Size of The Development Team

[Croco]

Something that I've been thinking about lately.. maybe some of you have also.
I noticed in a few post that some make, they tend to be a bit 'pessimistic' whenever new features like the new sticker mode or even the Adventure Mode are announced and discussed.

I really just cannot understand why people ***** about the stickers..
It probably took 2 developers just one week to complete them all.

We really do not know how huge Sakurai's development team is. It's something to think about before posting about something that you believe is a waste of space or will take up too much content. Sometimes some people will say that there will be less then double the characters or stages.. etc.

Here are the reasons I believe Sakurai's development team is huge and that there will be tons of content-

• Satoru Iwata asked Sakurai to make Brawl - first of all.. Iwata is the President and CEO of Nintendo.. So if he wants this game to be made he can easily wave his hand and hire others to be on Sakurai's development team. Sakurai himself could even ask him to get more people to help with this game.
• The 30+ Musicians- This a record reaching number for a video game.. If the amount of musicians is that many.. the development team will probably have many also.
• Porting Content- When did Melee come out? 2001. Now what games were out in 2001 on the GC? Luigi's Mansion, Pikmin, Wave Race: Blue Storm, and Animal Crossing (JAPAN). Not many games out at the time with updated gamecube graphics to port over into Melee at the time. So look at Brawl.. what do we see? Ported graphics.. stages like Delfino Plaza and Bridge of Eldin, and characters like Link, Zelda, and Pokémon Trainer, and then Pokemon themselves.. etc. All of these are ported, so expect more. Now if they can port stuff, it saves them time. Look at all the games that have come out sense Melee.. all of that can be ported into Brawl. They may even have unused stuff which was meant for Melee but didn't make the cut.
• 3rd Party Support- If 3rd Parties are involved with this game.. like Konami etc. Expect them to be throwing their own developers and money into development pot. Sakurai could even ask them to help with the graphics and code etc. to speed up the development. (According to burrito) - "Sakurai enlisted the help of unknown 3rd party company. So, there is a huge team working on the game." (Could be Konami.. or even Silicon Knights.. anyone.)
• Disc Size- SSBM's disc image size is 1.425gbs. A GC disc can hold up to 1.5GBs. So the disc wasn't completely full but was close to it. There are 2 different Wii Disc available.. The normal 4.7 gigabytes and the 8.5 gigabytes dual layer disc. If you double the content in Melee.. you come up with around 2.9gbs which takes up half of a Wii disc space. Just because there will be allot of content in Adventure Mode that doesn't mean there won't be enough space left for stages and characters etc. Nintendo could even use the Dual Layer disc if needed.. so I'm basically trying to say that disc space isn't a problem. HAL Labs could of had that concern with the GC disc during Melee's development.
• Sakurai's Last Smash Brothers Game- Yes.. it probably will. And you would think he will go out with a bang. This is HIS chance to make a amazing and fun game that he always dreamed of making a certain way. So what is limiting him? TIME. What is the answer to time? Lots and lots of support. More people = Faster Development.
• Red Carpet Treatment- Brawl is getting red carpet treatment from Nintendo. All eyes are on this game. Weekly site updates, it has it's own link on the front page of the Nintendo Website, etc. The fact is.. this IS their big game for this year.. and Nintendo knows it.
• HAL Lab. at the Time(According to burrito) - Hal Labs could of been working on multiple games at the time of Melee's development.

 

[Tanvis]

I like this thread.

That is all.

 

[Killer Tree]

I noticed that HAL isn't helping develop though

 

[Smile Guy]

Thank you.

It won't stop the whingers though. I just don't understand whenever one little thing is announced people see it as the replacement to the thing they wanted rather than an addition. It's really annoying.

Smash Boards isn't the only place like this by any means, but it's certainly one of the worst. People are negative about every single piece of news. As you say, how annoying is it that people complain about things like Adventure Mode which should be (and is) the most awesome thing ever. Your own personal scrap book to fill in and customise that will ensure there will be stuff to unlock months and months after the game is released? Pfft, go the moaners, it's all just stupid fluff. I want my fighting game. It's enough to make the fat lady sing and pop her clogs I tells thee.

 

[Royboy]

It's sad think that may be his last game...
Even if I hope not, if this is the last, it'll be TEH GAME

 

[IllidR]

Very nicely put together.. they are working hard on this we are all sure, just a little disappointed at times that something they like more than stickers wasn't announced like a character.

 

[nitromaster]

Good points.

 

[TaurToph]

[*]Red Carpet Treatment- Brawl is getting red carpet treatment from Nintendo. All eyes are on this game. Weekly site updates, it has it's own link on the front page of the Nintendo Website, etc. The fact is.. this IS their big game for this year.. and Nintendo knows it.
[/LIST]

Don't be so sure about this. Look at E3 they had 10x more time for WiiFit than SmashBros. Even metroid, mario galaxy, zelda DS had more time.

 

[Chaotic Yoshi]

Ya i agree with you for the most part but as TaurToph said...

Nintendo's new focus is on the absolute casual gamer audience, it takes infinitely less resources to create something like Wii sports and Wii fit as opposed to Brawl which takes alot of resources. And Wii sports/fit probally has a far higher profit margin than Brawl. Hopefully Nintendo actually cares about making great games, and are willing to not make as much profit in the effort of making one of the greatest games of all time.

 

[Revven]

E3 was the focus of casual gamers for a reason. Nintendo had to show the press that they have other plans for the Wii, they couldn't just give them all these hardcore games that we already knew about beforehand. They had to give the press something NEW, Wii Fit was NEW. Smash Bros., Metroid, and Galaxy were not new and have been known about for the last year and a half. Nintendo had to follow up from Wii Sports with Wii Fit. If they didn't show Wii Fit, everyone would start to doubt Nintendo's Wii.

SSBB and Galaxy will likely be focused on soon. Maybe at Lepizig or at E for All. Either way, we're getting news of Brawl so it's no big deal, we know it's their hardcore focus, and they know they need to impress the hardcore. E3 may not have been the one to show it, but, an event coming up likely will.

 

[GimR]

"Series founder will direct next-gen edition; Nintendo opens special Tokyo studio to bolster game's development.

According to the latest issue of Japanese game bible Famitsu, Nintendo has opened an office in Tokyo dedicated solely to the ongoing development of the Revolution update in the Super Smash Bros. series. Heading up the new studio is the series' original creator, Masahiro Sakurai. He returns to the Nintendo organization after a two-year absence.

According to Famitsu, Sakurai was persuaded by Nintendo president Satoru Iwata to return to Nintendo over conversations that took place at the E3 Expo held earlier this year.

Preparing a new Super Smash Bros. game with such short notice was not easy for Sakurai, given the game's tight development schedule. In a column written for Famitsu, Sakurai said he hopes to have a team of 50 developers working on the title"

This is from famitsu mag. 2 years ago.

Also to Chaotic and TourToph:

The reason they didn't give that much info on Brawl during E3 is because they are being secretive and careful about the info they give out about it. They were the same way about Melee, they didn't even give a full character roster until a week after it came out. Also, there is no way Wii fit is going to make more profit than Brawl.

 

[Takeshi245]

E3 was the focus of casual gamers for a reason. Nintendo had to show the press that they have other plans for the Wii, they couldn't just give them all these hardcore games that we already knew about beforehand. They had to give the press something NEW, Wii Fit was NEW. Smash Bros., Metroid, and Galaxy were not new and have been known about for the last year and a half. Nintendo had to follow up from Wii Sports with Wii Fit. If they didn't show Wii Fit, everyone would start to doubt Nintendo's Wii.

SSBB and Galaxy will likely be focused on soon. Maybe at Lepizig or at E for All. Either way, we're getting news of Brawl so it's no big deal, we know it's their hardcore focus, and they know they need to impress the hardcore. E3 may not have been the one to show it, but, an event coming up likely will.

It's not going to be at the TGS show, though. Nintendo decided to cancel it. Oh, and I argee that Sakurai's team is big and some people seem to have a lot of pessimism for Brawl. It's quite weird to me because I'm one of the people that believes that Brawl's going to be an awesome game.

 

[CodeRed]

Also, there is no way Wii fit is going to make more profit than Brawl.

Sadly, I think you are going to be wrong.

 

[FoxxehRoxxeh]

To Chaotic: Brawl was HUGE at the 2006 E3, and I don't think they would show the same game twice in a row.

 

[SSJ4Kazuki]

WRONG

Sakurai's personal development team consists of around 50 people.
From "How this game came to be made" before the site update.

A GC disc can hold up to 1.5GBs.

Oh really? How come Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker was over 3 Gigabytes then?

 

[burrito]

There are a two things you forgot to mention.

First of all, a new studio was created just for the development of Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Hal Laboratory was probably working on multiple games at the time of melee's creation.

Second of all, Sakurai enlisted the help of unknown 3rd party company. So, there is a huge team working on the game.

 

[raphtmarqui]

^how do u know it hasnt increased by now?

 

[Croco]

I like this thread.

That is all.

Thanks.

I noticed that HAL isn't helping develop though

Hal gave Sakurai the tools etc. that he needed to make Brawl - http://wii.ign.com/articles/673/673532p1.html

Thank you.

It won't stop the whingers though. I just don't understand whenever one little thing is announced people see it as the replacement to the thing they wanted rather than an addition. It's really annoying.

Smash Boards isn't the only place like this by any means, but it's certainly one of the worst. People are negative about every single piece of news. As you say, how annoying is it that people complain about things like Adventure Mode which should be (and is) the most awesome thing ever. Your own personal scrap book to fill in and customise that will ensure there will be stuff to unlock months and months after the game is released? Pfft, go the moaners, it's all just stupid fluff. I want my fighting game. It's enough to make the fat lady sing and pop her clogs I tells thee.

The stickers are just a extra feature which I will probably get into collecting after unlocking almost everything.. Its basically just for people who might enjoy collecting but now there might be over 1000 things to collect then just 300+ trophies. Personally I could care less if the feature is there or not. But because it is I'm happy.

It's sad think that may be his last game...
Even if I hope not, if this is the last, it'll be TEH GAME

He probably wants it to be the way he always wanted Smash Brothers to be.

Very nicely put together.. they are working hard on this we are all sure, just a little disappointed at times that something they like more than stickers wasn't announced like a character.

Thanks. And yeah.. he probably will show us more of the good stuff later. Hell we've seen Ike and Pokemon Trainer already.. who knows what other characters we will see next.

Good points.

Thanks

E3 was the focus of casual gamers for a reason. Nintendo had to show the press that they have other plans for the Wii, they couldn't just give them all these hardcore games that we already knew about beforehand. They had to give the press something NEW, Wii Fit was NEW. Smash Bros., Metroid, and Galaxy were not new and have been known about for the last year and a half. Nintendo had to follow up from Wii Sports with Wii Fit. If they didn't show Wii Fit, everyone would start to doubt Nintendo's Wii.

SSBB and Galaxy will likely be focused on soon. Maybe at Lepizig or at E for All. Either way, we're getting news of Brawl so it's no big deal, we know it's their hardcore focus, and they know they need to impress the hardcore. E3 may not have been the one to show it, but, an event coming up likely will.

Hopefully something at Lepizig is shown.. if not.. it's not that horrible. Nintendo might release a Smash Brothers Brawl Wii Channel in the next upcoming months.. That might be something to look forward to.

"Series founder will direct next-gen edition; Nintendo opens special Tokyo studio to bolster game's development.

According to the latest issue of Japanese game bible Famitsu, Nintendo has opened an office in Tokyo dedicated solely to the ongoing development of the Revolution update in the Super Smash Bros. series. Heading up the new studio is the series' original creator, Masahiro Sakurai. He returns to the Nintendo organization after a two-year absence.

According to Famitsu, Sakurai was persuaded by Nintendo president Satoru Iwata to return to Nintendo over conversations that took place at the E3 Expo held earlier this year.

Preparing a new Super Smash Bros. game with such short notice was not easy for Sakurai, given the game's tight development schedule. In a column written for Famitsu, Sakurai said he hopes to have a team of 50 developers working on the title"

This is from famitsu mag. 2 years ago.

Also to Chaotic and TourToph:

The reason they didn't give that much info on Brawl during E3 is because they are being secretive and careful about the info they give out about it. They were the same way about Melee, they didn't even give a full character roster until a week after it came out. Also, there is no way Wii fit is going to make more profit than Brawl.

Thanks for the info.. that says allot about Nintendo's strong focus on Smash.

It's not going to be at the TGS show, though. Nintendo decided to cancel it. Oh, and I argee that Sakurai's team is big and some people seem to have a lot of pessimism for Brawl. It's quite to me because I'm one of the people that believes that Brawl's going to be an awesome game.

It will be awesome. I don't think they will let us all down.

Sadly, I think you are going to be wrong.

Well we will see. So far my predictions have been correct for the most part. I knew Dr. Wright would make a appearance in some shape or form, though I was told he wouldn't even be in it. I knew the first 3 Pokemon starters and a Pokemon Trainer would be represented, though again I was told I was wrong and stupid. I knew Dioxys wasn't going to be playable, again I was called a idiot or wrong.. I knew Yoshi's look was going to change into his Yoshi Story/Mario Party look.

Sorry for sounding like a jerk.. but you never know if I might be correct again. If I turn out to be wrong I really won't care and will not be let down. Think of it this way.. I'm expecting Ridley to be only a Mini Boss.

To Chaotic: Brawl was HUGE at the 2006 E3, and I don't think they would show the same game twice in a row.

Good point. I believe Reggie even stated while being interviewed at E3 that he wanted E3 2007 to be about new stuff. Wii Fit was new.. and he knew Brawl was going to get online updates.. so what would be the point of having Brawl over shadow new games etc. when it was already getting new news online straight from the developer with weekly updates.

WRONG

Sakurai's personal development team consists of around 50 people.
From "How this game came to be made" before the site update.

Oh really? How come Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker was over 3 Gigabytes then?

odd if wind waker is over 3gbs.. A Wii disc size on Wiki is reported to be 1.5gbs.
That is unless the GC disc was dual layered.. which would be 3gbs if doubled. It doesn't really mean anything though. SSBM is 1.45gbs.. with all it's content. So if it's doubled, size shouldn't be a problem.

Oh and the size of his team. There may have been 50 people working with him in the office they got.. 50 is still allot of people.. but that doesn't mean others in the USA, and other offices were making content for the game. I believe that announcement was made months and months before the new site update. So his team also could of gotten larger.

 

[Croco]

There are a two things you forgot to mention.

First of all, a new studio was created just for the development of Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Hal Laboratory was probably working on multiple games at the time of melee's creation.

Second of all, Sakurai enlisted the help of unknown 3rd party company. So, there is a huge team working on the game.

Ahhaa.. Ok I'll update the list. thanks

 

[Creo]

Could someone please give me info/link to where it says Brawl will not be at TGS...I don't want to go get my hopes up so I need a specific link where it says that.

 

[Takuyo90]

Thank you.

It won't stop the whingers though. I just don't understand whenever one little thing is announced people see it as the replacement to the thing they wanted rather than an addition. It's really annoying.

Smash Boards isn't the only place like this by any means, but it's certainly one of the worst. People are negative about every single piece of news. As you say, how annoying is it that people complain about things like Adventure Mode which should be (and is) the most awesome thing ever. Your own personal scrap book to fill in and customise that will ensure there will be stuff to unlock months and months after the game is released? Pfft, go the moaners, it's all just stupid fluff. I want my fighting game. It's enough to make the fat lady sing and pop her clogs I tells thee.

very well said

 

[Takeshi245]

Could someone please give me info/link to where it says Brawl will not be at TGS...I don't want to go get my hopes up so I need a specific link where it says that.

Here: http://www.gamespot.com/news/6175887.html It looks like they're not going to be there.

 

[Creo]

Okay...that does square up cause Nintendo usually doesn't attend but there is a chance that I will and everyone should be looking for. If not, E for All is for us.

 

[Takuyo90]

Here: http://www.gamespot.com/news/6175887.html It looks like they're not going to be there.

unless of corse theyll surprize us.....BOO

 

[Croco]

Okay...that does square up cause Nintendo usually doesn't attend but there is a chance that I will and everyone should be looking for. If not, E for All is for us.

unless of corse theyll surprize us.....BOO

Well.. they did reveal the Wii Remote at TGS.. I'm not sure why they wont be there to show Wii Fit.. hmm..
E for All.. it could happen.

Nintendo could just create a SSBB Channel on the Wii like MP:3 and release a new trailer on a certain day exclusively for Wii owners early.

 

[Smile Guy]

Nintendo are notorious for never actually saying they're going to appear at TGS. And for a long time they never did. We have had a few years however of last minute Nintendo announcements some of which could well be megat0ns. Most notably, is the revelation of the Wii controller.

The way I see it, is that Nintendo sees that the site is a constant publicity stunt. I think it's unlikely we'll be getting anything like Metroid's got on the Wii until at least November if not at all. Because of the Dojo we're probably more likely to not get a Smash-themed show/trailer that we're all really yearning. I hope I'm wrong though.

The problem arises that now that the site is revealing newcomers as well as veteran fighters that awesome first trailer we got with the five new characters is probably not going to happen again. Unless it was revealed at a show and the site at the same time. But then the site would have more catching up to do...

Oh I'm rambling now, aren't I? Sorry, I'll stop.

 

[Royboy]

sorry for the OT, but when is leipzig?

 

[Pyr0]

Newsflash: Brawl has no ported Character Models, just pay attention to details and you will see.

 

[Croco]

sorry for the OT, but when is leipzig?

August 23 to August 26.

Newsflash: Brawl has no ported Character Models, just pay attention to details and you will see.

Did you see the Link and Zelda models? the textures and models are exactly the same from Twilight Princess. Recently the TP developers even announced that they gave Sakurai's development team some of their work.. Even "Shiek" was mentioned.

Delfino Plaza and Bridge of Eldin are also obvious ports.. so expect more.

I wouldn't be surprised if we see anything else ported.

 

[CodeRed]

Well we will see. So far my predictions have been correct for the most part. I knew Dr. Wright would make a appearance in some shape or form, though I was told he wouldn't even be in it. I knew the first 3 Pokemon starters and a Pokemon Trainer would be represented, though again I was told I was wrong and stupid. I knew Dioxys wasn't going to be playable, again I was called a idiot or wrong.. I knew Yoshi's look was going to change into his Yoshi Story/Mario Party look.

Sorry for sounding like a jerk.. but you never know if I might be correct again. If I turn out to be wrong I really won't care and will not be let down. Think of it this way.. I'm expecting Ridley to be only a Mini Boss.

I wasn't saying what you said was going to be wrong, I said that, in the end, I think that WiiFit will out sell Brawl. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

 

[Pyr0]

Nope, they arn't ports.

TLOZTP:

Look at the Sword Belt thingie...

Look at here now, its the other way, wich means, the model is not the same.

Textures you say?

Look at the underside of Link's guantlets. grey

Look at them in the brawl pic... Blue! = textures not the same.

Im trained to look at detail, You can't deny this differences.

 

[Yen-Yoshi]

WII FIT OUT SELL BRAWL!!!!!!! U MUST BE JOKING!! its the number 1 most wanted game i want it even more that halo 3

 

[Pyr0]

Another Difference, look at link's sword, the thingies above the area where you grab it from their different.

the TLOZTP are flat, while the brawl one has wings (they look like it) like Ocarina of Time's Master Sword.

 

[Yen-Yoshi]

thats just because thats not the master sword but they did make many changes to tp link for brawl

 

[inside]

Good thread, his development team is probably around 80 - 95 people, that's excluding the musicians.

 

[Pyroloserkid]

I wouldn't be worried about the size of the development team. Like stated in the OP, it probably takes One or Two members a week to create things like stickers and items. How long has Brawl been in development? I wouldn't be worrying about wasted time on little things, Sakurai's got it covered.

Now after reading this thread, hopefully people will stop whining.

 

[KidSmash]

this could mean alot of credits to shoot

 

[Pyroloserkid]

this could mean alot of credits to shoot

Has anyone ever shot EVERY credit?

 

[AltF4]

More people = Faster Development.

Not true. I'm a software engineer, the number of people in a development team only matters up to a very limited point. In fact, if you try adding on developers after you've already started, you'll just slow down production. What really matters is less quantifiable things like efficiency of the members you have.

 

[Croco]

Nope, they arn't ports.

TLOZTP:

Look at the Sword Belt thingie...

Look at here now, its the other way, wich means, the model is not the same.

Textures you say?

Look at the underside of Link's guantlets. grey

Look at them in the brawl pic... Blue! = textures not the same.

Im trained to look at detail, You can't deny this differences.

Oh.. well I have something that might prove you wrong.. lol
I have ripped character models from Twilight Princess.. and I do have Link.
I checked out the arm band texture.. It is Blue. but in Twilight princess it is much darker.
Here are most of the textures mapped out.

I wouldn't be worried about the size of the development team. Like stated in the OP, it probably takes One or Two members a week to create things like stickers and items. How long has Brawl been in development? I wouldn't be worrying about wasted time on little things, Sakurai's got it covered.

Now after reading this thread, hopefully people will stop whining.

About 2 years.