Tag: Masahiro Sakurai
Video Sakurai Explains The Need For Online Updates And Patches
"Just getting things to work correctly is a miracle in itself"
During Masahiro Sakurai's most recent YouTube video, the legendary creator delves into the requirement for online updates and patches in modern video games. It might seem fairly obvious, as consumers, as to how patches can be beneficial, and Sakurai himself states that he is "very...
News Masahiro Sakurai Has Finished Recording His Final YouTube Video
"I think it will be a while before it is released"
Super Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai has previously mentioned how he planned to wrap up his YouTube channel, and now he's shared another update about this on social media. According to a rough translation, he's now finished recording the final episode. Just don't expect to see it any time...
News Sakurai On Smash Ultimate Win Rates: "Any Fighter Has A Shot At Winning"
"The internet can tend to be an echo chamber"
If you main a particular character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate because you saw it at the top of a certain tier list, you might want to read on... Game director Masahiro Sakurai has shared "win rate data" of online battles in his latest YouTube video - revealing the highest win rate with a character is...
Random Sakurai Talks About "The Most Incredible Year For The Game Industry"
In his "personal opinion" it's 1986
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate director Masahiro Sakurai is back at it with a new "Grab Bag" video - this time discussing the "most incredible year for the game industry". In his own "personal opinion", it's 1986 - a year that marked the beginning of multiple major franchises, the arrival of the NES in Europe, and the...
News Sakurai Acknowledges End Of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Development
The final major update arrived yesterday
It's been a long development cycle for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate with the team not only celebrating the initial launch of the game but also multiple updates and DLC fighters over the past five years. Now that the Sora (Kingdom Hearts) amiibo has arrived, the game's director Masahiro Sakurai has taken to...
News Masahiro Sakurai On His Future: "I'm Still Creating Games For The Time Being"
The Smash Bros. creator shares an update
There has been quite a bit of conversation about the future of the legendary video game developer and Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai calling time on his career, and even he's spoken about this himself previously. Now, in the latest upload on his YouTube channel, Sakurai has briefly mentioned how he's...
Video Masahiro Sakurai Shows Off His Retro Game Skills In "Special" YouTube Collab
Competing against Game Center CX
Update #2 [Fri 20th Oct, 2023 03:30 BST]: Masahiro Sakurai is back for one final special with Retro Game Master. The games on show this time included Space Harrier (1985), Fantasy Zone (1986), Nekketsu Koha Kunio-kun, The Genji and the Heike Clans (1986), Darius, Contra,
News Masahiro Sakurai Gives Us A Tour Around Tons Of Smash Bros. Ultimate Stages
"Can you believe all of this was packed into one game?"
Kirby and Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai is showing no signs of slowing down thanks to his YouTube channel, where he shares insights on his history in the games industry and gives out advice based on past experience. His newest video, however, is a bit more simple, but it's a rather...
News Sakurai Says Working On DS Puzzler 'Meteos' Was A "Fascinating Challenge"
"I'm really bad at falling-block puzzle games"
Masahiro Sakurai continues to share insights into his storied history in the video game industry along with game design tips and his own philosophy. And today, the creator of the Super Smash Bros. series has pulled back the curtain on one of his first major projects after going freelance — the 2005 DS...
Random Masahiro Sakurai Says He Prefers To Buy Video Games Digitally
Are you team digital or team physical?
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate creator Masahiro Sakurai has tackled a hot topic in his latest YouTube upload - discussing the pros and cons of digital and physical game collections. Sakurai admits he's "team digital all the way" and doesn't really consider himself to be a collector. Rather than focusing on the...
News Smash Bros. Creator Masahiro Sakurai Supposedly Confirms He's "Semi-Retired"
"He is 52 after all"
In a recent interview with Denfaminicogamer, the legendary video game developer Masahiro Sakurai apparently confirmed he is now semi-retired. He elaborated on this, mentioning how he worked on the Super Smash Bros. series for around nine years between the 3DS/Wii U and Switch release, along with the DLC updates. Sakurai feels...
News Sakurai Shares First Ever Footage Of Dragon King, The N64 Smash Bros. Prototype
The Dragon King rises
Masahiro Sakurai's new life as a YouTuber has really taken off, with the game developer sharing his thoughts, tips, and snippets of his own history in the industry. Today's video focuses on how Sakurai came up with the original Super Smash Bros. — you know, that tiny little Nintendo crossover beat 'em up that has ballooned...
Random You Can (Kind Of) Thank Toby Fox For Sakurai's English YouTube Channel
Undertale creator linked him with localisation company
Masahiro Sakurai opened English and Japanese YouTube channels a few months ago focused on video game development. In an update on his YouTube socials, the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate director revealed how the Undertale creator Toby Fox kind of played a part in the process. Toby passed on details...
Due to his "deep" understanding of IPs
There's been a lot of conversation about the future of the Super Smash Bros. series since the development of Ultimate wrapped up, but if you ask Katsuhiro Harada about it, there's only one guy who can handle it. Speaking to IGN to promote Bandai Namco's next-gen fighter Tekken 8, director Katsuhiro Harada was...
Random Game Development Lecturers Are Already Showing Off Sakurai's Videos
Class is now in session
Masahiro Sakurai's YouTube videos are causing quite a stir in the video game community. With short, snappy delivery and easy-to-understand fundamentals, they're proving a hit with both industry veterans and newcomers alike. Now, as expected, it appears as though Sakurai's videos are already being utilised in game development...
Random Masahiro Sakurai Now Has One Million Followers On Twitter
He's also received two silver play buttons from YouTube
Japanese game director Masahiro Sakurai - responsible for some of the greatest crossovers in video game history - has recently hit one million followers on Twitter. Yes, he's now got a million fans checking out his social media account on a daily basis. According to Sakurai's profile, he...
Random Masahiro Sakurai Shows Off His Silver YouTube Play Button
His English channel now has more than 440k subs
Last month, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate director Masahiro Sakurai launched his own YouTube channel about creating games in English and Japanese. Fans flocked to both channels and they quickly skyrocketed in subscribers. Now, just weeks later, he's shown off the silver Play Button he received from...
Random Is Masahiro Sakurai Throwing Shade At Pokémon's Trees?
"Don't just make a tree and be done with it"
Over the past few weeks, veteran game developer Masahiro Sakurai has been posting videos to his YouTube channel 'Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games', detailing various aspects of game development and how aspiring creators can apply it to their own work (don't worry though, we won't be covering all of them...
News Masahiro Sakurai Now Has More Than 700,000 YouTube Subscribers
The combined total of his English and Japanese channels
Update [Wed 31st Aug, 2022 05:45 BST]: Following on from the launch of Sakurai's YouTube channels last week which gained 200,000 subscribers in less than 24 hours (see the original story below), exactly one week later he's announced his channels have now exceeded a combined total of 700,000...
Video Masahiro Sakurai Breaks Down 'Risk And Reward' In Games
"Push and pull is the very core of game essence"
Masahiro Sakurai has posted his latest video on the process of creating games, this time focusing on the concept of "risk and reward" and how this forms part of a game's "core essence". Needless to say, if you're someone who's interested in game development, it sounds like a pretty crucial concept to...
Video Masahiro Sakurai Talks About Frame Rates In Games
Sakurai: 60 fps is "ideal" and 30 fps is "adequate"
Masahiro Sakurai launched his very own YouTube earlier this week, and he's already discussed a number of interesting subjects about game development. In his latest video, he talks about how frame rates work in video games. He's also included his own thoughts about frame rates in games - mentioning...
News Masahiro Sakurai Has Launched His Own YouTube Channel About Creating Games
Smash director wants to help "make games more fun"
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate director Masahiro Sakurai yesterday teased a new announcement, and today he's revealed it's his very own YouTube channel titled Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games. As the title suggests, this channel will be focused on game development and what exactly makes games fun to...
News Masahiro Sakurai Shares His Final Smash Bros. Ultimate Screenshot
And teases "something new"
At the beginning of this month, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate director Masahiro Sakurai mentioned how he would run out of screenshots of the debug version at some point in August. Well, that day has finally come - with the much-loved game developer today sharing his final screenshot, taken from the debug version of the game...
Random Masahiro Sakurai Updated His Awesome Gaming Setup, Here's A Look
What's up with the Switch dock?
When he's not making huge games like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, video game director Masahiro Sakurai is actually playing them. Yes, as you've likely already seen before, he's got an extensive collection of consoles and games (new and old). In a new post on social media, it seems Sakurai has updated his gaming space...
Random Masahiro Sakurai Reminds Nintendo Fans About 3DS & Wii U eShop Closure Dates
"It's my last chance"
As you probably know by now, Nintendo is discontinuing the 3DS and Wii U eShop as of 28th March 2023. And later this month on 29th August, you'll no longer be able to add eShop card funds (aka points) to accounts. This is happening worldwide, and as a result - Nintendo fans around the globe are grabbing certain digital titles...
Random Here's A Look At Masahiro Sakurai's Retro Video Game Collection
That's some neat filing
If you're looking for new ways to organise your retro video game collection, you might want to read on. Masahiro Sakurai, the creator of Kirby and director of the Smash Bros. series, recently shared an image on social media of his impressive library of retro games. As you can see he's got draws stacked with cartridges like...
News Masahiro Sakurai Recently Had A Meeting With HAL Laboratory
New game when?
Although Masahiro Sakurai is now done with Smash Bros. Ultimate, it seems like he may not be slowing down any time soon. In a bit of an update on social media, the director of Nintendo's all-star Smash Bros. series revealed how he recently had an online meeting with his former employer, HAL Laboratory. He had no need to necessarily...
News Masahiro Sakurai Celebrates Kirby's 30th Birthday On Social Media
It's been 30 years since Dream Land
Today is a very important day in the history of the Kirby series. 30 years ago in Japan on 27th April 1992, the pink puff started out in his very first adventure - Kirby's Dream Land on the original Game Boy. The creator of Kirby was actually Super Smash Bros. director Masahiro Sakurai, who at the time, worked at...
News Sakurai Reflects On Every Super Smash Bros. Fighter Reveal In New Blog Post (Part 2)
Take a trip down memory lane
Last week, Nintendo shared a special 'Part 1' Super Smash Bros. Ultimate article on its official website. It's now back this week with 'Part 2' - which encourages fans of the latest game to reflect on the history of Ultimate with Masahiro Sakurai, as he talks about each of the fighter reveal scenes. Here's the full...
News Sakurai Reflects On Every Super Smash Bros. Fighter Reveal In New Blog Post
Half of them are here!
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate got its final DLC character last October in the form of Sora from Kingdom Hearts. It was a hugely exciting time, Sora's arrival in the game brought near-universal joy. People who didn't like Kingdom Hearts could see that the Keyblade-wielding boy had earned his place, while fans of the series were...
Feature Kid Icarus: Uprising, Nintendo's Most Daring Release Of The Last Decade
Remembering one of 3DS' most intriguing releases 10 years on
Yes, it's now an entire decade since Masahiro Sakurai was permitted to do something other than Smash Bros., so to mark the occasion, Mitch Vogel looks back on one of Nintendo's most ambitious and misunderstood titles... Let’s all take a step back and rewind the clock to June 2010, a...
News Sakurai Wins 'Most Valuable Creator' At Famitsu Dengeki Game Awards 2021
Monster Hunter Rise takes out GOTY
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate director Masahiro Sakurai has been recognised by the Dengeki Game Awards as Japan's most valuable video game creator in 2021. This award was decided based on user voting within Japan. Sakurai shared the news with his followers over on Twitter, while also thanking everyone who supported...
News Sakurai Thinks It's Probably Best To Forget About Him For A While
If anything is in the pipeline it might take some time
Masahiro Sakurai was able to complete Super Smash Bros. Ultimate this year, but from here on out, it's not clear what's next. Although he's apparently not thinking about a new Smash Bros. entry right now, that doesn't mean he'll rule it out. He's also not even sure about his future in video...
News Sakurai Believes He Was Able To "Fully Complete" Iwata's Final Mission
The Smash Bros. director is now thinking about what's next
As you might recall, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was the "final mission" assigned to Masahiro Sakurai by the late Satoru Iwata. The Switch entry went on to become a huge success and has now sold over 25 million copies worldwide. After the game shipped, Sakurai's "next mission" was to release...
Random It Takes Two May Just Be Playable Solo, If You're Masahiro Sakurai
It's like he was training for this moment
It Takes Two was undoubtedly the big story of The Game Awards last week, scooping up Best Family Game (which is an interesting take on that category, for sure) but more importantly the lucrative Game of the Year award. It's an extremely stylish, fun and cleverly designed game, but also has to be played in...
Random Smash Bros. Director Masahiro Sakurai Just Bought An Xbox Series X
Xbox All-Stars, anyone?
Sakurai yesterday caught our attention when he shared an image of himself riding a horse, and now he's got social media's attention again, this time for purchasing an Xbox! Yes, that's right - the director of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has finally got his hands on Microsoft's latest and most powerful console, the Xbox Series...
Random Look, It's The Smash Bros. Director Masahiro Sakurai On A Horse
Life after Smash...
We still find it hard to believe, but after multiple years, the development of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has finally wrapped up. While there'll still likely be patches, the fighter DLC for the all-star brawler is now officially complete. The game's director Masahiro Sakurai last month mentioned how he no longer had to worry...
News Sakurai Says He's Not Thinking About A New Smash Bros. Game, But Won't Rule It Out
Update: Full translation now available
Update: Thanks to PushDustIn and SourceGaming, we now have a more accurate translation of Sakurai's comments regarding the future of Super Smash Bros. The full translation can be viewed here if you're interested, but here's a quick snippet of the conversation between Sakurai and Famitsu: Interviewer: With...
Random Sakurai Shows Off Printed And Framed Version Of The Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Mural
The roster is complete!
Last week saw the arrival of the final fighter in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Sora from Kingdom Hearts. As you might recall, he's also been added to the famous mural - slotting in between Dark Samus and Ganondorf to complete the roster. While it's one thing seeing a digital version, the game's director Masahiro Sakurai has...
An Among Us photo would have been sus a month ago
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate might be the greatest crossover video game of all time, but it's been far from easy for the game's director Masahiro Sakurai over the years. Apart from health issues and struggles when adding certain fighters - whenever he appeared on a show, did an interview, or posted...
News Sakurai Reveals How A Chance Encounter Led To Sora In Smash Bros. Ultimate
And the rest is history
After ongoing requests, Sora from Kingdom Hearts joined Super Smash Bros. Ultimate earlier this week as the final DLC fighter. For a lot of fans, it still seems too good to be true, so how exactly did it happen? In Sakurai's latest column (translated by @PushDustIn and @KodyNOKOLO), the Smash director goes into details about...
News Sakurai Celebrates Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's Complete Roster With DLC Screenshots
Everyone is here
Well, that's it. Super Smash Bros. UItimate's enormous roster is finally complete with Kingdom Hearts' Sora officially joining the ranks. It's been one heck of a ride with regular character additions, Direct appearances, and wild speculation fueling hype for the game ever since its launch in 2018. All good things must come to an...
Gallery Sakurai Shares New Screenshots Of The Final DLC Fighter For Smash Bros. Ultimate
The Kingdom Hearts' rep arrives next week
Last week, Masahiro Sakurai revealed Sora from Kingdom Hearts would be added to Smash Bros. Ultimate as the final fighter. The DLC character will arrive in-game next week on 18th October, and to pass time until then, Sakurai has been sharing some additional images of the Kingdom Hearts' rep and the new...
News It Seems Masahiro Sakurai Will Be Ending His Famitsu Columns Very Soon
"He's been writing them since 2003"
Earlier this week, Masahiro Sakurai revealed the final DLC fighter for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. In case you did somehow miss it - it's Sora from Square Enix's long-running Kingdom Hearts series. Sakurai's all-star brawler for Switch isn't the only thing coming to an end, either. As you might recall, his...
News Smash Bros. Director Responds To All The #ThankYouSakurai Messages On Social Media
Kingdom Hearts' Tetsuya Nomura also thanks Sakurai
Update [Wed 6th Oct, 2021 01:00 BST]: Masahiro Sakurai has now acknowledged the trend #ThankYouSakurai on social media - thanking everyone for the love. Here's an incredibly rough Google translation: "#ThankYouSakurai The hashtag is on the trend and I was watching it. This is the one who is really...
News Sakurai Invites Everyone To Watch Smash's Final Reveal, Whether You Play The Game Or Not
"It might be different from your personal expectations"
Update: Our liveblog is... er... live! Be sure to head over there and we'll find out who the fighter is soon... Original Story [Mon 4th Oct, 2021 11:35 BST]: We're just one day away from learning who'll be taking that final character slot in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and series director...
Random Sakurai Seems To Be Finally Taking A Break From Smash Bros. Development, With The PS5
*insert fighter here* confirmed
The final Super Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC fighter broadcast airs next week on October 5th. So, how is the game's director Masahiro Sakurai killing time until then? With the PlayStation 5, of course! No, really - in his latest social media post on Twitter, he's shared an image of a PS5 DualSense Wireless controller...
Gallery Nintendo Reflects On Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Ahead Of The Final Fighter Reveal
It's been a long journey
Last week, Nintendo confirmed the final Super Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC reveal would take place on 5th October. This will also seemingly be the last time we see the game's director Masahiro Sakurai showcasing a new fighter. Ahead of this very special occasion, Nintendo's Smash Bros. Twitter account in Japan has been...
News Final Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC Fighter Will Be Revealed October 5th
A new challenger approaches
While many Super Smash Bros. Ultimate fans were hoping to see the final fighter reveal during the latest Nintendo Direct broadcast, it seems we'll have to wait just a little bit longer... Nintendo has officially confirmed the game's director Masahiro Sakurai will be revealing the final fighter on 5th October in a special...
Random Don't Worry About Masahiro Sakurai's Health, He's "Okay" Right Now
But he does have dry eyes...
Katsuhiro Harada recently asked Masahiro Sakurai fans what they were most interested to know about the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate game director. Apart from a lot of questions about Kid Icarus: Uprising and specific Kirby games, many people are noticeably worried about Sakurai's health. Sakurai himself also realises...
