Masahiro Sakurai, the hard-working creator of the Super Smash Bros. series who served as the director for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, revealed recently that he would occasionally use IV drips while developing the game so he wouldn’t have to stop working.
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Sakurai is known for putting in serious hours on his games even when it’s not convenient for him or his health, and in a recent interview with Nintendo Dream (translated by Nintendo Everything), the video game creator shed light on similar work conditions he faced during the development of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. When asked what kinds of changes he employed to keep his health in mind during the game’s development, Sakurai told Nintendo Dream he’d made a commitment to be out of the office by 10 p.m. every night.
“I made some changes from what I used to do compared to now,” Sakurai said. “For example, as a principle, I always left the office by 10 PM, no matter what. Many companies are discouraging extreme overtime these days, too.”
Sakurai said that was the “biggest change in structure” for the game director, but it wasn’t even the most interesting part of his work strategy. The developer said he came down with stomach problems with symptoms like those of food poisoning more than once during development but revealed that he didn’t take time off from work. Instead, he brought an IV drip into work with him to continue developing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
“No, I don’t,” Sakurai said when asked if he took time off to deal with these sicknesses. “I just get an IV drip and go to work like normal”
Working “like normal” with an IV might not sound too normal to many, but this isn’t the first time Sakurai has shared info like this. The game creator also experienced calcific tendinitis in his right hand and arm when creating Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U but continued working despite having ruptured muscles.
Sakurai did reveal in the interview that he took vacation time for himself – three days, to be exact – but said that he couldn’t take too much time off due to DLC that’s being worked on.
“I don’t think I can take a lot of time off around the holidays, though,” he said. “We’re still developing our DLC, so my staff would have to handle my share of the work. We’re releasing Joker soon, and they wouldn’t be able to consult with me on him.”
The full translation of Sakurai’s interview can be read at Nintendo Everything.
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