Summary
Masahiro Sakurai, the creator and director of theSuper Smash Bros.series, gave fans a look at some rare one-of-a-kind items that he obtained over his long career as a game developer. The esteemed game director has been in the industry ever since 1990 and has created a number of recognizable and unique gaming series for Nintendo, which include theSuper Smash Bros.games. With a career spanning over 30 years, he’s amassed a collection of rare gaming collectibles over the last few decades.
Some of this collection was revealed in a YouTube video on his channel, “Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games.” Sakurai’s content usually revolves around his principles of game development, giving ambitious designers some insights from his time in the industry. Sometimes he’ll talk about some looser topics with his “Grab Bag” category, discussing things likehis opinion on digital vs. physical games. Sakurai’s latest “Grab Bag” video goes over some incredibly rare items that fans would never find on the market.
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One of the first is a special Nintendo Wii controller, where the back has been engraved with his likeness in Mii form, which was a present from Nintendo. Another was a large-scale figure ofPit and Palutena fromKid Icarus Uprising, which was used as a reference when creating a giant float to promote the game back in 2012. Sakurai notes that there are only three of these figures in existence, with him, the parade float designer, and the original figure maker being the only ones to own this statue.
He has a section dedicated to autographed items, which he notes might be a bit unfair to include, but decides to show off regardless. One of these is theSuper Mario All-Stars 25th Anniversary EditionWii game, which is signed byShigeru Miyamotohimself. He notes he has had plenty of autographed items like this, but wanted to also show off a special one; an illustration done by manga artist Shigeyuki Fukumitsu, who drewKid Icarus' Palutena in his signature art style. He thanks Fukumitsu for the gift, as he is a big fan of his manga work.
An Xbox 360 Elite console was also shown off, which has a custom plate with Sakurai’s name engraved on it. He first got the plate when he was gifted the initial Xbox 360 from a representative from Microsoft during the console’s launch. His first model console had succumbed to the infamous “Red Ring of Death” at one point, so the plate is now attached to his Elite Model. The last item was a special certificate from Sega he received in the 1980s, awarded to those who submitted a game proposal to the publisher. Sakurai recalls he designed a JRPG game that used something similar tothe Active Time Battle systembefore it became common.
