Smash Bros Wii U: Sakurai wants to target silent, Brawl-loving community

Super Smash Bros. director Masahiro Sakurai knows that there's a vocal majority of players out there who loved Melee on Gamecube, and realises they will be back for more on Wii U and 3DS. So instead, he wants to focus on the silent minority who prefer Brawl and to win them back into the fight.

Speaking with GameSpot, Sakurai shed light on the debate over Brawl and Melee being the better Smash Bros game.

"When I began working on the first Smash Bros., there was a great focus on [highly-technical] fighting games, and that's something we've seen branch off into sort of a niche direction," he began. "Now, those types of fighting games have a very high barrier to entry for new players, while Smash was always meant to appeal to lots of people from different gaming communities.

"When you look at fighting game forums, you'll see a preference for Melee, and yet, I think there are lots of people in the silent majority who don't post online who prefer Brawl. Ever since I started working on the Kirby series, I've always thought about the needs of the less vocal, beginning players of games."

On the issue of simplicity ad technicality, Sakurai firmly believes that Super Smash Bros. is no base-level fighter, and suggested that the game has real depth. He added, "I think the idea of the fighting game genre can be somewhat limiting. People have defined in their own minds what constitutes a fighting game, and that can be such a specific set of characteristics that when other people are viewing a game from the outside and they learn it's a fighting game, they may predetermine it's not for them simply because of what they expect from it as a fighting game.

"When planning the development of a new game, I always take a lot of care to discuss the concept and try to define it as best I can. For example, I like to think of Smash as a four-player battle royal action game. You'll notice that's a lot longer than saying it's a fighting game, because 'fighting game' is a completely different label.

"You can talk about a fighting game or an action game or a racing game, but as soon as you define your game specifically in those terms, you start limiting your creative range because you're thinking of the limitations of that genre. Perhaps the best thing we can do now is start with a concept rather than a genre. If we can do that, perhaps we can grow the whole idea a little bit."

Do you think Super Smash Bros. is secretly or overtly technical? What game do you think is better - Melee or Brawl? Let us know below.

Also, here are 91 Smash Bros. Wii U screenshots, because E3.

Thanks Nintendo Life.