Month: December 2015

In the latest installment of his regular Famitsu column, Super Smash Bros. series director Masahiro Sakurai tackles a question that deals with topic of updates and patches, specifically those released after a game has already launched.

Starting out, Sakurai asks the sender to not view him solely as a creator but also “a player that understands the situation comprehensively.” He admits that, in a perfect world, development on each title would complete before launch, but the complex work behind our favorite games makes that nearly impossible.

“It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say [modern games] are 100 times—no, 1,000 times more complicated than games of the past,” Sakurai explains. “And this massive amount of data is subject to the variance and fluctuation that digital information is susceptible to. Making sure that everything works properly is a miracle in and of itself.”

With regards to game balance, Sakurai says they try not to “blindly accept feedback” from fans on the internet in order to maintain a balance between competitive viability and casual enjoyment. “We could balance our game based on what high-level players say, but if that meant beginner-level players would no longer be able to play, that wouldn’t be an acceptable outcome,” he concludes.

For more of Sakurai’s thoughts, be sure to visit Source Gaming’s full translation of the Famitsu article in question by following the link below.

Source: Famitsu via Source Gaming, Smash Boards, featured image c/o Polygon