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August 7, 2015   3DS, Wii U   22 Comments

Sakurai Comments on Players Crying About Extra Features in Games

Super Smash Bros Sakurai

Masahiro Sakurai has commented on extra features in games, and how see gamers are bothered by them.

Sakurai mentions how a game review organization handed out high marks to a simplistic puzzle game
– He says that since it didn’t have extraneous features warranting demerits, it was able to earn the high score
– Sakurai feels this isn’t the right way to review a game
– He’s been looking at user reviews for Fire Emblem Fates, and noticed that there were many comments saying “I don’t need this; I don’t need that, either”
– Ex: inviting companions to your house and stroke their heads/faces to raise your affinity level
– Sakurai feels that players who are bothered by this sort of feature should simply ignore it
– Sakurai: “Developers include all sorts of bonus features simply because they want to provide a little something extra for the fans.”
– Even if bonus features were removed, that doesn’t mean they’d “make room” for something else
– Sakurai: “If you approach game development with a demerit-based mindset, it doesn’t leave much room for anything extra, and games become pretty dry—and that’s just no fun.”
– Sakurai points out that Smash Bros. has plenty of unnecessary content
– However, taking out features means you’re left with “a bare-bones, niche-market game”
– Sakurai understands that some people want a minimalist-type of game, but Smash Bros. isn’t targeted at that niche market
– While some believe that superfluous features should be removed, others feel the opposite way
– Sakurai points out that not all bonus features to “plump up a game” are designed with everyone in mind
– Sakurai: “At the same time, games are a form of entertainment, so I sincerely hope people realize that “user abstinence”—not using unwanted content—is also a valid option.”
– Ultimately, he thinks you shouldn’t force users to play extra features in order to complete a game
– As long as the above point holds, Sakurai believes developers should be able to make games the way they see fit
– Even if you’re not interested in a certain feature, someone else might be

Via: Nintendo Everything, Source: Source Gaming

Author: Francis@PE (19519 Posts)


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  • Wanderlei

    He has a good point, gamers can be very whiny about things and the more you give them, the more they have to complain about.

    • Jewelwriter Moonstar

      Kind of like decorating a target with something to make it more entertaining. Of course it is for fun but some don’t think that it is a target.

  • awang0718

    “– Even if you’re not interested in a certain feature, someone else might be”

    coughcoughcoughvoicecoughcoughchatcoughcough

    • Travis Touchdown

      Voice Chat isn’t supported for privacy reasons more than anything else. it has nothing to do with lack of interest from the community.

      • awang0718

        How do you know that voice chat isn’t supported due to privacy??

  • ProjectileComet

    See here’s the thing though….

    Let’s take Smash Tour. I’ve bothered to play that mode maybe twice, and all I can say is that it’s very tedious. Not my favorite mode, in fact I have never touched it since launch when I got the game. Does it take away from my experience in Smash? Absolutely not. That said, what couldve been a fun mode for all directly caters…..idk casual Smash/Mario party fans. It just feels like a waste of what couldve been a functional offline tournament mode instead, or something else.

    Point being, as much as I dislike the mode I could care less about its inclusion because I’m busy online or in training mode. I rarely even play classic or all-star. My problem is when melee and brawl were the most current Smash game, I enjoyed all the modes. I collected all the trophies and completed classic and all-star with every character. I guess for me, I wish I felt the same way this time around…..

  • Liquid-Sunrise

    People are complaining about bonus content in games now?
    No wonder games are mostly F2P and certain features are locked
    behind a paywall…smh

  • Holowknite

    inviting companions to your house and stroke their heads/faces to raise your affinity level, for a SRPG it is definitely not needed and is also pretty weird and stupid

    • Hidden Flare

      I think you missed the point of what he was talking about…

      • Holowknite

        lol i got his point, i just found that feature in fates pretty sad

        • Mythosa

          Then you missed the point…

    • Andyjoe522

      In Fire Emblem’s case, I have to disagree. Fire Emblem has always made of point of making sure every unit has an identity, and that they’re not just random soldiers for you to send to their death. Connecting with each unit and their stories has always been a huge part of the series, so any feature that involves connecting with your units I would argue does make sense in the context of Fire Emblem.

      • Holowknite

        connecting with each unit through stroking someone’s head is indeed stupid and connecting with each unit hasn’t been a huge part of the series nor does connecting with the units even effect the story, it is mandatory.

        • KnightWonder

          Here’s the thing, to you it’s stupid, but to others it intrigues them.

          • Holowknite

            Lol if that intrigues them to play fire emblem game, they are definitely not playing any of the previous games

          • Hidden Flare

            I don’t know much but maybe this is a royal thing, like being touched by someone royal is a great honor and brings them close together.

  • KnightWonder

    Agreed, see if a game is $60 but only has say $20 worth of features, even if I don’t plan on using them, then I’m not going to buy it. But if a game like say Splatoon releases a game with a solid single player mode and, though limited at the time, extremely addictive multiplayer mode with more content on the way then I’d say sure. It’s like in Pokemon X and Y, I didn’t care about Pokemon Ami so I just ignored it and continued on, I didn’t whine about it just because it didn’t interest me.

  • Wegotexclusives

    Are the persons Sakurai mentioning real gamers or just corporate mascots? Cuz i want more than less.

    • KnightWonder

      He’s talking to developers and gamers.

  • Bernadet Gnuyen

    Content is King rule number one, the more game you get for your money the better any game will be and the more chances it will have of catching gamers. Smash Bros 4 is currently the best fighting game there is and this is one of the reasons. No fighting game out there has this much content within it.

    • Mythosa

      I agree, as long as it doesn’t detract from the basis of the game, which there have been a few instances of that.

  • GreysonSeijuro

    I agree with Sakurai there is nothing wrong with experimenting with new ideas in fact I welcome that. In Smash Bros there are tons of modes, settings, and items I don’t care about, but that doesn’t detract from my experience when you can just ignore it. I would rather reviewers complain about actual problems with features rather than complaining about the existence of said features.