What had been long-rumored is now official. Masahiro Sakurai, father of Kirby and Super Smash Bros., revealed in a column in the latest Famitsu magazine that he will serve as director and game designer on HAL Laboratory's Super Smash Bros. sequel for project Revolution.
As you may recall, Sakurai left HAL Laboratory in Fall of 2003, citing the motivation for his departure was due to a lack of freedom and dissatisfaction with having to only create sequels. He has since worked with Q Entertainment on the Nintendo DS action-puzzle title Meteos and also formed his own company named Sora. More information on Sakurai can be found in N-Sider's HAL Laboratory profile.
Sakurai noted in his column that after he left HAL Laboratory, his former boss, current Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, said he would like to keep in contact with him in case he would be interested in consulting on a future game. Then at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in May 2005, Sakurai was sitting in the audience during Nintendo's press conference and was surprised to hear Iwata announce a Wi-Fi compatible Super Smash Bros. title in development for Nintendo's next-generation home console. One of the following days during the E3 show, Iwata requested a meeting with Sakurai. Sakurai met with Iwata in his hotel room where he was asked to be involved in the production of a new Super Smash Bros. and preferably in the role of a director. Out of all the games Sakurai has had a part in, the Smash Bros. series holds a special place in his heart. Needless to say, Sakurai accepted.
More recently, during the September 2005 Tokyo Game Show, Nintendo unveiled the Revolution's controller for the first time. Nintendo Dream, a Japanese magazine, caught up with Sakurai to get his comments on the controller. Sakurai noted, "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."
It's still unknown whether or not Super Smash Bros. will utilize a traditional control method or the new "Revmote". Considering the game was likely in development for a significant time before any of the controller's features were known, it's likely the game will instead use standard controls. We'll let you know of any news in that regard.
As you may recall, Sakurai left HAL Laboratory in Fall of 2003, citing the motivation for his departure was due to a lack of freedom and dissatisfaction with having to only create sequels. He has since worked with Q Entertainment on the Nintendo DS action-puzzle title Meteos and also formed his own company named Sora. More information on Sakurai can be found in N-Sider's HAL Laboratory profile.
Sakurai noted in his column that after he left HAL Laboratory, his former boss, current Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, said he would like to keep in contact with him in case he would be interested in consulting on a future game. Then at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in May 2005, Sakurai was sitting in the audience during Nintendo's press conference and was surprised to hear Iwata announce a Wi-Fi compatible Super Smash Bros. title in development for Nintendo's next-generation home console. One of the following days during the E3 show, Iwata requested a meeting with Sakurai. Sakurai met with Iwata in his hotel room where he was asked to be involved in the production of a new Super Smash Bros. and preferably in the role of a director. Out of all the games Sakurai has had a part in, the Smash Bros. series holds a special place in his heart. Needless to say, Sakurai accepted.
More recently, during the September 2005 Tokyo Game Show, Nintendo unveiled the Revolution's controller for the first time. Nintendo Dream, a Japanese magazine, caught up with Sakurai to get his comments on the controller. Sakurai noted, "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."
It's still unknown whether or not Super Smash Bros. will utilize a traditional control method or the new "Revmote". Considering the game was likely in development for a significant time before any of the controller's features were known, it's likely the game will instead use standard controls. We'll let you know of any news in that regard.