Many young men have perfected the art of navigating a computer with only one arm, however when you are working in the video game industry, specifically as a designer, you really do need both arms.
Masahiro Sakurai, designer behind the New Super Smash Bros., is currently suffering from calcific tendinitis in his right shoulder. Due to the condition, his doctors have restricted him from using his right arm and hand, despite the required use for his position.
“I go to work every day, and in order to give instructions and conduct testing, heavy use of a keyboard and game pad are necessary,” Sakurai explains. “I use a game pad for test playing games as well as controlling the camera in the debug mode to check the graphics.”
Sakurai’s time is not devoted solely on the new Smash Bros. game, in fact it seems to take a back burner to many of his other projects. His days are spent on business trips, overseeing development, meetings, and working on other proposals. When those jobs are complete, he can finally focus on his own projects. Normally, that would mean working weekends and holidays.
Sadly, his painful condition might take quite a nit of time to heal, or might never heal at all.
“Normally, I’d like to get as much of a lead as I can with all the numerous parameters that need to be input for the development of the next Smash Bros. game. But now is a time for patience,” Sakurai writes. “If my condition were prolonged or never heals, there’s no telling how the project would be affected.“
Despite his pain, Sakurai has been testing the New Smash Bros. with the use of just one hand on their test machine, but the 3DS version is proving to be a lot harder with one hand.
So, although we may see a delay in the launch of New Smash Bros., I am okay due to the circumstances. I wish Sakurai the best, and hope he heals quickly!
********