Smash Bros for Wii U & 3DS won't include a story mode

Smash Bros director Masahiro Sakurai told Japanese magazine Famitsu that the upcoming game will not include a story mode or cutscenes. And the reason? The internet, of course.

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We understand when characters don't necessarily return in fighting game sequels. The roster does have to stay fluid, after all. However, here's a rather surprising feature being cut for the upcoming Smash Bros game for Wii U and 3DS: cutscenes.

Game director Masahiro Sakurai told Japanese magazine Famitsu that the upcoming game will not include a story mode or cutscenes. And the reason is quite surprising.

"Unfortunately, the movie scenes we worked hard to create were uploaded onto the internet," Sakurai wrote to the magazine (transcribed by Kotaku). "You can only truly wow a player the first time he sees [a cutscene]. I felt if players saw the cutscenes outside of the game, they would no longer serve as rewards for playing the game, so I've decided against having them."

Nintendo really has a grudge against this "YouTube" thing that all the kids are doing nowadays. Especially when it comes to Smash Bros, it seems.

The CG movie team at Nintendo isn't going to be completely unused, however. Instead of having a story mode, Sakurai promises to have intro video sequences for every character. At E3, Nintendo introduced the Wii Fit Trainer with a movie--and because they released it to the internet, it's totally okay.

Still, for fans of the franchise, the news must come as a step backwards. Subspace Emissary for Wii was special not only for bringing together so many different franchises in one narrative--but for being penned by Final Fantasy 7's Kazushige Nojima.

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

From The Chatty
  • reply
    July 25, 2013 10:00 AM

    Andrew Yoon posted a new article, Smash Bros for Wii U & 3DS won't include a story mode.

    Smash Bros director Masahiro Sakurai told Japanese magazine Famitsu that the upcoming game will not include a story mode or cutscenes. And the reason? The internet, of course.

    • reply
      July 25, 2013 10:01 AM

      Cool, nice to see Nintendo working hard to remain the company I can always expect to be OUT OF THEIR GODDAMN MINDS. Do they just employ old men who don't get what the internet is and how modern gaming works?

      I don't really play Smash Bros for the most part, and have never done much with the SP mode, but this is just stupid.

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      July 25, 2013 10:06 AM

      Story mode was terrible. Seems like a smart choice.

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        July 25, 2013 10:11 AM

        I do think the story mode wasn't that great, but the reasoning is rather bizarre.

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          July 25, 2013 10:19 AM

          Well, if they get of cutscenes and story mode, they can probably add more characters. Read a while ago that they were aiming for the same roster on 3ds and wii u, but it was going to be limited by 3ds game size. This could be a very very good thing.

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      July 25, 2013 10:23 AM

      I think Brawl kinda confirmed to me that Melee was a bit of accidental genius. I think the players really elevated that game beyond just a party game, not the developer. Hope I'm wrong.

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        July 25, 2013 12:22 PM

        The first one was great too, though. And Brawl wasn't a bad game, but it wasn't as good as Melee either.

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      July 25, 2013 10:26 AM

      That's kind of a retarded reason. Why develop games at all since it will all end up on youtube?

      Also what is he on about, THEY uploaded characters and intro cut scenes on the official Brawl website. Sonic could have been a secret but they told everyone.

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      July 25, 2013 10:48 AM

      Whiny babies.

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      July 25, 2013 11:22 AM

      wtf did I just read?
      Sounds more like they will not make deadline if they add a story mode. This game is sounding more like ass every day.

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      July 25, 2013 11:53 AM

      lol worst excuse ever

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      July 25, 2013 11:54 AM

      The reasoning is probably one of the dumbest excuses to cut something from a game. Its the Age of the Internet and everything is uploaded on to the Internet now and days. Does Nintendo have only like one computer with a working Internet connection? I love Nintendo but they baffle me at times.

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      July 25, 2013 11:55 AM

      Melee's story mode was fun if only for getting good practice in. Also fighting the Hand at the end is awesome.

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      July 25, 2013 12:23 PM

      Stupid excuse but Subspace Emissary was terrible IMO so no loss there.

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      July 25, 2013 12:25 PM

      Nintendo, the cool but batshit insane Uncle in the gaming industry family.

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      July 25, 2013 12:27 PM

      Story mode was dumb anyway. Just have the 1 player mode that the original and melee had. Also break the target and race to the finish challenges. That's all the single player this game needs.

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      July 25, 2013 1:05 PM

      "we don't want people to see them on youtube, so we'll make sure they don't see them anywhere"

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      July 25, 2013 2:28 PM

      I didn't like the story mode that much either but that doesn't mean I don't want to see them take another crack at it and make one that's actually good. I totally want a story mode.

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      July 25, 2013 2:33 PM

      As a one time competitive smash player, no big deal. You should be using practice mode to get better anyways. And if it has online mp, then who needs sp?

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        July 25, 2013 2:54 PM

        Will this mean everything is unlocked from the start?

        I hated doing all that shit in Melee.

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          July 25, 2013 3:07 PM

          Haha no. It will be like smash 64 and melee. There will stay be a 1st player mode to play thru to unlock things. It just won't be the story mode.

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      July 25, 2013 3:26 PM

      [deleted]

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      July 25, 2013 6:03 PM

      [deleted]

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