Sakurai Admits That Smash Bros. Online Play Is Pretty Rough
thegamer.comThe Super Smash Bros. series has been a very big deal in competitive gaming circles for years, but its creator remains skeptical about the relationship between the games and online play to this day. Masahiro Sakurai admitted last week he still doesn't think Smash Bros. and online play are a good fit, admitting the only reason he added the functionality was because Nintendo requested it.
Sakurai started up a YouTube channel after development of Ultimate and its new fighter additions came to an end. In a recent video, the Smash director kicks things off by discussing online functionality for Brawl, the first game in the Smash series that included the ability to play against others online as standard (thanks, Eurogamer).
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“The Wii had online functionality built into the console by default, so it was essential we supported that,” Sakurai explains. “Personally speaking, though, I don't think online play and Smash Bros. are a very good fit for each other. One of the best parts of Smash Bros. is how players can become champions among their friends. But being subjected to online competition can cause people to lose confidence.”
It wasn't just a fear that Smash fans wouldn't enjoy Brawl that made Sakurai wary of adding online play to the series. There were also technical issues to overcome, including fully synchronous communication between all players, and lag making online play a choppy experience, an issue that grew the farther away players were from each other.
Sakurai was so concerned with the technical issues during Brawl's development, he admits in the video above that he was surprised he and the team managed to get it to work at all. He also notes that even though he
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