[Source Gaming] Sakurai Talks About Fan Criticism

In his 495th installment of the Thoughts About the Video Games column, Sakurai discusses fan criticism following the reveal of Cloud in the last Nintendo Direct. After Cloud's reveal, some fans complained that Cloud was 'not Nintendo enough' to be in Smash.

Source Gaming has the full column translated for fans to read.

In the column, he begins with how George Lucas has stepped away from the newest Star Wars:

Separate from that, in an interview in the American edition of Vanity Fair, Lucas himself apparently said “you go to make a movie and all you do is get criticized. And it’s not much fun. You can’t experiment.”

He continues,

A truly serious problem….! He’s such a big name, and to hear him leave this franchise that has impassioned so many fans, a person who worked on the originals with his own hands, is incredibly sad and frustrating. Personally, George Lucas’s work is the work I would really like to see.

Sakurai is no stranger to this himself.

However, I truly understand his feelings. You could say my body is filled with these feelings. Making something, and completing it is a huge undertaking, and there are a lot of places where fans can’t see. It’s like building a house, but people focus on a single painting that’s hung up on a wall in one room, and fixate on it, and keep listing off their complaints of that painting. These situations are very common.

He then goes on to connect that feeling with the Smash Bros. series. You can read the rest of the column here.

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Agree? Disagree? Let us know in the comments what you think of Sakurai's comments.

PushDustIn wants to wish the Smash community a Happy New Year! You can follow him on Twitter in order to stay up to date.

 

even sakurai wants to talk about starwars

 

... I've always had an issue with how people don't be grateful for what's been given. heaven help us if Sakurai gets massively disillusioned about trying to appeal to a fanbase that's at odds with each other as much as with him.

licensing and all that Lawyer's speech is also an issue that people don't consider immediately. sure, it could be asked to bring in a Brawl vet like Wolf, but you need to ask Nintendo, and find out if they even give two ****s about him.

the ONLY reason I've not lost faith in this fanbase is because of the players I've met in person, and they're cool people.

 

even sakurai wants to talk about starwars

It is a pretty good movie.

 

... I've always had an issue with how people don't be grateful for what's been given.

It wasn't given, it was purchased.

 

So Brawl or Smash 4 is the Phantom Menace?

 

Sakurai : "Thank you so much for waiting. As promised, here's the game, with new features and-"
Fans : "Where's Wolf ?"
Sakurai : "Well, we decided to work on other characters that aren't clones-"
Fans : "Geez Sakurai, why did you change Wario's F-Smash. This game sucks !"
Sakurai : "Hum, hello, we added custom moves, just for you-"
Fans : "Sakurai, 3 clones, really ? You really are treating us like idiots !"
Sakurai :

Nitpicking is what the Smash community considers as "criticism".

 

a.k.a. Super Smash Brothers Melee for Nintendo GameCube

Props to who gets the joke. And no, it's not on quality


I'm happy with what Sakurai delivered. I didn't get my most wanted characters (Wonder Red and IC's), but every single character is so well-made and fun I can't be mad. I plan to secondary Cloud btw
...
I've seen people compare Sakurai to George Lucas (not here) and I completely disagree. It's not like he's suddenly going to rerelease Melee with Smash 4 gameplay and hide every GC Melee copy with its gameplay.

 

Funny, both Sakurai and George Lucas have been critisized for ruining their franchises halfway through. Both of them also have defenders of the later pieces of media and people who have a deep seeded hatred for them. If fate takes its course then just like Star Wars smash will be given to someone that creates something exceptional again.

 

Sakurai : "Thank you so much for waiting. As promised, here's the game, with new features and-"
Fans : "Where's Wolf ?"
Sakurai : "Well, we decided to work on other characters that aren't clones-"
Fans : "Geez Sakurai, why did you change Wario's F-Smash. This game sucks !"
Sakurai : "Hum, hello, we added custom moves, just for you-"
Fans : "Sakurai, 3 clones, really ? You really are treating us like idiots !"
Sakurai :
View attachment 89846

Nitpicking is what the Smash community considers as "criticism".

Losing 4 characters (ICs, Wolf, Squirtle, and Ivysaur) ain't nitpicking. Plus no one is saying the game sucks, but more of people questioning how he came to certain conclusions. Like if he made as many clones he wants, I don't mind, but the fact he cut characters makes people confused. And calling Wolf a clone..... I know you must have not played Wolf. Funny how you even contradicted your "Sakurai" with calling Wolf a clone then acknowledging that he put 3 clones. This is the mindset we wanna know how he came to.

 

View attachment 89849
a.k.a. Super Smash Brothers Melee for Nintendo GameCube

Props to who gets the joke. And no, it's not on quality


I'm happy with what Sakurai delivered. I didn't get my most wanted characters (Wonder Red and IC's), but every single character is so well-made and fun I can't be mad. I plan to secondary Cloud btw

technically the second starwars movie made is Empire strikes back and is considered to be the quintessential star wars movie. so your joke has misinformation. 0 - 0

 

So Brawl or Smash 4 is the Phantom Menace?

technically it would be starwars a new hope special edition. brawl is Return of the Jedi,

edit: unless you count smash 3ds as separate than its Empire Strikes Back Special Edition

 

Sakurai speaks the truth tho.

 

technically the second starwars movie made is Empire strikes back and is considered to be the quintessential star wars movie. so your joke has misinformation. 0 - 0

Attack of the CLONES

Also I said it's not on quality. ESB-Melee are the perfect examples of "second, greater than first" sequels.

 

for comparison by releases



starwars / smash

starwars = smash 64
empire strikes back = Melee
Return of the Jedi = Brawl
A new Hope S.E. = Smash 3ds
Empire strikes back S.E. = Smash 4 wii u

By this model we have one more decent game before we hit PREQUEL territory
or if you combine 3ds and wii-u
2 decent games

 

I never even heard of cloud nor not a fan of final fantasy and I'm not complaining about cloud being smash bros. People who say that hes not Nintendo enough so he shouldn't be in smash are idiots. So what? The samething goes for snake in brawl and I didn't see anyone complain about that.

 

Personally, I think criticism is perfectly fine, so long as it is productive. If you think something is wrong about a piece, at least offer input as to how it can possibly be better.

 

Some decisions just need to be accepted. The size of the roster alone should justify the clones. In the time it takes to make a game like this, should we really be complaining? Be happy there was DLC in this game. Enjoy the boatload of features/challanges/and characters this masterpiece has to offer. A game like this is rare in light of all the FPS/eSport/hardcore gaming out there. Sure we can turn it into one of those and bring it up in popularity, but the best experience this game can bring is a timed 8 player smash with items on and battling it out with your friends. For that, I thank you Sakurai. You have managed to highlight the casual entertainment that these games provide.

 

Honestly adding new characters and new content should be the way to go for the most part. I understand that adding older characters keeps the games charm and nostalgia up, but that can only hold up for so long. I'd rather have a fresh new game with more new characters than an HD update of a previous game.

 

Alright! Why not let someone else direct Smash to see if the fans will be happier... MASAHIRO.
(Please quote how Sakurai would respond to this.)

 

The original star wars were great, not because of Lucas, it was actual Joseph Campbell and the mythic elements that made those films great. The new star wars is good again, not because of Lucas.
I really actually want to see a smash game where Sakurai isn't the lead designer. Is this heresy? Have I lost faith?

I do feel his personal views skew the balance, and despite claiming such things as "he has no favourites" he should go back and review exactly how many times he has killed Samus in his nintendo directs, intro videos, side videos, etc... just tabulate that number for fun and compare to any other character. Then go stand on a stage and claim she's best in the game.
It's very easy to say "have faith in the creator" but I'm not convinced the creator or the creation are without flaws, bias and above criticism.
I also could readily be convinced that many of the elements we love of Smash are actually built in by some unsung hero in the dev team.

 

The original star wars were great, not because of Lucas, it was actual Joseph Campbell and the mythic elements that made those films great. The new star wars is good again, not because of Lucas.
I really actually want to see a smash game where Sakurai isn't the lead designer. Is this heresy? Have I lost faith?

I do feel his personal views skew the balance, and despite claiming such things as "he has no favourites" he should go back and review exactly how many times he has killed Samus in his nintendo directs, intro videos, side videos, etc... just tabulate that number for fun. Then go stand on a stage and claim she's best in the game.
It's very easy to say "have faith in the creator" but I'm not convinced the creator or the creation are without flaws, bias and above criticism.
I also could readily be convinced that many of the elements we love of Smash are actually built in by some unsung hero in the dev team.

Call him Masahiro for mad libs!

 

I've always had an issue with how people don't be grateful for what's been given.

And I've always had an issue with people like you who climb up on their high horses. I don't think you get it - this is not a charity. Sakurai is not donating the game to us out of the goodness of his heart. We express our gratefulness by BUYING THE GAME, but we are still allowed to express our opinions about the product we spent our money on.

sure, it could be asked to bring in a Brawl vet like Wolf, but you need to ask Nintendo, and find out if they even give two ****s about him.

This doesn't make any sense considering the characters they have chosen to add/continue to include in the game. Pit was irrelevant when he was added to Brawl. Captain Falcon may have achieved meme status in Smash but F-Zero is pretty much dead. Mr. G&W and ROB haven't been relevant for at least 25 years and yet there they are. Ness was only in one single game and Earthbound is almost certainly done with, and yet they still care enough about him to continue to include him. Why shouldn't they give two s**ts about Wolf?

There was absolutely no reason for Wolf not to come back, especially when they brought back every other cut veteran that didn't have a valid reason to be cut. That's what ticks me off. He was much less of a clone than certain other characters they decided to add to the roster, he was one of the few playable villains, and he had a lot of personality. He deserved to be in the game.

 

Despite some questionable decisions made by Sakurai (No Wolf), I'd still miss him if he retired or got replaced for Smash 5. Without Sakurai, there's so many characters that would've never had a chance to be in Smash. Like Wii-Fit Trainer. Or R.O.B. Or Captain Falcon.

 

I wonder how he's even aware of this though. Does he read the Japanese fanboards or something?

Sakurai doesn't strike me as someone who would be upset over fan criticism in the slightest; like he would just make the game for himself.

Solution for Sakruai? Release Boba Fett as DLC.

I think we fixate on our criticisms with the game because they are literally our only problems with an otherwise perfect game, and maybe, someone somewhere might listen.

I think since the internet is just for simple and blunt straightforward messages, it's just easier to list the important issues, instead of just praising the obvious things for the 8-thousandth time.

... I've always had an issue with how people don't be grateful for what's been given. heaven help us if Sakurai gets massively disillusioned about trying to appeal to a fanbase that's at odds with each other as much as with him.

licensing and all that Lawyer's speech is also an issue that people don't consider immediately. sure, it could be asked to bring in a Brawl vet like Wolf, but you need to ask Nintendo, and find out if they even give two ****s about him.

the ONLY reason I've not lost faith in this fanbase is because of the players I've met in person, and they're cool people.

Why should we be grateful if we don't like it? It's a business. I don't like it; so what? Sakurai's response to people like me: "I think that’s okay. Different people value different things differently, and they should stay honest to that", so what's your hang-up?

I've seen people compare Sakurai to George Lucas (not here) and I completely disagree. It's not like he's suddenly going to rerelease Melee with Smash 4 gameplay and hide every GC Melee copy with its gameplay.

Sakurai himself was the one who made the comparison.


Courtesy of member Lollie Kong over on Source Gaming; this is exactly how I feel being a member of this site:

Why, the Reddit thread for this article is literally entitled “Sakurai discusses criticism(being salty)”, because God forbid people don’t worship the ground he walks on. Sakurai has become a sacred cow in many circles of the Smash community. While personal attacks are never justified, merely suggesting that the roster could have been better will cause you to get dogpiled faster than you can say Zero Suit Samus. I’m sure the “beginners” in question are such big fans of the Fire Emblem series.

 

What if I direct

I wonder how he's even aware of this though. Does he read the Japanese fanboards or something?

Sakurai doesn't strike me as someone who would be upset over fan criticism in the slightest; like he would just make the game for himself.

Solution for Sakruai? Release Boba Fett as DLC.

I think we fixate on our criticisms with the game because they are literally our only problems with an otherwise perfect game, and maybe, someone somewhere might listen.

I think since the internet is just for simple and blunt straightforward messages, it's just easier to list the important issues, instead of just praising the obvious things for the 8-thousandth time.


Why should we be grateful if we don't like it? It's a business. I don't like it; so what? Sakurai's response to people like me: "I think that’s okay. Different people value different things differently, and they should stay honest to that", so what's your hang-up?

Sakurai himself was the one who made the comparison.


Courtesy of member Lollie Kong over on Source Gaming; this is exactly how I feel being a member of this site:

Replace the word Sakurai with "Sak"!
I'd like him to be called Sak for short!

 

I also could readily be convinced that many of the elements we love of Smash are actually built in by some unsung hero in the dev team.

Plus, it's like, "have a game where Mario and Link fight each other". That's pretty hard to **** up.

And I've always had an issue with people like you who climb up on their high horses. I don't think you get it - this is not a charity. Sakurai is not donating the game to us out of the goodness of his heart. We express our gratefulness by BUYING THE GAME, but we are still allowed to express our opinions about the product we spent our money on.

Without Sakurai, there's so many characters that would've never had a chance to be in Smash. Like Wii-Fit Trainer. Or R.O.B. Or Captain Falcon.

You don't know that. And I literally think everyone is starting to put way too much emphasis on Sakurai here. You know, he didn't develop the game alone, right?

 

Plus, it's like, "have a game where Mario and Link fight each other". That's pretty hard to **** up.

You don't know that. And I literally think everyone is starting to put way too much emphasis on Sakurai here. You know, he didn't develop the game alone, right?

I said call him SAK instead of Sakurai!

 

^ Can someone ban this guy?

 

^ Can someone ban this guy?

You mean... you do not want to call him Sak? Why?

 

You mean... you do not want to call him Sak? Why?

I want him to be called King Sakurai, because that is apparently what he is on these grounds. Don't agree with his opinion? Off with your head!

 

At least Sakurai knew what he was doing regardless.

Nothing but love for the man.

 

I'm with the fans on this one. All we want is to know why certain characters are included, and we ask this question with online petitions to remove Corrin from the game, and demanding they show us anonymous, confidential ballot results.

 

All I see here is people ******** and moaning about minor details in Sm4sh and about Sakurai himself. SHUT THE F*** UP YOU GOOD FOR NOTHING PRICKS. You can claim entitlement for criticism, but you can't claim that what you are doing in not self-centered. You can deny it all you want, but what you are essentially saying is no different then giving Sakurai the middle finger saying that you're choices wouldn't been better. None of us understands the process of building a game from scratch, and none of us understand the bull**** politics that accompanies it all (myself included). Also the more this type of hate filed bile get sent Sakurai's way the less likely he will be to listen to fan feedback in the future. He goes out of his way to do something nice, and then all you do is complain about it. Think for a second how this appears from his perspective or the perspective of nintendo executives who approve the budget needed to make dlc characters. Don't misunderstand, constructive criticism is one thing but most of what is on this board is just hate mail.

 

I'm with the fans on this one. All we want is to know why certain characters are included, and we ask this question with online petitions to remove Corrin from the game, and demanding they show us anonymous, confidential ballot results.

yeah after all the time and money was spent to make Corrin lets remove him because some people don't like him. Explain how that makes any sense?

 

Aside from that lame ass Bayonetta reveal, he's been great otherwise.

 

Sakurai himself was the one who made the comparison.

I'm referring to the comparisons people make about what Sakurai/George did, not his comparison to fanbase reactions.
Because, honestly? Brawl Meta Knight >>> Jar Jar Binks. I don't like some things Sakurai does (Jigglypuff buffs... where?), but they're not egotistical as what Lucas did. Seriously, look how hard fans worked to come even close to the original cut of Star Wars (look up "Star Wars: Despecialized Edition"), because its creator won't let them watch what they grew with and made history. I'm a fan of both things, but I like Star Wars; not George Lucas. And I'm a fan of Sakurai's work in general, not being a bias from Smash. It won't mean I agree with everything he does outside of it too (Kid Icarus Uprising controllers, and I'm left-handed too).

 

'not Nintendo enough'

Pfff... this reason for criticizing Cloud is ridiculous, many people always like to put a barrier on Cloud that it doesn't really exist.

At least Sakurai knew what he was doing regardless.

Nothing but love for the man.

Just like what Etika had said before, Cloud in Smash means that Sakurai is telling us that "This is my my game, you don't know what the hell I'm doing, you are just being strapped on my ride". This also let us know that we never really the real relationship between Square-Enix and Nintendo. I understand those bragging that Cloud in Smash is a "company advertising scheme", but all in all, Cloud in Smash is a good thing.

 

It is good he can take critisim which also means people can stop kissing his butt 24/7

 

yeah after all the time and money was spent to make Corrin lets remove him because some people don't like him. Explain how that makes any sense?

BECAUSE ITS JUST AS MUCH MY GAME AS IT IS SAKURAI'S. And not getting the character I want is WORSE than not getting anything at all!