Masahiro Sakurai: Difference between revisions

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(→‎Biography: Added early career section (original source says it's believed that the Sega planning meeting influenced Sakurai's decision to drop out of vocational school and seek work in the industry, but because it's not formally confirmed, I glossed over it))
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===At Nintendo and HAL Laboratory===
===At Nintendo and HAL Laboratory===
At HAL Laboratory, Sakurai created the character [[Kirby]] at the age of 19. He would soon direct his first title, ''[[Kirby's Dream Land]]''.
At HAL Laboratory, Sakurai created the character [[Kirby]] at the age of 19. He would soon direct his first title, ''[[Kirby's Dream Land]]'' in 1992, followed by ''[[Kirby's Adventure]]'' in 1993 and ''[[Kirby Super Star]]'' in 1996.


Sakurai first devised the concept for ''Smash'' in 1998, working on a prototype then known as [[Dragon King: The Fighting Game]]. At the time, the project featured no existing Nintendo properties, and Sakurai was focused on creating unique platform fighter mechanics to differentiate the title from traditional fighting games. However, Sakurai decided that the inclusion of Nintendo characters would provide the game with more atmosphere, giving it a unique selling-point to set it apart from a sea of fighting games with generic characters. The final product, ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'', was released in January 1999 (in Japan) and  became an unexpected hit, eventually becoming one of the best-selling Nintendo 64 games.
Sakurai first devised the concept for ''Smash'' in 1998, working on a prototype then known as [[Dragon King: The Fighting Game]]. At the time, the project featured no existing Nintendo properties, and Sakurai was focused on creating unique platform fighter mechanics to differentiate the title from traditional fighting games. However, Sakurai decided that the inclusion of Nintendo characters would provide the game with more atmosphere, giving it a unique selling-point to set it apart from a sea of fighting games with generic characters. The final product, ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'', was released in January 1999 (in Japan) and  became an unexpected hit, eventually becoming one of the best-selling Nintendo 64 games.
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==''Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games''==
==''Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games''==
On August 23, 2022, Sakurai launched his own [[YouTube]] channel on game design for aspiring game creators.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/Sora_Sakurai/status/1562273496960380928|title=Sakurai announces the creation of his YouTube channel''}}</ref> On this channel, Sakurai uploads 2-5 minute videos on various game design tips and mechanics, such as [[hitstop]]. To better help illustrate his points, Sakurai uses real gameplay footage from other games, among those games being the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series. With the approval of Nintendo, Sakurai will also use behind the scenes material like older builds and design documents from ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate''. On January 9, 2024, he announced in a YouTube community post he was planning to wrap up Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games sometime in 2024.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/post/UgkxUMxRmMfZn7mDYoSb9Tgsu1ku4WirzbuT|title=I'm planning to wrap up Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games sometime this year.}}</ref> On June 15, 2024, he announced on Twitter he recorded the final episode of the channel, though it would not be released yet.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://x.com/Sora_Sakurai/status/1801981078774960416|title=Sakurai's tweet}}</ref>
On August 23, 2022, Sakurai launched his own [[YouTube]] channel on game design for aspiring game creators.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/Sora_Sakurai/status/1562273496960380928|title=Sakurai announces the creation of his YouTube channel''}}</ref> On this channel, Sakurai uploads 2-5 minute videos on various game design tips and mechanics, such as [[hitstop]]. To better help illustrate his points, Sakurai uses real gameplay footage from other games, among those games being the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series. With the approval of Nintendo, Sakurai will also use behind the scenes material like older builds and design documents from ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate''. On January 9, 2024, he announced in a YouTube community post he was planning to wrap up Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games sometime in 2024.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/post/UgkxUMxRmMfZn7mDYoSb9Tgsu1ku4WirzbuT|title=I'm planning to wrap up Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games sometime this year.}}</ref> On June 15, 2024, he announced on Twitter he recorded the final episode of the channel, though it would not be released yet.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/Sora_Sakurai/status/1801981078774960416|title=桜井 政博 / Masahiro Sakurai on Twitter|date=June 15, 2024|publisher=Twitter}}</ref> The final episode was uploaded on October 15 of the same year, along with a "special final video" concluding the channel on October 22. Additionally, Sakurai revealed in that same video, that he is working on a new unknown game.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/Sora_Sakurai/status/1841424958184095985|title=桜井 政博 / Masahiro Sakurai on Twitter|date=October 2, 2024|accessdate=October 2, 2024|publisher=Twitter}}</ref> His second-to-last video was dedicated to Satoru Iwata.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/Sora_Sakurai/status/1844695310091841666|title=桜井 政博 / Masahiro Sakurai on Twitter|date=October 12, 2024|accessdate=October 12, 2024|publisher=Twitter}}</ref>


There are two versions of the channel, one in Japanese and another in English.
There are two versions of the channel, one in Japanese and another in English.
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