Masahiro Sakurai on...Creating Games!

[Wraith]

For how much attention Smash Bros got I've seen disappointingly little talk about his next endeavor. It might be his most important project yet. 

 

Creating Games, a free, accessible resource on game design from one of the greatest to ever do it. 

There's a lot of analysis on game design out on YouTube, but most of comes from consumers which can be insightful, but not in the same way as someone who's hands on. If you want to hear from the pros, you may have to deal in a less digestible format, like GDC talks and the Academy of Arts and Sciences podcasts. Hardly any resources from Japanese developers at all either due to the language barrier. 

Now, here we have simple 5-10 minute videos that break down specific concepts in ways so that even a first timer can understand it. The focus on classic games means that it can also be useful for industry vets that have lost sight of the fundamentals. I was playing Multiversus the other week and thinking about how the hits lacked impact when this came out. 

Having this stuff out in the wild may seriously improve all types of action games, from indie all the way up to AAA. 

Of course in the mix there are going to be retrospects from Sakurai on his own games. The first one is already out! 

The plan seems to make videos about all his creative works. I'm really excited for all of them, but more specifically games who's design decisions I disagree with like Super Smash Bros Brawl. I'd love to hear the rationale behind some of that stuff and whether he regrets it. 

 

 

 

[Ingolme]

I'm really happy he made this channel, I'm already subscribed.

It's really helpful to have insight from somebody who has been making games for this long. There's very little insight into the development of Nintendo-style games because they really like to keep things a secret, so I hope Sakurai can give a glimpse into Nintendo's philosophy of game development.

[Iko]

Sakurai started as one of my favorite game developers, when I first became a fan of the Kirby series and Smash Bros. Over the years, I slowly grew tired of most of his design decisions and now I quite dislike him as a game designer... at the time when I became a fan, I didn't even know that my favorite Kirby games (the Dark Matter trilogy, especially Dream Land 3) were not even directed by him.

So, it's all good that he opened this channel, and I might give it a shot with some critical eye, but it's very unlikely that I would take inspiration from his vision.

Would have loved it a lot more if the same thing was done by, for example, Koizumi, the guy who worked on several Mario games and Majora's Mask... or the developers of Team Cherry.

[Indigo Rush]

This has been a delight to follow. A lot of stuff I like in games are things that Sakurai has implemented and excelled at, so it's interesting to see him actually explain how and why he does it!

[Nazo the Hedgehog]

That is pretty cool, I got to see why he made Kirby in the first place. I myself am a Kirby fan and am really proud of that.

[SupahBerry]

Here's footage of the original Dragon King prototype for Smash, plus details for a proposed RC robot game based around switching cameras, and details on what inspired the simplified control scheme and roster of familiar characters