[Source Gaming] Is Sakurai a Liar?

No.​

For the past year and a half, Source Gaming has been collecting all the information, interviews and Famitsu columns, that it could get its' hands on. The collection of information has corrected a lot of misinformation and misconceptions within the Smash fan base. Taking information that is from only credited sources, Source Gaming is truly living up to its' name. Previously, Source Gaming has published The Definitive Unused Fighter List, Sakurai Didn't Say That!, Timeline of Masahiro Sakurai's Life and various articles detailing Sakurai's statements on various topics.

A common statement within the Smash fanbase is, 'Sakurai is a liar!' or 'Sakurai is a troll!'. PushDustIn decided to ask the community for their proof for these statements, investigate the claims and publish his findings.

For the full rundown, check out Source Gaming. This is only a preview of the full article!

1 lie.
4 cases of 'fake outs'
1 debatable cases.
12 cases of quotes being taken out of context, mistranslated or just made up.
4 cases of fans projecting their expectations.
2 cases of made up quotes/ quotes lacking sources.

Cases of Lying:
Stating that Zero-Suit Samus wasn't in Smash for Wii U/3DS, and then moments later admitting he was lying.

Cases of 'Fake Outs':
"Ness was in Smash up until now”
This quote comes from the Brawl site - Not a mistranslation, but it's not intended to sound so “definitive” (Japanese link). It just means that Ness was in all the previous Smash games up to that point. It was not a direct confirmation that Ness was or wasn’t going to be in Brawl.

Cases of Quotes Being Taken of Context:
"No DLC for Smash for Wii U/3DS"
This quote was taken out of context. Sakurai said that he and his team were not working on DLC at the time of the interview (November 19th), which for all we know, is true.

We believe that Samus is the best character in Super Smash Brothers for Wii U and 3DS"
This was in reference to the E3 invitational build (video link to the quote). This is probably his sincere opinion at the time, so it’s not a lie. On top of that, Sakurai states that he’s still balancing, so things would have changed since then.

Cases Lacking Sources:
”No more clones”
According to several threads on this topic, this is something that Sakurai has never said. In none of the Brawl interviews that Source Gaming has yet to translate, or has translated, were they able to find this. It is possible that eventually a source could turn up, but we will have to consider this misinformation since one has not been made available. According to Kinnian, it was made up by a user on Gamefaqs, and accepted as truth despite it lacking sources. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this happen and is the reason why people should always, always ask for a source.

Some of the more infamous cases are highlighted here, but be sure to check out full rundown on Source Gaming.

This kind of research takes time. A lot of time. If you like this kind of investigative research, please consider donating to Source Gaming's patreon. Rewards include financing a particular translation or research topic, and more!

PushDustIn always sources his stuff. Do you? Follow him on Twitter for more goodness.

 

But how does that equate with each other? They didn't do a poll to determine who the fans wanted, but if they did Geno vs. Cloud, Cloud would undoubtedly win, though fans just didn't know Cloud was a possibility. So I think it was more like they read our minds.

It's not even mind-reading. It's blatantly obvious that Cloud would be a bigger deal than Geno.

Like you stated, I'm pretty certain that the only reason why Geno did better than any other Square characters on polls is because they were all deemed as impossibilities (thanks mainly to the fan-assumed rule that third parties must mainly be on Nintendo consoles).

It's also worth noting that a lot of people don't even know that Geno is owned by Square. To this day, in Geno-related Smash arguments, I still find myself having to pull up evidence that Geno belongs to Square. So a lot of Geno supporters might not even know they're backing a third party character, and just think he's this forgotten first party one.

I agree. Based on the conceived roster rules Sakurai has, Daisy would make more sense than Geno, though there isn't a whole lot interesting about Daisy other than appearing as dare I say "filler" in a lot of games, much like Waluigi. If they hard their own game(s) or more prominent roles in other ones, of course I would be open for them, but at this point, I don't even see Daisy being worthy of an Assist Trophy.

Sure, yeah, from an unbiased perspective I don't think either of them are worthy; I just personally like Geno.

Whether she's filler or not is irrelevant. Daisy had a role in a main series Mario game. Geno's only important role was in a spinoff (and his only subsequent role was in another spinoff).

Main series Mario characters are prioritized over spinoff ones. This is why we got characters like Rosalina and Bowser Jr before Waluigi. Waluigi is playable more often than they are, but they actually have a role in the main series.

She's been more important in spinoffs, and she's actually been in a main Mario game. Literally the only thing Geno has over Daisy is a more interesting design and moveset, and as important as that is, I don't think it warrants putting him in over her when she's a more important, popular, recognizable, relevant, and requested character than he is.

 

Whether she's filler or not is irrelevant.

But I mean, I don't think they would include a "filler" character as a fighter, unless you're just talking about her vs. Geno, which I already agree with you on, so I don't know how we're even debating lol.

Literally the only thing Geno has over Daisy is a more interesting design and moveset, and as important as that is, I don't think it warrants putting him in over her when she's a more important, popular, recognizable, relevant, and requested character than he is.

And that's where we can agree to disagree. I know Sakurai would take your side, but I don't agree with either of you on that; just subjective at the end of the day.

The requested part, I'm not sure about... there's no way to really know either.

 

I know Sakurai would take your side

he might put unexpected Mario character it's hard to predict Sakurai no matter how important you think the character is, Dr. Luigi or Metal Mario could get in before both of them.
But Daisy or Geno? Why not get both? That would be better

 

he might put unexpected Mario character it's hard to predict Sakurai no matter how important you think the character is, Dr. Luigi or Metal Mario could get in before both of them.
But Daisy or Geno? Why not get both? That would be better

I told you they'd go for a character from one of Square's franchises over Geno. They ended up picking Cloud Strife.

I told you Geno would be a Mii Costume after Cloud was confirmed. It happened.

Sakurai can be difficult to predict, but regarding Geno, I've guessed everything right. By the time next Smash rolls around, he'll be even more insignificant than he is now.

As for the "Why not both?" question.....I dunno, the same thing can be applied to just about every franchise. They don't just wave a magic wand and a character appears in the game. They can't just add everyone.

Geno is a dead character from an obscure game, representing a series that has more recognizable and more wanted characters remaining, and is owned by a company that has valuable franchises of its own (ones that Sakurai has already shown he's more interested in representing than he is in putting Geno on the roster).

We've had this discussion a billion times now, and nothing has changed since the last one, other than just about everything I told you getting verified. I don't know why you're still trying, especially after you said you don't want to be in this conversation.

 

I don't know why you're still trying, especially after you said you don't want to be in this conversation.

Well I didn't join the disscussion about "Geno is blah blah blah" but I just said there is no problem of having both Daisy and Geno and we can't predict Sakurai no matter how important the character is and how do you think about it.
A lot of people were saying Wolf and King K. Rool are coming to smash 4 and have better chance than bayonetta and Corrin because of how important they are but at the end we didn't get them and we get less important characters instead.
Just because you think the character is "more deserving" doesn't mean Sakurai will automatically choose it.

 

This article is about 2 weeks old and WE'RE STILL ARGUING ABOUT THIS.

 

A lot of people were saying Wolf and King K. Rool are coming to smash 4 and have better chance than bayonetta and Corrin because of how important they are but at the end we didn't get them and we get less important characters instead.

Guess what?

I wasn't one of them.

I've been on the "Wolf's not coming back" boat for the majority of the DLC speculation period, and was one of the most vocal about it (alongside PushDustIn ).

I'm also one of the few who considered K. Rool to be disconfirmed after the Peach's Castle 64/Hyrule Castle 64 update dropped and he was confirmed as a Mii Costume.

Importance has nothing to do with it, by the way. K. Rool is popular, but he hasn't been "important" to Nintendo in nearly a decade. Excluding Smash trophies, he hasn't been seen since Mario Super Sluggers in 2008. Corrin and Bayonetta are less popular in the Smash community, but the two are more important to Nintendo right now, all things considered. Meanwhile Wolf was a last-minute addition to Brawl's roster, and was among the most expendable newcomers from that game.

Not to defend the characters picked (I think Corrin was an iffy choice myself, and I think Wolf should've gotten in over him or Roy), but it's silly to say that Bayo and Corrin are "unimportant". The fact that Bayo won the ballot is proof enough of the contrary.

 

This article is about 2 weeks old and WE'RE STILL ARGUING ABOUT THIS.

I think it's a pretty good article

 

Now I kinda want to see an Pinocchio adaptation about Smash Bros become a real boy game. Maybe have Sakurai as Gepetto, and Miyamoto as the Blue Fairy.
I'd watch it.

This article is about 2 weeks old and WE'RE STILL ARGUING ABOUT THIS.

To be honest this is short compared to some arguments I've seen.

 

You do realize he wrote about advanced techniques himself on the Smash 64 and Melee site...right?

Wrote about doesn't mean he developed it.

 

You do realize he wrote about advanced techniques himself on the Smash 64 and Melee site...right?

In fact: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvC8a8QVx4o&ab_channel=BlewYoshiEgg
Skip to around 1:16 and pause as HAL Debug team is shot.

 

Wrote about doesn't mean he developed it.

And he was the director of the game. I don't see how he couldn't have developed them. Sakurai is an insanely hands on developer. He filmed himself acting out the characters in Subspace Emissary.

A great breakdown on Sakurai with Smash 64 that you should read. Sakurai was fully aware of the ATs in Smash.

The reason he started shying away from them was in Brawl, due to the influx of casuals and the controller.

Question: Why is it that L-cancelling*, which was possible in Melee, is no longer possible to do in Brawl?

Sakurai: It’s the same reason as the reduction in game speed. First, doing all that on the Wii Remote would be close to impossible, and again it considerably increases the gap between beginners and high level players. But that method, of being able to do cancels with one button is fun on a game level, it’s something that when you pull it off just feels very good. (thinks a little) So, if I had to compare it to something, it would be like rethinking the existence of Mini-Turbo in Mario Kart, I think. It is something I already introduced into the world, so I did feel some resistance to removing it, but more than that I wanted a game where everyone could have fun, and I thought directing the game towards not being a tiring game would be more important, so this time I’ve taken it out.

*A technique where you cancel landing lag by pressing the shield button before you land.

TL Note: A literal translation of the Japanese term for L-cancelling would be “land cancel,” by the way.

--Sakurai Answers Some Questions (About Brawl)

In fact: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvC8a8QVx4o&ab_channel=BlewYoshiEgg
Skip to around 1:16 and pause as HAL Debug team is shot.

All games have debug teams. They don't actually develop content. Iwata debugged Melee, I guess he added wavedashing in, right?

 

And he was the director of the game. I don't see how he couldn't have developed them. Sakurai is an insanely hands on developer. He filmed himself acting out the characters in Subspace Emissary.

A great breakdown on Sakurai with Smash 64 that you should read. Sakurai was fully aware of the ATs in Smash.

The reason he started shying away from them was in Brawl, due to the influx of casuals and the controller.


--Sakurai Answers Some Questions (About Brawl)


All games have debug teams. They don't actually develop content. Iwata debugged Melee, I guess he added wavedashing in, right?

'Couldn't' doesn't equate to 'did'. Him acting out story moments is pretty much irrelevent to the development of competitive mechanics. The first article I was linked to already and nowhere within does it say he devoleped the competitive side, just that he is aware of it. The answer to that question you qouted gives a reason for why he took it out, not put it in. If anything I'm not sure why you posted that because it's persuasive to my argument. Lastly, if you would read the credit again, the debug team was given a second assignment aside from debugging. Balancing. It literally stated they gave balancing to the debugging team at HAL, not that they were doing debugging on the balance.

 

'Couldn't' doesn't equate to 'did'. Him acting out story moments is pretty much irrelevent to the development of competitive mechanics. The first article I was linked to already and nowhere within does it say he devoleped the competitive side, just that he is aware of it. The answer to that question you qouted gives a reason for why he took it out, not put it in. If anything I'm not sure why you posted that because it's persuasive to my argument. Lastly, if you would read the credit again, the debug team was given a second assignment aside from debugging. Balancing. It literally stated they gave balancing to the debugging team at HAL, not that they were doing debugging on the balance.

Him acting out story moments shows how hands on Sakurai is. The dude cares about every. single. detail. If you think he didn't know about ATs, then you are ignoring his directing style.

Sakurai was solely responsible for balancing Smash 64 and Melee. The debug team suggested changes, but in the end Sakurai 100% decided it (Source, Japanese. Not translated yet). He's actually stated this numerous times that he balanced those two games by himself: Brawl had 4, Smash for 3DS/ Wii U has 12. We'll translate that article/ additional ones where Sakurai discusses balancing in the near future for the Smash community. For now, there's the Famitsu Column The Act of Balancing.

Spoiler: Side note/ shameless self plug

Smash has an incredible backlog of untranslated stuff. Donate to our Patreon if you want to help. Translation takes a lot of time and effort, and we've been doing it for free.

He took it out, because he had full control as the original designer/ director. If you think the director of a game, who later wrote about the techniques on a site he wrote 100% by himself, did not know about that technique when making the game...then I can't help you.

Quotes from Sakurai talking about it...not to mention the foreword (Japanese, Not translated yet) of the Smash 64 site where he talks about leaving the game quite open and there being hidden depth, plus everything I've stated before, doesn't convince you...then nothing will.

 

Him acting out story moments shows how hands on Sakurai is. The dude cares about every. single. detail. If you think he didn't know about ATs, then you are ignoring his directing style.

Sakurai was solely responsible for balancing Smash 64 and Melee. The debug team suggested changes, but in the end Sakurai 100% decided it (Source, Japanese. Not translated yet). He's actually stated this numerous times that he balanced those two games by himself: Brawl had 4, Smash for 3DS/ Wii U has 12. We'll translate that article/ additional ones where Sakurai discusses balancing in the near future for the Smash community. For now, there's the Famitsu Column The Act of Balancing.

Spoiler: Side note/ shameless self plug

Smash has an incredible backlog of untranslated stuff. Donate to our Patreon if you want to help. Translation takes a lot of time and effort, and we've been doing it for free.

He took it out, because he had full control as the original designer/ director. If you think the director of a game, who later wrote about the techniques on a site he wrote 100% by himself, did not know about that technique when making the game...then I can't help you.

Quotes from Sakurai talking about it...not to mention the foreword (Japanese, Not translated yet) of the Smash 64 site where he talks about leaving the game quite open and there being hidden depth, plus everything I've stated before, doesn't convince you...then nothing will.

1. Him acting out story moments doesn't inherently prove anything except...that he acted out story moments? I don't know why you're so hung up on him acting out subspace. Story has nothing to do with gameplay.
2. If you would go back and read BOTH of my replies I quite literally stated that he knew and wrote about them, but that doesn't make him the creator. I don't need you to tell me he KNEW about them because I already stated that is true.
3. The english article about him balancing is for Smash 4.
4. I can't read Japanese. So yes, there is nothing you can CURRENTLY do to help me believe that he CREATED those techniques and balanced the games. All the knowledge so far has given me this: Nobody knows who specifically CREATED those techniques as there was never a credit for that. Sakurai himself has WRITTEN about them but that doesn't credit him for the CREATION of them. All the english translated knowledge points to other members of HAL balancinge the game. If those pages are fully translated later and he talks specifics about balancing things himself and also creating the advanced techniques then you're right. But as of right now he is credited with nothing but writing a guidebook about AT's.

 

1. Him acting out story moments doesn't inherently prove anything except...that he acted out story moments? I don't know why you're so hung up on him acting out subspace. Story has nothing to do with gameplay.
2. If you would go back and read BOTH of my replies I quite literally stated that he knew and wrote about them, but that doesn't make him the creator. I don't need you to tell me he KNEW about them because I already stated that is true.
3. The english article about him balancing is for Smash 4.
4. I can't read Japanese. So yes, there is nothing you can CURRENTLY do to help me believe that CREATED those techniques and balanced the games.

Let's explain this one at a time
1: Sakurai acting it out means he told the team exactly how it needs to go. That's the kind of developer Sakurai is, he takes charge of everything, so nothing can go unnoticed. Thus, it's very safe to assume, as the director on this, who put his heart and soul in 64, he made those
2: See above
3: Push is Japanese and was talking about Japanese articles
4: First of all, Push translates the articles for fun, so he can, y'know, translate it. Second, this can be interpreted as 'I can't understand it, so it didn't happen'. Unless you were wording it poorly, I can't do anything but assume you're not listening because you don't know the original language

 

Let's explain this one at a time
1: Sakurai acting it out means he told the team exactly how it needs to go. That's the kind of developer Sakurai is, he takes charge of everything, so nothing can go unnoticed. Thus, it's very safe to assume, as the director on this, who put his heart and soul in 64, he made those
2: See above
3: Push is Japanese and was talking about Japanese articles
4: First of all, Push translates the articles for fun, so he can, y'know, translate it. Second, this can be interpreted as 'I can't understand it, so it didn't happen'. Unless you were wording it poorly, I can't do anything but assume you're not listening because you don't know the original language

1. Sakurai acting it out means he told them exactly how the STORY should go, once again nothing to do with gameplay.
2. That's the problem right there, you assume but don't prove.
3. Good on him for being multilingual.
4. No, I'm saying what he says has the possibility of being true, but that doesn't mean him speaking Japanese and saying it's true proves that it is true. If he wants me to believe him then he needs to send me a link to the translated articles from an accurate unbiased source. To prove things means to provide people with understandable information that shows something without a shadow of a doubt. He brought the argument to me therefor it's his job to provide a translation. Not mine to learn Japanese.
P.S. Within this article he has shown that a bunch of times things are mistranslated. So he's still going to have a damn hard time proving it to me.

 

1. Sakurai acting it out means he told them exactly how the STORY should go, once again nothing to do with gameplay.
2. That's the problem right there, you assume but don't prove.
3. Good on him for being multilingual.
4. No, I'm saying what he says has the possibility of being true, but that doesn't mean him speaking Japanese and saying it's true proves that it is true. If he wants me to believe him then he needs to send me a link to the translated articles from an accurate unbiased source. To prove things means to provide people with understandable information that shows something without a shadow of a doubt. He brought the argument to me therefor it's his job to provide a translation. Not mine to learn Japanese.

1: No, It shows how Sakurai handles development. Therefore, he's like this with everything in development, proven by how he handled balancing and such
2: It's an incredibly safe assumption with enough things to prove it plausible. How about you prove he didn't create that stuff?
4: Push is a reliable and credible journalist, AKA, he doesn't lie in this stuff. When he translates articles, he always shows the original Japanese text, so if he's lying, he WILL be called out on it. If Push says it's true, then it's 100% correct if his info matches up with it. Not to mention Push is already translating it. He said it himself here

Smash has an incredible backlog of untranslated stuff. Donate to our Patreon if you want to help. Translation takes a lot of time and effort, and we've been doing it for free.

Not to mention he mentioned stuff from JAPANESE articles which he needs to translate in order to use them as sources. It's not you job to learn Japanese, but it's not your job to doubt someone who does just because you can't

 

1: No, It shows how Sakurai handles development. Therefore, he's like this with everything in development, proven by how he handled balancing and such
2: It's an incredibly safe assumption with enough things to prove it plausible. How about you prove he didn't create that stuff?
4: Push is a reliable and credible journalist, AKA, he doesn't lie in this stuff. When he translates articles, he always shows the original Japanese text, so if he's lying, he WILL be called out on it. If Push says it's true, then it's 100% correct if his info matches up with it. Not to mention Push is already translating it. He said it himself here

Not to mention he mentioned stuff from JAPANESE articles which he needs to translate in order to use them as sources. It's not you job to learn Japanese, but it's not your job to doubt someone who does just because you can't

1. Actually it shows how he acted out subspace. Once again that has no connection with his general demeanor towards gameplay.
2. All the evidence I have so far is that Sakurai wrote a guidebook on them and that HAL is credited for Smash 64's balance. Just because it's there and he's the director of the game doesn't mean he created it. The burden of proof lies on the people that say HE created them and balances the game, just as much as the burden of proof lies on me when I say the HAL Debug team balanced 64 which I have proven with my link.
3. Pretty much what you said here is that whatever he says is always the absolute truth no matter what and that it is a requirement to inherently trust him. He hasn't translated it YET and neither has anyone else apparently so even when he's finished I wont be able to make comparisons. Lastly showing Japanese text doesn't gaurantee that people will be there to call him out.

 

1. Actually it shows how he acted out subspace. Once again that has no connection with his general demeanor towards gameplay.
2. All the evidence I have so far is that Sakurai wrote a guidebook on them and that HAL is credited for Smash 64's balance. Just because it's there and he's the director of the game doesn't mean he created it. The burden of proof lies on the people that say HE created them and balances the game, just as much as the burden of proof lies on me when I say the HAL Debug team balanced 64 which I have proven with my link.
3. Pretty much what you said here is that whatever he says is always the absolute truth no matter what and that it is a requirement to inherently trust him. He hasn't translated it YET and neither has anyone else apparently so even when he's finished I wont be able to make comparisons. Lastly showing Japanese text doesn't gaurantee that people will be there to call him out.

You aren't listening to any arguments that GENUINELY debunk you're whining. I say it's been proven Sakurai does pretty much everything hands on, something Push can back up. 'Nuh uh, he only did the story in this article' is more than enough to prove you're not going to listen. Good night sir

 

You aren't listening to any arguments that GENUINELY debunk you're whining. I say it's been proven Sakurai does pretty much everything hands on, something Push can back up. 'Nuh uh, he only did the story in this article' is more than enough to prove you're not going to listen. Good night sir

1. You just gave a short general message that fails to do what you did in your previous replies to me which was directly confronting my arguments. Now that you've stopped confronting my arguments you have the need to accuse me of what you yourself are doing. Every single step of the way I replied to both your and Pushdustin's responses in an orginized manner.

 

1. Actually it shows how he acted out subspace. Once again that has no connection with his general demeanor towards gameplay.

yes, it doesn't prove outright that he did it, but to ignore it as an implication that he looks over everything he can is silly.

He at least had something to do with balance; I can't imagine someone trying to claim that he had no influence on it like you did here:
"Sakurai never developed the competitive side of smash brothers."
Are you trying to say his influence was minimal, because I could at least understand that

but to say he had never done anything for balance at all?
That's a ludicrous claim that even showing "proof" in the credits that hal lab worked on it does nothing to prove. Their debug team was mentioned under "Special thanks" as well, which doesn't credit them to much of anything specific, let alone discredit sakurai's involvement.

EDIT: I realize I now missed the "shot" part of it, which does indeed prove that hal lab worked on it. That's my bad, however that doesn't mean he exclusively didn't have a part in it; I'd argue the claim he had nothing to do with it just because someone was credited with it is a less reasonable claim then saying sakurai had no involvement at all.

EDIT2: actually if you check earlier in the credits sequence, sakurai's name is credited with "game design"
"balance" falls under game design.

 

yes, it doesn't prove outright that he did it, but to ignore it as an implication that he looks over everything he can is silly.

He at least had something to do with balance; I can't imagine someone trying to claim that he had no influence on it like you did here:
"Sakurai never developed the competitive side of smash brothers."
Are you trying to say his influence was minimal, because I could at least understand that

but to say he had never done anything for balance at all?
That's a ludicrous claim that even showing "proof" in the credits that hal lab worked on it does nothing to prove. Their debug team was mentioned under "Special thanks" as well, which doesn't credit them to much of anything specific, let alone discredit sakurai's involvement.

EDIT: I realize I now missed the "shot" part of it, which does indeed prove that hal lab worked on it. That's my bad, however that doesn't mean he exclusively didn't have a part in it; I'd argue the claim he had nothing to do with it just because someone was credited with it is a less reasonable claim then saying sakurai had no involvement at all.

EDIT2: actually if you check earlier in the credits sequence, sakurai's name is credited with "game design"
"balance" falls under game design.

But game design is not explicitly balance. Also he's a director, of course he played a part in saying wether it gets in or out. In the interview he said he was open to the idea of competitive play so he allowed those team members to do what they wanted. But that's just the thing, they did what THEY wanted and Sakurai allowed it. He did not develop the competitive aspects, just allowed and documented it.

 

But game design is not explicitly balance. Also he's a director, of course he played a part in saying wether it gets in or out. In the interview he said he was open to the idea of competitive play so he allowed those team members to do what they wanted. But that's just the thing, they did what THEY wanted and Sakurai allowed it. He did not develop the competitive aspects, just allowed and documented it.

I don't think a Director's job is really just "allowing this this or that". That seems to be a gross simplification of the job.

You're going to have to link this interview and find a place where it states that he avoided influencing it ontop of giving it to other people.

 

But game design is not explicitly balance. Also he's a director, of course he played a part in saying wether it gets in or out. In the interview he said he was open to the idea of competitive play so he allowed those team members to do what they wanted. But that's just the thing, they did what THEY wanted and Sakurai allowed it. He did not develop the competitive aspects, just allowed and documented it.

Game design includes designing how the game functions which ATs would 100% fall under.

 

Game design includes designing how the game functions which ATs would 100% fall under.

Read again: Balance and AT falls under game design, but game design is not implicitly every single little piece of the game. It's a general term. HAL Debug team is credited with balance. No one is credited with the AT's. Re-read the previous two sentences one last time.

 

I don't think a Director's job is really just "allowing this this or that". That seems to be a gross simplification of the job.

You're going to have to link this interview and find a place where it states that he avoided influencing it ontop of giving it to other people.

Wrote that poorly. In the interview he said he was open to the idea of smash being a game that's easy to pick up but gets more deep as you play, but HAL Debug team was credited with the balance.
A game director is someone who has a vision for a game and works together with a team to create it. HAL Debug team alone is credited with the balance.

 

I don't think a Director's job is really just "allowing this this or that". That seems to be a gross simplification of the job.

You're going to have to link this interview and find a place where it states that he avoided influencing it ontop of giving it to other people.

Also here's the interview in question: http://www.sourcegaming.info/2015/08/06/sakurai64/
Scroll down to the 'Hidden Elements' section. Note that nowhere within does he state that he developed the hardcore aspect of it, just that he was open to the game having a duality to it and thought it would be a shame if the hardcore elements went unnoticed. So he wrote a guidebook on it.

 

Read again: Balance and AT falls under game design, but game design is not implicitly every single little piece of the game. It's a general term. HAL Debug team is credited with balance. No one is credited with the AT's. Re-read the previous two sentences one last time.

...except Sakurai credited himself with ATs in the intro to the Smash 64 site. It's not my fault you can't read Japanese and are ignorant to the fact. I gave you the source. I'll translate it eventually but there's a lot more important things to translate first. Probably sometime next month.

 

...except Sakurai credited himself with ATs in the intro to the Smash 64 site. It's not my fault you can't read Japanese and are ignorant to the fact. I gave you the source. I'll translate it eventually but there's a lot more important things to translate first. Probably sometime next month.

I'm not ignorant to that. I already adressed this. Nowhere would I be able to read who the AT's where attributed to, except supposedly this site. You are the one who tried to disprove my claim in the first place so the burden is on you to prove with evidence that he is credited with them. Then you give something to me in a language I don't speak. Not my fault.

 

Also here's the interview in question: http://www.sourcegaming.info/2015/08/06/sakurai64/
Scroll down to the 'Hidden Elements' section. Note that nowhere within does he state that he developed the hardcore aspect of it, just that he was open to the game having a duality to it and thought it would be a shame if the hardcore elements went unnoticed. So he wrote a guidebook on it.

Err...

May i ask what you're trying to prove here?

All I see is sakurai saying he left the gates open. That doesn't imply much of anything other then the fact he, or someone else, inputted stuff into it. If anything it acts as if this was part of the plan from the beginning...

"However, unless the user works hard on his own, it’s difficult to see those good parts. It seems there are many people who have a narrow or prejudiced view when they haven’t played the game (or have barely touched it). And, despite the fact that I left the gates to the game wide open, I do think that playing the game and not noticing these hidden elements is a bit of a shame.…"
He left the gates open. He finds it a bit of a shame. He's talking about himself, not others...

Nowhere does this prove much of anything on either side in regards to who did what work.
is there a word that specifically states he handed it off to someone else?
He talks about himself alot here so...

 

I'm not ignorant to that. I already adressed this. Nowhere would I be able to read who the AT's where attributed to, except supposedly this site. You are the one who tried to disprove my claim in the first place so the burden is on you to prove with evidence that he is credited with them. Then you give something to me in a language I don't speak. Not my fault.

Pro tip: Don't say 'NUH UH I DON'T SPEAK THAT LANGUAGE SO IT DOESN'T PROVE ANYTHING AND IT DOESN'T COUNT' when Push literally said he's working on it

 

Err...

May i ask what you're trying to prove here?

All I see is sakurai saying he left the gates open. That doesn't imply much of anything other then the fact he, or someone else, inputted stuff into it. If anything it acts as if this was part of the plan from the beginning...

"However, unless the user works hard on his own, it’s difficult to see those good parts. It seems there are many people who have a narrow or prejudiced view when they haven’t played the game (or have barely touched it). And, despite the fact that I left the gates to the game wide open, I do think that playing the game and not noticing these hidden elements is a bit of a shame.…"
He left the gates open. He finds it a bit of a shame. He's talking about himself, not others...

Nowhere does this prove much of anything on either side in regards to who did what work.
is there a word that specifically states he handed it off to someone else?
He talks about himself alot here so...

If you would kindly take a look at... the many numerous replies I have, I already stated that the AT's so far have no credits. Nowhere did I state that Sakurai explicitly did not develop the AT's. I said there was no proof he did. The game balance on the other hand has actual credits. Meaning the only credits in reference to competitive aspects are tooooooo *drum roll* HAL Lab as of now.

 

Pro tip: Don't say 'NUH UH I DON'T SPEAK THAT LANGUAGE SO IT DOESN'T PROVE ANYTHING AND IT DOESN'T COUNT' when Push literally said he's working on it

And I said that he can prove me wrong if he does work on it, but so far I haven't been given tangible proof. What did your post accomplish?

 

And I said that he can prove me wrong if he does work on it, but so far I haven't been given tangible proof. What did your post accomplish?

You have been given proof you just refuse to accept it. Not being able to speak Japanese is not an excuse when the proof has been given to you.

 

Also, since when does balancing equal designing ATs? I'm pretty sure balancing just means suggesting that X character is too weak/ strong. I'm pretty sure designing ATs would just fall under the game designer's job, which is Sakurai.

 

If you would kindly take a look at... the many numerous replies I have, I already stated that the AT's so far have no credits. Nowhere did I state that Sakurai explicitly did not develop the AT's. I said there was no proof he did. The game balance on the other hand has actual credits. Meaning the only credits in reference to competitive aspects are tooooooo *drum roll* HAL Lab as of now.

*sigh*
I don't understand why you need proof that Sakurai was part of the balance team or at least had some good influence in it. AT's are not the only balance, hell balance could even go as far to describe desirable and undesirable traits in a video game. Sakurai designs these characters and decides how they will fight against each other, that's balance in of itself, even if he isn't doing post patches or something.

As for AT, I don't really have a counter to that, and i don't think it rly matters. *Shrug*
Okay, maybe we don't have proof he directly created AT, but given the job of a director and how he feels about it, shouldn't that be proof enough for balance issues in general?
I don't understand why you're so skeptical of a Director's involvement, many people outright state that a director in a video game is equivalent to a film director, who has a scary amount of control in-terms of developing everything.
He has one vision, and he's going to follow it through to the very end, it will follow his vision or else it won't get in if he can help it, that's as simple as it gets.

Are there examples of people attributing too much a director?

 

You have been given proof you just refuse to accept it. Not being able to speak Japanese is not an excuse when the proof has been given to you.

Except that it is?

 

*sigh*
I don't understand why you need proof that Sakurai was part of the balance team or at least had some good influence in it. AT's are not the only balance, hell balance could even go as far to describe desirable and undesirable traits in a video game. Sakurai designs these characters and decides how they will fight against each other, that's balance in of itself, even if he isn't doing post patches or something.

As for AT, I don't really have a counter to that, and i don't think it rly matters. *Shrug*
Okay, maybe we don't have proof he directly created AT, but given the job of a director and how he feels about it, shouldn't that be proof enough for balance issues in general?
I don't understand why you're so skeptical of a Director's involvement, many people outright state that a director in a video game is equivalent to a film director, who has a scary amount of control in-terms of developing everything.
He has one vision, and he's going to follow it through to the very end, it will follow his vision or else it won't get in if he can help it, that's as simple as it gets.

Are there examples of people attributing too much a director?

First of all, you don't understand why I need proof... that someone did something? Second of all if you went back earlier in the credits sequence other people are credited with designing the characters special moves, however no one is credited with their regular moves. Not convincing.
As for the film director question, how about every single one ever?

 

Also, since when does balancing equal designing ATs? I'm pretty sure balancing just means suggesting that X character is too weak/ strong. I'm pretty sure designing ATs would just fall under the game designer's job, which is Sakurai.

*Could fall under the Game Designers job. Game designer and Game Director are general terms. Particular aspects of a game cannot be automatically attributed to a Game Designer or Game Director. Game Designer means he had something to do with the game design, but individual things must be otherwise specified. Game Director means he has a vision for a game and that he works together with a team to create it.