Topic: Super Smash Bros. Developer Discussion Live Blog

[Kairon]

Masahiro Sakurai is in Los Angeles to talk about Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS. See what he has to say.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/feature/37684/super-smash-bros-developer-discussion-live-blog

Super Smash Bros. Developer Discussion

(06/10/2014)

 

6:50	Neal Ronaghan:  waiting in line for the Smash Bros. discussion to begin. Tuesday June 10, 2014 6:50 Neal Ronaghan

6:53	Neal Ronaghan:  Hoping for a character reveal here. Maybe some single player details Tuesday June 10, 2014 6:53 Neal Ronaghan

6:54	Neal Ronaghan:  Saw Aonuma walking around. he is probably just here to watch though. Tuesday June 10, 2014 6:54 Neal Ronaghan

6:55	[Comment From RARioRARio: ]  is this specifically for one or the other systems? Tuesday June 10, 2014 6:55 RARio

6:55	Neal Ronaghan:  Seems to be for both. Tuesday June 10, 2014 6:55 Neal Ronaghan

6:57	Neal Ronaghan:  We are in! Seems a few GameCube controllers are on stage. Tuesday June 10, 2014 6:57 Neal Ronaghan

6:58	Neal Ronaghan:  And a GamePad. I think we might see Smash Bros. Wii U single player details. Tuesday June 10, 2014 6:58 Neal Ronaghan

7:00	Neal Ronaghan:  No stream. stay tuned here for details. Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:00 Neal Ronaghan

7:03	Neal Ronaghan:  it is running late Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:03 Neal Ronaghan

7:03	Neal Ronaghan:  Nothing to see here yet Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:03 Neal Ronaghan

7:06	Neal Ronaghan:  still waiting. Maybe Sakurai got caught up with the Invitational? Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:06 Neal Ronaghan

7:08	Neal Ronaghan:  Roundtable is scheduled to go until 8:30 PT Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:08 Neal Ronaghan

7:10	Neal Ronaghan:  No photography allowed FYI. Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:10 Neal Ronaghan

7:13	Neal Ronaghan:  Starting up. Sakurai is taking the stage with translator Tim O Leary Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:13 Neal Ronaghan

7:14	Neal Ronaghan:  Revealing PacMan Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:14 Neal Ronaghan

7:14	Neal Ronaghan:  He has wonderful 8-bit moves. seems to be a PacMan 3DS stage Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:14 Neal Ronaghan

7:15	Neal Ronaghan:  And Game and Watch is in too!!! Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:15 Neal Ronaghan

7:15	Neal Ronaghan:  PacMan turns into an 8-bit version. he is normally like the PacMan World version Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:15 Neal Ronaghan

7:15	Neal Ronaghan:  Sakurai made a Tekken joke saying Heihachi is popular Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:15 Neal Ronaghan

7:16	Neal Ronaghan:  based on old style PacMan. he wanted to make retro PacMan but the standard is PacLand PacMan Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:16 Neal Ronaghan

7:17	Neal Ronaghan:  PacMan throws fruit and eats PacDots Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:17 Neal Ronaghan

7:17	Michael "TYP" Cole:  Pic of 4 classics in ganing Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:17 Michael "TYP" Cole

7:17	Neal Ronaghan:  Showing image of PacMan, Mario, Sonic and Mega Man. how cool is that? Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:17 Neal Ronaghan

7:18	Neal Ronaghan:  And there is a fight among the four now with Sakurai and NoA characters. Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:18 Neal Ronaghan

7:19	Neal Ronaghan:  Nate Bihldorf on the mic during this (and playing) Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:19 Neal Ronaghan

7:20	Neal Ronaghan:  PacMan looks fun to play as. lots of goofy animations. Sakurai started the match by taunting as PacMan Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:20 Neal Ronaghan

7:21	Michael "TYP" Cole:  Pacmay have a triple up bmove. Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:21 Michael "TYP" Cole

7:21	Neal Ronaghan:  Seems to have an attack where he uses the ghosts, throws fruit, and even places a fire hydrant on the ground. Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:21 Neal Ronaghan

7:21	Neal Ronaghan:  Sakurai won! Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:21 Neal Ronaghan

7:22	Neal Ronaghan:  Talking character customization. Adjusting fighting style of character. Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:22 Neal Ronaghan

7:23	Neal Ronaghan:  like the Mii Fighters, each character has 12 special variations. Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:23 Neal Ronaghan

7:23	Michael "TYP" Cole:  You can select amongst 3 moves for each special attack slot Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:23 Michael "TYP" Cole

7:23	Neal Ronaghan:  Mario has a fireball, a fast fireball, and a fire orb. not usable in For Glory Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:23 Neal Ronaghan

7:24	Neal Ronaghan:  Palutena is different. she has unique special attacks; not derivative Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:24 Neal Ronaghan

7:24	Neal Ronaghan:  Characters can equip items that increase attack, defense and speed. but there are checks and balances Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:24 Neal Ronaghan

7:25	Michael "TYP" Cole:  Equipment also modifies characters by adjusting their balance. Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:25 Michael "TYP" Cole

7:25	Neal Ronaghan:  Make a character quicker but then they are weaker Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:25 Neal Ronaghan

7:25	Neal Ronaghan:  FYI TYP and I are both typing. we might have overlap. its okay though. more perspectives Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:25 Neal Ronaghan

7:27	Michael "TYP" Cole:  You can change clothing if your mii! Each fighter type has its own wardrobe to select from. Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:27 Michael "TYP" Cole

7:28	Neal Ronaghan:  Sakurai joking about character requests from fans Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:28 Neal Ronaghan

7:29	Neal Ronaghan:  You can make Reggie, Elijah Wood, and Ice T. Ice T and Elijah Wood were asked. Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:29 Neal Ronaghan

7:29	Neal Ronaghan:  Mii Fighters cannot be used in With Anyone mode online. can be used With Friends. Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:29 Neal Ronaghan

7:29	Michael "TYP" Cole:  Mii fighters cannot be used in non-friend matches when online. Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:29 Michael "TYP" Cole

7:30	Michael "TYP" Cole:  Reiterates that all fighters are on both versions of the game. Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:30 Michael "TYP" Cole

7:30	Neal Ronaghan:  Talking 3DS version. characters are same on both. unique stages though. Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:30 Neal Ronaghan

7:30	Neal Ronaghan:  you can carry customized characters through Wii U and 3DS Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:30 Neal Ronaghan

7:30	Neal Ronaghan:  Smash Run is easier to acquire unique items. Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:30 Neal Ronaghan

7:31	Neal Ronaghan:  Talking amiibo Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:31 Neal Ronaghan

7:31	Michael "TYP" Cole:  Smash Run is designed to help collect items/upgrades. These can be transferred to the Wii U game. Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:31 Michael "TYP" Cole

7:32	Michael "TYP" Cole:  FO stands for Figure Player. Users do not control them. Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:32 Michael "TYP" Cole

7:33	Neal Ronaghan:  figurines show up as FP (figure player) and are computer controlled. they can level up to 50. will learn your tendencies. better than level 9 cpus Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:33 Neal Ronaghan

7:34	Michael "TYP" Cole:  Figures will learntheir opponents tactics and adjust over time. They can also use items. Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:34 Michael "TYP" Cole

7:34	Neal Ronaghan:  FP are basically better computer players. can also be used as tag team players in matches Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:34 Neal Ronaghan

7:35	Neal Ronaghan:  Sakurai says you don't have to get every single figure but he will Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:35 Neal Ronaghan

7:35	Michael "TYP" Cole:  Sakurai wants players to think of figures as their partners in battle. Sakurai says you don't need to collect them all. But he will. Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:35 Michael "TYP" Cole

7:36	Neal Ronaghan:  Showing off Smash Run Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:36 Neal Ronaghan

7:36	Michael "TYP" Cole:  Sakurai is shifting to discuss smash run. The field is random. Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:36 Michael "TYP" Cole

7:37	Neal Ronaghan:  Sakurai is picking Donkey Kong for Smash Run. he is playing it. Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:37 Neal Ronaghan

7:37	Neal Ronaghan:  Just saying, both versions of the game look and play great. This looks to be worth the wait everyone Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:37 Neal Ronaghan

7:38	Michael "TYP" Cole:  You pick up powers that you can use in battle via the touch screen. Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:38 Michael "TYP" Cole

7:38	Michael "TYP" Cole:  There is a jet pack item. Sweet. Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:38 Michael "TYP" Cole

7:40	Michael "TYP" Cole:  Warp lets you jump to a different area of the map in smash run. Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:40 Michael "TYP" Cole

7:42	Neal Ronaghan:  Reiterating: we can't take photos. Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:42 Neal Ronaghan

7:44	Neal Ronaghan:  Smash Run can end with a regular battle, a throwing contest or a running contest Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:44 Neal Ronaghan

7:44	Michael "TYP" Cole:  The final battle of snash run is random. It could be a standard battle or something odd like who can throw items the farthest Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:44 Michael "TYP" Cole

7:45	Neal Ronaghan:  Q&A time! Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:45 Neal Ronaghan

7:45	Michael "TYP" Cole:  They are opening the floor to questions Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:45 Michael "TYP" Cole

7:45	Neal Ronaghan:  First question: why would you want to release the different versions far apart? Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:45 Neal Ronaghan

7:45	Michael "TYP" Cole:  Q: Why would you want to release the 2 games mo's apart Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:45 Michael "TYP" Cole

7:46	Michael "TYP" Cole:  Sakurai cites need for debugging Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:46 Michael "TYP" Cole

7:46	Neal Ronaghan:  Biggest reason is debug process. it is a really big game. They need several hundred testers and splitting the release gives them more time to space it out Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:46 Neal Ronaghan

7:47	Michael "TYP" Cole:  The debug teamis large and cannot handle both games in parallel, and they want to give both games their full concentration Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:47 Michael "TYP" Cole

7:47	Michael "TYP" Cole:  Q: why are character tansformations removed? Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:47 Michael "TYP" Cole

7:48	Michael "TYP" Cole:  A: we want people to focus on single characters more deeply Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:48 Michael "TYP" Cole

7:48	Neal Ronaghan:  Q3: any plans for the competitive scene moving forward? Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:48 Neal Ronaghan

7:48	Michael "TYP" Cole:  Q: what plans does Ninty have for the smash tourney scene? Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:48 Michael "TYP" Cole

7:49	Neal Ronaghan:  Sakurai doesn't work with the competive events directly. he loves the fans and will keep an eye on it Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:49 Neal Ronaghan

7:50	Michael "TYP" Cole:  Sakurai is not involved in tourney planning. He was impressed with the enthusiasm for this game at today's tourney. He wants to support the scene by making more games like these. Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:50 Michael "TYP" Cole

7:51	Neal Ronaghan:  Our own Justin Berube is asking about balancing the game. he also wants the Ice Climbers back. Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:51 Neal Ronaghan

7:53	Neal Ronaghan:  Sakurai says it is hard to balance the game. Discussing the process of balancing. he basically did it all by himself in Melee. Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:53 Neal Ronaghan

7:54	Neal Ronaghan:  Brawl had a 4 person team give grades to the power of characters. New one has 12 person team. Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:54 Neal Ronaghan

7:55

Michael "TYP" Cole:  Q: Concern over balance after brawl's problems. A: it gets very technical. Sakurai was responsible for the changes from N64 to Melee. He had to use a broader grading system with help from staff when working on Brawl. The process became tricky due to biases in the graders' playing style. For the new games they have 12 graders, but there could still be balance anomolies. Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:55 Michael "TYP" Cole

7:56	Neal Ronaghan:  It isn't enough just to make a game and satisfy the fan base. Need to make it for everyone Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:56 Neal Ronaghan

7:56	Michael "TYP" Cole:  When creating a game, we cannot just appeal to traditional fanbases. We need to reach out to new gamers, and cater to many target users. Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:56 Michael "TYP" Cole

7:57	Michael "TYP" Cole:  Sakurai points out some chars are better suited for 2 vs 4 player and with or without items. Sakurai considers smash a party game. Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:57 Michael "TYP" Cole

7:58	Michael "TYP" Cole:  Q: you games have a stylish menu design. What is your philosophy on menu design? Tuesday June 10, 2014 7:58 Michael "TYP" Cole

8:00	Michael "TYP" Cole:  A: In famitsu magazine he has written a whole page on that topic. The important items have to be big--words or icon, but eadily understood. Tuesday June 10, 2014 8:00 Michael "TYP" Cole

8:00	Neal Ronaghan:  Sakurai loves menus. he writes a column for Famitsu and wrote all about it already there. He makes the important menu items big. doesn't need to be words but need to be easily understood. Tuesday June 10, 2014 8:00 Neal Ronaghan

8:01	Michael "TYP" Cole:  He says to read his article. Tuesday June 10, 2014 8:01 Michael "TYP" Cole

8:02	Neal Ronaghan:  A competitive Smash player is trying to challenge Sakurai to see if he can win and help balance the game. Sakurai asked "have you ever made a game?" Tuesday June 10, 2014 8:02 Neal Ronaghan

8:03	Michael "TYP" Cole:  Q: when was Greninja chosen to be added? Tuesday June 10, 2014 8:03 Michael "TYP" Cole

8:03	Neal Ronaghan:  Q: When did they decide to include Greninja? Tuesday June 10, 2014 8:03 Neal Ronaghan

8:05

Michael "TYP" Cole:  A: All of the characters to consider were on our internal roster from the beginning of development. We had a slot for a new Pokemon reserved, but did not way for X and Y. We decided to use Greninja well before X/Y came out, based on early reference drawings. Tuesday June 10, 2014 8:05 Michael "TYP" Cole

8:07	Neal Ronaghan:  Our own Jonny Metts asking about online in Smash Bros. Tuesday June 10, 2014 8:07 Neal Ronaghan

8:07	Michael "TYP" Cole:  Q: online was broken in Brawl. How ensuring online experience will be good this time? Tuesday June 10, 2014 8:07 Michael "TYP" Cole

8:08	Neal Ronaghan:  Last question btw Tuesday June 10, 2014 8:08 Neal Ronaghan

8:10	Neal Ronaghan:  Sakurai believe he gave players too much choice in Brawl online. seems to have misunderstood intent of question. Tuesday June 10, 2014 8:10 Neal Ronaghan

8:12	Neal Ronaghan:  In new game, they are giving more solidified options. Its tough to keep all 4 players synced up. Sakurai says to try to get strongest WiFi connection possible. Tuesday June 10, 2014 8:12 Neal Ronaghan

8:13

Michael "TYP" Cole:  With brawl the players could set up everything, with freedom. But we learned that some folks team up or play differently, making it difficult for all to enjoy. There is a reporting system. As far as technical connection issues, we're still working on it. They use async communication in Mario Kart and other games to improve this, but that doesn't work well for fighting games. So there is cascading failure, especially for four players. That is why they ask people to have the best communication system available (eg a LAN adapter) Tuesday June 10, 2014 8:13 Michael "TYP" Cole

8:13	Neal Ronaghan:  Watching footage of Smash Invitational Tuesday June 10, 2014 8:13 Neal Ronaghan

8:14	Michael "TYP" Cole:  Higjlight reel played from the tourney. Tuesday June 10, 2014 8:14 Michael "TYP" Cole

8:14	Neal Ronaghan:  Sakurai enjoyed watching the tourney. was nervous it might crash Tuesday June 10, 2014 8:14 Neal Ronaghan

8:15	Michael "TYP" Cole:  Sakurai is heading back to Japan tomorrow. He works hard! Tuesday June 10, 2014 8:15 Michael "TYP" Cole

8:16	Neal Ronaghan:  Zero Suit Samus won over Kirby. he predicted ZSS winning. Tuesday June 10, 2014 8:16 Neal Ronaghan

8:17	Neal Ronaghan:  Not sure if we will get a final reveal or not. holding out hope. this still has 10 minutes left. Tuesday June 10, 2014 8:17 Neal Ronaghan

8:17	Michael "TYP" Cole:  Sakurai thanks everyone. It's over for tonight, folks! Tuesday June 10, 2014 8:17 Michael "TYP" Cole

8:18	Neal Ronaghan:  Sakurai thanks us for coming and he is out. show over. nothing else revealed tonight Tuesday June 10, 2014 8:18 Neal Ronaghan

 

 

[Caterkiller]

Where is this? I'm at E3 and I know I can't attend but I want to anyway!

[Adrock]

Pac-Man revealed. And Mr. Game and Watch returns. So far so good!

[ClexYoshi]

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/forums/index.php?topic=44208.msg830843#msg830843

BAM! LOOKIT THAT ****! CALLED IT!

[TheBigK]

Pac-man and Game & Watch, nice! Still holding out for the return of Wario.

[stevey]

Reiterating: we can't take photos

When has that stopped NWR before?

[UltraClayton]

Why doesn't this game have a real name yet?

[albire]

Why doesn't this game have a real name yet?

This is the real name. :c

[NeoStar9X]

Thanks for the live blog. 

[TheFleece]

I enjoyed reading this- a lot of good info to pick up on. With the Miis and all their added details as well as the Amiibo figures and even a 3DS version this makes me feel like it might be the very last Smash Bros game. I don't want it to be, but it's just comes off as being the past games best parts boiled down and welded together. I don't know how Nintendo could top this version, but that's what I thought about Brawl too.