Sakurai to Direct Smash Bros. Revolution

[score]

From IGN (http://cube.ign.com) :

Masahiro Sakurai may have left Nintendo for the independent game designer track, but Nintendo's not leaving him out of the series for which he's most known. In the latest Famitsu, Sakurai, head of his own company, Sora, reveals that he is serving as a director and game designer on Super Smash Bros. for the Revolution.

Sakurai is known in most circles as the game designer responsible for the Super Smash Bros. series in the first place. He's also known for his work on the Kirby series and, most recently, as the creative force behind Q Entertainment's Meteos for the DS.

Read More (http://cube.ign.com/articles/667/667525p1.html)

this is cool news. Lumines and Meteos rocked.

[sickfallout]

The mention of this game for Revolution is enough to get me planning a time machine so I can hurry up and own it already.

[swiftdraw]

Smash Bros.:melee was the reason I got a Gamecube (that and I got a perfectly good used one for $50.) I can't wait to see this version in action and see how the new controller will work with it.

[TrackZero]

Nice. I wonder how SSB is going to control on the Rev. If it'll jack into a "normal" controller for a fast paced fighter, go the new "hands on" route, or have an option for either type of control.

[Dabombpizza]

If it's Sakurai I'm sure it will be a new form of control. He's one of those "innovative" Japanese devs that comes out with the weirdest shit.

[Neverborne]

SSMB...intertron enabled? Unstoppable.

The only downfall with the series is that, like all fighting games, the singleplayer is a poor shadow of the multiplayer. God, I hope internet capability isn't a rumor with this game. The possibilities would be endless.

While I was in college, no other gaming experience beat the 4 player brawls or the titanic battles I had as Pikachu vs his mortal enemy Kirby (If I remember right, I still hold the title, "Supreme Ruler of the Universe," in some circles) in both games.

[Dabombpizza]

Confirmation of Sakurai's involvement in the project has us even more excited about Super Smash Bros. Revolution, especially given his apparent enthusiasm for the Revolution controller.
I'm sympathetic for Nintendo's stance of reducing hurdles for games. For that reason, I think it's good that the controller buttons have been reduced to just one. A long remote controller shape with just one button. This has impact. The DS, with its touch screen, made games a ways easier to understand. However, with the D-pad and buttons, and also the touch panel, controls actually became more complicated. I think it would be good if the same thing doesn't happen with Revolution.
Does it sound like he's excited? To me it sounds like he's rambling.

[Dabombpizza]

The only downfall with the series is that, like all fighting games, the singleplayer is a poor shadow of the multiplayer. God, I hope internet capability isn't a rumor with this game. The possibilities would be endless.
I found the singleplayer a lot of fun when played with 2 people taking turns. Although, it isn't amazing compared to multiplayer.

[Captain Awesome]

Loved the game, hate the GC controller for fighting games.

[EvilBob46]

My enthusiasm for this this will increase 5-fold if they announce a online multiplayer component. I think they will, given the successful launch of the Nintendo DS WiFi service and the Smash Bros focus on multiplayer.

[thecrazyd]

What is the point of Smash Bros online? I could not imagine it being as fun if I am not sitting on a couch with the people playing.

[Heretic Machine]

...This makes me happy...

YOU MAKE ME FEEL LIKE DANCING, I WANNA DANCE THE NIGHT AWAY!

[EvilBob46]

What is the point of Smash Bros online? I could not imagine it being as fun if I am not sitting on a couch with the people playing.

What's the point of bringing any game online when you could be playing it with friends on a sofa?! There are a lot of reasons. Besides, modern online features (friends lists, and especially voice communication) let you smalk talk your buddies just as if they were at your house without forcing you to get everybody organized in one place...assuming the Nintendo Revolution online service will have voice support, of course.

[DaXIthR]

Smash Bros might the greatest mutltiplayer experience for up to 4 players ever conceived.

As much as I love all the right things Nintnedo is saying and doing of late, nothing makes me want the Rev more than the new Smash Bros.

[mkelehan]

This is fantastic news. I don't see a day going by in which I don't play this game.

[Magnanimous Gnome]

My enthusiasm for this this will increase 5-fold if they announce a online multiplayer component. I think they will, given the successful launch of the Nintendo DS WiFi service and the Smash Bros focus on multiplayer.

Sawata announced some time ago that this title will in all likelihood be online, and out at launch.

However, put me firmly in the camp with those who don't care about online play at all, especially with games like Smash Bros. I think playing against people who are out of the room sucks a lot of the fun out of it. Then again I used to love multiplayer over the net on PC back in the day. Eventually all the losers killed it for me though. I played a lot of Outpost 2 online, Team Fortress Classic, Total Annihilation, and a couple others. I had a blast for a while and made some good friends, but then the trolls started coming in greater and greater numbers, and I got sick of being called a fag, etc. I'd much rather just play with friends.

I will offer a counter point though - most of the people I hang out with these days don't play videogames at all, so online does offer the chance for me to play multiplayer modes in the future if I don't find people to play with in person.

Anyway, I'm really looking forward to this title. I actually bought my Cube for Eternal Darkness and picked up SSBM a week or so later. Eternal Darkness never got completed, but I've logged many hours into Melee.

[codswallop]

I had a blast [online] for a while and made some good friends, but then the trolls started coming in greater and greater numbers, and I got sick of being called a fag, etc. I'd much rather just play with friends.
I totally agree. However, playing with strangers who are willing to take a game seriously (or at least play in the style of the game) can be almost as enjoyable as playing against friends -- if not more so.

I play Battlefield 2 a lot, and finding a good squad that works together well is usually a rarity -- when I do find one it's one of the more enjoyable gaming experiences I've had recently.

[Dabombpizza]

I play Battlefield 2 a lot, and finding a good squad that works together well is usually a rarity -- when I do find one it's one of the more enjoyable gaming experiences I've had recently.
Oh man, good squads in BF2 make the game awesome! Especially if your commander isn't a fucktard.

[Achilles]

He’s currently working on Ninety Nine Nights which is a game I’m pretty excited about. It’s good news for SSB fans that he’ll be coming back to direct it, and the fact that this was announced now probably means SSB will be in the launch window for the Revolution, as it was on the Game Cube.

I still think the game plays too fast to be any good over the internet though. Fighting games with 2 characters have a hard enough time running smoothly.

[Dabombpizza]

I still think the game plays too fast to be any good over the internet though. Fighting games with 2 characters have a hard enough time running smoothly.
I don't know about that. The only fighting games that I've seen on the net have been on the Xbox, and the lack of dedicated servers just invites lag in. If nintendo sets up it's own dedicated servers I don't see why it can't be smooth as Jiffy. I mean, you would think if BF2 can be smooth, SSB can be smooth.

[Lon Lon Rabbit]

What is the point of Smash Bros online? I could not imagine it being as fun if I am not sitting on a couch with the people playing.

I was part of the hard core smash melee communities for a while, the game is ten times deeper than it ever might look at first glance, and the game really goes far when people start trying hard and getting tourneys going. Online smash brothers is a wet dream for me as it means I can play competetively against the best in the world, not just those in my country, and I can do it every day, not just at the rare tourneys held each year in remote places.

[Achilles]

I don't know about that. The only fighting games that I've seen on the net have been on the Xbox, and the lack of dedicated servers just invites lag in. If nintendo sets up it's own dedicated servers I don't see why it can't be smooth as Jiffy. I mean, you would think if BF2 can be smooth, SSB can be smooth.If Nintendo sets up its own servers it would help greatly. But even in an FPS timing doesn't matter nearly as much as in a fighting game where players perform actions based on which frame of animation their character and their opponent is on, and Smash Bros. is one of the most timing based fighting games there is. At least at high levels of play on the GC version. Maybe it could be done, and why not get your hopes up really? No reason not to.

[fushi]

this is cool news. Lumines and Meteos rocked.
He’s currently working on Ninety Nine Nights which is a game I’m pretty excited about.
Sakurai has nothing to do with Ninety Nine Nights and Lumines, he was only a a temporary employee at Q? Entertainment to do designwork on Meteos. He has already formed a new studio called Sora. You're confusing him with Tetsuya Mizuguchi.

[Stormwatcher]

Well, there is no reason why you won't be able to play it at you couch with 4 friends.

[51|RandoM]

hmm, expect a lot of revolution titles to end in 'revolution', just like many supernintendo titles started with 'super'.

[Dabombpizza]

hmm, expect a lot of revolution titles to end in 'revolution', just like many supernintendo titles started with 'super'.
Don't forget the DS, everything ends in DS.

[Lizard Dude]

Don't forget the DS, everything ends in DS.

Don't forget the N64.

[endrom]

Great now ican get my ass kicked as kirby online. Iwas really bad at this game but it is essential for the nintendo line-up. Hey atleast theres online, which means nintendo is aactully looking towards multiplayer capabilitys

[Magnanimous Gnome]

hmm, expect a lot of revolution titles to end in 'revolution', just like many supernintendo titles started with 'super'.

I don't really see this happening. Not a single title on the Cube used the console in the name. They do it on the DS sometimes, but not nearly as much as they did back in the days of the Super Nintendo and N64.

[mister_slim]

hmm, expect a lot of revolution titles to end in 'revolution', just like many supernintendo titles started with 'super'.
Don't forget the DS, everything ends in DS.
Don't forget the N64.
Maybe I could get a job at Nintendo naming things for them. I mean, seriously, Pokemon XD?