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Smash Bros Wii U: "players don't know about how hard we work", says Sakurai

Super Smash Bros. Wii U & 3DS director Masahiro Sakurai has penned a new Famitsu column that discusses just how much hard work goes into making each new entry to the series, and to underline the struggles he faces during development.

The Famitsu blog begins by reflecting on the last three years of the game's development. "When you think about three years like that, that's the amount of time between entering middle or high school and graduating from it [in Japan], " Sakurai wrote.

"You have all these people working their fingers to the bone to complete just a single project. The games I make tend to be played for a long time, and whether I'm satisfied with the results or there are things I'm not happy with, it always takes a lot of time to make them.

Every time, you know, I try to the point where I think I can't go on any longer. For example, I think pretty much the limit when it comes to creating characters for a Smash Bros. is about 20, counting those from older games.

We remake them completely each time, after all, and the teams and personnel and specs are all different. But we all go beyond what the work calls for because we want to do our best to retain fans of each character.

The Brawl team really put in a great effort. They remade all the original characters and added 18 completely new ones! Even with Melee before that, that game has over twice as many characters as the original. And that doesn't include online support and the assorted other features we've taken pains to complete under difficult circumstances."

Sakurai then stressed just how much work goes into each game, and suggested that gamers perhaps don't realise the size of the task, "But the players don't know about how hard we work. That's not a problem because that's the case for any product, but it's important to remember that you can't take anything for granted.

"Projects take a while, and you run into difficult and painful times. Some people have to bow out of it. To be honest, I've sometimes thought about what I'm earning for myself, going through all this life-changing struggle.

"But the pain I feel at the time goes away over time, and yet the game itself always remains. Players talk about the fun and so forth behind the game for years to come, and they still play it.

"Oftentimes I'm asked by the overseas media if I feel any pressure when making a title like Smash Bros. Like I've written before, on a personal level, I don't feel anything like pressure. It's really fun work.

"Sometimes you have to resign yourself to the fact that things will work out the way they're meant to work out. But you need to funnel your regrets to the next project and work as hard as you can on that. The pain goes away, but your work always remains."

Do you think Super Smash Bros. takes a lot of hard work to produce? Are you pumped for the 2014 entry? Let us know below.

Via Nintendo Life.

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Dave Cook

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Dave worked on VG247 for an extended period manging much of the site's news output. As well as his experience in games media, he writes for comics, and now specializes in books about gaming history.

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