Super Smash Bros. DLC is not cut from core game but "authentic", says Sakurai
Super Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai has defended his decision to introduce premium DLC to the franchise.
Super Smash Bros. 3DS and Wii U will be getting paid DLC characters, Nintendo revealed earlier this month, surprising the fan base.
"Developing the Smash games is the best way to satisfy the most players worldwide. And that is precisely why we decided not only to distribute Mewtwo, but to also reintroduce Lucas, the protagonist of Mother 3, as a playable character," Sakurai wrote in his latest Famitsu column, according to Sourcegaming's translation.
"In other words, we plan to release premium DLC (downloadable content) for Sm4sh."
This is quite the reversal: Sakurai had said in the past that DLC wasn't on the table, and indeed went on to describe what he calls "DLC scam": "charging customers extra money to complete what was essentially an unfinished product". He said he understands how this upsets players, and would never cut a game into pieces to make extra money by withholding finished fighters.
"The DLC we are releasing for Sm4sh is authentic, developed only after we finished working on the main game," he promised.
"Of course, said content will come to you at a premium as compensation for the work put into developing additional content post-production. Nintendo has the final say on the price, but given the number of man-hours spent on the creation of this DLC, I’d say it’s a great deal."
Sakurai said he's excited to continue working with a smaller development team to continue supporting the game as well as producing new characters.
"Fighters take an incredible amount of work to develop, so I don’t think we’ll be able to produce that many. Part of me would also love to finish up the project and finally enjoy some rest and relaxation," he added.
"That said, we’ve already begun development, so I would like to provide as much additional fun and excitement as possible from here on out. We’ll continue working for a little while longer."
Working on what? Well, Street Fighter's Ryu and Fore Emblem's Roy are hot favourites.
Sourcegaming has a full translation as well as the original Japanese text, if you're after more details; Sakurai also discusses the decision to make Mewtwo available as premium DLC as well as as a free bonus for those who own both versions of the game.