While we didn’t get much in the way of details about Kirby Air Riders, the trailer did make it look like it will allow for up to four players to team up and play together.

As its name might imply, Kirby Air Riders is a follow up to 2003 racing game Kirby Air Ride, which was originally released on the GameCube. In the original game, up to four players could race together. Interestingly, Kirby Air Ride was the last title in the Kirby franchise to feature Sakurai as its director.

The fact that Sakurai is returning to direct a Kirby game after more than two decades means that Kirby Air Riders might have something more interesting going on rather than just being a racing title.

Kirby Air Riders doesn’t yet have a release date, but it is slated for launch some time in 2025.

Masahiro Sakurai, the creator of the Super Smash Bros. series, and the director of every single game in the franchise (including the just launched and lauded Super Smash Bros. Ultimate) is known to be a workaholic. It’s become a sort of meme in gaming circles to reference how hard he works himself.

However, with some information that he revealed in a new interview now coming to light, it is becoming evident just how dangerous his workaholism is, and how damaging for himself and others around him his behaviour can be. Speaking in an interview with Nintendo Dream (translated by Nintendo Everything), Sakurai revealed that when he was developing the game and got extremely ill, he outright started to come to work with an IV drip feed attached so that he would continue to work on the title.

“[I didn’t take any time off when I got sick]. I just get an IV drip and go to work like normal,” Sakurai said. “I guess I’m a hard worker? I’m a freelancer, so I don’t have any strict rules on my time. As long as I can complete the game, I could show up to the office once per week and I think it’d be within the realm of forgiveness. But instead I make sure I come to work every day and write proper daily reports and such. I’m always working, but there’s a lot of things that keep me in good spirits!”

This kind of behaviour is unhealthy (obviously), and is also harmful for everyone else at work who will implicitly feel pressured to live up to his example and not take time out for themselves when they need it. Sakurai needs to learn to delegate, learn to take breaks, and Nintendo needs to intervene and force vacation time on him. I love Super Smash Bros., as does the rest of the world, but I’m sure no one will mind it if the game comes out six months later than it does as long as Sakurai doesn’t kill himself working on it.

At this point, the Super Smash Bros. series has become a mainstay of the gaming landscape, hitting each new generation of Nintendo hardware, and being known for its fanatic fanbase, and the festivity it entails with each new entry. However, even as one enjoys the celebration of gaming that a new Smash Bros. game is, it can be easy to forget that it has to be a nightmare to get the game out at all.

After all, there are so many corporate entities involved with each new Smash game—Nintendo, The Pokemon Company, HAL Laboratory, Sakurai’s own development team, Intelligent Systems, and any third parties that are represented to any extent in the games. And, in an interview with Game Informer, series creator and director of every game within it Masahiro Sakurai admitted that he sees the release of each new Smash game as a “miracle”.

“You may not sense that, but it is actually a miracle every time we’re able to create a Smash Bros. game,” Sakurai said. “It’s a bit different from any other game series that regularly comes out with new installments. Unless we get approval from all of the IP holders who are involved in this game, we can’t make this game. And every time, we are walking a fine line.”

He further added that the reason that the games can be made with the kind of unbridled ambition that they exhibit is down to former Nintendo President Satoru Iwata’s decision to keep the Smash Bros. team as a freelance group, which ensures their independence.

“Especially after I left HAL Laboratories, normally, games continued to be developed by the remaining company,” he said. “But instead, Mr. Iwata created a development team centered on the director who became freelance. That was his call. Without that decision, I can easily imagine that we could not release this Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in the best possible shape at this point.”

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate looks to be a fantastic celebration of the series, of Nintendo, and of video games in general, thanks to Sakurai being able to do the impossible, and bring together every character in the series’ history together for one game, and then some. The game launches exclusively on Nintendo Switch on December 7.

With the announcement of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Nintendo promised that every playable character throughout the series’ history was making a return. Well, everyone except for Waluigi who exists as an Assist Trophy. Despite what you may think though, Nintendo doesn’t “hate” Waluigi. In fact, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime even mains him in Mario Tennis Aces.

What started as a question from Waypoint about Fils-Aime’s main character in the recent tennis game inevitably devolved into a discussion about the villain’s exclusion. Fils-Aime stated that, “CLEARLY, Nintendo does not hate Waluigi. Because here I am with him as my main character. I mean look, we’re making every character that’s ever been in a Smash Bros. game available in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.”

When told that this doesn’t include Waluigi, Fils-Aime imitated exhaustion and replied, “You would think that would be enough to satisfy the fans. But noooooo! The fans have to focus in on one character that isn’t part of the series and to demand their inclusion.

“So, one of the good things about the way we approach E3 is when it’s all said and done we step back. We look at all of the feedback and share with the devs and certainly Mr. Sakurai will be aware of the groundswell of support that appeared for a Waluigi. And in the end it’s his decision to make. Just like when we were getting ready to launch the Wii U and 3DS version there was this groundswell asking for Reggie to be a playable character in the game. I mean…”

Obvious light-heartedness aside (and no, Fils-Aime never did become a playable character), Nintendo seems more than a little aware about the reception to Waluigi’s absence. How could they not be? Legions of his fans were furious about it, whether as a joke or in seriousness. Some even took to Twitter to harass Super Smash Bros. Ultimate creator Masahiro Sakurai who proceeded to block them.

Nevertheless, it doesn’t seem impossible that Waluigi is added to the game later especially given Nintendo’s exceptional post-launch support for Switch games. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is out on December 7th for Nintendo Switch.

The passing of Nintendo’s Satoru Iwata still continues to be felt throughout the games industry, as the man who redefined the reach and meaning of video games as a medium has his absence felt. Writing in his weekly column, Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai, who was a long time collaborator and friend of Iwata’s – the two worked together on loads of games, including the creation of Kirby, and yes, Super Smash Bros. – discussed Iwata’s virtues.

“Our positions and locations changed throughout our long association,” Sakurai said. “He was the best superior I ever had and a man who understood me better than anyone.

The full eulogy read:

He was a man of virtue. Where a normal person would get annoyed or angry, he would never show such emotions and would instead analyze, organize, and offer ideas. He was someone who could bow his head and apologize for things that weren’t his fault. I often worried about his stress levels, but he always talked with a smile.

He had a brilliant mind. Even when people would talk at length or without focus he was able to quickly say, “so, what you’re trying to say is…” and quickly summarize their point. He was able to see to the heart of people and things and was a master of simplifying them so that anyone could understand their point. He could immediately make a call on changes to improve. I have no doubt that many people were saved by this quality.

He was a man of effort. Even though he didn’t start out in the managing field, he read numerous management books, he would ask for advice from the necessary people that he would take to heart, and managed to become the president of Nintendo. What he gained from his years as a programmer allowed him to take many long-term projects to successful fruition.

He was open and generous. Things like his Iwata Asks, and Nintendo Direct weren’t things that necessarily required the president of Nintendo to stand at the front and do. There was always the risk of frivolous criticism. And yet, by being the spokesperson, I believe he showed the importance of properly conveying a message to his audience.

He was empathetic. After he became the president of Nintendo, he would write emails to all employees to communicate and as hard as it was, took a stance to try to treat everyone as equals. He would often ask third parties to see how people were doing. As an individual, he had no self-righteous qualities.

It really does sound as though Mr. Iwata touched all those who knew him in his lifetime, and it does remain a tragedy that he passed as soon as he did. May he rest in peace.

[Thanks Kotaku, for the translation]

Nintendo will be broadcasting a new stream for Super Smash Bros. this Sunday, at 7.40am PT/9.40am CT/10.40am ET. The new broadcast will feature series director Masahiro Sakurai discussing new content due for the fighter after this Sunday.

The timing is especially co-incidental- this Sunday is when the Lucas DLC and Miiverse stage debut for Super Smash Bros. As of right now, they both mark the end of announced post release content for the title, but Nintendo has expressed a desire to continue expanding the new Smash Bros. game with DLC and updates in the future, even going so far as to set up a Smash ballot. Moreover, datamines from the 3DS version have managed to unearth evidence which suggests that Fire Emblem’s Roy (who first featured in Smash Bros. back in Melee on Gamecube), and Street Fighter’s Ryu, will both be headed to the title at some point in the future. This stream may be where both of those announcements are made.

Whatever the new announcements are, we will keep you posted. Stay tuned. Super Smash Bros. is currently available on Nintendo 3DS and Wii U.

Masahiro Sakurai is a veritable genius- the man has worked on some of the most unique games of all time, and with Nintendo, he is a formidable force- he is behind some of Nintendo’s most recognizable and successful properties, including Kirby, Kid Icarus, and of course, Super Smash Bros.

It is also known that he is an exacting perfectionist- so much so that he literally decides to go through every single aspect of his games’ development for himself, because of how much control and perfectionism he demands. He does the job of an entire development team all by himself, and sometimes works nearly eighty hours in a week when he is working on a game (particularly Smash Bros.)

We’ve known all this- we’ve also known that most stressful for him is developing Smash Bros. (which he has now sworn off three separate times- after Melee, after Brawl, and now, after the newest installment that just released on 3DS and Wii U), but like Kojima, he keeps coming back. However, this time, things might be more serious.

Writing in his regular Famitsu column, Sakurai recently expressed a desire to quit not just Smash Bros. development, but game development as a whole.

“It was very tough this time around… I doubt I’ll be able to go on making games if it continues like this,” he said. However, probably realizing how grim he sounded, he added, “But, I consider myself lucky that so many people seem to enjoy [Smash Bros.]”

The man needs a break, and at this point, he has earned it- he is behind one of Nintendo’s most consistently successful franchises, so if he wants to just go on vacation and do nothing, or maybe develop a game with less pressure and expectations, like Kid Icarus between Brawl and the new Smash Bros., then he should be allowed to do that. Oh, and he should probably start delegating responsibility instead of doing everything himself, and maybe take on a less involved role, such as that of an overseeing producer, as well.

I just hope he decides he wants to return to game development. He’s too talented for us to lose.

Thanks, Kotaku for the translation.