Time and Dev Resources left to apply E3 feedback

[JV5Chris]

Just want to give a little perspective here to anyone unfamiliar to what happens in the last few months of game development. Reading a lot of posts with people falling back on the idea the game is not final, so I think it's important to start this conversation to keep our expectations in check and discuss how much can realistically change in this time frame. Here is my takeaway based on my past experiences:

With Smash 3DS only a few months off, parts of the team will progressively start being locked out of submitting changes to the build in an effort to reduce new bug creation. Art is likely already out of the picture. Design and balance teams probably have a few weeks to a month left before having their contributions limited. Keep in mind that even basic changes like allowing characters to shift directions quicker can have far reaching implications. At this stage in development there is going to be added pressure to make very reserved alterations to prevent a rippling effect that requires re-tweaking or re-balancing other systems and/or characters.

July and the first week or two of August will be all about bug fixing. Some design changes outside of that may sneak themselves in there, but by this time everything must go through a team of programmers and QA triple checking every tweak, no matter how small, for any potential unforeseen issues. If the findings are inconclusive, they will likely error on the side not applying it in case it does lead to some unknown negative consequences. Submitting the Gold Master needs to happen at least 3 1/2 weeks before shipping.

The reality is this is incredibly late in development to seek hands-on feedback from competitive players for the purpose of making gameplay alterations. If any proposed changes make it, it will almost certainly come down to the wire. Think Nintendo recognizes the asset they have in the tournament scene now, but given the timing I'd say they were not ready with this tittle to open up the development effort to this part of the community. Perhaps they can make some bolder changes in time for the Wii U version, but the likelihood of any of this happening is still not great. I would not expect the final game to be all that removed from the game now.



TL;DR: Take the time left before shipping the 3DS version in Japan and drop about 2/3rds of it.

 

[The Real Gamer]

Unless if I'm mistaken there's still a possibility of the games receiving balance patches.

 

[Substitution]

Sakurai did say he was open to patching.

 

[JV5Chris]

I can't imagine we'll see any significant or fundamental alterations to the gameplay through a patch. It would be completely out of character for Nintendo. Of course, I'd love to see that happen.

 

[D-idara]

I...really don't care, but I wouldn't hurt to get constant balance patches to tweak and make the game even better than it already is (Which is really good!)

 

[Shoopman]

I was actually shocked that Nintendo was taking input during E3 considering the amount of time they have left to change the game. If they implement any changes, they are likely to me very minor, as OP said, because of the risk of a rippling effect. Even if they had more time, I doubt they would change anything major. Sakurai seems like the kind of guy to not stray from his vision, which is something that makes me incredibly nervous, especially from a balance perspective.

 

[Violenceman]

Also keep in mind that Nintendo has never been shy about pushing back release dates if they feel it will make for a better game overall.

 

[Chibi-Chan]

I never thought I'd say this but ... Waiting for Ultra Smash Brothers Ultimate HD 2015. At this rate the only way to save the mechanics would be with an update release of that sort. May people think it's cheap to keep re-realsing the same fighting game but it's a necessary evil simply because it's not perfect! There's always tweaks and improvements to be made and they refresh the competitive popularity as well.

 

[Sandfall]

The time before the 3DS version launches is irrelevant to the time left to add changes the WiiU version. It is doubtful they will have exactly the same mechanics. Most people probably don't care if the 3DS version isn't suitable for competitive play. They are just getting it for fun.