Would it be best if this was the end of the line for Smash?

[Small Waves]

Sakurai is most definitely not going to supervise Smash 5 if there is one

If I took a shot every time he said that, I would have gone through my fourth liver transplant a month ago.

 

[HeavyLobster]

• Cons:
  • And of course, if the series ended, there'd be no more Super Smash Bros.

I think you just answered your own question. Besides, it's not as if Nintendo doesn't have other game designers who have taken over series and done well with them. There's enough people who will still like any semi-decent Smash game that comes out for it to be profitable anyway. There's also no guarantee that Sakurai won't get dragged back for Smash 5. For all we know Iwata has some sort of blackmail against Sakurai and he'll force him to keep making Smashes until he keels over.

 

[salaboB]

And why would characters be cut? The next console will have even more space for characters than this one. There being a large roster in smash 4 means absolutely nothing for the size of future rosters. New consoles mean more powerful consoles. Why do you think every smash game has had more characters than the last one? I don't see why that would change now.

If it was done well, I think I'd be okay with that.

There's a lot of pretty similar movesets in this new Smash, and some of that is because there's just so many characters the easily understandable design space is running out.

Besides, the original only had 12 characters and was a great game. While I don't think Smash in the future necessarily needs to have fewer than 51, I don't think it would automatically make it a bad game either.

 

[Kapus]

• Sakurai is most definitely not going to supervise Smash 5 if there is one, so the quality of a sequel is uncertain.

Taking a chance to have a good sequel is better than no sequel at all. Smash is better than no Smash. And besides, if the sequel ends up worse, the previous smash games still exist. It doesn't affect them.

• The roster is getting very, very large, so the discussion has turned from "which newcomers should be put in" to "which veterans shouldn't be cut" for the sake of development time. Large numbers of people are going to get upset.

So...? There has always been some form of roster controversy. If a beloved character is cut, people will live with it and still play the game, or go back to previous entries where that character exists. Not everyone is going to be pleased with new entries and that has always been a given.

Once again, Smash is better than no Smash.

 

[revengeska]

Every iteration of Smash that they've come out with improved on it's predecessor, so I can understand that he might feel like he doesn't know how to improve upon it anymore. However, when there's major money involved like there is with Smash, they'll find a way. Sakurai or no Sakurai, Smash 4 is helping to save a sinking ship in the Wii U and that's not going to change in the future because Sakurai has run out of ideas.

 

[Tino]

It's gonna be hard to match the same amount of success that Smash 4 already has if they did continue on with the series with or without Sakurai even with profits involved. It could go either way for me though.

 

[Andromear]

Lets face it Super smash Brothers is going to keep having game until it stops making lots of money and sell lots of console.

 

[3DSplayer]

I agree that Mr. Sakurai will stop working on Smash Bros sometime soon (I mean the man has worked so hard for us, he needs time to rest) but I don't think Nintendo will be pulling the plug on Smash Bros anytime soon. Smash bros is pretty much Nintendo star franchise outside of Mario and the Legend of Zelda (even though smash has both of those franchises in it)
Plus, I couldn't imagine what it'd be like with Smash ending. Smash makes a ton of money for Nintendo; and not just the game itself: more people bought WiiUs for smash4 (including myself), amiibos sell really well right now, and Smash Bros help people get interested in other Nintendo or 3rd party franchises. I got into Fire Emblem from Smash Brothers.

 

[Cthulhu_MD]

In a business sense, Nintendo wouldn't stop making Smash Bros. While Iwata and Sakurai are friends, I don't think Iwata would let Smash die because of Sakurai's ailments. He'd probably make the guy just be an supervisor at most. Iwata even "threatened" Sakurai to help make Brawl, or Iwata woiuld just port Melee over to the Wii, but with online added in.

 

[J1NG]

It's impossible to be certain.
One thing is, though. Smash will not go on forever.
Like Harvey Dent once said:

Me personally, I'd be OK with it if Smash 4 was the end. But I have a feeling that the majority of the Smash fanbase would strongly disagree with me and proceed to bombard me with pejoratives/insults/etc.

 

[Cthulhu_MD]

It's impossible to be certain.
One thing is, though. Smash will not go on forever.
Like Harvey Dent once said:

Me personally, I'd be OK if Smash 4 was the end. But I know that the majority of the Smash fanbase would strongly disagree with me and proceed to bombard me with pejoratives/insults/etc.

I respectfully disagree.

I technically would be okay, but at the same time I know that won't ever be the case because as long as each subsequent entry keeps making money for both Sora Ltd. and Nintendo, they're not going to stop producing then every 6 years or so.

 

[pupNapoleon]

In a business sense, Nintendo wouldn't stop making Smash Bros. While Iwata and Sakurai are friends, I don't think Iwata would let Smash die because of Sakurai's ailments. He'd probably make the guy just be an supervisor at most. Iwata even "threatened" Sakurai to help make Brawl, or Iwata woiuld just port Melee over to the Wii, but with online added in.

I don't think Melee will be ported to Wii. They would likely remove all the...'glitches,' and we would have nothing akin to wavedashing, etc.

 

[J1NG]

I respectfully disagree.

I technically would be okay, but at the same time I know that won't ever be the case because as long as each subsequent entry keeps making money for both Sora Ltd. and Nintendo, they're not going to stop producing then every 6 years or so.

Huh.
50 year from now and Nintendo is still making Smash: Do we still care? If we do, is it still a good thing? Also probably impossible to tell.
I mean, I get it. The here and the now. The money. But the fact that Smash sells will probably be its Achilles heel in the grand scheme of things.
Again, feel free to disagree all you want.

 

[anikom15]

I'm looking forward to a new director. I don't dislike Sakurai but I like new things.