New Smash Bros may take 'several years'

Series creator Masahiro Sakurai says the new 3DS and Wii U Smash Bros game might have to wait a while, to the tune of "several years."

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The new Smash Bros. game promised for the Nintendo Wii U and 3DS might not arrive for quite a while, according to series creator Masahiro Sakurai. In a Famitsu column (via 1UP), Sakurai indicated that it could take "several years" before we see the Smash Bros game release.

"Right now, we're devoting all our manpower to working on Kid Icarus [Uprising]," he said. "We've got no plans whatsoever -- we've got two new games out in the open when there's no extra time to work with them at all. It makes me cringe, and I'm not sure it's the smartest thing to make gamers wait for several years, but the early announcement was made chiefly to attract new team members."

During the E3 2011 Nintendo press briefing, company president Satoru Iwata announced the two Smash Bros projects, but coyly said he "shouldn't go into any details today." While this admission from Sakurai doesn't technically conflict with the announcement, Iwata's comments seemed to imply there were more details to share.

Sakurai also addressed his reasoning behind bringing the game to both Nintendo platforms. "If we went solely for the Wii U, the HD graphics would really bump up the visual effects, but then we'd be stuck in another arms race," he said. "If we made the game another extension over the previous one, we'd have to cut out the new things we could possibly do on the 3DS hardware and compete with ourselves again over the size of the character roster and the amount of gameplay we can put in it.

"It wouldn't be a fruitful competition, but doing something completely new would be difficult for many reasons, not the least of which that the gamers may not be satisfied with it. That's why we decided to think about ways to link the personal connection one has with his portable system to the gather-around-and-play aspect of console systems."

Editor-In-Chief
From The Chatty
  • reply
    June 23, 2011 7:30 AM

    Steve Watts posted a new article, New Smash Bros may take 'several years'.

    Series creator Masahiro Sakurai says the new 3DS and Wii U Smash Bros game might have to wait a while, to the tune of "several years."

    • reply
      June 23, 2011 7:35 AM

      And on that note... I'm no longer interested in Nintendo.... I dont want a new $600 system with a modified iPad with no new Mario... because by then the PS4 and NeXtBox will be out and they will be behind once again...

      • reply
        June 23, 2011 7:37 AM

        Smash Bros* not mario lol :)

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        June 23, 2011 7:38 AM

        I kinda like it! I don't have to buy Nintendo's new piece-o-crap-5000 until it's already getting a bit dusty and is super-cheap. All I ever play on Nintendo gear these days are Smash Bros, Mario, and MarioKart games anyway.

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          June 23, 2011 7:39 AM

          you have a very valid point :)

          • Ebu legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
            reply
            June 23, 2011 8:22 AM

            I waited to buy a Wii until a friend was selling his white one to replace it with a black one. Got it for $90. It was worth $90. It was not worth $250.

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          June 23, 2011 12:47 PM

          Except Nintendo nearly never lowers the price of their games or consoles.

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            June 23, 2011 12:49 PM

            The Wii sold really well at launch price for a while, but the GC and N64 before that dropped pretty consistently. Both were down to $100 or so before the next generation came out.

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            June 23, 2011 12:53 PM

            Except they cut the price on the Wii and now have a reduced price "Selects" line of games.

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              June 23, 2011 1:39 PM

              Uhhhhh the Wii is STILL 200 dollars and their select titles are a pile of garbage minus twilight princess which was a launch title. But hey! Wii sports is now available for 20 bux right??

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        June 23, 2011 7:45 AM

        It'll max out at about half that (unless you want a second pad should they enable it, and even then it probably won't be more than about $400 total). It is a shame it won't be available at launch though.

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        June 23, 2011 3:46 PM

        Modified iPad...lol

    • reply
      June 23, 2011 7:41 AM

      "Sakurai indicated that it took take "several years" - Took take? Is that like Tick-Tock?

    • reply
      June 23, 2011 7:45 AM

      Fine with me, Smash Brothers would have been the one game I couldn't resist buying a Wii U for, so if that takes a while to come out then maybe I can get one cheaper when the time comes.

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        June 23, 2011 7:46 AM

        Just make sure you pick it up (if you're going the used route) at least a month before release date because later than that and they all start disappearing.

    • reply
      June 23, 2011 7:47 AM

      [deleted]

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        June 23, 2011 7:50 AM

        They need some 3rd party awesomeness this generation, and they need it pretty bad.

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      June 23, 2011 7:50 AM

      I'm going to go out on a limb and say the earliest we will see this is 2014

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      June 23, 2011 11:15 AM

      This is kind of a given, considering the team was working on Kid Icarus for the last few years. Starting a Smash Bros game from scratch should take a while, especially if they're trying to work all the bugs out of online play. At least I HOPE they're working all the bugs out of online play this time.

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      June 23, 2011 3:44 PM

      Why is this "news" being spread everywhere? During the press conference they even said it wasn't under development yet...

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      June 23, 2011 7:39 PM

      SAKURAIIIIIIIIIIIII

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      June 23, 2011 7:48 PM

      Honestly, Super Smash Brothers Brawl was probably one of the shittiest games I've ever bought. If they need the extra time to prevent it from being complete poo, that is fine by me.

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        June 23, 2011 7:50 PM

        I'm assuming you don't buy many games.

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          June 25, 2011 10:05 AM

          I buy a lot. It really is genuinely terrible.

          Other bad games I've bought:

          Mega Man X7
          Smash TV (360 port)
          Rogue Galaxy
          Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen 2
          Tony Hawk Underground 2
          .hack//infection

      • reply
        June 23, 2011 7:53 PM

        *crickets*

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