This information may be surprising to many considering the fact that this is a highly unusual arrangement and that the game’s quality may differ from that of its predecessors. Apparently Sakurai retained full control over the project and the developers who worked on the game were specially hired for the project. It is not exactly clear as to how involved Game Arts was with the project, but if the wording of the interview is correct, they were most probably involved in the corporate level.

Iwata had good words to say for Sakurai as well as the unusual arrangement for Brawl. “Masahiro Sakurai, of all the people that I know, you especially can readily form an image of how a game will look when finished. That’s why I knew that you would be capable of putting together the ideas of the talented staff around you,” he said. “It was so unusual to recruit outside staff solely for the purpose of making such a large-scale game. Yet it was exactly this type of thinking on which I was betting our success.”

Super Smash Bros. Brawl will be released on March 9.