Sakurai Says Fatal Fury's Mai Isn't In Smash Because The Game "Is For Good Boys And Girls"

Yeah I figured as much. The whole turn a blind eye to sexualized characters thing doesn't work so well when kids get involved.

This is garbage, she's got other outfits. They put bayonetta in for christs sake.

Makes sense, Mai is naughty.

Bayonetta is in Smash Ultimate tho...

Yeah, but bad is so much more fun.

RIP ye of the big tit.

I admit I chuckled at his reasoning though.

She would be OP with those bombs!

@Rika_Yoshitake @ummyeahnintendo did you forget the ways they changed bayonetta for smash or

I wonder who forces all the women to cosplay as her if girls don't like her. The flashing victory poses are a bit much for all ages. Just don't have that pose.

I still remember little girls thinking doa beach volleyball was a Barbie game.

Right then please explain zero suit samus and bayonetta inclusion then

As a Mother, I can understand his reasoning. I don't think my kids would really pay much attention to a background character while playing, but better safe than sorry for sure.

Dissapointing, but understandable and expected.

yeah, Bayonetta and ZSS say hi! He probably didn't want her in for other reasons and is saying this as a reason.

@Arnold-Kage ZSS doesnt exactly have massive jiggling sideboob

There's nothing jiggling in a still image, they could have at least made her a spirit.

Say goodbye to any hope of getting Chun Li added to Smash Bros

One could Argue that Palutena was once eye candy, and Zero Suit Samus along with Bayo are all in, and we all know what lurks on the Internet related to all three of them.

Still, I guess their reasoning makes sense.

I think Sakurai doesn't want to lose a CERO A rating on such a "special" game.

I understand why they did it, but I think it's kinda of a cop out. Mai has only been over sexualized in more recent games, but I remember playing FF2 and FF2S in the arcade as a teenager and I never thought "wow, this character is naked". They could have easily had her in the background, just not put her her in the more revealing poses and versions of the costume that she gets in later games.

"she's the kind of character you probably shouldn't be Googling when you're bored at work."
First thing I do is load up google

@QueenKittenWrite I mean you could just not let your kids download the character. That would be a simple solution.

@ummyeahnintendo I desperately want chun Li. And maybe so Ehonda too. That way my boy can chose if he prefers larger shirtless men instead.

Love or hate the reasoning - I don't care for it - Nintendo has been consistently doing things to keep the game rated E10 and whatever the equivalent is in other territories.

humungous hungolomghnonoloughongous

What is everyone talking about?

Seems like a dumb reason, seeing as Bayonetta is in the game.

@Aquamine-Amarine pretty sure if Nintendo owned SNK IP they would be taking a different approach

@Aquamine-Amarine but modified.

Aw, they could have added her as a background character, I understand the reason, but still. Couldn’t even get any of her background music in. Well, I guess there is Ne! I suppose.

@sixrings I bought the Fighters pass when it was first announced, so I had Terry before I even knew he would be in the game. Still it's clear Sakurai was looking out for others as well, if people want cheap fan service, google exists.

@QueenKittenWrite I don't want cheap fan service. I want $8 DLC please.

Plus they could put her in as individual DLC not part as a package.

@Aquamine-Amarine
it was already to late ti be worrying about overly fan service orinated characters the moment they put zero suit samus in brawl.

I'm surprised by this. They actually made Samus and Bayonetta work. Sure Mai has really big boobs, but she isn't more or less sexualized than Samus or Bayonetta.

Actually ruling her out for her appearance, even for an appearance that doesn't exactly hurt the eyes, is a form of discrimination. She should be free to wear whatever attire she wants and not be sexualized for that. Again, it's the dirty mind of the observers what punishes the innocent.

@ummyeahnintendo Chun Li is safe, she isn't revealing anything. They added Blue Mary in as a cameo and she's also a busty girl.

...Yet Bayonetta is a playable fighter...

@Joeynator3000

But owned by Nintendo
That's The Difference.

I think Sakurai was being light hearted. Don't start throwing 'exhibit A's and B's' at his face.

@sixrings That’s exactly how much Mai costs for Dead or Alive 6

...HEY!

Nintendo has already proved they are more than fine with butts.

I can understand this, Mai's outfit is too revealing and they would've had to censor a lot to keep her in. CERO would've had a field day. So why bother with the hassle for one character that's not even playable?

Also, what's with people saying "Ummmm?? What about Bayonetta??" They censored her as well(not to an extreme mind you), you just didn't notice anything.

Hmm... Nope. I'm complaining. Unless you count Bayonetta, there are still no playable third-party female characters in the game. Not even Chun-Li!

@Moroboshi876 dawg she's a video game character in an E10 game

@Rika_Yoshitake Bayonetta doesn’t have as prominent cleavage as Mai.

I can understand this. Everyone who doesn’t know who she is would google her...

And they’d mostly find porn.

@Rika_Yoshitake now say it without crying

People upset a waifu character won't be in x3

@Bliquid Usually an animation or comic featuring graphic sex.

And the difference is, you search those names, you’re not getting porn/hentai/doujinshi till later pages or if you add the word “porn” to your search.

Mai? Add it or not, it’s going to be there.

I agree they could have had her in one of her original outfits, before she became the #1 Ms. Fan Service of SNK.

On the other hand, Andy Bogard must be glad and relieved that for once Mai isn't around to stalk him.

What do you think those kids are now looking for on Google? Exactly

I'm not that big of a Mai fan so this doesn't bother me. However I'd just like to point out that yet again the video game industry is nay for sex, but yay for violence. 😔

He just didn't want to animate the jiggle for a simple cameo lol

Sure, Bayonetta and Zero Suit Samus might be considered sexualized in a sense, but they’re completely covered by their clothing, as skin-tight as it may be. Mai, on the other hand, is barely wearing clothes in the places one might deem necessary, and if she were modeled in 3D in the KoF stage, it’d difficult for the development team to represent her accurately while not risking the game’s ESRB rating. Remember, too, that Bayonetta is heavily censored in Smash when compared to her appearance in her original games. They even went so far as to put nylon mesh in the holes on her leggings.

@mlj11 Smash also has edited out realistic portrayals of violence, too. If this game were “yay, violence” as you suggest, Joker’s Final Smash would be a lot bloodier, and Snake would be firing real-world guns at his opponents. Your argument makes no sense.

I really don't care one way or the other, but what about Bayonetta or the 2 more revealing zero suit Samus costumes? Seems a little hypocritical in terms of the reasoning.

@DrDaisy Bayonetta isn’t owned by Nintendo in any sense. She’s entirely third-party. And isn’t Kazooie also a third party playable female character?

That image of her seems safe enough for her to at least be a Spirit...

Breasts are famously inappropriate for children.

@GrailUK Exactly what I was thinking. Silly joke to be light hearted. It’s not like the man doesn’t know who is already in the dang game.

@KitsuneNight Bayonetta isn’t owned by Nintendo.

@Moroboshi876 A fictional video game character not being included in a different fictional video game’s franchise does not equate to discrimination any more than choosing to stock strawberry ice cream over peach ice cream.

At least, she’s in SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy. : >

@thesilverbrick Qualifying violence with the word "realistic" in front of it doesn't change the fact that it's still violence. Look, I've nothing against Smash (I mean I own the game myself) but I'm just highlighting the fact that the industry is ok with [edit] video game characters punching each other in the face but somehow not ok with a little cleavage.[/edit] I'm in my 30's so this fact is just absurd to me; If it isn't also absurd to you then of course please feel free to continue failing to grasp my point.

@HobbitGamer Did you actually read about the reasons?

Wait, but doesn't Bayo literally [REDACTED] in her games...?

@Moroboshi876 I did. I also read the comment from Sakurai that did not mention the character’s appearance at all.

If sexuality is a part of the character backstory, and gameplay, especially a significant portion, then I can see why the character wouldn't be included. I'm not knowledgeable on the actual character, or series, so I can't judge either way.

I suppose it does have to do with, as has already been mentioned above, the Smash devs, &/or Nintendo not wanting people to search the character online, find questionable material, then it becomes "big news" that Smash, a Nintendo game, has an inappropriate character in it. This reasoning would be in-line with how Nintendo has tried to police, gatekeep, and "protect children" in the past, like with friend-codes, voice-chat, etc.

Maybe they felt this was a special case, compared to what might be found online by searching the other female characters, instead.

The only other thing I can think of, if if the character is a part of the Fatal Fury series, and also some kind of legal issues surrounding the use of the character.

With their mentioned reasoning, I wonder if Shantae will get in? In the WoL trailer, she's a spirit, so I always figured they would put her in, eventually, or at least were considering it.

The real reason Krystal from SF Adventures was put as an assist trophy, folks.

I wasn't expecting Mai to cameo in the game due to her obvious, attractiveness let's say, but I wasn't expecting Sakurai to actually go and mention her name, didn't actually watch the stream thou as I was at a course during the stream (even thou it was on during a break)

@somebread

Maybe but his argument is an bit weak with those two in the game. Also seen plenty of echi pic made in smash bros ultimate with palutena for example

Bayo kinda wears her sexuality for her, and carries it as as a sign of dominance. That kind of kinkiness can be toned down in Smash because her character and design isn't about if you're into her.

Mai is the opposite. Regardless of her personality, she expressly uses sex appeal to titillate others (as a distraction in universe and merch draw in ours). Also you can't argue "just use other outfits" because the open top design is her main design, which would have to be the default.

@mlj11 Violence and sexuality exist to varying degrees. Pretending that all violence is the same is a little absurd, don’t you think? There’s definitely a marked difference between the slapstick punching and kicking in Smash and the total dismemberment and fountains of blood in something like, say, Mortal Kombat. The developers of Smash have made efforts to tone down the violence to make it non-realistic and akin something that could appear in children’s programming. The game is deemed by the ESRB to be appropriate for children 10 and up. Anyone with any sense can see that the violence in Smash is completely different from the violence portrayed in M rated titles. Pretending there’s no difference between them is quite a stretch.

The same holds true for sexual content. Smash does tolerate some sensuality. One look at characters like Bayonetta and Zero Suit Samus will tell you that the game is not afraid of displaying the female form. But the line has to be drawn somewhere to maintain the ESRB rating. Mai is quite close to being nude in her canon appearances and as pointed out by others, she even uses her nudity as a weapon in the games she’s featured in. So the developers have decided to leave her out entirely instead of censoring her to be something that she isn’t.

I would have preferred one of the female characters be in Smash instead of Terry Bogard. Athena would have been great!

This makes no sense with Bayonetta and Zero Suit Samus being in the game.

@Manah I can imagine that in a future update.

@Kidfunkadelic83 Remember what month it is.

Oh that makes sense. That's why we don't have characters like Bayonetta-OH WAIT!

Seriously Nintendo, you're not even trying to be good anymore.

Also, liking sexiness makes you a bad person? Really? That's the message? Then why did you include a lady that LITERALLY LICKS HER LIPS IN LUST WHEN SHE GETS A NEW PAIR OF GUNS?!

@thesilverbrick I agree that it's absurd to pretend all violence is the same, so fortunately I never expressed that notion anywhere. Look, I get the feeling we're taking past each other because while you're trying to explain the obvious about how Smash is made for the 10 year old demographic, my point was made in regard to the entire video game industry as a whole, not SSB in particular.

I have no further interest in Smash beyond playing and enjoying it so I'll leave the finer points of defending Sakurai's decisions to you.

@Bliquid Alright, maybe I was wrong.

I just have seen more Mai porn out there than disturbing Sonic stuff. It seemed really common.

Nobody:
Mai Shiranui: Me BoUnCy

No, Sakurai-San, I won't forgive you...

Bayonetta is in the game so his argument is immediately invalid

@mlj11 Fair enough. I definitely agree that the video game industry as a whole and entertainment in general tend to be horrified by even the slightest sexual content while constantly showcasing gratuitous realistic violence. It does seem a little bit backwards, and I will agree with you on that. I just think Smash is consistent across the board, walking a careful line when it comes to realistic violence and explicit sexuality. There’s definitely light themes of both in there, but nothing hypocritical, one way or the other.

@Gravitron How? explain

I love that some point to Bayo and ZSS as if that is a good reason without context. You guys have nothing

@liljmoore Agreed. Sakurai said nothing about nothing. Folks that want to yell words are the ones linking it to something about appearance and sexuality.

@HobbitGamer He implied it. The character is not suitable for good boys and girls.

@KitsuneNight Bayonetta as a character is not owned by Nintendo

@liljmoore while she doesn't have the thong thing going on Bayonetta is a very sexualized character by design. If you searched for Bayonetta in a image search you are likely to stumble upon some Rule34 type photos very quickly.

@Gravitron I know that. But that has nothing to do with this. Point is Bayo is still heavily censored on Ultimate and doesn't revolve around sex appeal unlike Mai

Makes sense, Mai has always been a male-pandering character whereas pretty much everyone else on the Smash roster are meant to appeal to everyone. Bayonetta pushes it a bit, but I know LOTS of female Smash players who really like Bayonetta. Of course she's also heavily toned down. I guess if Mai were to be included over Terry, she too would have had to be toned down in several ways.

It doesn't matter too much in the long run as both characters represent Fatal Fury and I think Terry is the right choice overall. He IS Fatal Fury. There's a reason why Mai was chosen for Dead or Alive 5 and not Terry, after all. I shouldn't have to spell out why.

EDIT: Also I've seen waaaay too many comments talking about Bayo and ZSS being in the game. Bayo is heavily censored and Zero Suit Samus is not even sexualized to the extent that Mai is. People saying this have clearly never played a single game Mai is from. ZSS is fanservice at best, Mai is borderline nude at times, including one of her win poses. Not that I personally have any problem with that but it may not be appropriate for a game like Smash.

Fair enough, no Mai, but you could at least have given me Kula Diamond FFS.

Understandable. She could've been a spirit though, kinda like how they featured Camila from FE Fates.

@liljmoore ok fair enough. I dont care about Mai but I just thought it was a bit hypocritical. Now that you explained your side of things I can understand where your coming from.

@The7thHokage1995 almost no female representation? There are 26 female options if you count alternate costumes. Not equal but definitely not almost no representation.

@GrailUK i lol hard at your exibit a and b

@Moroboshi876 No
I don’t agree, but I respect your opinion.

What a shame. I'd smash her.

Well that's a dumb non-reason to omit a character. As others have said, Bayonetta is in the game, and egregious sex appeal is her whole thing. And what about the sizeable portion of the cast that have committed countless acts of murder in their games?

Sakurai looking out for dem good boys this NNN. We salute you.

Besides, Mai is “too big” for Smash Bros anyway.

Yeah but where's Female Terry.

We finally know why Waluigi didn't make it.

Bayonetta and Zero suit Samus would beg to differ...

@Rika_Yoshitake I agree, just give her some new clothes. But the reveal was amazing anyway.

Listen Sakurai

if the rumors and my suspicions are proven to be correct and the immediate next DLC fighter is DOOM Marine I am not taking that statement seriously

We thought Snake was the line for his realistic military design and weapons as well as his series' background in deep political themes

We thought Bayonetta was the line for her raunchy design and her complimentary attitude

We thought it was amusing that Joker had a literal move labelled as GUN (even though it's actually an airsoft gun but I guess Smash is a palace in the metaverse now)

Sakurai I swear

@Rika_Yoshitake bayos got that figure, but mais got those "physics"

I'm not trying to upset anyone but I don't particularly care for characters like this so it's no big deal for me.

Although, for the sake of Fatal Fury and fighting game fans, the developers probably could have at least put her in as a Spirit or a background cameo considering how sexualized characters do exist in Ultimate.

you guys compare mai with bayo and zss but can you please look at her outfit and chest size again?

@thesilverbrick I forgot about Kazooie, although she's more of a pair character... I'll admit she counts though. The thing about Bayonetta is that she's got an exclusive game on Nintendo systems so it would seem ridiculous not to have her in the game at this point.
Also (and I'm not saying this to anyone in particular), I'm well aware that there are about a dozen games on Switch that let you play as Mai. I just wish this was one of them. Maybe I'm just nitpicking, but I honestly want more female characters from third-parties in this game, and at this point, I think Mai and Chun-Li are just as important as Ryu, Ken, and Terry.

But Bayonetta, one of the most hyper sexualised video game characters of all time is playable?...

Actually the translator said that. Sakurai talked about not including her because it would bump the CERO rating up.

@MarinoKadame so thats wat he actually said ok but doesnt rule out characters from games like ninja gaiden and soul calibur since their going to go all out by adding more characters to smash roster.

@MarinoKadame I wondered if this is what he was referring too, glad to know the direct translation clears it up.
And a lot of people are suggesting to use another outfit when we don't even know if SNK would allow that as third party companies get the final say in how their characters are represented.

SNK told Sakurai if Mai's boobs didn't constantly move she would die, he saved her life.

In all seriousness though, Zero Suit and Bayonetta were accepted by the CERO Ratings Board, Mai wouldn't be, Sakurai really cares about the CERO A rating. It's as simple as that.

@nab1 her breasts actually bounce when she wins in Fatal Fury 2
Maybe it was censored on the Super Nes version? I only played it on the Genesis. The home version of KOF 94 censored her chest as well since it was all over the place in the arcade version.

It's not about "horny people don't have rights". It's about trying to maintain the game on an ESRB rating of E for Everyone so that it can reach (and sold) to a wider audience.

They could have still included Mai but she need to be censored like heck. And you know how peeps react to "censoring". That's a different topic altogether.

That and he didn’t want to deal with the drama her outfit would cause. Bad enough guys are looking up the princesses’ dresses.

@Zyph explain the cut scenes wen they reveal characters getting brutally killed by ridley or death slicing luigis soul out of him and besides if they bring doom slayer their going to give him a map filled with blood and gore in the background with demon parts lying around.

But... anime honkers

@Zyph it's no nut november sakurai is protecting us

@RiasGremory
In the Japanese version, Sakurai calls out CERO (the Japanese rating board) specifically as to why Mai isn't in there. Sakurai has made fun of their "juvenile" attitude towards sexual themes before and this is no different.

Also Nintendo mandates that Smash must be a CERO A, so no explicit blood and gore if there's a Doom stage (a Doom stage in Smash would probably focus on the more industrial/mechanical side of Doom). Though CERO doesn't rate promotional material so as long as it's alright for a Nintendo Direct audience, I'm sure Sakurai could do whatever he wants.

Seems silly to me. With Bayonetta in the game, and honestly even Zero Suit Samus.

But it's the classic imbalance, it's fine to have characters beating each other to death, fighting with swords, guns, bombs, and all manner of weapons. But a little cleavage is going too far?

Why is cartoon violence okay but cartoon sexuality not?

Are you saying it'd be better if your 7 year old runs around stabbing people, than it would be for her to see a woman wearing more clothing than the average bikini?

I googled her. I as of today feel a lot less innocent.

Sakurai was definitely taking jabs at CERO and that's fine by me. Mai has been one of my favorite fighting game girls (Felicia being #1 and a custom stick dedicated to her https://i.imgur.com/WbqXtrP.jpg ) and I'm fine with this.

If Chunners ever gets added in though, I'm calling foul.

@ummyeahnintendo but she is in the game as a spirit. Mai didn’t even get that.

Bayonetta is good for little boys and girls because clearly she's a pedo.

Women with large breasts = Not suitable for children, regardless of what you're wearing. What a lot of bullcrap.

So no one knew who the heck Terry Bogard was, but now they all know who Mai Shiranui and they all upset she won’t be in Smash as a cameo or spirit?
If anyone is upset Mai won’t be in Smash, it’s Sakurai. He spend an extra 20 minutes just to explain who Terry is and SNK history. The guys knows and loves this stuff.

I could care less about Mai, it's my first time hearing of her. What pisses me off are the people that are getting legit angry with Sakurai for not putting her in, like come on!!! Be respectful, can't believe people are getting mad cause they want to have a hard on to a background character.

Sorry if I sound like a liberal, but don't hate on Sakurai, Bayonetta and ZSS are sexy, but were able to be nerfed, but Mai is just wearing a loincloth and watermelons for breast, you cant nerf that shit without upsetting people.

Hey, kids, you can't have Mai in your video game. She's too mature for you. Hey look, Christmas specials are coming on TV soon for the whole family. I wonder if they'll have commercials for Victoria's Secret during them again. Hard trance music and size 0 models in thongs and barely visible bras absolutely fits with family Christmas Specials!

@Toy_Link they wouldnt take out blood and gore for doom stage if doomslayer makes it in.

@PickledKong64 Good point. But unfortunately it's too late for me....

@RiasGremory
If Nintendo wanted a CERO Z Smash game, sure.

But, Sakurai has mentioned before in Famitsu that Nintendo mandates Smash to be CERO A. So If Doom Slayer/ a Doom stage makes it in expect it in a similar fashion to Bayonetta (HEAVILY censored).

@RiasGremory Although I can't give you definitive answer to your question, I do know that it was explained time and time again why some spirit characters like Mythra were censored. And it's obvious why for a game that wants to spread to a wider audience.

I can just assume that the "blood and gore" you were referring to wasn't enough for the ESRB nor with CERO to increase the rating. Cleaveges can, apparently. Don't even mention Bayonetta nor Zero Suit Samus because, yes, they are censored. Especially Bayonetta.

But what I can take from your comment is that you apparently is concerned for something that wasn't promised in the first place and considering the number of playable characters already in the game.

Now if what you're actually concerned about was Sakurai's "reasoning" then the only logical explanation (without anyone taking his comments to literally) is again the game's "appropriateness" so to speak i.e. the rating. Which obviously doesn't sit well with people for some reason.

You're free to criticize his reasons but honestly debating over something good boys and girls should understand in the first place is....well...

@RiasGremory
I'm only concerned what you said about DOOM. I'm not in this Mai stuff.

There are a wide majority of maps where there was no blood and gore unless you killed the enemies yourself, play the game and you'll see. Doomslayer is not getting in the game EVER, I hate telling this to people but it's gonna be Doom guy, the origin of DOOM, and that's what Sakurai likes to do, link a character by their origins DOOM guy is the face of DOOM.

Now I could be completely wrong because Sakurai decided to use the protagonist from Person 5 instead of an MC from any other Persona, But as Iconic as DOOM is, it's definitely gonna be DOOM guy.

@The7thHokage1995 I see where you're coming from but I think a far more unrepresented demographic would be black or brown characters of which there are almost none.

I was simply stating that 26 is far from almost no representation.

They have ladies like Tharja & Chun-Li as Spirits - they could've done it, they just didn't want to.

Would've been a lot worse to include her, but skimp on the loose-boob action.

@shoeses
Mai wears less than both...
About as little as Krystal, in fact...

Just so people know, it's not really the case of a revealing chest but CERO is pretty stubborn with character's panties being revealed...so those two in tandem makes a lot of sense. It affects the rating system there quite a lot.

They figured out how to censor Bayonetta enough to fit her in the game, they could have worked something out for Mai if they wanted to.
Smaller chest with no jiggle, and an outfit based on her Fatal Fury design instead of KoF. That's just off the top of my head.
But hey Sakurai, it's your game and I still love you.

@Toy_Link i hardly doubt he'll censor it since nintendo wants less censorship on switch games.

@Big-Pepsi you forget the new doom games are a reboot to the original doom games so basically doomslayer is definitely going to make it in.

@RiasGremory
I don't think that's how it works with Sakurai, since he will always almost %80 of the time go for the origins of the character.

@KitsuneNight are you sure nintendo owns bayo? I thought they just had a partnership with Platinum?

@Big-Pepsi Palutena has some decent melons.

@Chunkboi79
Broski tell me you're joking? no where near as big as Mai's!

@RiasGremory "i hardly doubt he'll censor it since nintendo wants less censorship on switch games."

You're being irrational right now. They can and will censor if they want to on their own games. Again with spirits and the "new" one which is Tokyo Mirage Sessions. They'll do it if they want to target a certain rating for their games. Now if we're talking about 3rd party games then they don't really care. If devs what to add jugs left and right then sure and Nintendo wouldn't bat an eye.

@Chunkboi79 Sega to be exact.

@Zyph I remember sega's name being around somewhere. What's their relationship with Platinum. Does Sega own the property and Platinum just develop it?

@Chunkboi79 Yes exactly. Both Bayo 1 and 2's IP holder is still Sega. The deal between Sega and Nintendo is that since they offered to fund and publish Bayo 2 it's now a Nintendo exclusive. I assume it's the same with 3 cuz apparently neither Sega nor Sony/MS is willing to fund a sequel. Ironically Sega still wants to hold on to the property despite that fact. Easy money for them without spending a dime.

@Zyph Good to know, thanks for the info. Shoot sounds like it would be a headache for Nintendo to fund something split between those two companies. Probably why Microsoft and Sony didn't want to fund it. Wish Sega would do something for once lol

She looks stunning!