters (Greninja). Defend Sakurai all you want, but he's neglecting big franchises just to advertise Uprising, which was already a year old by the time the game released.

We still don't have any other Metroid characters, Donkey Kong still is missing a main character and meanwhile Kid Icarus, a franchise that was dead in the water for 20 years, not only has three characters, one of which is a piss-poor clone, it gets three stages, the most enemies of any franchise in Smash Run, an Assist Trophy and the most trophies of any franchise. Meanwhile, Metroid has one character (with an alternate playstyle), two stages, few enemies in Smash Run, a small amount of trophies and two Assist Trophies.

It just reeks of favoritism, since Metroid is infinitely more significant to Nintendo's, and gaming as a whole's, history than Kid Icarus is; but apparently Kid Icarus is more important to Sakurai, and that's all that matters.

People defending Sakurai just need to accept that the man can be at fault, and at times even an outright fibber; getting horribly defensive about someone daring to criticize Sakurai for poor choices isn't helping anybody.

The thing about Olimar and Ridley is that there's no frame of reference with which to compare Olimar to other characters. None of the other Smash characters have ever appeared in a Pikmin game, so it doesn't matter what size Olimar is relative to them. Ridley has always been significantly larger than Samus and Samus is in Smash. (No, Metroid 1 doesn't count. It was retconned by both Super Metroid and Zero Mission and that's clearly a case of hardware limitations.) To have him suddenly be around her size WOULD be noticeable - especially given how large he is as a Smash Boss. Also, all of Ridley's gameplay has revolved around him being huge and constantly flying.

Yes, there's technically nothing stopping Sakurai from shrinking him and making up some arbitrary moveset, but his point is that after all that you can hardly call him Ridley any more.

And seriously, what other Metroid character could possibly show up? Anthony Higgs? Adam? Someone from MP2 Hunters?

It's ridiculous to accuse Sakurai of favoritism when his own franchises have less reps than most and Kirby's been low tier in almost every game. And calling Dark Pit a full character is like calling a plagiarized DeviantArt Sonic clone an original character. He's Pit with different specials. Hardly any work went into him.

 

[Dastardly Ridleylash]

None of the other Smash characters have ever appeared in a Pikmin game, so it doesn't matter what size Olimar is relative to them.

You can obtain a R.O.B head in Pikmin 2, and it's almost three times as large as Olimar.

There's your fighter-appearing-in-Pikmin analogy.

Also, all of Ridley's gameplay has revolved around him being huge and constantly flying.

Yes, there's technically nothing stopping Sakurai from shrinking him and making up some arbitrary moveset, but his point is that after all that you can hardly call him Ridley any more.

Yes, that's his defining gameplay traits; but it's not a character trait; there's the difference. Ridley is not defined as a character for being big; that's Kraid. Ridley is, as a character, defined by genocidal behaviour under a motive of racial superiority and a lack of empathy towards other beings. Basically, he's a racist psychopath who commands an army of aliens for the goal of galatic genocide. (Hell, the manga even outright states that he's the commander of the Space Pirates).

Ridley is violent, brutal and outright devoid of mercy. He commits genocide for the thrill of it and is entirely convinced that the Space Pirates are superior to all other races. That is Ridley's character, not "big evil dragon monster you need to kill". If Ridley is defined by size, so should Olimar.

 

[Frostwraith]

And here we go again with ****ing Ridley...

 

[JarBear]

Hey, end of the day Sakurai has done a great job with Sm4sh. Seriously. You can tell a TON of work was put in it. Especially since it takes MONTHS to make a character, maybe there would be 5? Whatever/whoever they are, I still will give props to the Smash team. Good for them.

... I voted for Geno, a man can dream ... but I won't be unreasonably irritated if he is not in it!

 

[BobEugCox]

If ,

Then ???!

PRETTY PLEASE !!
​

 

[Nauzgo]

Third DK rep, Isaac and the 8 remaining vets have to be in now! But thanks Sakurai for all that youve done. Such a great game...
I'd like it if he would bring new and old stages or new modes or the story mode back too.

 

[Wolley2xjd]

And here we go again with ****ing Ridley...

I'll get the popcorn.

 

[Redd500]

It's reassuring to know that Sakurai's the type of person that changes his mind when he's wrong.

Every time someone states that Sakurai contradicts himself, I want to tell them that he probably just changed his mind because he obtained new knowledge, or maybe he's lying to surprise the **** out of people when things are revealed, or that the Japanese language has no differentiation between "this will happen" or "this may happen" (assumption, any Japanese speakers able to confirm/deny?) (was confirmed to be false by another user), or any number of things, really.

 

[ミスティック Speed]

/relevant

 

[Iceweasel]

@ Dastardly Ridleylash

I'll agree with you on a few points, but come on. Name 1 new Metroid character that can be a playable fighter. Ridley, Kraid, MB, or any of the boss characters don't count. Metroid is pretty much just Samus killing things. "Metroid needs a new rep" is one of the dumbest things I've heard on Smashboards (that's not in relation to Melee), because there aren't any characters that could realistically make the cut as a fighter.

 

[Ryu Myuutsu]

If it was really about making players happy he wouldn't have constantly DENIED us RIDLEY, or make top wanted characters such as Ashley, Midna, SkullKid, ETC, ETC, assist trophies to have the perfect excuses not to make them playable.

You cant take Sakurai's word on ANYTHING.
He's quoted as saying "Size doesnt matter in Smash." (in reference to Olimar)
then goes around and says that making Ridley smaller would "Ruin his character"
I think he's just a bias jerk about which characters he allows in and which he doesnt.
He seems determined to make characters from only certain franchises all really good, and make others from the ones he jealous of shallow.
Zelda is arguably Nintendo's 2nd flagship franchise behind Mario, and yet they havent gotten an extra number of newcomers since Melee; that's 13 YEARS

Ridley I believe it but Ashley, Midna and Skull Kid as top wanted characters? Don't kid yourself man.
That "all or nothing" or "Ridley or bust" attitude that some people express is really kind of toxic, at the end of the days he is just one character. Sakurai has given us more than you would care to admit and has added fan favorites already (not all of them but most of them).

 

[SSBBDaisy]

This statement epitomizes the transition from Brawl to Smash 4.

Brawl is better than Smash 4. Even with the tripping.

 

[Mypantisgone]

That's kind of weird and interesting, he said he might not be able to direct another Smash game, but now he does it for a living. Must be hard being Sakurai, he always looks unsure.

 

[BobEugCox]

That's kind of weird and interesting, he said he might not be able to direct another Smash game, but now he does it for a living. Must be hard being Sakurai, he always looks unsure.

That's because every decision he makes causes happiness for half of his fans, and causes the other half to be pissed off beyond belief.

Personally, I like everything he does.

 

[Falm]

Wolf fans: *hope intensifies*

 

[Mypantisgone]

That's because every decision he makes causes happiness for half of his fans, and causes the other half to be pissed off beyond belief.

Personally, I like everything he does.

Exactly my point of view.

 

[FooltheFlames]

Ridley I believe it but Ashley, Midna and Skull Kid as top wanted characters? Don't kid yourself man.
That "all or nothing" or "Ridley or bust" attitude that some people express is really kind of toxic, at the end of the days he is just one character. Sakurai has given us more than you would care to admit and has added fan favorites already (not all of them but most of them).

Sakurai has done alot of good, and has been working very hard, so fair enough. (I dont hate the guy)
I just believe he has a certain bias to him and it's shown before (How the Kirby characters were treated in Brawl when it was Sakurai himself who handled most of the balance alone.)

And Midna was the top most wanted new Zelda rep-
And Ashley was the top most wanted new Wario ware rep

 

[Wolley2xjd]

@ Dastardly Ridleylash

I'll agree with you on a few points, but come on. Name 1 new Metroid character that can be a playable fighter. Ridley, Kraid, MB, or any of the boss characters don't count. Metroid is pretty much just Samus killing things. "Metroid needs a new rep" is one of the dumbest things I've heard on Smashboards (that's not in relation to Melee), because there aren't any characters that could realistically make the cut as a fighter.

Well in that case.

@ Dastardly Ridleylash

I'll agree with you on a few points, but come on. Name 1 new Zelda character that can be a playable fighter. Ganon, Impa, Zelda, or any of the boss characters don't count. LOZ is pretty much just Link killing things. "Zelda needs a new rep" is one of the dumbest things I've heard on Smashboards (that's not in relation to Melee), because there aren't any characters that could realistically make the cut as a fighter.

 

[Kamikazek]

Every time someone states that Sakurai contradicts himself, I want to tell them that he probably just changed his mind because he obtained new knowledge, or maybe he's lying to surprise the **** out of people when things are revealed, or that the Japanese language has no differentiation between "this will happen" or "this may happen" (assumption, any Japanese speakers able to confirm/deny?), or any number of things, really.

Japanese actually has more differentiation between will happen and may happen I'd argue, with multiple different words and modifiers for varying degrees of probability.

That said, Sakurai rarely speaks in absolutes (anymore anyway, he seemed much more self assured back around Melee and to a lesser extent Brawl) and a lot of things people say he said he'll never do were actually things he made very clear weren't certain.

 

[Dastardly Ridleylash]

@ Dastardly Ridleylash

I'll agree with you on a few points, but come on. Name 1 new Metroid character that can be a playable fighter. Ridley, Kraid, MB, or any of the boss characters don't count. Metroid is pretty much just Samus killing things. "Metroid needs a new rep" is one of the dumbest things I've heard on Smashboards (that's not in relation to Melee), because there aren't any characters that could realistically make the cut as a fighter.

Metroid is about Samus' exploits, not about her mindlessly killing things. And yes, while the only other fighters are either bosses or one offs, Ridley is the only one out of any of these to appear in almost every game in the franchise (with the exceptions of Metroid II: Return of Samus and Metroid Prime 2: Echoes), and is the only one with deep personal ties to Samus herself. He's also the most iconic Metroid character outside of Samus and Mother Brain, he friggin' killed Samus' parents and in general, Ridley is the most iconic Metroid villain currently.

And if Kid Icarus can have 3 characters, one of which is a friggin' clone, I fail to see how Metroid doesn't deserve at least one new fighter with how important it is, not just to Nintendo, but to gaming in whole. Without Samus, would we really have female protagonists in gaming nearly as much as we do?

Probably not, so Metroid is really one of Nintendo's most significant franchises in that regard. And to see it (as a brainchild of Gunpei Yokoi) get shafted just because it's not a big franchise anymore is sad, when the 20-year dormant franchise gets two new characters in the same goddamn game.

And if Ridley, who is Samus' mortal enemy and primary antagonist, can't get in first, there's nobody else who really needs a spot before Ridley.

 

[Nauzgo]

Sakurai has done alot of good, and has been working very hard, so fair enough. (I dont hate the guy)
I just believe he has a certain bias to him and it's shown before (How the Kirby characters were treated in Brawl when it was Sakurai himself who handled most of the balance alone.)

And Midna was the top most wanted new Zelda rep-
And Ashley was the top most wanted new Wario ware rep

There's no guarantee that they really were. I guess Ashley really was the most wanted WW rep, but I could see Impa was being more requested than Midna.

 

[FooltheFlames]

There's no guarantee that they really were. I guess Ashley really was the most wanted WW rep, but I could see Impa was being more requested than Midna.

Midna so was; I was there the day it happened

lol just kidding, you make a good point. it could also be argued that Mona was more wanted than Ashley maybe~

 

[Doval]

@ Dastardly Ridleylash The problem is that you want Sakurai to choose characters based on which character or franchise "deserves" representation. That's not how this works. Gameplay/fun considerations come first. That's why Robin was the #1 pick for a new Fire Emblem character; he/she brought something different from the usual sword Lord characters. Lucina was going to be a costume until Sakurai decided he could make a noob-friendly Marth by changing some damage numbers. Probably took him no more than a day.

You're asking him to blow a ton of resources on a character that he feels doesn't translate well into Smash for the sake of increasing Metroid's representation, at the expense of other characters that would be natural shoo-ins. Duck Hunt's a dead franchise and we still got the dog, because Sakurai thought it would make a fun character.

 

[L9999]

It's ridiculous to accuse Sakurai of favoritism when his own franchises have less reps than most and Kirby's been low tier in almost every game. And calling Dark Pit a full character is like calling a plagiarized DeviantArt Sonic clone an original character. He's Pit with different specials. Hardly any work went into him.

Kirby has never been low tier.
Top Tier
Garbage tier
Mid tier.
Community List here voted him for mid tier.
Dark Pit's specials are the exact same. Just a cheap bow and electroshock arm which functions the same as upperdash arm.

 

[Solutionme]

I agree with Sakurai on this one dlc the way they did it was a good way to go

Sakurai is as close as it gets to the jesus of gaming, he just needs to acknowledge the loyal and competitive communities which return to his games all the time. Well by acknowledge I mean appreciate what we do more imo.

 

[Solutionme]

I wonder if there will be DLC stages.

I doubt it, Sakurai would have mentioned it and I think he knows that bringing back or making new characters would make people happier than making new or bringing back stages.

 

[MintyGuy700]

I seriously don't know what to say about Sakurai, he can seem to be an amazing person, (per this article) yet, seems to do somethings with little thought (ex. Removing Link's jab IASA frames, buffing Dr. Mario's Fair to deal 0.8 percent more damage). Or even show disrespect towards Competitive play.

If you're interested, I made a video on it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ws7tR6-5eWc

 

[FoxE]

I doubt it, Sakurai would have mentioned it and I think he knows that bringing back or making new characters would make people happier than making new or bringing back stages.

That makes sense, no one would really want the rainbow cruise stage

 

[Redd500]

Japanese actually has more differentiation between will happen and may happen I'd argue, with multiple different words and modifiers for varying degrees of probability.

That said, Sakurai rarely speaks in absolutes (anymore anyway, he seemed much more self assured back around Melee and to a lesser extent Brawl) and a lot of things people say he said he'll never do were actually things he made very clear weren't certain.

Okay, thanks for letting me know.

 

[Bearbuddy4]

@ Dastardly Ridleylash

I'll agree with you on a few points, but come on. Name 1 new Metroid character that can be a playable fighter. Ridley, Kraid, MB, or any of the boss characters don't count. Metroid is pretty much just Samus killing things. "Metroid needs a new rep" is one of the dumbest things I've heard on Smashboards (that's not in relation to Melee), because there aren't any characters that could realistically make the cut as a fighter.

For those people who are really into metroid. I wanted sylux, he was even a trophy in smash. He isn't a huge deal in the metroid story , hes a bounty hunter. But it would still be cool to have a character like this in. It would be better than the ZSS that 12 yr olds masturbate to.

I seriously don't know what to say about Sakurai, he can seem to be an amazing person, (per this article) yet, seems to do somethings with little thought (ex. Removing Link's jab IASA frames, buffing Dr. Mario's Fair to deal 0.8 percent more damage). Or even show disrespect towards Competitive play.

If you're interested, I made a video on it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ws7tR6-5eWc

Smash was never meant to be competitive. There is no Casual vs. Competitive war. Its just angry competitive players who rant about Sakurai or lash out at people who don't play the game their way(competitively).

I personally don't have time to play competitively , for glory is as competitive as it gets for me. You should let people play the way they want to and quit getting angry.

 

[Solutionme]

That makes sense, no one would really want the rainbow cruise stage

Rainbow cruise? Pleeeeeaaaasseeee, Why not Palutena's Temple's daddy, New Pork City?

 

[Zoa]

This is nice and all. I applaud Sakurai for putting players first, but can we get higher gravity values, longer hitstun, and possibly some additional movement options in neutral?

 

[aldelaro5]

I'll get the popcorn.

this is relevant:

 

[Slimeproductions]

Additional game modes being metioned may mean we will have smash tour,8-player smash,master/crazy orders and other wii u exclusives in smash (maybe) and the smash world mentioned in the 3ds version's code for both versions (maybe) plus smash run for wii u (maybe)

 

[Iceweasel]

@ W Wolley2xjd

The difference is that Metroid characters can't become good fighters. I'll agree that Zelda's inclusion in Melee may not have been a good option, but Ganondorf and Sheik are undeniably good picks. LoZ is about Hyrule AND its hero, Metroid is just about Samus and what she does. Sheik and Ganondorf can be adapted into good fighters without changing too much about their canon appearances. Making Metroid characters fighters would change everything about their canon appearances.

At this point, I'm half hoping that Smash 5 DOES include a watered-down Ridley just to show that you can't make him into a good fighter without completely changing him or making him insanely OP. That way, this moronic debate can stop happening.

 

[MintyGuy700]

Smash was never meant to be competitive. There is no Casual vs. Competitive war. Its just angry competitive players who rant about Sakurai or lash out at people who don't play the game their way(competitively).

I personally don't have time to play competitively , for glory is as competitive as it gets for me. You should let people play the way they want to and quit getting angry.

Oh boy, here we go.

"Smash was never meant to be competitive."
So what? I'm postive that casuals have played Smash in a way not intended. According to your logic, you would have to shame those who played with rules different from default, because that's not "intended". And if you were talking about "Melee" competitive, Sakurai said that Smash 4 was to appeal to both casual and hardcore, yet, in my video, you'll see plenty of things that potentially disrespect the competitive play. Competitive play has also strengthened the Smash audience, complaining about them is one heck of a disrespect towards your own game.

"There is no Casual vs. Competitive war"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-7gmds2njg

"Its just angry competitive players who rant about Sakurai..."
Because complaining about the creator of a game spceficly meant to get rid of us is unacceptable, armarite?

"...or lash out at people who don't play their way"
Y'know, technically, you and other casuals are doing that right now. (Lashing out at me/competitive players, who happen to play differently)

"I personally don't have time to play competitively..."
And this proves..?

"You should let people play the way they want to..."
Where in any of my posts did I attempt to restrict the way in which someone played?

"...and quit getting angry."
Where have I expressed my anger at casuals regarding the way they play?

 

[Avaaga]

About making players happy? LOL good one. Lie about DLC and patches until you realize that ypu can make easy money. Oh but wait maybe you are for the players, or at leazt the ****ing casual players since you only buff characters that see play online and nerf all the ones that see competitive play because the noobs should have a fair chance against the pros because rewarding noobs for not practicing as hard as pros makes so much sense. Hey now let's add characters that aren't even anything new at all. Just old characters that weren't even gokd paved over in HD. Woot. Oh but that ballot seems interesting. Who's it gonna be? Lemmie guess, another ****ing Mario character? A Pokemon? Another clone? I have an idea, leave the community to its devices and make something else you lazy bums; preferrebly not a ******** Kirby themed leap frog abortion.

Nintendo has not ever given a flying **** about the pro scene of any given game, they don't change a character based off of who's doing well or not. Marth got nerfed and he was already one of the worsts. Diddy got nerfed just so Sakurai didn't have to hear people ******** about him lol. You're too mad

 

[Dastardly Ridleylash]

@ W Wolley2xjd

The difference is that Metroid characters can't become good fighters. I'll agree that Zelda's inclusion in Melee may not have been a good option, but Ganondorf and Sheik are undeniably good picks. LoZ is about Hyrule AND its hero, Metroid is just about Samus and what she does. Sheik and Ganondorf can be adapted into good fighters without changing too much about their canon appearances. Making Metroid characters fighters would change everything about their canon appearances.

At this point, I'm half hoping that Smash 5 DOES include a watered-down Ridley just to show that you can't make him into a good fighter without completely changing him or making him insanely OP. That way, this moronic debate can stop happening.

Funny, a fan mod already made a downsized Ridley and he's actually pretty balanced; so this idea that it "can't work" is in error.

And since when has Smash Bros. ever given a flying **** about canon appearances? Mario has never used the Mario Finale in any Mario game, Giga Bowser has never been in a Mario game, almost every Final Smash has never been in the actual franchises, Olimar is nearly as tall as Mario, despite them being the size of a quarter and 5 feet tall, respectively, the 6' Samus is nearly the same height as the 12-foot Bowser, Ganondorf can be beaten by things not made by the Godesses of Hyrule, Pikachu has moves that don't even exist in his home franchise, Olimar can only have three to six Pikmin at a time and not 100, Pit can use the Power of Flight even when he's fighting Palutena, Shiek and Zelda have never used the Light Arrows, only given them to Link, Greninja doesn't do extra damage to Charizard, Pikachu doesn't do extra damage to Greninja or Squirtle, Charizard never does extra damage to Ivysaur, Ivysaur doesn't do extra damage to Squirtle, Lucario should be taking insane damage from any of Mewtwo's attacks (since Psychic is super effective against Fighting, which even with the Steel type's half-resistance, is still basically going to destroy him because of Mewtwo's insane Special Attack stat), Jigglypuff should be taking no and half damage from Charizard's Final Smash (since she's part Fairy-type, which is immune to Dragon-type attacks, and Megazard X uses...well, Dragon Rush, and Fairy-types are also resistant to Fire-type moves, meaning Fire Blast would do half as much damage), etc., etc.

I could go one, but I should probably cut it off here to save time.

 

[Bearbuddy4]

Oh boy, here we go.

"Smash was never meant to be competitive."
So what? I'm postive that casuals have played Smash in a way not intended. According to your logic, you would have to shame those who played with rules different from default, because that's not "intended". And if you were talking about "Melee" competitive, Sakurai said that Smash 4 was to appeal to both casual and hardcore, yet, in my video, you'll see plenty of things that potentially disrespect the competitive play. Competitive play has also strengthened the Smash audience, complaining about them is one heck of a disrespect towards your own game.

"There is no Casual vs. Competitive war"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-7gmds2njg

"Its just angry competitive players who rant about Sakurai..."
Because complaining about the creator of a game spceficly meant to get rid of us is unacceptable, armarite?

"...or lash out at people who don't play their way"
Y'know, technically, you and other casuals are doing that right now. (Lashing out at me/competitive players, who happen to play differently)

"I personally don't have time to play competitively..."
And this proves..?

"You should let people play the way they want to..."
Where in any of my posts did I attempt to restrict the way in which someone played?

"...and quit getting angry."
Where have I expressed my anger at casuals regarding the way they play?

Based on a video made by a youtube channel which makes funny videos and some good smash tips, you conclude that there is discontent between competitive players and normal people?

There is no war. If there is, its between Competitive gamers themselves. Casual haters vs. normal competitive players.
The casual haters blame casuals for the game not being competitive enough(no l-cancelling). They see them as a threat , while casuals are simply the majority anyhow. Normal competitive players are simply telling the haters to lay off. The haters are usually ex-melee players who are still.....still...butthurt.

There is no real community divide, if there is its between the dedicated and the dedicated. Not the normal gamers who play "sometimes for an hour with friends"