Hey man, I’m not trying to “side eye you with an article”, and I’m happy to let you pontificate as to where the series should go (even if I think you are making sweeping assumptions based off a single comment in an interview). You seem to be very passionate about the series, and maybe you have a lot of insight I’m lacking. It’s possible that you are spot on, and that trying to make a “melee” successor would do as well if not better.
That being said, it’s been repeatedly reported that Ultimate was a staggeringly massive project, so when he says he doesn’t see how it could increase in magnitude, it’s fair to take that at face value as him talking about increasing the amount of content. And it’s fair that if anyone knows the likelihood of seeing another jump of this magnitude, it would be Sakurai. You are free to be an incredulous arm chair game designer, but it kind of just comes across as whiny and entitled.
I also can’t agree with your claim that Sakurai doesn’t know what keeps people coming back to Smash. Ultimate is the most financially successful entry in the series history, selling 31.7 million copies (dwarfing the 2nd place entry Brawl’s 13.32 million copies, and the critically acclaimed Melee’s 7.41 million copies). So focusing on content quantity seems to have paid off for Nintendo. At least it shows that the focus on “bigger” didn’t hurt people buying Smash, even if you don’t think it will have the long term sustainability that Melee did. And when you are trying to make money selling games, hours played is less important than dollars made.
source
To add to that, Ultimate had an average play time per copy sold of 88+ hours at the release Sora (obviously it is likely that this is higher now). So your previous claim that “people aren’t liking it” seems a bit misinformed.
source
2 additional frames of input lag definitely will upset the hyper competitive side of the community. Didn’t hurt sales, but I’m sure it upset the diehards. Also, thanks for sharing I guess?
Your linked article regarding Ultimate being the last is again a hyperbolic misquote of the same interview we were discussing in this post. (Albeit a less egregious misquote, as the full title is “Creator of Super Smash Bros. Feels Ultimate Is the Last Stop of the Series, at Least for Now”, which is literally every game until they release another) The article even has a line saying his concerns are only in really in reference to pushing the series further in scope.
he doesn’t definitively rule out another entry, but implies that it would be difficult to push the series further in terms of content and ambition.
It’s cool that you want a return to Melee, I’m sure plenty of people do. I don’t really have an opinion on that. But as a person who has seen multiple game series ignore the hardcore audience in favor of mass appeal, I’d say it’s best to keep expectations in check. Especially since Ultimate told Nintendo the direction the series went in is the financially correct one. But heck, sounds like the modding community is more in line with your wish list anyway!
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Hey man, I’m not trying to “side eye you with an article”, and I’m happy to let you pontificate as to where the series should go (even if I think you are making sweeping assumptions based off a single comment in an interview). You seem to be very passionate about the series, and maybe you have a lot of insight I’m lacking. It’s possible that you are spot on, and that trying to make a “melee” successor would do as well if not better.
That being said, it’s been repeatedly reported that Ultimate was a staggeringly massive project, so when he says he doesn’t see how it could increase in magnitude, it’s fair to take that at face value as him talking about increasing the amount of content. And it’s fair that if anyone knows the likelihood of seeing another jump of this magnitude, it would be Sakurai. You are free to be an incredulous arm chair game designer, but it kind of just comes across as whiny and entitled.
I also can’t agree with your claim that Sakurai doesn’t know what keeps people coming back to Smash. Ultimate is the most financially successful entry in the series history, selling 31.7 million copies (dwarfing the 2nd place entry Brawl’s 13.32 million copies, and the critically acclaimed Melee’s 7.41 million copies). So focusing on content quantity seems to have paid off for Nintendo. At least it shows that the focus on “bigger” didn’t hurt people buying Smash, even if you don’t think it will have the long term sustainability that Melee did. And when you are trying to make money selling games, hours played is less important than dollars made. source
To add to that, Ultimate had an average play time per copy sold of 88+ hours at the release Sora (obviously it is likely that this is higher now). So your previous claim that “people aren’t liking it” seems a bit misinformed. source
input lag example.
Ultimate is the last.
Yeah, people are playing after Sora’s release and a new KH announcement. Ultimate is fun, but people like me want a return to Melee.
He speaks of pushing the series further, it doesn’t need that in my opinion. Its cool you don’t agree with me.
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input lag example
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2 additional frames of input lag definitely will upset the hyper competitive side of the community. Didn’t hurt sales, but I’m sure it upset the diehards. Also, thanks for sharing I guess?
Your linked article regarding Ultimate being the last is again a hyperbolic misquote of the same interview we were discussing in this post. (Albeit a less egregious misquote, as the full title is “Creator of Super Smash Bros. Feels Ultimate Is the Last Stop of the Series, at Least for Now”, which is literally every game until they release another) The article even has a line saying his concerns are only in really in reference to pushing the series further in scope.
It’s cool that you want a return to Melee, I’m sure plenty of people do. I don’t really have an opinion on that. But as a person who has seen multiple game series ignore the hardcore audience in favor of mass appeal, I’d say it’s best to keep expectations in check. Especially since Ultimate told Nintendo the direction the series went in is the financially correct one. But heck, sounds like the modding community is more in line with your wish list anyway!