14 DAY TRIAL // Super Smash Bros. is almost universally seen as the game launch that will give the Wii U the boost that it needs to become relevant for this generation of hardware and to actually compete with the Xbox One from Microsoft and the PlayStation 4 from Sony.
But Nintendo has not yet revealed an actual launch date for the home console version of the game, saying only that it will be delivered before the end of the year, and that’s making some fans very unhappy.
Masahiro Sakurai, the creator of the series and the director of the current installment, writes in the Famitsu Japanese magazine, translated by Kotaku, that one of the main reasons for separating the Wii U launch from the 3DS one is the need to make sure that gamers get the best experience possible, which requires a lengthy debugging process.
The game creator states, “Checking is done both domestically and overseas, so for a game like Smash Bros., several hundred people are employed. So, debugging alone becomes a huge project. So much so that one of the biggest reasons for the separate release dates for the 3DS and Wii U versions was so that we could shift the debugging periods.”
Sakurai says that Super Smash Bros. is a very complex game for which testers need to take into account the identity of the character, their attacks, items used, the stage involved, color settings, play rules, and the game modes.
The game maker adds, “There are many reasons why a game's release date will be delayed, but eight or nine times out of ten, it's usually because a bug couldn't be fixed in time. But it's better than releasing a product like that.”
The 3Ds version of Super Smash Bros. will be out on September 13 in Japan and gamers in both North America and in Europe will get it on October 3.
Nintendo presumably wants to deliver the Wii U version of the title before the Christmas shopping season kicks off in earnest, which probably means that the company is aiming for late November.
Expect to see a special Wii U bundle for Super Smash Bros. and the game will also be used to showcase how the new Amiibo initiative will work, with reports saying that one free Mario figurine will be bundled with some copies.
The new fighting game will include a large lineup of characters and the developers have tweaked the core mechanics in order to make the experience easier to learn.