Super Smash Bros. Brawl: The Two Hidden Delays

An interesting part of Smash History that's never discussed: Super Smash Bros. Brawl: The Two Hidden Delays. Originally, the game was intended for the Wii's Launch. December 3rd was the release date at E3 2007. At E3, Reggie infamously said "Super Smash Bros Brawl for the Wii will be launching on December 3rd".

On October 10th, when Sonic the Hedgehog was added to the game, Super Smash Bros. Brawl was delayed from December 3rd to February 10th. The hype was so big that it took people a while to notice Sonic being used to hide the delay on the website. Many fans were in so much shock after Sonic that it took them a while to notice that the game was delayed.

On January 14th, so close to release, the game was delayed again. To compensate this. Olimar was revealed on the Dojo a week before and Sheik was revealed during the week of the news.

While there's not that much else to say about it, it's an interesting part of history for anyone who was there, and the only time a Smash game has been delayed so far when a date was already put on it.

What do you think of these delays? Were you around for them? Particularly Sonic's? Let us know in the comments below!

 

By the time I got Brawl, it had already been out for a year, so I did not experience this delay. It was my first Smash too, I wasn't around for the pre-brawl days.

I don't think this'll happen again with Ultimate, or at least I hope not.

I knew about the Sonic thing, but I never knew about the Olimar and Sheik thing. Those two were revealed that late into development eh?

I do wonder what the reaction to those two was like at the time, since I wasn't around for Brawl speculation.

 

Don't forget the delays in getting it over to PAL regions. More than enough time for the US and Japan to go through the entire thing with a fine tooth comb and post it all on the net before we even got to sniff the new game smell.

 

It was necessary. A game that is delayed will eventually be good, whereas a rushed game will forever be bad. Of course, this was before patches, so they had to make sure Brawl was acceptable for release. Yet even with patches, there's only so much you can fix. It's not like you can create a brand spanking new game with a patch.

But now that you bring it up, it does raise a question: will Ultimate be delayed?

 

1) A half year wait for EU to get Melee I think constitutes as a delay. Even if it's intended from the start anything beyond a week or two can be really frustrating for fans.
2) The existence of patches/updates makes it easier for publishers to release the game when they want. Granted a lot can go wrong on the developmental side that can delay things and we all know how bad it is for publishers to force games out early. But based on how relatively smoothly the demo played at the invitational and how they still have 5 months to work on the game I'd be surprised if there were a delay. Especially BC any delay would likely mean they would miss the Christmas rush that gives a game so many sales.
3) I find it hard to say Brawl was the only game delayed with the time tables we were promised for Sm4sh and when the game actually released, especially the 3DS. The 3DS version did not come out in SUMMER like they advertised, it was released in October with the Wii U version not too far behind it seemingly hiding behind an unannounced release date. So I'd definitely argue that Sm4sh was delayed as well.

 

I didn’t mind that delay since I knew it meant more good stuff and more finely tuned game play. I don’t mind delay in games but I’m glad that many companies are staying true to projected launch dates nowadays. But then again you get rushed steaming pile of crap like Marvel vs Capcom Infinite or Street Fighter V when it was first launched.

 

I remember anticipating the game and being a bit bummed out about the delays. However, you have to admit that this was a smart move on their part to cover for delays.

 

No offense to the author, please don't take offense, but this article is very mediocre. It doesn't go in depth at all. It has information a lot of people already knew without elaborating on it. The article is super short. I would recommend picking a topic next time that you know more about and have more to talk about. Good luck in the future!

 

It was necessary. A game that is delayed will eventually be good, whereas a rushed game will forever be bad. Of course, this was before patches, so they had to make sure Brawl was acceptable for release. Yet even with patches, there's only so much you can fix. It's not like you can create a brand spanking new game with a patch.

But now that you bring it up, it does raise a question: will Ultimate be delayed?

They talked about Sonic on the Smash Blog two days ago, maybe it already has been delayed and we just haven't noticed yet.

 

This isn't the only time a Smash game was delayed. Smash 3DS was originally going to be released in Summer 2014 but was quietly delayed to Fall of the same year.

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An interesting part of Smash History that's never discussed: Super Smash Bros. Brawl: The Two Hidden Delays. Originally, the game was intended for the Wii's Launch. December 3rd was the release date at E3 2007. At E3, Reggie infamously said, "Super Smash Bros Brawl for the Wii will be launching on December 3rd".

On October 10th, when Sonic the Hedgehog was added to the game, Super Smash Bros. Brawl was delayed from December 3rd to February 10th. The hype was so big that it took people a while to notice Sonic being used to hide the delay on the website. Many fans were in so much shock after Sonic that it took them a while to notice that the game was delayed.

On January 14th, so close to release, the game was delayed again. To compensate for this. Olimar was revealed on the Dojo a week before and Sheik was revealed during the week of the news.

While there's not that much else to say about it, it's an interesting part of history for anyone who was there, and the only time a Smash game has been delayed so far when a date was already put on it.

What do you think of these delays? Were you around for them? Particularly Sonic's? Let us know in the comments below!

 

I wouldn't mind Ultimate being delayed a few months if it results in a better final product

 

Super Smash Bros Brawl was my first smash game. I didn't know of its existence till it came out, but I'm glad they delayed it to polish it. I still love Brawl.

 

I remember this during those good ol' days.

 

Lol. Brawl was the first Smash game I ever owned and I got it in 2016.