Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games — Season 2
About this season
Join Masahiro Sakurai, director of several Kirby games and the Super Smash Bros. series, as he reflects on his work in the games industry and offers insightful and easy-to-understand advice about game development. The goal? To try and help make games around the world a little more fun!
Episodes (122)
1. Flash, Blast, and Smoke [Effects]
Aired 2 January 2023 • 3 min
2. Deconstruct, Analyze, and Rebuild [Planning & Game Design]
Aired 4 January 2023 • 3 min
3. Team Digital or Team Physical? [Grab Bag]
Aired 6 January 2023 • 2 min
4. Kirby Air Ride [Game Concepts]
Aired 9 January 2023 • 6 min
5. Don't Wait to Speak Your Mind [Team Management]
Aired 11 January 2023 • 3 min
6. Don't Anchor Your Center Point [Design Specifics]
Aired 13 January 2023 • 2 min
7. Attack Poses [Animation]
Aired 16 January 2023 • 3 min
8. Get the Sense of Scale Right [Graphics]
Aired 18 January 2023 • 3 min
9. Good Errands and Bad Errands [Planning & Game Design]
Aired 20 January 2023 • 3 min
10. Falling Sells the Feeling of Flight [Game Essence]
Aired 23 January 2023 • 2 min
11. Sora's Work-From-Home Strategies [Grab Bag]
Aired 25 January 2023 • 4 min
12. You'll Forget the Hardship, But the Game Will Endure! [Work Ethic]
Aired 27 January 2023 • 3 min
13. Put Parameters in Brackets [Programming & Tech]
Aired 30 January 2023 • 5 min
14. Game Music and Ambient Sounds [Audio]
Aired 1 February 2023 • 3 min
15. Directors Need to Be Unique [Work Ethic]
Aired 3 February 2023 • 2 min
16. Do We Really Need Enemies? [Game Essence]
Aired 6 February 2023 • 3 min
17. Competing with the Past [Grab Bag]
Aired 9 February 2023 • 3 min
18. Say No to Slow! [Design Specifics]
Aired 11 February 2023 • 3 min
19. Meteos [Game Concepts]
Aired 14 February 2023 • 8 min
20. Consider Rewards First [Game Essence]
Aired 17 February 2023 • 2 min
21. Learn to Count Frames! [Planning & Game Design]
Aired 20 February 2023 • 3 min
22. Follow-Throughs Make the Impact [Animation]
Aired 22 February 2023 • 4 min
23. Loading Screens [UI]
Aired 24 February 2023 • 2 min
24. Visual Effects in Slow Motion [Effects]
Aired 28 February 2023 • 11 min
25. Marketing is Multiplicative [Marketing]
Aired 3 March 2023 • 3 min
26. Games and Eye Strain [Grab Bag]
Aired 6 March 2023 • 2 min
27. Do Competitive Games Have to Be Complex? [Game Essence]
Aired 8 March 2023 • 4 min
28. Just Do It Already! [Work Ethic]
Aired 10 March 2023 • 2 min
29. Units of Speed [Design Specifics]
Aired 14 March 2023 • 3 min
30. Making Tutorials Feel Natural [Planning & Game Design]
Aired 17 March 2023 • 3 min
31. Game Essence in Falling-Block Puzzle Games [Game Essence]
Aired 20 March 2023 • 2 min
32. Mastering Up [Grab Bag]
Aired 22 March 2023 • 2 min
33. Ten People Can Produce Seven People's Work [Team Management]
Aired 24 March 2023 • 2 min
34. Audio as Fiction and Non-Fiction [Audio]
Aired 28 March 2023 • 2 min
35. Supervising Art Through Retouches [Graphics]
Aired 31 March 2023 • 3 min
36. Exaggerate to Make Up for Information Loss [Animation]
Aired 3 April 2023 • 2 min
37. Sodatete! Kouchuu Ouja Mushiking [Game Concepts]
Aired 5 April 2023 • 9 min
38. Emphasizing Text [UI]
Aired 8 April 2023 • 2 min
39. Using Tickets to Manage Tasks [Programming & Tech]
Aired 11 April 2023 • 3 min
40. Praise the Player! [Planning & Game Design]
Aired 14 April 2023 • 2 min
41. The Family Computer (and the NES) [Grab Bag]
Aired 17 April 2023 • 5 min
42. Dying Comes as a Relief? [Game Essence]
Aired 19 April 2023 • 2 min
43. How I Stuck With My Column [Work Ethic]
Aired 21 April 2023 • 4 min
44. An Up-Close Look at Smash Bros. Stages [Graphics]
Aired 24 April 2023 • 17 min
45. Development Secrets of the Original Kirby [Grab Bag]
Aired 27 April 2023 • 17 min
46. Paint an Accurate Picture of Your Game [Marketing]
Aired 30 April 2023 • 3 min
47. Behavior at Ledges [Design Specifics]
Aired 2 May 2023 • 2 min
48. Screen Shake [Effects]
Aired 5 May 2023 • 3 min
49. Don't Be Unresponsive [Planning & Game Design]
Aired 8 May 2023 • 2 min
50. Mountain Climbing Is More Than Just Climbing [Game Essence]
Aired 10 May 2023 • 2 min
51. Posing Suggestions [Animation]
Aired 13 May 2023 • 3 min
52. Voice Recording [Audio]
Aired 16 May 2023 • 4 min
53. Super Smash Bros. Brawl [Game Concepts]
Aired 19 May 2023 • 7 min
54. Don't Rely on a "Plan B" [Work Ethic]
Aired 21 May 2023 • 2 min
55. Canceled Games [Grab Bag]
Aired 25 May 2023 • 3 min
56. Menus Define Your World [UI]
Aired 27 May 2023 • 2 min
57. Branching Tastes [Work Ethic]
Aired 29 May 2023 • 4 min
58. Game Writing is Unique [Planning & Game Design]
Aired 1 June 2023 • 3 min
59. Explain Ideas to Everyone at Once [Team Management]
Aired 5 June 2023 • 3 min
60. The Basics of Pixel Art [Graphics]
Aired 7 June 2023 • 2 min
61. ♪ PRESS START [Grab Bag]
Aired 9 June 2023 • 18 min
62. Make Retries Quick [Game Essence]
Aired 12 June 2023 • 2 min
63. Family BASIC [Programming & Tech]
Aired 14 June 2023 • 12 min
64. Maps Are Game Screens, Too [Design Specifics]
Aired 16 June 2023 • 2 min
65. The Fun in Picking Sides [Planning & Game Design]
Aired 19 June 2023 • 2 min
66. Squashing and Scaling [Animation]
Aired 21 June 2023 • 2 min
67. Game Demos [Marketing]
Aired 23 June 2023 • 3 min
68. Daily Report Suggestions [Team Management]
Aired 26 June 2023 • 4 min
69. Games During My Childhood [Grab Bag]
Aired 29 June 2023 • 5 min
70. Kid Icarus: Uprising [Game Concepts]
Aired 4 July 2023 • 13 min
71. Broad Input, Broad Output [Work Ethic]
Aired 7 July 2023 • 2 min
72. Arranging Music [Audio]
Aired 10 July 2023 • 4 min
73. Is Your Game Appealing Enough to Start Over? [Game Essence]
Aired 13 July 2023 • 4 min
74. Motion Sickness in 3D Games [Planning & Game Design]
Aired 17 July 2023 • 3 min
75. Unifying Visual Style [Graphics]
Aired 20 July 2023 • 2 min
76. Hit Marks [Effects]
Aired 25 July 2023 • 4 min
77. The Team Behind Super Smash Bros. Brawl [Grab Bag]
Aired 28 July 2023 • 6 min
78. Color-Coding Your Game [UI]
Aired 1 August 2023 • 2 min
79. Game Essence in Shooting Games [Game Essence]
Aired 4 August 2023 • 2 min
80. Super Smash Bros. for 3DS / Wii U [Game Concepts]
Aired 8 August 2023 • 11 min
81. Bug Testing Never Ends [Team Management]
Aired 12 August 2023 • 4 min
82. Staying Organized with Hierarchical Outlines [Planning & Game Design]
Aired 15 August 2023 • 2 min
83. A Fight Between Live Action and Animation [Graphics]
Aired 18 August 2023 • 4 min
84. Guidelines [Grab Bag]
Aired 22 August 2023 • 3 min
85. Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games Introduction Video
Aired 24 August 2023 • 1 min
86. Unexpected Results [Design Specifics]
Aired 25 August 2023 • 4 min
87. Damage Animations [Animation]
Aired 29 August 2023 • 4 min
88. Official Websites [Marketing]
Aired 1 September 2023 • 4 min
89. Keep Your Internal Pressure High [Work Ethic]
Aired 5 September 2023 • 2 min
90. Knockback in Super Smash Bros. [Programming & Tech]
Aired 8 September 2023 • 3 min
91. The Original Piece is Always Right [Audio]
Aired 12 September 2023 • 6 min
92. Make Important Elements Bigger [UI]
Aired 15 September 2023 • 2 min
93. More Game Essence Means Less Broad Appeal [Game Essence]
Aired 19 September 2023 • 4 min
94. Show and Tell: Some Rare Belongings [Grab Bag]
Aired 22 September 2023 • 4 min
95. The Perils of Interpolation [Animation]
Aired 25 September 2023 • 4 min
96. Planning Your Game’s Rewards [Planning & Game Design]
Aired 28 September 2023 • 5 min
97. Do Graphics Impact Fun? [Graphics]
Aired 3 October 2023 • 2 min
98. Billboards [Effects]
Aired 6 October 2023 • 2 min
99. Flick Input [Design Specifics]
Aired 10 October 2023 • 2 min
100. Special Crossover! #1 [Special]
Aired 13 October 2023 • 26 min
For our portion of the Retro Game Master crossover, we take a tour through a curated selection of arcade games released between 1978 and 1987—"The Space Invaders Decade". We hope it provides a unique look at the history and evolution of video games!
101. Special Crossover! #2 [Special]
Aired 16 October 2023 • 27 min
The second installment of the Retro Game Master crossover is here! Join me as I play classic arcade games with legendary Let's Player Arino Kacho. In the four short years covered in this episode, games evolved rather dramatically!
102. Special Crossover! #3 [Special]
Aired 19 October 2023 • 26 min
Welcome to the final episode of the Retro Game Master crossover! I never imagined doing a crossover like this—I'm so glad we had a chance to play so many games!
103. The Majority Shouldn't Always Rule [Work Ethic]
Aired 24 October 2023 • 2 min
104. The Shoryuken Command [Game Essence]
Aired 27 October 2023 • 4 min
105. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate [Game Concepts]
Aired 30 October 2023 • 12 min
106. Avoiding Comparison [Planning & Game Design]
Aired 2 November 2023 • 3 min
107. Making Games as Part of a Company [Team Management]
Aired 7 November 2023 • 3 min
108. Fighter Reveal Videos [Marketing]
Aired 10 November 2023 • 6 min
109. Making Sequels [Planning & Game Design]
Aired 14 November 2023 • 4 min
110. Odds and Ends of Supervising [Graphics]
Aired 17 November 2023 • 11 min
111. Facial Animations [Animation]
Aired 21 November 2023 • 2 min
112. Strong Attack, Light Reverb [Audio]
Aired 24 November 2023 • 3 min
113. Game & Watch Designs [Grab Bag]
Aired 28 November 2023 • 4 min
114. I Want to Choose Fast! [UI]
Aired 1 December 2023 • 2 min
115. The Pros and Cons of Leaderboards [Game Essence]
Aired 5 December 2023 • 3 min
116. The Power of Suggestion [Work Ethic]
Aired 8 December 2023 • 2 min
117. How Multiple People Work on One File [Programming & Tech]
Aired 12 December 2023 • 2 min
118. Teaching Players How to Play [Design Specifics]
Aired 16 December 2023 • 2 min
119. Making Things Look Miniature [Graphics]
Aired 19 December 2023 • 2 min
120. It’s Easier If They Already Know [Planning & Game Design]
Aired 22 December 2023 • 3 min
121. Creators Change, Too [Grab Bag]
Aired 26 December 2023 • 2 min
122. Finish Everything Within the Day [Team Management]
Aired 29 December 2023 • 3 min