Super Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai’s “Show the actual game!” quote got taken out of context

On January 30, Masahiro Sakurai posted a new video on his YouTube channel that has resonated with people so much that it has since become a meme. In a video entitled “Show the Actual Game!,”, the creator known for Kirby and Super Smash Bros gave advice on game trailers and expressed the opinion that “emphasis should be put on gameplay footage,” especially for new IPs. The title of his video has been taken out of context on social media, with users expressing frustration at the cinematic teasers shown at The Game Awards- and highlighting a gap between large game companies’ marketing strategies and the wants of players. 

Sakurai is a game industry veteran who started out at HAL Laboratory, where he created the character Kirby. He is currently the president of Sora Ltd. and was most recently the director of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (2018). Utilizing his experiences both as a creator and a gamer, Sakurai set up his own YouTube channel in 2022 called “Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games,” which also has an English version. Sakurai’s videos offer a variety of information and insight into the games industry and game development.  

On January 30, Sakurai posted a video about publicizing games, specifically what to look out for when making a game trailer. In this “Show us the Actual Game!” video, he emphasized the importance of showing actual gameplay footage in the game’s trailer. “But sometimes a trailer has an opening movie or character intros that just keep going and it takes forever to get to the part where they show the actual gameplay,” he explains, adding that “In some cases trailers (…) won’t show any gameplay footage at all. Please don’t do that!” He believes that including gameplay footage near the beginning of the trailer is more effective in conveying the game’s content, which after all, is the purpose of the trailer. He emphasizes that this is important for new IPs and indie games by first-time developers. After all, such games do not have the established fan following and brand awareness that high-profile series and works by famous game creators have. 

It seems that Sakurai’s opinion on the importance of actual gameplay footage resonated with many people on social media. A screenshot of the “Movie footage < Actual Gameplay” part of the video has become a meme that sarcastically references The Game Awards. At The Game Awards last year, many new titles were announced with teaser trailers that didn’t show any actual gameplay. 

Although Sakurai’s advice was aimed at small indie games, reactions on social media suggest that most gamers would prefer to see gameplay footage in new game trailers regardless of whether it is an AAA title or an established IP. After all, gameplay footage is the main indication of an upcoming game’s style and quality for players. In recent years, it has become commonplace for large-scale productions to show a glossy movie-based teaser trailer to stir up hype early in development. Players then have to wait a long time to see any actual gameplay footage from the upcoming title, which can be frustrating. 

However, Sakurai made exceptions for high-profile releases, major titles and works by famous creators in his advice. He believes that if there is a high level of attention to begin with, then a teaser can be used for marketing. It’s possible that his “Movie footage < Actual Gameplay” comment might have been interpreted in a way that he did not intend. 

Although players might want to see gameplay as soon as possible, from a marketing perspective, it makes sense to gradually release information for major titles. Thus, many companies start out by releasing a non-gameplay teaser to build up expectations. There may be concerns that if gameplay was shown right at the beginning of marketing for a major title, then the publicity train would run out of steam well before the game was released. The circumstances are different for small indie games however, where prominently showing gameplay footage can be a powerful marketing tool to reassure potential buyers about the game’s quality.  

Written by. Verity Townsend based on the original Japanese article (original article’s publication date: 2024-01-31 17:12 JST)