Masahiro Sakurai, The only Nintendo Dev that knows his fan base?

B

botty

Banned
After today's Smash Direct, I was left excited and hyped, but also with the feeling that Sakurai-san really had his finger on the pulse of his fan base. Not only did Sakurai address key issues/complaints that were found in Brawl directly, but he also trolled the hell out of us the entire time, as many have noted. This wasn't just trolling like what you might see from that orange haired Capcom developer. No, his trolling was based on current (and old) arguments/debates going on in the Smash community. Some might find it aggravating, but I find it refreshing that there is a Nintendo developer that is actually well in tune with the people that spend coins on their products.

Do you think other Nintendo developers can learn a thing or three from Sakurai? Maybe then we wouldn't have gotten Nintendo Land. I know Gamefreak is pretty good with this kind of stuff, too, but they are a bit in their own little evergreen world.

So is Sakurai the only Nintendo dev like this... Or am I missing something?

mMq1inA.jpg
 
is this a joke? sakurai has been shitting on core smash fans for YEARS...

Brawl was a giant loogie in the face of people who liked melee...

OP has short term memory or is just a fucking casual?
 
Nintendoland is amazing how dare you. How dare anybody.

I feel its good he knows his stuff but the game seems to be becoming more insular and fan-based. As a casual player, I am not sure if its worth it - and I have both consoles.
 
I dunno man, some people are already saying that the inclusion of "For Glory" mode in its current form shows a lack of understanding for the competitive aspect. In fact, the online stuff is already being criticised.

Personally, he's hitting all the right buttons, but I wouldn't say he's the only one who knows the fanbase.
 
Jazz-ism said:
is this a joke? sakurai has been shitting on core smash fans for YEARS...

Brawl was a giant loogie in the face of people who liked melee...

OP has short term memory or is just a fucking casual?
Click to expand...

Core Smash fans, are not the ones that played the game wrong.
 
Jazz-ism said:
is this a joke? sakurai has been shitting on core smash fans for YEARS...

Brawl was a giant loogie in the face of people who liked melee...

OP has short term memory or is just a fucking casual?
Click to expand...

lol

The way he trolled everyone with Ridley in this direct was a thing of beauty. He knows how to push our buttons,
 
Jazz-ism said:
is this a joke? sakurai has been shitting on core smash fans for YEARS...

Brawl was a giant loogie in the face of people who liked melee...

OP has short term memory or is just a fucking casual?
Click to expand...

He makes the game he wants to make but still tries to please fans. I like Melee and Brawl equally so I think he's doing a fine job.
 
botty said:
Not only did Sakurai address key issues/complaints that were found in Brawl directly, but he also trolled the hell out of us the entire time, as many have noted. This wasn't just trolling like what you might see from that orange haired Capcom developer. No, his trolling was based on current (and old) arguments/debates going on in the Smash community.
Click to expand...

What did complaints did he address? How was he trolling? I haven't read anything about the direct yet
 
botty said:
After today's Smash Direct, I was left excited and hyped, but also with the feeling that Sakurai-san really had his finger on the pulse of his fan base. Not only did Sakurai address key issues/complaints that were found in Brawl directly, but he also trolled the hell out of us the entire time, as many have noted. This wasn't just trolling like what you might see from that orange haired Capcom developer. No, his trolling was based on current (and old) arguments/debates going on in the Smash community. Some might find it aggravating, but I find it refreshing that there is a Nintendo developer that is actually well in tune with the people that spend coins on their products.

Do you think other Nintendo developers can learn a thing or three from Sakurai? Maybe then we wouldn't have gotten Nintendo Land. I know Gamefreak is pretty good with this kind of stuff, too, but they are a bit in their own little evergreen world.

So is Sakurai the only Nintendo dev like this... Or am I missing something?

mMq1inA.jpg
Click to expand...


Here is the simple answer.

Masahiro Sakurai is in the most unique position. He basically is a contracted Nintendo developer operating outside of the traditional jurisdiction. This is basically because Sakurai left the Nintendo fold (HAL), and Iwata decided to offer him a non-traditional contract because of their long-time friendship, and hesitance to let someone else coordinate Smash Bros. development.

If Sakurai worked in the traditional environment of other Nintendo employees, none of his impulses and offshoot fandom ideas would be implemented without several checks and trickles from senior. Sakurai basically has the freedom other Nintendo developers wished they had.
 
He seems pretty in touch with characters people want, even if he doesn't always make it happen.

He does not seem to 'get' what made Melee good or what makes playing competitively fun. Hint: it's not Final Destination only, though it is a good stage.

It is refreshing to see him acknowledge things that didn't work well in Brawl though. I can't remember examples, but I think I remember it in the Direct.
 
Hard question.

Sakurai-san does understand the complaints of Brawl. However, some people may not think that these changes may not be enough for them...

Depends on choices...
 
I agree, OP. While I have concerns about the online mode (perhaps there are more features he simply didn't want to detail at this time), you're right that he seemed in tune with the community's dialogue, past and present.

You have Final Destination variants of every stage, which is HUGE -- really going above and beyond the call of duty. You also have playful moments like the Pseudo-Palutena fake-out and Ridley's shadow (which seems to suggest he's a boss, but you never know with Sakurai).

He also struck an excellent balance between Subspace Emissary and the Nintendo multiverse by giving us sidescrolling stages populated mostly by past Nintendo characters, with only a smattering of the SE characters mixed in. This solves the "soulless" issue that plagued SE with its generic environments and enemies.

And then you have GRENINJA. This newcomer choice, while no doubt partially informed by The Pokémon Company, is surprisingly perceptive -- Greninja hasn't received any special attention in the marketing of recent games, but he's definitely one of the most popular characters with the fans, so making Greninja playable is great news.
 
Jazz-ism said:
is this a joke? sakurai has been shitting on core smash fans for YEARS...

Brawl was a giant loogie in the face of people who liked melee...

OP has short term memory or is just a fucking casual?
Click to expand...

Stop living in the past. We are talking about the here and now: Sakurai has openly stated that many of the issues in Brawl are being adjusted. And using one game out of three already released as the standard for Sakurai "shitting on core smash fans" is doing too much.
 
Despite past games, right now, Sakurai is doing a good job listening to the fans and showing that the game is being affected by there feedback. His humor(trolling) is pretty refreshing too and not something you see from any of the Nintendo devs.

Although he does not believe this game to be a competitive fighting game, I do appreciate him trying to cater to both sides of the casuals and the hardcore with balance changes, online features and a plethora of game modes.
 
Sakurai is just making the game he wants, though For Glory (and the non-friend online in general) really shows he doesn't understand people who want to play the game as more than a completely chaotic party game.
 
TrueBlue said:
I dunno man, some people are already saying that the inclusion of "For Glory" mode in its current form shows a lack of understanding for the competitive aspect. In fact, the online stuff is already being criticised.

Personally, he's hitting all the right buttons, but I wouldn't say he's the only one who knows the fanbase.
Click to expand...

The For Glory mode does seem poorly planned. Especially when they just showed what a beast Little Mac will be on the ground.
 
I'm not into Smash, but I enjoyed the direct and the trolling he threw in there. And it was nice to see him directly address specific elements of the gameplay. For Glory, and the Samus tease seemed to be aimed directly at hardcore players, as well as detailed information about the FPS in the games and the customization elements in online mode.

My favorite thing he did though was basically telling fans to shut up when they started criticizing Namco as not being worthy of developing the game. He's also mentioned other games that he enjoys on rival systems.

He seems less "in his own world" than most at Nintendo. I love that about Nintendo though, so I'm fine either way. It is kind of nice to have one person there though that is a little more engaged.
 
Sakurai was on fire today. He immediately told us the information we wanted most, but still brutally trolled us with the Ridley shadow, the fake announcement that he was cutting ZSS, and the not-Mewtwo reveal of Gredinja. Whenever he mocked Iwata (as shown in the superb GIF above), you could feel the comfidence and swagger oozing out of him.

So yes, I totally agree with you, OP.
 
Shikamaru Ninja said:
Sakurai basically has the freedom other Nintendo developers wished they had.
Click to expand...

He's earned it, and had the guts to strike out on his own to prove that he earned it. Reminds me of if Bungie went with an exclusive arrangement with Microsoft to continue building Halo games on the side while they also worked on their own projects.
 
The only Nintendo dev that knows his fanbase? As far as I'm concerned Nintendo's true fanbase are those that don't spend their lives whining about everything Nintendo does on the internet...
 
Considering how limiting the ''For Glory'' online mode seem to be, not really.
Does he really think that wanting to play without items = ignoring every other stage besides Final Destination?
 
Atmej said:
Considering how limiting the ''For Glory'' online mode seem to be, not really.
Does he really think that wanting to play without items = ignoring every other stage besides Final Destination?
Click to expand...
He's making a final destination version of every stage so it won't get repetitive, pretty smart actually
 
WillyFive said:
You have access to the same Nintendo Direct we all had. No reason to make others repeat it for you. Help yourself here: http://www.nintendo.com/nintendo-direct/04-08-2014/#/video-ndirect
Click to expand...
Why are people jumping on him about this? If someone knows, give him the quick summary. Repeating what happened isn't going to ruin any one's day. Not everyone has 40 minutes to devote to watching a Nintendo Direct right away, and not everyone is at a computer where they can watch videos.

To the guy that asked though, you should really watch the whole thing. You're doing yourself a disservice to miss out on anything.
 
The trolling is refreshing, yes.

The For Glory mode is concerning, though.

Super Stardust said:
He's making a final destination version of every stage so it won't get repetitive, pretty smart actually
Click to expand...

Yes, but I think what he's saying is that Sakurai actually believes the Final Destination is all that's played in competitive smash.
 
Super Stardust said:
He's making a final destination version of every stage so it won't get repetitive, pretty smart actually
Click to expand...

They're all still flat stages, the changes are cosmetic.

At the very least if he wanted to limited it to a single stage, at least make it Battlefield so ground and projectile characters don't dominate.
 
Jazz-ism said:
is this a joke? sakurai has been shitting on core smash fans for YEARS...

Brawl was a giant loogie in the face of people who liked melee...

OP has short term memory or is just a fucking casual?
Click to expand...

This is a good example what is wrong with the fanbase of this series. Brawl was just fine, if you want a competitive SSB game, play Melee for gods sake. The amount of material and heart poured into Brawl more than made up from any gamplay shortcomings.
 
Edag Plata said:
What about For Glory is so out of touch?
Click to expand...
It's a misunderstanding of the competitive scene. Sakurai is boiling down online play to the joke it is with everything enabled on time and competitive play through the joke of "no items, Final Destination only".

Brawl proved that Sakurai was so out of touch that the existence of this thread is weird.
 
Edag Plata said:
What about For Glory is so out of touch?
Click to expand...
Competitive players don't prefer to go to FD every time. It's far from the most neutral stage. Often platforms are necessary and useful to facilitate escaping certain combos, or positioning yourself in certain ways. Platform/stage layouts add gameplay variety, which believe it or not competitive players like to have.

It also looks like For Glory might not be in stock mode. Which would be beyond silly.
 
Ummm, naw id go with the opposite in fact.

Having followed the man in his interviews and seen him speak In person, It comes across to me he has two main loves: Nintendo, and game design.

He firmly believes in those things at the core; the history and philosophy of Nintendo (particularly Kirby!), and game deign and it's core principle. He values maticulous, hand crafted mechanics with near dictatorial over-sight. He controls the vision. Even to the point he's rather start a contract company than be forced to build something he didn't want to in house.

Like all hyper creatives, core fans are the worst. He serves those things first and isn't really shy about dismissing or outright teasing the majority of the crazy fanbase, haha - he's even like, "bros you know how much work I do hand designing these items and stages? I'm goin to feature creep the shit out of them into modes so you have to use them!"
 
Edag Plata said:
What about For Glory is so out of touch?
Click to expand...

1. It's timed matches, likely 2 minutes, no stocks.
2. FD only and FD-like stages only, not at all what the current competitive community plays by (everyone agrees that Battlefield is way more neutral than FD for most MUs) but even then it's not just one stage that everyone plays on -- there's several viable stages the community uses in both Melee & Brawl. A Battlefield, FD, and Smashville selection would be much, much better overall.
3. No lobbies.

That's what so out of touch.
 
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