Ryu Smash

It may seem like ancient history now in internet land, but Masahiro Sakurai defied early leaks to deliver a rather entertaining Super Smash Bros. video presentation prior to E3. A whole lot of DLC content was released right away, too, including three characters, new stages and a batch of Mii Fighter outfits.

In his most recent Famitsu Weekly article - translated by Source Gaming - Sakurai-san talks a little about how that content came together, re-iterating much of what's been said in previous interviews and within the presentation itself. It's clear that the designer and his team enjoyed working on that content.

Notably, though, Sakurai-san has confirmed that Ryu, Roy and Lucas weren't taken from the Fan Ballot, as development had begun on them before voting was even opened. As a result "from now until the end" the focus is on "fan service", with several more characters on the way.

There is a fighter ballot on the official Smash for Wii U/3DS website. We've received an extremely large number of votes, but of course, Lucas, Roy, and Ryu were in developed even before the ballot was created. I had a grasp on their popularity and demand, though.

From now until the end, it is going to be fan service, but I can't keep the development team together forever, so there's only going to be several more characters. I also ask for your patience, as we need time to develop more content.

There's still plenty of hope for those campaigning for specific characters in the Fan Ballot; it'll be fascinating to see what Sakurai-san and his team produce next.

Which character do you most want to see in Super Smash Bros.?

With thanks to Jeremy for the heads up.

[source sourcegaming.wordpress.com, via perfectly-nintendo.com]