Super Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai calls for more trailers to ‘hurry up’ and ‘get to the actual game’

Masahiro Sakurai, the game director and designer arguably best known for creating the Super Smash Bros. And Kirby series, has spoken publicly about what he believes to be an effective video game trailer. The verdict? “Go to the game as soon as possible.”

In a new video posted on his YouTube channel, “Masahiro Sakurai on Making Games”, Sakurai advised listeners against creating trailers that take too long to get to the point, which is, in his opinion, actual footage of the game .

“Sometimes the trailer has an opening movie or character intros that continue, and it takes forever to get to the part where they show the actual gameplay,” he said. “In some cases, trailers like those seen on a game‘s Steam page will not show any gameplay footage. Please do not do that ! And pleaseget into the game as soon as possible!

Expanding on this, Sakurai added that he has “almost gotten into the habit of completely skipping the beginning of most trailers” due to the amount of long intros and logos that often precede the juicy bits.

He admitted that popular series are more likely to get away with omitting gameplay footage from their trailers, but encouraged those working on new IP or indie games to jump straight into action. “We can learn more about the story and world of the game later. […] Hurry up and show what makes your game attractive,” he added.

There’s no doubt that this is a popular sentiment among many in the gaming community. While there are exceptions, there is often a heightened sense of excitement around the first images of a game rather than the first CGI teasers.

Want to keep up with game releases for the rest of the year? Don’t forget to check out our roundup of upcoming gamesas well as our list of next Switch games, to see what’s on the horizon.