Editing Masahiro Sakurai

{{person infobox
|image=[[File:Masahiro Sakurai.jpg|260px]]<br>Sakurai in 2014
|born=August 3, 1970 (age {{age|August 3, 1970}})
|role=Game director, game designer
}}
{{quote|It was tough for me to see that every time I made a new game, people automatically assumed that a sequel was coming. Even if it's a sequel, lots of people have to give their all to make a game, but some people think the sequel process happens naturally.|[[Masahiro Sakurai]]|[http://www.nindori.com Nintendo Dream], August 26, 2003}}

'''{{wp|Masahiro Sakurai}}''' (in Japanese: 桜井 政博) is a Japanese video game director, game designer, and songwriter. He is best known for the creation of [[HAL Laboratory]]'s ''[[wikirby:Kirby (series)|Kirby]]'' and ''[[Super Smash Bros. (series)|Super Smash Bros.]]'' series and for the revival of the ''[[Kid Icarus]]'' series. Sakurai created the character [[Kirby]] when he was nineteen years old.<ref name="Nsider">[https://web.archive.org/web/20160308160543/http://www.n-sider.com/personnelview.php?personnelid=982 N-Sider Media: Masahiro Sakurai Personnel Profile]. Accessed 1-23-08.</ref> In 2003, he left HAL Laboratory to pursue a career in freelance game design.

==Original employment by Nintendo==
After being employed at HAL Laboratory, in 1992, Sakurai created and directed his first game, ''[[wikirby:Kirby's Dream Land|Kirby's Dream Land]]'', a game that is considered to be Sakurai's breakthrough, using his character [[Kirby]] as the protagonist.<ref name="Nsider"/> Eventually, he and [[Satoru Iwata]], who was still an employee of HAL at the time, worked together to create the original ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'' game, using Nintendo characters. After the success of this game, Sakurai was asked to develop its sequel, ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]''.<ref>[http://us.wii.com/iwata_asks/ssbb/vol1_page1.jsp Iwata Asks: Super Smash Bros. Brawl Vol.1, pg. 1].  Accessed 1-23-08.</ref>

After completing this game and ''[[wikirby:Kirby Air Ride|Kirby Air Ride]]'', Sakurai left Nintendo on August 5, 2003, later citing Nintendo's desire for sequels as the reason for his departure. He had grown tired of being asked to create the next ''Kirby'' or ''Super Smash Bros.'' game and longed to have more creative freedom. He later coined the term, "sequelization" to describe the problem he saw not only within Nintendo, but throughout the video game industry.<ref name="Nindori">[http://www.nindori.com/ Nintendo Dream] August 26, 2003.</ref> Despite his reasons for departing, he still continues to direct the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series.

==Continued involvement==
After leaving [[HAL Laboratory]], Sakurai created [[Sora Ltd.]] He stated that the reason he became a freelance game developer was that he felt bogged down by working with the same people with the same characters.<ref name="Nindori"/>

At {{wp|Electronic Entertainment Expo|E3 2005}}, [[Satoru Iwata]], later a former president of Nintendo, revealed that his company was planning a new ''Super Smash Bros.'' game which was later named ''[[Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]''. According to Iwata, the press read too far into this announcement, going so far as to ask Sakurai if he would develop the game. Sakurai was shocked, but Iwata invited his former employee to his hotel room to clarify the situation. Satoru said that he expected the new ''Super Smash Bros.'' to be a port of ''Super Smash Bros. Melee'' with added [[Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection]] features unless Sakurai would be involved. Sakurai later admitted that this served as a kind of threat to him. However, Sakurai had come to E3 looking for new ideas, so he decided to take the opportunity.<ref>[http://us.wii.com/iwata_asks/ssbb/vol1_page2.jsp Iwata Asks: Super Smash Bros. Brawl Vol.1, pg. 2]. Accessed 1-23-08.</ref>

However, the traditional ''Super Smash Bros.'' team at HAL Laboratory was currently working on another project. Sakurai and Iwata decided that the best location for the project would be in [[Tokyo]], specifically, Takadanobaba. Sakurai moved there for the project. The development team, part of {{wp|Game Arts}} (responsible for, among others, the ''Lunar'' and ''Grandia'' RPG series), was introduced to Sakurai by [[Shigeru Miyamoto]].<ref>[http://us.wii.com/iwata_asks/ssbb/vol1_page3.jsp Iwata Asks: Super Smash Bros. Brawl Vol.1, pg. 3]. Accessed 1-23-08.</ref> Sakurai and his team of one hundred, also known as "The Studio," worked on the project, delaying it as necessary, until it was released in Japan on January 31, 2008.<ref>[http://wii.ign.com/objects/748/748545.html IGN Wii Super Smash Bros. Brawl Game Profile]. Accessed 1-23-08</ref> In addition to directing the game, Masahiro Sakurai also voiced [[King Dedede]], one of the playable characters in the game.<ref>Masahiro Sakurai. [http://www.smashbros.com/wii/en_us/gamemode/various/various38.html Smash Trivia]. [http://www.smashbros.com/wii/en_us Smash Bros. DOJO!! (American English)]. Accessed 4-15-08.</ref> Sakurai has not commented on his future with Nintendo.

At E3 2011, Iwata revealed that [[Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U|a new ''Super Smash Bros.'' game]] would be developed for both the [[Nintendo 3DS]] and [[Wii U]]<ref>[http://au.gamespot.com/news/e3-2011-new-super-smash-bros-game-in-development-6317576 Gamestop - E3 2011: New Super Smash Bros. game in development]</ref>, but the game would not begin development until ''[[icaruspedia:Kid Icarus: Uprising|Kid Icarus: Uprising]]'', Sakurai's then-current project, was completed. It was also announced on June 2012 that Namco Bandai would be co-developing the game alongside Sora Ltd.<ref>[http://au.ign.com/articles/2012/06/22/namco-bandai-developing-next-smash-bros IGN: Namco Bandai Developing Next Smash Bros.]</ref> Sakurai also oversaw development of the next ''Smash'' game, ''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]''.

==Quotes==
*On fighter reveal trailers for ''[[Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS]]'' and ''[[Super Smash Bros. for Wii U]]'':
**[[Rosalina]]:<br>"''This reveal video is kind of like a race, with Kirby Air Ride vs. [[Mario Kart (series)|Mario Kart]]. It kind of has the feeling of a fight outside the ring.''<br>"''The mysterious sparkle in Rosalina’s eye is an extension of the things that she does within the Super Smash Bros. series. It’s inspired by how Rosalina is an alien, with her background being a bit different. ''"<ref name="FighterRevealsPart1">March 24, 2022. [https://www.nintendo.com/whatsnew/detail/2022/take-a-look-back-at-super-smash-bros-fighter-reveals-with-masahiro-sakurai-part-1/ Take a look back at Super Smash Bros. fighter reveals with Masahiro Sakurai! – Part 1]. ''nintendo.com''. Retrieved March 30, 2022. ([https://web.archive.org/web/20220324155556/https://www.nintendo.com/whatsnew/detail/2022/take-a-look-back-at-super-smash-bros-fighter-reveals-with-masahiro-sakurai-part-1/ Archived] March 24, 2022, 15:55:56 UTC via Wayback Machine.)</ref>
**[[Bowser Jr.]]:<br>"''Bowser Jr. is normally a cute (or maybe unlikeable?) character. But for this reveal video, we presented him in a cool way, with a proper villain role. I like the feeling of despair and the two sides clashing together at the end, too. However, because of this we had to refine all seven Koopalings in CG, and the video cost more to make than expected.''"<ref name="FighterRevealsPart1"/>
*On fighter reveal trailers for ''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]'':
**[[King K. Rool]]:<br>"''We knew that there was a lot of demand for King K. Rool to join Super Smash Bros., so we decided to tease the viewers, making them think he was coming, before revealing it was a fake – and then showing that he is actually coming. [[King Dedede]] appears because, as with the other reveal videos, we were trying to mix in fighters from other series, to give a feeling of it being a collaboration.''"<ref name="FighterRevealsPart2">March 31, 2022. [https://www.nintendo.com/whatsnew/take-a-look-back-at-super-smash-bros-fighter-reveals-with-masahiro-sakurai-part-2/ Take a look back at Super Smash Bros. fighter reveals with Masahiro Sakurai! – Part 2]. ''nintendo.com''. Retrieved October 5, 2022. ([https://web.archive.org/web/20220927005317/https://www.nintendo.com/whatsnew/take-a-look-back-at-super-smash-bros-fighter-reveals-with-masahiro-sakurai-part-2/ Archived] September 27, 2022, 00:53:17 UTC via Wayback Machine.)</ref>
**[[Piranha Plant]]:<br>"''The Piranha Plant reveal was an additional video for the early purchase bonus. So, there isn’t a CG part, only the in-game part. Piranha Plant isn’t included in the Fighter Pass, so you need to buy them separately. At the time, people were saying that they never expected Piranha Plant to join the battle.''"<ref name="FighterRevealsPart2"/>

==Trivia==
*Masahiro Sakurai created a microgame named [[Line Slash]] with ''[[WarioWare: D.I.Y.]]'' It was made available for download in the "Big Name Games" category in Japan on May 27, 2009 and in other regions in 2010. The game has not yet been taken off and is still available for download, unlike most other games developed by celebrities. A video of Sakurai developing his microgame is available [http://touch-ds.jp/mfs/st106/mft2.html in original Japanese] and [http://www.wariowarediy.com/download-and-share/big-name-games/ with English subtitles].

==References==
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