Making Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and Wii U

Masahiro Sakurai updates the blockbuster of Nintendo from character customization to philosophy of single-player.

Masahiro Sakurai is Nintendo’s rock star. An outsider to the publisher’s internal “Entertainment Analysis & Development” team, Sakurai has a bit more freedom, which is clear from the moment you meet him. Calm, collected and quiet, the first thing you notice about Sakurai is how he dresses. Whereas most Nintendo producers are relatively conservative with their clothing, wearing game-related t-shirts complemented by dark blazers and slacks, Sakurai wears something that might seem more suited for a night out on the town: a purple and black camouflage dress shirt, flared jeans and shoes a bit more ornate than anything that typically accompanies a business suit. Much like his outfit, Sakurai is a unique entity within Nintendo – and controls one of the publisher’s most unique core franchises, Super Smash Bros.

Though many details about Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS have yet to emerge, the biggest change to the franchise comes from the fact that this generation’s iteration of the flashy, chaotic fighter will co-exist on two platforms. No doubt focusing on one platform would be easier – why go for both at the same time? Sakurai detailed the origins of his twin projects.

“Back when I was working on Kid Icarus Uprising, I was already getting a feel for the 3DS performance and the features in that hardware,” Sakurai told me. “Mr. Iwata came to me and asked which platform I would want to put the next Smash Bros. on. Looking at those two platforms and seeing their individual styles and uniquenesses – I saw with the 3DS that it would be good for one flavor of the game, but there was also the other end, getting the grand scale what was possible with the Wii U. So with that in mind, we decided to go ahead and put the game on two platforms.”

From gameguyz.com 

Smash Bros director makes apologies for deleting characters

The game Smash Bros is coming soon for Wii U and 3DS. In the announced roster, many familiar faces are included, but don't expect every character from previous games to come back. Director Masahiro Sakurai is apologizing to fans in advance about potentially lost characters. "We're going to put in as many characters as we can, we really want to do that, because it's good for the fans and good for all of us," he said. "But in the event that we do have to cut some characters, I'd like to apologize in advance to those fans."

Sakurai told NowGamer that he doesn't expect every character to return simply because "we don't have the time to fully recreate every single character who's been in Smash Bros at this point." He points out that "adding new characters is not a simple addition--it's really multiplication. The amount of work, adding a character is multiplied and becomes bigger and bigger as you go."

Until now, all entries in the series have had a larger roster. But there are still some roles cut in favor of new ones over the years. For example, Dr. Mario, Mewtwo, Pichu, Roy, and Young Link were all cut when the franchise jumped from Gamecube to Wii. If the next Smash Bros does end up cutting a few characters, we do have a suggestion: one of the three Star Fox characters, perhaps?

From gameguyz.com