Topic: Sakurai Says Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS Will Change Direction

[Patchkid15]

It looks like connectivity will be key to these games.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/29968

The key to Smash Bros. on the Wii U and 3DS will be dual support, Masahiro Sakurai told IGN in an interview.

Sakurai said "There is a certain dead end we come to if we just expand the volume of the game. I intend to change direction a little as we go. The key to that's going to be its dual support for 3DS/Wii U. I'm really just getting started on this so it's going to take time, but I'll come up with something that uses that link as the game's central axis, so I hope you're looking forward to it."

The simple addition of new characters does not appear like it will cut it for Sakurai this time around. He plans on focusing on connectivity between the 3DS and Wii U throughout development.

Super Smash Bros. was originally announced last year at E3 for both the Wii U and 3DS. However, due to his work on Kid Icarus: Uprising, Sakurai was unable to devote time to Smash Bros. development. With Kid Icarus's recent release, it appears Smash Bros. is now getting his full attention.

[AV]

I'm 100% fine with this.


Fighters tend to stay stagnant and do minor things to keep the fans happy, so I'm glad they are not coasting on previous success

[Sarail]

I'm not.


I'm not one of them, but what about people who have no want or desire to own a 3DS or get involved in handheld gaming? Will they not get to experience the full implications of the next Smash because of this?


Sounds a little arrogant, if you ask me.

[Oblivion]

Fan Wank? You can't please everyone.

[Adrock]

I'm curious how they're going to interact with each other.

I'm also curious what Sakurai means by "change direction." I'd like to see the gameplay evolve well beyond the minor changes that Brawl introduced. He also mentioned the issue of simply increasing volume not cutting it. I agree. That should be one aspect of the new games but certainly not the extent of it.

[Luigi Dude]

This isn't really new though since Sakurai said the same thing at last years E3.  He's just repeating what he already said.

http://wii.ign.com/articles/117/1174416p1.html

Sakurai has only started to assemble his thoughts on the next Smash. Bros titles. According to the translation, he doesn't feel a simple extension of Melee and Brawl will work. In other words, Sakurai doesn't want to simply expand stages and character counts, or enhance the graphics and call it a day. That was one of the reasons he didn't simply walk away from a 3DS-based Smash Bros. and work with Wii U.

Currently Sakurai's thought process is focused on the notion that a portable experience is a more personal one. Only one player is likely to be using a portable system, and it might be interesting to allow that player to customize Smash Bros. fighters on the 3DS, which could then be brought over to the larger world of a home console Smash Bros. Sakurai's thinking is that an element of communication between the two versions will make both better.

From Sakurai's comments at E3 and now, as well as how Kid Icarus turned out I think it's pretty obvious character customization is going to be a big part of the next Smash Bros.  The 3DS version will be a bigger single player experience filled with things to collect to that can be used to customize your characters and then you can send your customized characters to the Wii U version which will be the bigger multiplayer game.

It sounds like it'll be like Pokemon Stadium were the handheld is the Adventure game and the console is the Multiplayer game.

[TJ Spyke]

I am confident in his abilities. Personally, I loved Brawl, but I do agree that it might get stale if they just took the same game and added more characters. Several fighting game series do little to change and just get stale.

[house3136]

 Considering Nintendo is releasing New Super Mario Bros. 2 on 3DS, and a new side-scroller on Wii U sometime this fall, I wonder if they’ll have some sort of connectivity?
 
Sakurai could probably get this Smash Bros. combo out for holiday 2014; but Sora is going to have to expand to keep up with Nintendo’s schedule. I’m thinking Nintendo may help them out, as it seems they have been placing a lot more trust and emphasis on 2^nd-party developers. Although, Luigi’s Mansion 2 and Paper Mario haven’t gotten release dates yet, I feel Nintendo has reserved those for an official reveal at E3, again.

[Spak-Spang]

I am not happy about this. 


I personal have respect for his ability to craft games...but I also know he has made some mistakes...and one of those mistakes was the single player story mode of Brawl...now he is going to change the game more.


I hope it is for the better...but I am not confident that connectivity is the way to go.  The reason being is that the Wii U version doesn't need connectivity with the 3DS to play...because the WiiU has a touch screen. 


I think the same is true with the 3DS version...you don't need or shouldn't need a Wii U version to play.  I feel like they are trying to justify the existence of both games, but honestly you don't need to justify it.  It is ok to say, hey this game is the portable version of your favorite game series...and this console one is the next big console version.   Look the portable one does this and has 3D...and the console version has these things available.


We will have to see what happens I guess.  However, I do agree more characters is not the answer.  I actually think less characters or the same number of characters with 0 clones is the way to go.  Sure new characters are great...and I want them but I want them if they play different and add new strategy and design to the game.  I don't just want another character that is a heavy Mario or a light weight Pikachu. 


So to me, I really want to see what new characters can be thought up that adds to the game design. 

[NWR_insanolord]

I really don't think he's saying it will be necessary to own both, just that if you do there will be some cool bonus features. As one of the few people who really loved the idea of connectivity between the GameCube and GBA and was really upset about the near-total lack of it between the much more universally owned and much more convenient to connect Wii and DS, I'm excited for this, and hope there will be more games that do it.

[Adrock]

I think the same is true with the 3DS version...you don't need or shouldn't need a Wii U version to play.  I feel like they are trying to justify the existence of both games, but honestly you don't need to justify it.  It is ok to say, hey this game is the portable version of your favorite game series...and this console one is the next big console version.   Look the portable one does this and has 3D...and the console version has these things available.

I don't see it that way at all. I doubt you need both versions as if there's some kind of requirement here. I certainly don't know what Sakurai is planning. However, it sounds like he wants the games to work in tandem, as complements to each other rather than being completely separate entities, like how there's a console Mario Kart and a portable Mario Kart though they will most likely function independently should users so choose. That said, I don't see the harm in the Smash Bros. Wii U and Smash Bros 3DS interacting with each other. If Sakurai finds a way to make connectivity unique and fun and if both game ultimately benefit from it, I'm all for it.

[Oblivion]

Spak, who cares if he made the Subspace Emissary? You didn't have to play it. Wanted to unlock the characters? Do it the old fashioned way. Are you honestly that affected by having a apparently bad story mode? The story mode didn't affect Brawl in any negative way.

[MegaByte]

Sakurai got Kazushige Nojima to do the story in Brawl, but he did most of the writing work in Uprising himself. I'd say that game by far redeems his potential for a good story mode from both a content and design perspective.

[Adrock]

The story mode didn't affect Brawl in any negative way.

Depends on how you look at it. Having a giant cock spray painted on the side of a building doesn't affect the integrity of the structure but it's most likely negatively affecting the business that's housed within the building. The Subspace Emissary, to put it lightly, wasn't that great. It's a black mark on an otherwise solid title.

[NWR_insanolord]

Top notch metaphor, Adrock.

[red14]

I guess it's safe to say that the Wii U will not support GameCube controllers. One of my friends hates using the Wii remote to brawl, and I already sold Brawl over a year ago. I know I'll be getting Smash Bros. on Wii U (and maybe 3ds), but I'm starting to think I'll have to get Brawl back just for that reason.

[Oblivion]

The story mode didn't affect Brawl in any negative way.

Depends on how you look at it. Having a giant cock spray painted on the side of a building doesn't affect the integrity of the structure but it's most likely negatively affecting the business that's housed within the building. The Subspace Emissary, to put it lightly, wasn't that great. It's a black mark on an otherwise solid title.

I agree with Insano. Great metaphor, one that actually persuaded me.

[Spak-Spang]

I had nothing wrong with the story...I had everything wrong to do with BAD game play in story mode...and worse HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE character design for enemies, that made me hate playing through the game.  When they had interesting traditional characters I was happy. 




And, I am not saying that you will be required to have both...but he said he wanted to make connectivity a focus on the two games.  This to me screams that there will be much greater value and incentive to own both.  Like modes or abilities or options not available unless you have the other. 


Personally, I don't like that...I think it is unfair and silly to think that somebody should own a separate system and game to get the full features on another game. 


Now, if Sakurai is NOT going that route...and is doing something more subtle then I am cool with that.  Options like faster character unlocks through Street Pass with the 3DS and Wii U.  Characters being unlocked in one becoming available in the other as an incentive is cool too.  Just as long as all content available for the game is unlockable by itself it is fine with me.

[Spak-Spang]

Spak, who cares if he made the Subspace Emissary? You didn't have to play it. Wanted to unlock the characters? Do it the old fashioned way. Are you honestly that affected by having a apparently bad story mode? The story mode didn't affect Brawl in any negative way.

Yes, because in Melee the story mode was my FAVORITE part of the game.  It was what I played the most of when my friends weren't around...and it was really great.  I remember going through the Adventure mode of Melee once a night with different characters until I beat it with all of them.  I really enjoyed adventure mode...but Subspace was horrible.  I felt like the design was just wrong on so many levels.

[Oblivion]

Bad enemy design? They were all based off of pre-existing characters, you know.

[Spak-Spang]

http://www.smashbros.com/en_us/gamemode/modea/modea06.html

I recognize R.O.B...from a game.  I don't recognize any of those other characters...but they all suck in design.

[MegaByte]

That's been Sakurai's biggest weakness. His common enemy design isn't so hot. It wasn't very good in Uprising either, despite the main character designs being amazing.

[Luigi Dude]

I still don't see why people act like because of the way the Subspace Emissary turned out, that means a story mode in another Smash Bros will turn out the same way.  Good designers like Sakurai learn from their previous mistakes.  It's pretty obvious Sakurai knows what went wrong with the Subspace Emissary and will fix its biggest problems for the next game.


Plus Kid Icarus: Uprising shows Sakurai still knows how to make a great single player adventure game.  Back when Sakurai started making Brawl in 2005 the last single player adventure type game he made was Kirby Super Star back in 1996.  After that he did the original Smash Bros, then Melee, then Kirby Air Ride, and then Meteos right before Brawl so it's no suprise he was rusty on a 10 hour adventure mode since he hadn't made one in 10 years.  Well with the next Smash Bros he's starting it right after making Kid Icarus: Uprising which is considered great by most people.


So instead of being rusty like when making Brawl, he's coming off of a hot streak with Kid Icarus.  So yeah I'm expecting the story mode to be much better this time and something that's actually great on its own.

[FZeroBoyo]

After Kid Icarus: Uprising, I expect single-player elements in both Smash Bros. games to have a KI:U feel. Crazy dialog and meta jokes? Maybe not, but perhaps common enemy designs, items, etc.

[famicomplicated]

I'd suspect this means a rounded "action RPG / platformer" type game on the 3DS, which lets you exchange upgrades and collectables (stickers/coins etc) with the Wii U version.


I just hope they are different enough from one another to warrant 2 purchases.


I can see the 3DS one coming out 6 months to a year before the Wii U one, letting players develop their skills and upgrades well in advance of the HD version, Sora might even collect feedback from players and apply that to the console version.


Has this kind of thing ever been attempted before on such a huge scale? My mind boggles at how they can do this successfully and within 2/3 years.
4/5 could be too long. (yet plausible!)