[Source Gaming] Sakurai Discusses the Final DLC Choices

In a brand new Famitsu Column, translated by Source Gaming, Sakurai discusses his selection of Cloud, Corrin and Bayonetta for the final DLC on Smash for Wii U/ 3DS.

He begins with Cloud,

Having a representative from Final Fantasy is an amazing feat! And the character that was the overwhelming favorite among the cast of Final Fantasy was Cloud. Wielding his massive Buster Sword with ease in one hand, he has speed, reach, and power. If left unadjusted, he’d definitely be overpowered. After thinking about how I would approach this character, I decided his swordsmanship style would utilize the concept of “swinging through,” which is exemplified in his forward smash. This move has Cloud build up some power before swing three times at high speed. It maintains his speed and reach, but is balanced by having a window of vulnerability before the attack. And he’s fast, but his recovery is weak.

He continues with Corrin,

After internal analysis, we decided that if we’re going to make DLC, we would choose a character from a soon-to-be-released new game. After consulting many times with Nintendo and looking at the upcoming release schedule, Fire Emblem Fates was in just the right spot. It’s already been released in Japan, but is yet to be released overseas, making it a prime candidate in terms of timing. I personally felt that having too many Fire Emblem characters was a problem, but after talking it over with the development staff and discussing logistics, I felt certain that I could make them a fun character.

To read the rest of the interview, check out the full translation on Source Gaming.

PushDustIn is excited for these upcoming characters. Who do you look forward to? Sound off on Twitter.

 

It is true that there is no way to verify if what the guy is saying is the real deal right now; he claims he is using a friend's account and the posts where he wrote that information were deleted, I only managed to copy what he said from what other users quoted of his original message. It is hard to deny though that this might be a possibility and several of his claims make sense in a retrospective view. PushDustIn is tracking him down as of now though, so hopefully he can come up with a clearer picture. Take them with a grain of salt but they cannot be completely discarded yet.
And even then, I'm no less worse than the users speaking out of ignorance and claiming that everything about the ballot was a lie because they say so and because Sakurai is EEEEEVIL.

He wouldn't talk to me. Since his claims are impossible to prove, I'm personally disregarding them.

 

Why is this thread so toxic?

High-sodium diets can lead to cognitive impairment but also can improve memory... so you see irrational reactive posts that bring up Sakurai's past.

 

While I can't speak for the ballot, Sakurai himself certainly did lie. Corrin was not "fanservice" in any way, shape, or form.

Not really, Bayonetta was chosen from the ballot and it was implied that Cloud was the same, so they actually adhered to characters people were rooting for. Corrin was most likely just advertisement for the new FE.
Just because you didn't get the characters you were personally asking for, it doesn't mean that it wasn't fanservice. It sure was for the people who wanted them. It's kind of self entitled to think that you were "lied" just because your character wasn't picked.

Who said I cared? I'm not trying to point out anything, just pointing out common life logic.

It really doesn't make your argument less fallacious and illogical, regardless if you care or not.

 

http://i.imgur.com/S6HAKVZ.gif?noredirect

 

If Sakurai wanted to advertise a future Nintendo game, he could have gone with Wolf instead of Corrin, another Fire Emblem character.

Star Fox Zero is coming out in April, and Wolf already had a LOT of support to be brought back even before the ballot started.

 

Not really, Bayonetta was chosen from the ballot and it was implied that Cloud was the same, so they actually adhered to characters people were rooting for. Corrin was most likely just advertisement for the new FE.
Just because you didn't get the characters you were personally asking for, it doesn't mean that it wasn't fanservice. It sure was for the people who wanted them. It's kind of self entitled to think that you were "lied" just because your character wasn't picked.

He said all characters after Roy/Ryu would be fanservice. They were not. Therefore, he lied.

 

He said all characters after Roy/Ryu would be fanservice. They were not. Therefore, he lied.

More like company service if you ask me.

 

Well I got my awnsers he chose Corrin to have a modern Nintendo series represented Fire Emblem: Fates fits that critaria, Bayonetta was a recognizable but easy to work in character still, would have wanted K. Rool or Inklings instead but I'm good with these choices.

Easy character? Are you serious? I mean I'm sorry but look at how complex she is! In addition, Fire Emblem isn't a modern Nintendo series, and if you're talking about a modern game, there were MUCH better choices, even for Fire Emblem characters. Sorry, but this is somewhat ignorant.

 

He said all characters after Roy/Ryu would be fanservice. They were not. Therefore, he lied.

Cloud = Fan Service
Bayonetta = Fan Service
Corrin was pretty much out of that realm of Fan Service like Lucas and the other DLC characters before Cloud and Bayonetta.

I'm not a big FE fan but get over it. He/She is here to stay, you can't please everyone and if it wasn't Corrin then it would of been someone else that others would be complaining about. We still ended up with one of the biggest smash rosters and a overall good game.

 

He said all characters after Roy/Ryu would be fanservice. They were not. Therefore, he lied.

Stop being a child, do you even read or pay attention to the context of the situation?
It is possible that Sakurai himself might not have been entirely sure at the time he said that that they would be adding Corrin in the future, after all, in the interview he expresses his concerns and doubts about having him in the roster initially. It still doesn't change the fact that they added Cloud and Bayo out of fanservice and Corrin was merely an addition they tagged along.

Easy character? Are you serious? I mean I'm sorry but look at how complex she is! In addition, Fire Emblem isn't a modern Nintendo series, and if you're talking about a modern game, there were MUCH better choices, even for Fire Emblem characters. Sorry, but this is somewhat ignorant.

FE is still ongoing and is having a new game around the corner, with its protagonist being very recent, so it fits the description of a modern character very well. As for a better choice of Fire Emblem characters, how many FE characters do you know that fight with a chainsaw blade and shapeshifting their body parts or as a whole into a dragon? You are really making a stretch by claiming that others would have been better.

 

Maybe when Sakurai said fanservice he also meant waifu fanservice. After all, female Corrin and Bayonetta are pretty solid waifus...

 

Stop being a child, do you even read or pay attention to the context of the situation?
It is possible that Sakurai himself might not have been entirely sure at the time he said that that they would be adding Corrin in the future, after all, in the interview he expresses his concerns and doubts about having him in the roster initially. It still doesn't change the fact that they added Cloud and Bayo out of fanservice and Corrin was merely an addition they tagged along.



FE is still ongoing and is having a new game around the corner, with its protagonist being very recent, so it fits the description of a modern character very well. As for a better choice of Fire Emblem characters, how many FE characters do you know that fight with a chainsaw blade and shapeshifting their body parts or as a whole into a dragon? You are really making a stretch by claiming that others would have been better.

We done boys.

 

Cloud = Fan Service
Bayonetta = Fan Service
Corrin was pretty much out of that realm of Fan Service like Lucas and the other DLC characters before Cloud and Bayonetta.

I'm not a big FE fan but get over it. He/She is here to stay, you can't please everyone and if it wasn't Corrin then it would of been someone else that others would be complaining about. We still ended up with one of the biggest smash rosters and a overall good game.

Why did you stop before adding "Corrin=not fanservice"?

Stop being a child, do you even read or pay attention to the context of the situation?
It is possible that Sakurai himself might not have been entirely sure at the time he said that that they would be adding Corrin in the future, after all, in the interview he expresses his concerns and doubts about having him in the roster initially. It still doesn't change the fact that they added Cloud and Bayo out of fanservice and Corrin was merely an addition they tagged along.

Look, you can shill for Sakurai all you want, but that won't change the fact that he went back on his word with Corrin. Corrin is certainly not fanservice, he's an advertisement that got in over Nintendo characters people actually wanted. If pointing out him lying makes me a child, then just hand me my oversized lollipop and hat with the little propeller on it, because it's time for recess.

 

Why did you stop before adding "Corrin=not fanservice"?


Look, you can shill for Sakurai all you want, but that won't change the fact that he went back on his word with Corrin. Corrin is certainly not fanservice, he's an advertisement that got in over Nintendo characters people actually wanted. If pointing out him lying makes me a child, then just hand me my oversized lollipop and hat with the little propeller on it, because it's time for recess.

the dumbest part about this is that once fates is out, Corrin WILL BE fanservice.

People are complaining just because he's not playable in his own game yet, but Robin was amazing in Awakening and Corrin is also a 'myUnit'but this time the whole story revolves ONLY around Corrin.

He's going to be super popular, so why cry so hard? Wait for Fates to be released.

 

the dumbest part about this is that once fates is out, Corrin WILL BE fanservice.

People are complaining just because he's not playable in his own game yet, but Robin was amazing in Awakening and Corrin is also a 'myUnit'but this time the whole story revolves ONLY around Corrin.

He's going to be super popular, so why cry so hard? Wait for Fates to be released.

The dumbest part of this is that Fates has already been out in Japan for months now.

People are complaining because they were expecting Sakurai to adhere to his word of fanservice characters. People were expecting characters the fans have been wanting for a long long time now. Instead, 6th Fire Emblem character.

How am I "crying"? This is the kind of shilling I'm talking about.

 

http://www.sourcegaming.info/2015/12/24/people-are-free-to-criticize-but-dont-lose-faith/
I'm surprised this article hasn't been posted or talked about by now.

 

The dumbest part of this is that Fates has already been out in Japan for months now.

People are complaining because they were expecting Sakurai to adhere to his word of fanservice characters. People were expecting characters the fans have been wanting for a long long time now. Instead, 6th Fire Emblem character.

How am I "crying"? This is the kind of shilling I'm talking about.

he gave us fan service:

Bayonetta for Europe
Cloud for USA
Corrin of Japan.

If you do your research you will understand the popularity of every single character per region.

(FF is less popular than dragon quest in japan, so much for being an animu swordsmuhn)

Seeing how popular FE: IF is in japan compared to Awakening, we can assume it will be big for the western world and thus Corrin will become a fan favorite.

Stop crying about genius ideas and make your own damn game if you know everything better. This complaining is helping nobody.

Start your own Project Fanservice.

Hack the Wii U and 3DS, learn to make 3d models, meshes and textures for HD consoles. Learn to script. Make a patch.
boom.

update it to avoid Nintendo's workarounds with their updates every so often.

 

he gave us fan service:

Bayonetta for Europe
Cloud for USA
Corrin of Japan.

If you do your research you will understand the popularity of every single character per region.

(FF is less popular than dragon quest in japan, so much for being an animu swordsmuhn)

Seeing how popular FE: IF is in japan compared to Awakening, we can assume it will be big for the western world and thus Corrin will become a fan favorite.

Stop crying about genius ideas and make your own damn game if you know everything better. This complaining is helping nobody.

Start your own Project Fanservice.

Hack the Wii U and 3DS, learn to make 3d models, meshes and textures for HD consoles. Learn to script. Make a patch.
boom.

update it to avoid Nintendo's workarounds with their updates every so often.

That theory is so BS. Sorry but that doesn't work, try again later.

 

We done boys.

Not as popular or important as the main character of the game.
It's like asking for Lucina to be in Smash rather than Robin or Chrom or Marth for that matter.

 

Not as popular or important as the main character of the game.

You've got to be ****ing ****ting me... She's the character that's appeared in all of the promotional material for the game, and is just as important as Corrin.

It's like asking for Lucina to be in Smash rather than Robin or Chrom or Marth for that matter.

No, it's just like asking for them, as she's just as important as Corrin.

Sorry, but you've accomplished nothing at all, so please, quit while your ahead.

 

You've got to be ****ing ****ting me... She's the character that's appeared in all of the promotional material for the game, and is just as important as Corrin.

No, it's just like asking for them, as she's just as important as Corrin.

Sorry, but you've accomplished nothing at all, so please, quit while your ahead.

someone seems to have a bad temper...

So what if she's in all the promotional material? Corrin is as well because it's the main character?
Naturally if money and time weren't a factor, then every game character would be in.
Sadly time and money are very real factors in life so a decision needs to be made.

Robin over Chrom, for having not disctintive features even though Chrom, Robin and Lucina were protagonists of the same game.
Lucina was decided to be a costume, which make perfect sense as she appears to copy marth within the game itself.

Corrin over Aqua because he's the main character over Aqua. She's also not a dragon and that hurts her uniqueness :/.

I know you're salty. Go find some unsalted fries.

 

They took another clones spot though. I think we're just arguing over something that doesn't even have a legitimate answer. Anything that takes development time could possibly be taking something else's time.

The only "clone" Lucina was prioritzed over was Alph.

Slippy and Peppy are supporting characters, heck even Falco isn't a main character, he's a secondary.

And yet... Falco is in Smash.

 

he gave us fan service:

Bayonetta for Europe
Cloud for USA
Corrin of Japan.

If you do your research you will understand the popularity of every single character per region.

(FF is less popular than dragon quest in japan, so much for being an animu swordsmuhn)

Sakurai never said anything of the sort. In fact, his recent statement on Corrin (ya know, the one in the article we're commenting about) destroys this inane theory.

Seeing how popular FE: IF is in japan compared to Awakening, we can assume it will be big for the western world and thus Corrin will become a fan favorite.

If Corrin wasn't a fan favorite when he was added, then it won't matter if he becomes one eventually as he was not fanservice at the time of being added.

Stop crying about genius ideas and make your own damn game if you know everything better. This complaining is helping nobody.

I am crying now, but it's from laughter.

 

Sakurai never said anything of the sort. In fact, his recent statement on Corrin (ya know, the one in the article we're commenting about) destroys this inane theory.


If Corrin wasn't a fan favorite when he was added, then it won't matter if he becomes one eventually as he was not fanservice at the time of being added.


I am crying now, but it's from laughter.

well think of it this way:
If you had to choose a game to take a character from that was going to be released soon (february 2016) what other game would you pick? Let's assume there is no budget or favors left for 3rd parties.

If you read source gaming you KNOW Sakurai picks characters based on trends and in this interview he explicitly states that Fates was going to be released worldwide around that time.

please enlighten me what other nintendo character would release around february that would be a 'better'choice.

 

please enlighten me what other nintendo character would release around february that would be a 'better'choice.

I shouldn't have to do something so arbitrary. Any actual fanservice character would have been a better choice on the grounds of actually being fanservice and not making Sakurai into a liar.

 

I shouldn't have to do something so arbitrary. Any actual fanservice character would have been a better choice on the grounds of actually being fanservice and not making Sakurai into a liar.

sadly we don't know what happens behind closed doors at nintendo, so maybe his intent was to give us what we wanted, but he was made to do something else.
Maybe Corrin was planned before the Cloud reveal.
Maybe the video was recorded a while before Corrin was even chosen.

I don't know about you, but all the DLC are fanservice to me. He didn't have to work on it at all.

You are also not obliged to buy all DLC. If nobody buys Corrin it will send a strong message to Nintendo, wouldn't it?
I'm buying him though, he seems awesome and more FE love is exactly what I want.

 

The smash bros direct has been long gone and over with and people are still salty about Corrin? The world doesn't revolve around the US or just one particular region, to say he isn't fan service is ridiculous because the game has been out already in other areas. So there are fans out there who likes Corrin. Hell we have Bayonetta and Cloud for crying out loud, CLOUD! I am glad to be alive in this era of gaming.

Come on, we now have Mario, Sonic, Pac-Man, Ryu, Bayonetta, and CLOUD in one GAME!!! If you told me about this roster at the beginning of this game announcement I would have called you a liar! I was satisfied with the default roster and I didn't care if there would be DLC or not. This extra content is all fan service to me because Nintendo could have just skipped over this opportunity.

If it wasn't Corrin, it would have been some other character for the Saltine Brigade to cry about. I remember the time when games were created without fan input, you either played the game and if you didn't like it, you just didn't support its sequel and in most cases there weren't any sequels if enough people didn't buy into it and things were a bit simpler. Nowadays ever since Developers started asking for fan inputs, the entitlement and saltine generation emerged from out of nowhere.

Then you have a group of salty individuals who worships Sakurai until one of their characters didn't make it into the game, then he becomes the worst kind of scum throughout the game industry. SMH

 

The smash bros direct has been long gone and over with and people are still salty about Corrin? The world doesn't revolve around the US or just one particular region, to say he isn't fan service is ridiculous because the game has been out already in other areas. So there are fans out there who likes Corrin. Hell we have Bayonetta and Cloud for crying out loud, CLOUD! I am glad to be alive in this era of gaming.

Come on, we now have Mario, Sonic, Pac-Man, Ryu, Bayonetta, and CLOUD in one GAME!!! If you told me about this roster at the beginning of this game announcement I would have called you a liar! I was satisfied with the default roster and I didn't care if there would be DLC or not. This extra content is all fan service to me because Nintendo could have just skipped over this opportunity.

If it wasn't Corrin, it would have been some other character for the Saltine Brigade to cry about. I remember the time when games were created without fan input, you either played the game and if you didn't like it, you just didn't support its sequel and in most cases there weren't any sequels if enough people didn't buy into it and things were a bit simpler. Nowadays ever since Developers started asking for fan inputs, the entitlement and saltine generation emerged from out of nowhere.

Then you have a group of salty individuals who worships Sakurai until one of their characters didn't make it into the game, then he becomes the worst kind of scum throughout the game industry. SMH

I remember that time.
It's why I say: don't like it? don't buy it. Vote with your money and good things happen.

 

We done boys.

Don't know anything about her.

*browses Serenes Forest*

A unit with dancer skills and a lance for a weapon... I don't see how this beats a freakin' dragonkin skinchanger with a chainsaw blade. Sorry, but this doesn't seem enough to downplay what Corrin brings in terms of moveset.

 

He said all characters after Roy/Ryu would be fanservice. They were not. Therefore, he lied.

I'm not surprised. He's lied thousands of times in the past.

 

He said all characters after Roy/Ryu would be fanservice. They were not. Therefore, he lied.

I don't necessarily think he really lied as at the time he did not anticipate including more than two DLC fighters to the game, it would seem. There's a reason why the initial data within the 3DS installment had only two character slots after Mewtwo, Lucas, Roy, and Ryu.

I believe Sakurai's intent was to include another highly respected 3rd-part character (like Ryu) who wouldn't have been anticipated, like a Final Fantasy representative. That's why Cloud was added.

Bayonetta was the fighter ballot character. Was she number 1 in all territories? No. But she was included solely as fan service. That is also why Cloud was added.

Corrin was added merely to reflect Nintendo post-launch, a character that couldn't have been added before hand as he/she did not exist. I don't think Sakurai anticipated adding such a character at the time of his content, and I think it's perfectly fine for his opinion to change. He did remain true to his ambition and included the two DLC fighters as fan service. Corrin was simply on top of that, or at least I feel it is.

For the record, I don't agree with every decision Masahiro Sakurai makes. If I was in his position I would have included Inkling as a new DLC fighter to reflect the changes made to Nintendo, but I cannot speak for why he chose Corrin over Inkling. Perhaps he felt there was less priority, as he had already included the Mii Fighter costumes. Maybe he had difficulty envisioning what its move set would be like, or alternatively couldn't get its ink-based mechanics functioning on both consoles (Wii U and 3DS). However, I will not fault him for wanting to include a character to reflect Nintendo post-launch, nor will I be so misguided as to call him a lier.

 

someone seems to have a bad temper...

So what if she's in all the promotional material? Corrin is as well because it's the main character?
Naturally if money and time weren't a factor, then every game character would be in.
Sadly time and money are very real factors in life so a decision needs to be made.

Robin over Chrom, for having not disctintive features even though Chrom, Robin and Lucina were protagonists of the same game.
Lucina was decided to be a costume, which make perfect sense as she appears to copy marth within the game itself.

Corrin over Aqua because he's the main character over Aqua. She's also not a dragon and that hurts her uniqueness :/.

I know you're salty. Go find some unsalted fries.

Sorry, I'm just super salty... I appologize, I know it's not 4Chan. *Bows*

 

please enlighten me what other nintendo character would release around february that would be a 'better'choice.

I'm not saying 'better', but really Paper Mario is the only other choice, but it's just like take your pick at which franchise you want to overload then. Imo, Paper Mario makes for an extremely unique character; not saying Corrin doesn't, but there is no one even remotely close to Paper Mario in terms of a moveset though.

 

I'm not saying 'better', but really Paper Mario is the only other choice, but it's just like take your pick at which franchise you want to overload then. Imo, Paper Mario makes for an extremely unique character; not saying Corrin doesn't, but there is no one even remotely close to Paper Mario in terms of a moveset though.

exept that paper mario is... mario and we literally have 2 marios.
Paper mario as s standalone would represent then only paper mario as a series?
I don't think there's a new paper mario being released. If anything he would make an awesome assist trophy.

 

I don't think there's a new paper mario being released.

Paper Jam; it's a crossover between the Mario & Luigi and Paper Mario series.

 

Paper Jam; it's a crossover between the Mario & Luigi and Paper Mario series.

It's a Mario and Luigi game...

:/ good luck

(I totally undestand why Corrin would be picked over Paper Mario if he had to make a choice between the two)

 

It's a Mario and Luigi game...

:/ good luck

(I totally undestand why Corrin would be picked over Paper Mario if he had to make a choice between the two)

Well I guess you're right. It seems like it's primarily Mario & Luigi with some Paper Mario.

 

exept that paper mario is... mario and we literally have 2 marios.
Paper mario as s standalone would represent then only paper mario as a series?
I don't think there's a new paper mario being released. If anything he would make an awesome assist trophy.

So? If Link can have Toon Link then mario can have paper Mario. It makes perfect since.

Now I want Paper Mario in Smash 5.

 

So? If Link can have Toon Link then mario can have paper Mario. It makes perfect since.

Now I want Paper Mario in Smash 5.

Mario already has Dr. Mario lol and no one said Toon Link & Dr. Mario were good additions anyway

 

So? If Link can have Toon Link then mario can have paper Mario. It makes perfect since.

Now I want Paper Mario in Smash 5.

Yeah, I didn't want to get in a subjective argument again. He's like his own entity and would represent a whole other franchise.

Paper Mario, Captain Toad and Inkling... such unique characters; I would be shocked if they all weren't included in the next Smash game.

Mario already has Dr. Mario lol and no one said Toon Link & Dr. Mario were good additions anyway

Yeah; they need to take the garbage characters out of the game and actually put some worthy ones in there.