PlayStation All-Stars Announced, Nintendo’s Smash Bros. Around the Corner?

The news is out: Sony is working on a game that takes many of their first party exclusive and multiplatform third-party characters and throws them into a Super Smash Bros style game. Interest has been raised as to how which characters will interact with which, and whether it’s even possible to feel the urge to play any character other than Kratos in a fighting game with this selection of characters. But among all the talk about how it looks similar to Smash Bros, I could not help but ask, “Could Nintendo, in an attempt to shut Sony down, reveal the next Smash Bros at E3?” They’ve established that they’re working on one for the 3DS at least, and if anything can sell a Nintendo console, it’s Smash Bros. What else could be going on? Read more to find out!

As we get closer and closer to E3, Nintendo continues to earn chances to steal the show. Last year, they were met with mixed reactions at the controller for Wii U, and the future of Nintendo being alienating to both hardcore gamers and casual gamers seemed to paint a bleak picture, but as the months have passed, the puzzle pieces are coming together to give Wii U the chance it needs to take the reins and win E3, if one can win at such things. Vita is finding itself struggling, despite the amazing tech it has, against Nintendo’s surprising recent success with the 3DS. It’s all the more surprising since a report came out recently that Nintendo lost $461.2 million at least last year, but with the price cut of the 3DS and the increase of quality games to play, Nintendo is destroying the Vita in sales. Beyond that, there is also the fact that there are rumors going around saying that the next consoles are going to be revealed at E3. The problem with this is that officials from both Sony and Microsoft have denied any plans to reveal anything at E3, even if it’s slowly becoming evident that they’re both working on something. This gives Nintendo the spotlight to show what they’re doing with their next console, while showing off their successful and arguably more hardcore-friendly handheld.

And now, another chance has been volleyed to Nintendo. Sony has revealed the existence of PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, which seems to be an attempt to capitalize on the success that Nintendo has with their Smash Bros. games, and who can blame them? They are in command of many beloved characters, and to see them get together and battle would be something that many gamers would pay money to see. The idea of seeing Kratos versus Fat Princess versus Sly Cooper versus Sweet Tooth is pretty amusing, and the easily accessible form of fighting that they have taken from Smash Bros. is certainly a plus, but the biggest attribute for this game is the star power coming together for one game, and there’s already another game company that does that with bigger star power in the eyes of the more casual gamer, and has the track record for doing that type of game very well: Nintendo. Super Smash Brothers Brawl did very well back in 2008, and while hardcore Nintendo fans have had their plates full with SSBB and the Marios, Zeldas, and Kirbys coming out in recent years, it’s been an appropriate amount of time since the last Smash Bros was released, and I can’t think of another time to take a shot at Sony and keep them at the bottom (in regards to sales) than right now.

The only real problem with this happening is that the announcement that we heard at E3 last year was for a Smash Bros. that wasn’t even in development yet. Masashiro Sakurai, the man behind Smash Bros, was a bit annoyed at Iwata’s announcement of the game because he did not even have any design documents drawn up yet for the initial game. That hasn’t exactly stopped Sakurai before, though. The last Smash Bros was announced before Sakurai even knew he was working on it! The announcement of any plans for Brawl (I believe it was) happened at E3, and Iwata had to talk to Sakurai afterwards and ask him to make the game! So he’s been in a deeper hole than the one he was placed in last year, but then again, how long did they take to make that? In an article in Famitsu, Sakurai himself wrote shortly after the incident last year:

“We’ve got no plans whatsoever — we’ve got two new games out in the open when there’s no extra time to work with them at all. It makes me cringe, and I’m not sure it’s the smartest thing to make gamers wait for several years, but the early announcement was made chiefly in order to attract new team members.”

Several years? Ugh. That sounds like nothing except maybe a very early build by E3 this year, though it may depend on how good the team he’s working with is. Oh, and that “two new games” bit? That’s two individual Smash Bros. games, one for the Wii U, and one for the 3DS. So at least that answers that question. Could one be potentially shown off, like the 3DS one, and the other be hidden until it’s ready to blow people’s minds at the next E3 or later? We only have a little more than a month to find out.

“The hardest part about game development is the burdens it places upon me,” he said. “With previous projects I had a game design document in place before forming a team, but with this I don’t have the time for that. I won’t be able to look at every aspect of the game and balance out all the characters by myself this time. I’m trying to think about how this is going to work out, but probably I’ll have to discuss it with my future development team. The future of this project really depends on the people I can get involved with it.”

Ooh. Now that’s actually a tiny bit worrisome. Depending on how this whole situation is actually handled, maybe PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale is healthy competition. If Sakurai cannot give his time and attention equally to both games, one may suffer, and the overall quality of both may suffer. Then again, he may get a good team to work on both games, and it’ll all turn out alright. Who knows?! What do you think? We have this whole comment section down here for you to use! Please let me know what you think. I’ll be reading them, and I’d love to talk with you guys about the future of Super Smash Bros. and the possible competition with PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale.