A sequel to Nintendo’s hit fighting game, Super Smash Bros., won’t come out on its next console any time soon, according to a column written in Famitsu by the game’s creative lead Masahiro Sakurai.
That could end up being a big bummer for Nintendo when the Wii U launches. Smash Bros. Brawl was a huge hit on the Nintendo Wii. It’s partially responsible for the Wii becoming a huge success with casual gamers and a small portion of the hardcore gaming market. Including a Smash Bros. game as a launch title or a game that will be on sale in time for the holiday shopping season would be a huge boon for Nintendo.
Nintendo chief executive Satoru Iwata said the company would be releasing a Smash Bros. game for the Wii U and the Nintendo 3DS at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, Calif., earlier in June. The games will work together in some way, Iwata said.
Nintendo’s new console will come out sometime next year, Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata said. Nintendo wants to include “something for everyone” in the new console. The device features a controller with a touch screen, camera and microphone. It looks like the bottom half of the Nintendo 3DS and Sony’s PlayStation Portable, with the screen in the center that changes with the game. The controller can display and run games when they aren’t available on the TV.
The Wii is credited with bringing home console gaming to more mainstream audiences, particularly casual gamers that wouldn’t typically go for a home gaming console like the Xbox 360 or the PlayStation 3. It included games like Wii Sports and Wii Fit, which were non-traditional titles that sold incredibly well thanks to the immersion of motion controllers and the Wii Balance Board.
Smash Bros. Brawl fit that ideology well. It’s a simple fighting game that doesn’t require a lot of technical skill. The game pits characters from most of Nintendo’s games, like Link and Mario, against each other in a free-for-all deathmatch between up to four players. There are no complicated special moves and most powerful attacks can be executed with a single button press. The game also featured a bunch of items like bombs and guns that made the battlefield more chaotic.
The first Wii was a huge success for Nintendo and started the motion gaming craze, leading Sony and Microsoft to also release motion controllers for their home gaming consoles. The Wii sold more than 86 million units total and was a smash hit with casual gamers. It has one of the widest install bases in the world and for a long time was the console to beat after it was released, with retail outlets selling the consoles literally minutes after they hit the shelves.