Satoru Iwata helped come up with the Super Smash Bros. name

In a new video from Super Smash Bros. director Masahiro Sakurai, he spoke about Satoru Iwata and shared a tidbit of information that the late Nintendo president helped come up with the name.

Iwata is the one that felt that “Brothers” would be a good fit. That part of the name is a suggestion that the characters “were friends who were settling a little disagreement” rather than having a hardcore fight.

Sakurai said the following about Iwata and his involvement with the Super Smash Bros. name:

“We had team members suggest a bunch of possible names and words we might use, then held a meeting with Mr. Shigesato Itoi to determine what the title we wanted to go with – and Mr. Iwata is the one who picked out the “Brothers” part. His reasoning was that, even though the characters weren’t brothers at all, using the word added the nuance that they weren’t simply fighting – they were friends who were settling a little disagreement.”

Sakurai also commented on something we’ve heard before, which is that Iwata got involved late in the development of Super Smash Bros. Melee. Bugs in the code were making things difficult at the time. Iwata stepped in and worked with the rest of the team, and if he hadn’t done so, Sakurai believes the game may not have launched on time.

Throughout the video, Sakurai shared other thoughts and feelings about Iwata as well. He called Iwata the “smartest” person he’s personally known, using logic to proceed instead of instincts and was more than just a programmer – he “someone who thought often about psychological topics, like why people think the way they do.” Sakurai added that he would keep calm and provide analysis / suggestions instead of losing his temper / getting offended. Later on, he said that Iwata was “full of virtue, relentlessly hardworking, committed to service, and a man who changed the game industry.”

Sakurai last saw Iwata right after the release of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U in January 2015. Sakurai actually drove him to the airport for a trip he was going to in Seattle. While the two were again supposed to meet in July, but Iwata sadly passed away before then.

As another tidbit, do you remember the skits Iwata performed in Nintendo Directs? Sakurai said that according to his son, he loved doing them.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate actually received an update this week, which you can read about here. You can also watch Sakurai’s latest video in full here.