Topic: RE: Super Smash Bros. Dojo Opens

[Rize]

Nintendo has opened its new Smash Bros. website, where you can find the movie shown last night among other things.

The newly opened Smash Bros. Dojo features some useful info as you can see from the links on the left.  I highly recommend watching the movie, and the "How this game came to be made" section is very interesting.  It features an English translation of a monologue by the director explaining some of the decisions that resulted from Nintendo announcing the game.      

Most interstingly, Nintendo apparently announced the game at E3 last year without informing the game's original creator (at that time, no longer an employee), Masahiro Sakurai.  Apparently if they could not get him to return, they were simply going to use the same characters from Melee and simply add online functionality.  However, with the return of Sakurai to the helm (a difficult decision for him about which he goes into much detail), we will now be awarded with a true Super Smash Bros. Melee sequel as recent news clearly indicates.  This likely explains why the game won't be ready in time for launch.    

One last bit of information from the site is that the music for the trailer was composed by Nobuo Uematsu of Final Fantasy fame.  It was not suggested that he would compose for the rest of the game though.  However, it was revealed that a full orchestra would be used to compose the rest of the game's music complete with "lyrics" in latin.  That will certainly provide a unique aural experience.

[Hostile Creation]

I love how ridiculously over-the-top Super Smash Brothers is.  What a damn fun game.

[Rize]

Yeah, the trailer is perfect.  Well worth watching.

[UltimatePartyBear]

From the "How this Game Came to be Made" article:

Quote
But we still didn't have enough people. To create a game like Super Smash Bros. Melee, I would want a team with a minimum of 50 people. Getting together that many people would be a back-breaking task.

So it was that Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto introduced me to a "particular team" that had just completed a large-scale game.

Until the day comes when I can announce the team's name, I shall simply refer to them as "The Studio."

Anyone have any ideas what team had just finished a large game and fanatically plays SSB Melee?  I'm drawing a complete blank on games completed in that timeframe.

[Caliban]

I've been listening, over and over, to the "main theme" mp3, it's pure glory.

[couchmonkey]

PartyBear: The first team I think of is the Donkey Kong Jungle Beat team.  I think they were finished a little before that, and DKJB seems to have quite a bit of the Smash Bros. mentality in it, but...why would they need a new office to work in?  Maybe their existing offices weren't big enough to house the extra staff.

[Rize]

Quote
Originally posted by: PartyBear
From the "How this Game Came to be Made" article:

Quote
But we still didn't have enough people. To create a game like Super Smash Bros. Melee, I would want a team with a minimum of 50 people. Getting together that many people would be a back-breaking task.

So it was that Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto introduced me to a "particular team" that had just completed a large-scale game.

Until the day comes when I can announce the team's name, I shall simply refer to them as "The Studio."

Anyone have any ideas what team had just finished a large game and fanatically plays SSB Melee?  I'm drawing a complete blank on games completed in that timeframe.

The time frame would probably be somewhere from late May to July 2005.  A game is completed usually a month before it goes on sale.  I'm sure you'll think of something.

[UltimatePartyBear]

Judging by the PGC games list, sorted for GCN releases in Japan in that year, and assuming it was already a Nintendo studio, I'd say the most likely team would be the one that did Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance.

[rholder]

Anyone think it could be related to Konami in some way? As the only character unveiled that has no real ties to Nintendo is Snake...just a thought. Anyone want to look at Konami houses that had finished up near that time? And although it would be a departure, could this be something Kojima got involved in?

/my mind is all over the place today.

[TJ Spyke]

Most interstingly, Nintendo apparently announced the game at E3 last year without informing the game's original creator (at that time, no longer an employee), Masahiro Sakurai. Apparently if they could not get him to return, they were simply going to use the same characters from Melee and simply add online functionality. However, with the return of Sakurai to the helm (a difficult decision for him about which he goes into much detail), we will now be awarded with a true Super Smash Bros. Melee sequel as recent news clearly indicates. This likely explains why the game won't be ready in time for launch.

I know I am not the only one who would have bought the game even if that had happened. SSBM was a great game and well worth a $50 re-purchase just to play online.

[Rize]

Yeah, I'm sure many would have felt the same way.  They might have made some new stages and weapons at least.  Anyway, that's in the past now.

[denjet78]

Reading the website, you get the real sense that Nintendo doesn't think like other companies. They really try to do what they think is right. I mean, what other company would go this far just to ensure that a sequal would not only be made well, but the way that they know that it should be made? Most other companies would have done exactly what they had stated they were originally going to do, throw online into the game with maybe a couple of extra token characters and levels.

Wow... I am just beyond impressed right now.

[Rize]

Don't ever forget that Nintendo is a business and they want your money.  However, the reason they have so many loyal customers is that they believe it is important to build a solid fanbase on a good reputation.  They don't make good quality games because they're nice, but because it is the cornerstone of their business model.  It is a rare business model these days though.  Most companies are content to fool consumers whenever they can.

[UncleBob]

You know, and perhaps I'm reading too much into this, but after reading Masahiro Sakurai's article on that site, this guy really, really, really sounds like a really nice guy...  He sounds like the kind of guy that I could totally kick back with and talk about/play games with all day.

I bet he'd totally kick my ass at Smash Bros.

[Hostile Creation]

"Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance"

You mean Intelligent Systems?
Who are apparently making the Super Paper Mario game for Gamecube, and probably the new Fire Emblem game as well?

[UltimatePartyBear]

You don't think I thought of that?  It fits the criteria, and it's not like everyone at Intelligent Systems works on the same game.  A group could have been split off.  It would help explain why Pit is finally getting some attention, too, since Kid Icarus was an Intelligent Systems game.  Still, I don't want to get defensive because all I did was suggest a possible answer to the question.  Wild speculation can be fun, you know?  For example, if I expand the search to non-GC games, I can see that Nintendogs was finished at about that same time.  And, much like the Pit connection, there's a Nintendogs connection.  Right now I'd say that's the more likely team of the two, in fact.

More speculation!  According to Wikipedia, skip Ltd., who developed Chibi Robo for Nintendo, employs some former Square developers.  There's also a connection there because Nobuo Uematsu composed the theme music.

[Bill Aurion]

The fact that this developer is still a secret hints that it's a 3rd party...Just putting that out there...

[IceCold]

I know that Nintendo built a team around Sakurai, and that they have the code from SSBM, but why isn't HAL doing it, again?