Another one of Masahiro Sakurai’s fabled Famitsu columns has dropped in weekly Famitsu, offering another round of profound insight and candid humor from one of the most famous Nintendo developers out there. Nintendo Everything has courteously provided the full translation, which we’ve summarized below:
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- Sakurai celebrates Smash’s 20th birthday (which passed on January 21st) and remarks on the sheer improbability that he would be able to continue working on it after all this time — what with licensing agreements, him leaving HAL, and the games’ sheer volume. He thanks everybody involved in Smash — from devs to fans — for their support.
- He also remarks upon how children who grew up playing Smash are now playing it with their own kids, and how Kirby (Sakurai’s other grandchild) turns 27 this year. This means that Sakurai’s been in the game dev business for about 30 years. “I’ll just say it – I’m old!!”
- Sakurai remarks semi-jokingly on his increasing wrinkles and blurred vision, and wonders how many more years he’ll be able to handle an active role in development. He notes there are those older than him still directing games, but many more fall back into managerial positions. As such, he’s worried for what’s to come, though he’s focused on looking ahead without dwelling on the past.
- Speaking of the passage of time, his Famitsu column is entering its own 17th year of publication! It’s difficult for him to summarize the content from that entire span of time, but he hopes it’s proven to be a good source of game development info.
- Switching gears, Sakurai talks about Piranha Plant’s release as a fighter. While the character finished a tad early, it gave him and the team time to balance and tweak a bit more in the process. He finds P. Plant to be a character that requires “ingenuity” due to some of its odder moves, such as its vertically-oriented specials.
- Sakurai is currently working on new Classic Mode runs and “scripted events” that he thinks fans will enjoy.
- While outside of the column, it’s confirmed that DLC characters in the Fighter’s Pass (Joker et. all) won’t have Palutena’s Guidance conversations.
Be sure to check out the full NE translation for more.
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Written by Amelia Fruzzetti
A writer and Nintendo fan based in Seattle, Washington. When not working for NinWire, she can be found eating pasta, writing stories, and wondering about when Mother 3 is finally going to get an official localization.
