Next Super Smash Bros being developed by Namco Bandai

Nintendo is outsourcing development of the next Smash Bros game to Namco Bandai.

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Update: Now with comments from Masahiro Sakurai and Namco Bandai's Masaya Kobayashi.

Nintendo did not internally develop Super Smash Bros. Brawl for Wii. Instead, it was a collaboration between a number of third party studios, including Game Arts, Monolith Soft, and Paon. Project Sora's Masahiro Sakurai, who directed the original N64 game when he was at HAL Laboratories, remained director of this hodgepodge development team.

Well, it appears Nintendo is outsourcing development once again for the next Smash Bros game.

In a Nintendo Direct presentation, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata revealed that Namco Bandai will be developing the game, in addition to Project Sora. Sakurai will return as director, alongside Yoshito Higuchi, director of Tales of Vesperia.

It's only been a few months since the release of Project Sora's last game, Kid Icarus Uprising, so it might be quite some time before we hear more. "The project has just gotten started," Sakurai said in a prepared statement on Nintendo's website. "Bear in mind that not only are we developing two titles simultaneously, but we announced the project before we even started actual development, so I'm afraid we will likely have to keep you waiting for quite a while. Please be patient."

Namco Bandai's Masaya Kobayashi also offered a comment, promising the new Smash Bros will be developed with "Namco Bandai's best staff," with members from the Tekken and Soulcalibur teams participating. "All the top creators from Namco Bandai are gathered here to create a never-before-seen dream team for this project. We will fully utilize our experience and knowledge in action/fighting game development, technical capability, and organizational strength, and we hereby promise you that we will develop the best and most powerful Super Smash Bros. title ever!"

Andrew Yoon was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    June 21, 2012 8:30 PM

    Andrew Yoon posted a new article, Next Super Smash Bros being developed by Namco Bandai.

    Nintendo is outsourcing development of the next Smash Bros game to Namco Bandai.

    • reply
      June 21, 2012 8:37 PM

      oh jeeze :(

    • reply
      June 21, 2012 8:37 PM

      [deleted]

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        June 21, 2012 8:43 PM

        [deleted]

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          June 21, 2012 8:46 PM

          damn son this a totes dank fart. dank ass farty fart action.

      • reply
        June 21, 2012 8:44 PM

        CUUUUUUUUNT FUCK YOUR MOTHER : RuskiSnajper

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        June 21, 2012 8:58 PM

        ya hopefully it's as fresh and unique as Metroid Other M oh wait

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          June 22, 2012 7:58 AM

          ugghhhhhh i loathe that game

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          June 22, 2012 9:48 AM

          Yoshio Sakamoto and Nintendo R&D1 did most of the level design work and writing on the game, Team Ninja was mainly just a contracted studio to develop the game. Any and all blame for how bad other M was should fall to Sakamoto and that includes the terribad writing and voice acting (he wrote everything and even instructed Jessica Martin to use that lifeless monotone for the english VO), pixel hunting, and d-pad control instead of analog stick ( Team Ninja actually had the game running with analog control before Sakamoto said he wanted everything to work with just the wiimote).

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        June 21, 2012 9:07 PM

        Exactly how fresh does Smash Bros need to be? As bitchy as fans are about Nintendo games, Nintendo does a pretty good job of adding new stuff and keeping everybody fairly happy. People say the only reason Nintendo consoles sell is because of Nintendo's games. Well, it's a pretty good reason.

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          June 22, 2012 1:34 AM

          why would someone buy a console if not for it's games?

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            June 22, 2012 10:32 AM

            As opposed to selling for all of its games, both third and first party.

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            June 22, 2012 12:53 PM

            No, just the 1st party games, the ones made by Nintendo. If I pick up a Nintendo console and just buy Nintendo's games, games like Mario, Zelda, and Kirby, it's still a very worthwhile purchase. If I buy a new WiiU, and Nintendo continues to make quality games I like, there's no question of whether or not I will be happy with the system.

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        June 22, 2012 4:56 AM

        This worked out so well for metroid.

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        June 22, 2012 5:37 AM

        Yeah because Soul Caliber is just SO unique right?

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        June 22, 2012 6:28 AM

        I can't wait to see how Mario looks and behaves in an anime style. I really hope there are cut scenes where he fucking freaks out and flies into the sun and explodes the sun and stars go flying and then Luigi's face explodes.

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        June 22, 2012 7:14 AM

        Maybe some more features like tripping while running. That's always fun. I miss SSBM.

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        June 22, 2012 2:29 PM

        I dunno, the SSB games have all been pretty amazing already. Yeah, they don't innovate much but they make up for it by the overwhelming amount of content.

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        June 22, 2012 9:17 PM

        Well played, jimmy_legs.

    • reply
      June 21, 2012 8:39 PM

      in addition to Project Sora. Sakurai will return as director, alongside Yoshito Higuchi, director of the Tales games.

      all I need to know

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      June 21, 2012 8:47 PM

      What???

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      June 21, 2012 8:57 PM

      Hmm.

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      June 22, 2012 5:11 AM

      [deleted]

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      June 22, 2012 5:32 AM

      Uhhhh.... Trying to be optimistic and hope Namco Don't make soul-tekken with Mario!

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      June 22, 2012 6:34 AM

      Given how unenthused some of the people working on Brawl were with the idea of another Smash Bros I can understand this, I just hope they don't fuck it up.

    • Zek legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
      reply
      June 22, 2012 7:22 AM

      Dang man I don't care who develops it, just remake Brawl and hire a guy who knows how to do online play.

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      June 22, 2012 8:13 AM

      [deleted]

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      June 22, 2012 10:24 AM

      Namco Bandai has no time for this because they need to be focusing on a 3rd season of their Ghost in a Shell tv series :(

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      June 22, 2012 10:30 AM

      As a guy who dumped thousands of hours in melee and brawl this excites me. Melee was the golden standard for competitive play though. Brawl was nice, but man they dumbed it down and made the combat pacing much slower. I miss wave dashing :(.

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      June 22, 2012 12:56 PM

      Don't care, probably won't even buy wiiU :(

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