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Smash Bros. creator wants classic controls, less third party characters in next game

Christopher McDonald - Tuesday, August 7, 2012 1:21pm (PST) Like +my favourites

Snake and Sonic probably won't be back

The next Smash Bros. installment may not be adapted to fit the Wii U, and if Masahiro Sakurai has his way, it could drop its third party cast as well.

In a recent interview, Smash Bros. series creator and Project Sora software development director Masahiro Sakurai expressed a desire to keep the Smash Bros. formula largely the same, by opting for more classic control schemes in lieu of something that would potentially take advantage of the Wii U's touch screen.

He stated that he doesn't want adding any features like 3D or "complicated controls" frivolously:

"The game system itself is complete, so we don’t want to make it 3D or introduce complicated controls just for the sake of it. However, I am thinking of ways we can introduce a slightly different, fun experience all the while keeping the usual frantic game play."

Its important to note the next Smash Bros. title is being co-developed by Namco Bandai, a company that notoriously includes its characters in any fighting game they touch as little more than playable cameos; a detail that may have some fans worried as Tekken characters wouldn't really fit in with the Smash Bros. crew (not to mention the fact that Brawl had third party characters and it turned into an unbalanced mess). Masahiro addressed this possible concern saying:

"I think Snake and Sonic joining were fantastic. It made many fans happy, and it broadened the Smash Bros arena. However, introducing more non-Nintendo characters willy-nilly will lose the focus of the game, so I also recognise the need to narrow it down."

The title is still in the early stages of development so nothing is set in stone as of yet but hopefully this means we won't have to contend with any Kazuya or Kuma flavored final smashes or awkward motion controls in the series' next iteration, meaning things can get back to the undiluted basics of Smash: beating the crap of Kirby.

Source: IGN

Sections: Console Games, Nintendo Consoles

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0 thumbs! ^

NoBL3Zz Oct 11, 12

quote Ded Valve
The only Namco representation should be Pacman given his iconic nature, history with Nintendo and how perfect he fits in with smash. I prefer the 1 character per third party route they went with last time. They could have Sonic, Snake, Pacman, and maybe a Capcom and/or Squeenix representative. That would place it at around 4-5 third party, the current smash roster has 33 Nintendo characters and 2 third parties so even if they add 5-6 more nintendo characters and add 1-2 more third parties while keeping Snake and Sonic it would still be a perfect number.

For Capcom, Megaman obviously but since MM no longer makes money then Ryu unfortunately.
For Squeenix, Sora fits perfectly than any FF character, or Geno since Mario RPG and all.
Namco, Pacman. Nuff said.

Can't really see any other third party other than Namco, Squeenix or Capcom since these are the most likely of companies to get a character in the next game given their relationship with Nintendo.

I can see how Ryu could fit with the controls. Use him like they used him in Tatsunoko vs Capcom (Loved that game) I don't know which characters should be in the next installment. I'm just happy they're making another one and I can't wait to play it on my 3DS.

quote nasty nappa
so seeing there was really only two third party characters in the thirst plaice that mean he wants none so super smash brothers dead to me
brawl and melee was nearly the same the only thing that made it ubiqe was sonic and snake
im not laying money our for the same game again

1. Fix your Grammar/Spelling ( Grammar Nazis are Watching

)
2. How old are you?
3. Did you not notice how many new characters were brought into Brawl?
4. If you're trolling, please stop and leave it to a professional. XD

0 thumbs! ^

BlueLore Oct 4, 12

I think what he meants with narrowing it down will either mean,there will be only one third party character(maybe one for the wiiu version and another for the 3ds?)
or there will be two but not more(so sonic and snake are probably going in favour for new third parties)

0 thumbs! ^

FoneBoneFan15 Sep 29, 12

So that means less third party characters means no more Solid Snake?

P.S. I want some characters from the Paper Mario series.

0 thumbs! ^

Gotenks Sep 28, 12

quote Oogity_Boogity_Boo
...I've been out of the Smash loop for a while, but since when did Snake and Sonic being in the game start being considered bad choices? When they were both announced people were hyped as *bleep*.

After playing the game so long. I was never high on having Snake in the game in the first place. I don't think I was that impressed when he was announced lol. Sonic is at least understandable and I have no problem with at all.

I just think Snake has done his Smash Brother run and Sakurai could add a new third party character...well maybe two. Have Sonic return and keep it at three. I don't see him letting many third party characters in.

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Oogity_Boogity_Boo Sep 27, 12

...I've been out of the Smash loop for a while, but since when did Snake and Sonic being in the game start being considered bad choices? When they were both announced people were hyped as *bleep*.

That being said, I didn't read the quote as him saying he'll take them out. Sounds more like he just doesn't want to add in (m)any more. I'd love for Pacman or Megaman to be included.

0 thumbs! ^

Smart gamer Aug 22, 12

And add master chief and sly cooper to the mix if you want to add some real fun, and allow some of the bosses to be playable please, I'd enjoy to play as Ridley or master hand or tabuu for sure, everyone would!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

0 thumbs! ^

Smart gamer Aug 22, 12

Here's what I say, given my vast super smash bros. gaming experience in melee and brawls add in the old characters like mew two again, resurrect the older awesome characters to create more variety, and... Add shadow the hedgehog, try final fantasy VII characters too, I know asking square Enix and all might not be as liked by some of the other foolish people who obviously have no taste in true games, I mean recall the awesome battles with sephiroth, if you added that type of ultimate action that fans love than you'd take super smash brothers to a whole new level, I know you can achieve characters for brawl through a games hark action replay such as him and shadows and many other amazing characters, but come on, trust in a beloved fan, super smash bros. games have always been my favorite, adding more action to the allout smack down would totally boost the ratings, possibilitys, and everything, trust me and my experience, add more of the biggest characters that aren't Nintendo and just exclude them from great purpose in the story lines and all kind of like wolf jiggly puff and toon link and it will be fine, or make a whole category called newcomer challengers where it gives the list of non Nintendo characters and you have to do certain challenges to gain their attention to get their arrival and fight them off, that isn't a bad idea, I know it isn't, and imagine how much depth new non Nintendo characters would add, o my gosh that would be great, please listen to my words, for the children, for the gamers, for the sake of all great violent video games!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

0 thumbs! ^

Zombie_Barioth Aug 8, 12

Nasty Nappa Did you black out for half the game or something? Did you honestly not notice the subspace emissary, boss rush, new items, new stages, and custom stages? How about Pit, Meta Knight, King Dedede, Diddy Kong, Ike, Olimar, Lukas, Lucario, and the Pokemon trainer joining the roster?

0 thumbs! ^

DedValve Aug 8, 12

quote nasty nappa
so seeing there was really only two third party characters in the thirst plaice that mean he wants none so super smash brothers dead to me
brawl and melee was nearly the same the only thing that made it ubiqe was sonic and snake
im not laying money our for the same game again

Not sure if incredibly dumb troll or incredibly bad troll...

0 thumbs! ^

nasty nappa Aug 8, 12

so seeing there was really only two third party characters in the thirst plaice that mean he wants none so super smash brothers dead to me
brawl and melee was nearly the same the only thing that made it ubiqe was sonic and snake
im not laying money our for the same game again

0 thumbs! ^

Big A2 Aug 8, 12

quote Dragoshi1
quote bbb7002004
I'm just curious as to whether he is referring to 3D in the viewing sense like on 3DS, or 3D as in the fighting arena goes 3D, akin to your Soul Calibers of the world. My gut tells me its the latter.
Pretty sure he meant the 3DS's 3D gimmick. Which is cool, because it is silly and shouldn't decide the entire game.

Y’know what? I think he might be talking about a 3D arena.

"The game system itself is complete, so we don’t want to make it 3D or introduce complicated controls just for the sake of it."

Basically, he mention "3D" and complicated controls together, probably meaning he's referring to gameplay aspect of the game, whereas the 3DS 3D effect is a presentation aspect.

And it wouldn't make any sense for him to say "we don’t want to make it 3D" because on the 3DS you have to make it 3D.

Actually, forget it. The things that come out of Masahiro Sakurai’s mouth pretty much never make any sense anyway.

1 thumbs! ^

RazeHell Aug 7, 12

They could always hold off the third-party characters at launch, and then release some as DLC.

Also, news of classic controls is extremely welcome.
I was dreading playing the game with that massive tablet.

0 thumbs! ^

Zombie_Barioth Aug 7, 12

I'd say handle it similar to Soul Calibur or Mortal Kombat where each new installment has a new set of guest characters. That way we get to see more third party characters without making the roster too over the top and it would give us another reason to revisit previous games.

Tales characters are the only ones I can think of that would fit in as far as fighters go. The general style of the series meshes better with Smash Bros. the only reason Snake fits in is Metal Gear has a cheesy-b thing going on. Items and collectables would be a good way for Namco to squeeze in a couple cameos, things like gels or cherries and other iconic items.

0 thumbs! ^

DeadDuck144 Aug 7, 12

quote Ded Valve
Deadduck114 I completely forgot about Ubisoft. They are unarguably Nintendo's biggest 3rd party supporter right now with a whopping 5 games and 2 exclusives already on the WiiU with more planned.

Rayman is also absolutely perfect, especially if he keeps his origins 2D look rather than go for a 3D one.

Considering how Sakurai said he's looking at fan requested characters, Pac-man is pretty much a shoe-in for Namco's spot, whether or not he chooses to keep Sonic and Snake (and why not, they are perfectly good characters with all the work done, just have to retweak them for the new engine/fighting mechanics like all other veteran characters) I think Capcom is the most likely outside Namco to get a third party rep, mainly because they receive tremendous fan requests for Megaman and Capcom and Ninty are so tight. Their like bro's without all the war tragedy.

There will surely be a cap somewhere. As mentioned in the article, Nintendo wants the game to revolve around first-party characters. Namco Bandai will surely be represented with a character or two. Yoshimitsu has been in nearly every Tekken and Soul game, and would be a good fit. I've never really seen Pacman as a fighter, but he's an iconic part of video game history so I'm sure they would make it work. Sonic and Snake could easily return, though I never thought Snake was a good fit in Smash Bros. Wouldn't miss him if he was left off the roster. Capcom and Ubisoft would likely jump at the chance to see Rayman and Megaman included (as you mentioned, both companies are cool with Nintendo and both characters would fit very well), but that makes a total of six third-party characters. Not exactly "narrowing it down".

Of course, there are two different games. Maybe two or three different third-party characters could be included on each. The 3DS game is rumored to be retro-themed, so Pacman, Megaman and Sonic would make sense there.