E-mpire - Namco Bandai To Help Develop Next Super Smash Bros

During Nintendo Direct show, Satoru Iwata announced that Namco Bandai will be brought in to help develop the next Super Smash Bros in collaboration with Project Sora and will be released for 3DS and Wii U. Two of Namco individuals named were producer Kobayashi and Tales series director, Yoshito Higuchi.

Update:
Masahiro Sakurai
Hello, I'm Masahiro Sakurai, the director of the Super Smash Bros. series.

It's my personal belief that the only time a creative product really resonates is in that first moment when it's actually in front of you.

With that said, I've realized that if we keep the new Super Smash Bros. title's development structure secret, it'll only create more and more speculation, and I won't be able to develop the game with any freedom. That's why I've decided to announce this news right now, even though it's still very early on.

I would love to provide more information, but for now, I'm going to stay quiet until I have something solid to show you.

The project has just gotten started. Bear in mind that not only are we developing two titles simultaneously, but we announced the project before we even started actual development, so I'm afraid we will likely have to keep you waiting for quite a while. Please be patient.

Currently, the prototype prepared by NAMCO BANDAI Games and NAMCO BANDAI Studios' special team looks pretty good, and it's working great. In order to take advantage of the fact that there will be versions for two different systems, and to maximize and offer fun new gameplay elements, the entire team is going to work hard together. Thank you.

Kobayashi
Hello, everyone. I'm Masaya Kobayashi of NAMCO BANDAI Studios. I'm so honored to be able to join the Smash Bros. team--that globally popular series of which Japan is particularly proud—and to work alongside of Mr. Sakurai.

In order to make Mr. Sakurai proud, we will take on this project with NAMCO BANDAI's best staff! Yoshito Higuchi, the producer and the director of the "Tales" series, Tetsuya Akatsuka, producer and director of "Mobile Suit Gundam: Extreme Vs.," the art director/sound director of the "SoulCalibur" series, the main development team staff from the "TEKKEN" series…and that's just for starters. All the top creators from NAMCO BANDAI are gathered here to create a never-before-seen dream team for this project. We will fully utilize our experience and knowledge in action/fighting game development, technical capability, and organizational strength, and we hereby promise you that we will develop the best and most powerful "Super Smash Bros." title ever! Don't miss it!

Representative works:

Masaya Kobayashi
"Ridge Racer" series
"We Ski" (Wii) series
"Go Vacation" (Wii)

Yoshito Higuchi
"SoulCalibur" series
"Tales of the Abyss
"Tales of Vesperia"

4 Comments

Otacon305 - 06-22-2012, 04:28 AM

"During Nintendo Direct show, Satoru Iwata announced that Namco Bandai will be brought in to help develop the next Super Smash Bros in collaboration with Project Sora and will be released for 3DS and Wii U. Two of Namco individuals named were producer Kobayashi and Tales series director, Yoshito Higuchi."

Maybe they can break them of this one-SSB-per-gen nonsense.

tokoshi_x - 06-22-2012, 04:35 PM

With Nintendo embracing online more, I think Nintendo can get away with only one Smash Bros. game for 3DS and Wii U, as they can release more content through DLC. Whether or not they do that, remains to be seen, but I highly believe there will still be only one Smash Bros. game on these systems.

OmniStalgic - 06-23-2012, 10:58 PM

yeah, go to the drawing board for each game, and really bring something new to the table with each system....I'm ok with just one game...

HPK - 06-24-2012, 07:57 AM

Nintendo should've teamed up with Capcom for this game. Some characters and all hidden costumes are locked content which could be purchased after a week or so. A better version of the game would be released within 6-12 months for a slight lower price. Everyone would complain, but it would bring in so much money, it isn't even funny.