6:50
Neal Ronaghan: waiting in line for the Smash Bros. discussion to begin.
6:53
Neal Ronaghan: Hoping for a character reveal here. Maybe some single player details
6:54
Neal Ronaghan: Saw Aonuma walking around. he is probably just here to watch though.
6:55
Comment From RARio
is this specifically for one or the other systems?
6:55
Neal Ronaghan: Seems to be for both.
6:57
Neal Ronaghan: We are in! Seems a few GameCube controllers are on stage.
6:58
Neal Ronaghan: And a GamePad. I think we might see Smash Bros. Wii U single player details.
7:00
Neal Ronaghan: No stream. stay tuned here for details.
7:03
Neal Ronaghan: it is running late
7:03
Neal Ronaghan: Nothing to see here yet
7:06
Neal Ronaghan: still waiting. Maybe Sakurai got caught up with the Invitational?
7:08
Neal Ronaghan: Roundtable is scheduled to go until 8:30 PT
7:10
Neal Ronaghan: No photography allowed FYI.
7:13
Neal Ronaghan: Starting up. Sakurai is taking the stage with translator Tim O Leary
7:14
Neal Ronaghan: Revealing PacMan
7:14
Neal Ronaghan: He has wonderful 8-bit moves. seems to be a PacMan 3DS stage
7:15
Neal Ronaghan: And Game and Watch is in too!!!
7:15
Neal Ronaghan: PacMan turns into an 8-bit version. he is normally like the PacMan World version
7:15
Neal Ronaghan: Sakurai made a Tekken joke saying Heihachi is popular
7:16
Neal Ronaghan: based on old style PacMan. he wanted to make retro PacMan but the standard is PacLand PacMan
7:17
Neal Ronaghan: PacMan throws fruit and eats PacDots
7:17
Michael "TYP" Cole: Pic of 4 classics in ganing
7:17
Neal Ronaghan: Showing image of PacMan, Mario, Sonic and Mega Man. how cool is that?
7:18
Neal Ronaghan: And there is a fight among the four now with Sakurai and NoA characters.
7:19
Neal Ronaghan: Nate Bihldorf on the mic during this (and playing)
7:20
Neal Ronaghan: PacMan looks fun to play as. lots of goofy animations. Sakurai started the match by taunting as PacMan
7:21
Michael "TYP" Cole: Pacmay have a triple up bmove.
7:21
Neal Ronaghan: Seems to have an attack where he uses the ghosts, throws fruit, and even places a fire hydrant on the ground.
7:21
Neal Ronaghan: Sakurai won!
7:22
Neal Ronaghan: Talking character customization. Adjusting fighting style of character.
7:23
Neal Ronaghan: like the Mii Fighters, each character has 12 special variations.
7:23
Michael "TYP" Cole: You can select amongst 3 moves for each special attack slot
7:23
Neal Ronaghan: Mario has a fireball, a fast fireball, and a fire orb. not usable in For Glory
7:24
Neal Ronaghan: Palutena is different. she has unique special attacks; not derivative
7:24
Neal Ronaghan: Characters can equip items that increase attack, defense and speed. but there are checks and balances
7:25
Michael "TYP" Cole: Equipment also modifies characters by adjusting their balance.
7:25
Neal Ronaghan: Make a character quicker but then they are weaker
7:25
Neal Ronaghan: FYI TYP and I are both typing. we might have overlap. its okay though. more perspectives :)
7:27
Michael "TYP" Cole: You can change clothing if your mii! Each fighter type has its own wardrobe to select from.
7:28
Neal Ronaghan: Sakurai joking about character requests from fans
7:29
Neal Ronaghan: You can make Reggie, Elijah Wood, and Ice T. Ice T and Elijah Wood were asked.
7:29
Neal Ronaghan: Mii Fighters cannot be used in With Anyone mode online. can be used With Friends.
7:29
Michael "TYP" Cole: Mii fighters cannot be used in non-friend matches when online.
7:30
Michael "TYP" Cole: Reiterates that all fighters are on both versions of the game.
7:30
Neal Ronaghan: Talking 3DS version. characters are same on both. unique stages though.
7:30
Neal Ronaghan: you can carry customized characters through Wii U and 3DS
7:30
Neal Ronaghan: Smash Run is easier to acquire unique items.
7:31
Neal Ronaghan: Talking amiibo
7:31
Michael "TYP" Cole: Smash Run is designed to help collect items/upgrades. These can be transferred to the Wii U game.
7:32
Michael "TYP" Cole: FO stands for Figure Player. Users do not control them.
7:33
Neal Ronaghan: figurines show up as FP (figure player) and are computer controlled. they can level up to 50. will learn your tendencies. better than level 9 cpus
7:34
Michael "TYP" Cole: Figures will learntheir opponents tactics and adjust over time. They can also use items.
7:34
Neal Ronaghan: FP are basically better computer players. can also be used as tag team players in matches
7:35
Neal Ronaghan: Sakurai says you don't have to get every single figure but he will
7:35
Michael "TYP" Cole: Sakurai wants players to think of figures as their partners in battle. Sakurai says you don't need to collect them all. But he will.
7:36
Neal Ronaghan: Showing off Smash Run
7:36
Michael "TYP" Cole: Sakurai is shifting to discuss smash run. The field is random.
7:37
Neal Ronaghan: Sakurai is picking Donkey Kong for Smash Run. he is playing it.
7:37
Neal Ronaghan: Just saying, both versions of the game look and play great. This looks to be worth the wait everyone
7:38
Michael "TYP" Cole: You pick up powers that you can use in battle via the touch screen.
7:38
Michael "TYP" Cole: There is a jet pack item. Sweet.
7:40
Michael "TYP" Cole: Warp lets you jump to a different area of the map in smash run.
7:42
Neal Ronaghan: Reiterating: we can't take photos.
7:44
Neal Ronaghan: Smash Run can end with a regular battle, a throwing contest or a running contest
7:44
Michael "TYP" Cole: The final battle of snash run is random. It could be a standard battle or something odd like who can throw items the farthest
7:45
Neal Ronaghan: Q&A time!
7:45
Michael "TYP" Cole: They are opening the floor to questions
7:45
Neal Ronaghan: First question: why would you want to release the different versions far apart?
7:45
Michael "TYP" Cole: Q: Why would you want to release the 2 games mo's apart
7:46
Michael "TYP" Cole: Sakurai cites need for debugging
7:46
Neal Ronaghan: Biggest reason is debug process. it is a really big game. They need several hundred testers and splitting the release gives them more time to space it out
7:47
Michael "TYP" Cole: The debug teamis large and cannot handle both games in parallel, and they want to give both games their full concentration
7:47
Michael "TYP" Cole: Q: why are character tansformations removed?
7:48
Michael "TYP" Cole: A: we want people to focus on single characters more deeply
7:48
Neal Ronaghan: Q3: any plans for the competitive scene moving forward?
7:48
Michael "TYP" Cole: Q: what plans does Ninty have for the smash tourney scene?
7:49
Neal Ronaghan: Sakurai doesn't work with the competive events directly. he loves the fans and will keep an eye on it
7:50
Michael "TYP" Cole: Sakurai is not involved in tourney planning. He was impressed with the enthusiasm for this game at today's tourney. He wants to support the scene by making more games like these.
7:51
Neal Ronaghan: Our own Justin Berube is asking about balancing the game. he also wants the Ice Climbers back.
7:53
Neal Ronaghan: Sakurai says it is hard to balance the game. Discussing the process of balancing. he basically did it all by himself in Melee.
7:54
Neal Ronaghan: Brawl had a 4 person team give grades to the power of characters. New one has 12 person team.
7:55
Michael "TYP" Cole: Q: Concern over balance after brawl's problems. A: it gets very technical. Sakurai was responsible for the changes from N64 to Melee. He had to use a broader grading system with help from staff when working on Brawl. The process became tricky due to biases in the graders' playing style. For the new games they have 12 graders, but there could still be balance anomolies.
7:56
Neal Ronaghan: It isn't enough just to make a game and satisfy the fan base. Need to make it for everyone
7:56
Michael "TYP" Cole: When creating a game, we cannot just appeal to traditional fanbases. We need to reach out to new gamers, and cater to many target users.
7:57
Michael "TYP" Cole: Sakurai points out some chars are better suited for 2 vs 4 player and with or without items. Sakurai considers smash a party game.
7:58
Michael "TYP" Cole: Q: you games have a stylish menu design. What is your philosophy on menu design?
8:00
Michael "TYP" Cole: A: In famitsu magazine he has written a whole page on that topic. The important items have to be big--words or icon, but eadily understood.
8:00
Neal Ronaghan: Sakurai loves menus. he writes a column for Famitsu and wrote all about it already there. He makes the important menu items big. doesn't need to be words but need to be easily understood.
8:01
Michael "TYP" Cole: He says to read his article.
8:02
Neal Ronaghan: A competitive Smash player is trying to challenge Sakurai to see if he can win and help balance the game. Sakurai asked "have you ever made a game?"
8:03
Michael "TYP" Cole: Q: when was Greninja chosen to be added?
8:03
Neal Ronaghan: Q: When did they decide to include Greninja?
8:05
Michael "TYP" Cole: A: All of the characters to consider were on our internal roster from the beginning of development. We had a slot for a new Pokemon reserved, but did not way for X and Y. We decided to use Greninja well before X/Y came out, based on early reference drawings.
8:07
Neal Ronaghan: Our own Jonny Metts asking about online in Smash Bros.
8:07
Michael "TYP" Cole: Q: online was broken in Brawl. How ensuring online experience will be good this time?
8:08
Neal Ronaghan: Last question btw
8:10
Neal Ronaghan: Sakurai believe he gave players too much choice in Brawl online. seems to have misunderstood intent of question.
8:12
Neal Ronaghan: In new game, they are giving more solidified options. Its tough to keep all 4 players synced up. Sakurai says to try to get strongest WiFi connection possible.
8:13
Michael "TYP" Cole: With brawl the players could set up everything, with freedom. But we learned that some folks team up or play differently, making it difficult for all to enjoy. There is a reporting system. As far as technical connection issues, we're still working on it. They use async communication in Mario Kart and other games to improve this, but that doesn't work well for fighting games. So there is cascading failure, especially for four players. That is why they ask people to have the best communication system available (eg a LAN adapter)
8:13
Neal Ronaghan: Watching footage of Smash Invitational
8:14
Michael "TYP" Cole: Higjlight reel played from the tourney.
8:14
Neal Ronaghan: Sakurai enjoyed watching the tourney. was nervous it might crash
8:15
Michael "TYP" Cole: Sakurai is heading back to Japan tomorrow. He works hard!
8:16
Neal Ronaghan: Zero Suit Samus won over Kirby. he predicted ZSS winning.
8:17
Neal Ronaghan: Not sure if we will get a final reveal or not. holding out hope. this still has 10 minutes left.
8:17
Michael "TYP" Cole: Sakurai thanks everyone. It's over for tonight, folks!
8:18
Neal Ronaghan: Sakurai thanks us for coming and he is out. show over. nothing else revealed tonight