Is Anyone Else Bothered by the Absence of Non-Japanese Composers?

[D-idara]

I know there's some logistics reasons for this, but come on! I think I speak for a lot of people when I say that people like David Wise (Donkey Kong Country Series), Grant Kirkhope (Banjo-Kazooie, DK64), Jake Kaufman (Ducktales Remastered, Shovel Knight), Falk (Sonic Before the Sequel/After The Sequel), Josh Mancell (Crash Bandicoot), Eveline Fischer (DKC Series), Richard Jacques (Sonic R), Christophe Heral (Rayman Origins/Legends)...hell, even Michael Jackson! (Sonic 3)...god, they made many people become gamers and love videogame music, and all of those musicians I listed have such distinct, defined, rich styles that it doesn't feel fair when the game only has Japanese styles (Hell, even some amazing Japanese composers like Jun Senoue and Tomohito Nishiura are missing).

I know it would've been hard for the logistics, but this is SMASH BROS.! They should've gone the extra mile and hired more non-Japanese composers...

 

[Eternal phoenix Fire]

I think having more diverse genres and music styles is a good thing.

 

[Renji64]

They might have more composers listed on the wiiu.

 

[Vann Accessible]

I too am upset Michael Jackson was not asked to compose music for this game.

David Weise especially sticks out because the soundtrack to the DKC series is godly, and should absolutely have a place here, especially since he returned to do Jungle Freeze.

I don't know what to tell ya....

 

[OctiVick]

I don't think the big issue is where they are from, just as long as they give an arrangement of interesting and diverse music. I mean we have composers who worked on the upbeat soundtrack from Mario Kart 8 and Wii Fit to some who worked on more epics songs from DMC and Soul Calibur. Just looking at the list and we have such a diverse lineup already, and for more popular composers like David Weise, they could use existing tracks form his works that have no need to be redone.

 

[RIDLEY is too SMALL]

The vast majority of Nintendo games are Japanese. All the Smash games are also developed in Japan.

 

[CatRaccoonBL]

If they are good composers, they are good composers.

A lot of the composers they picked are excellent at what they do, I don't really mind the absence of non-japanese composers to be an issue at all.

 

[BridgesWithTurtles]

No need for quotas. The only diversity that matters is diversity of musical styles, and all of these musicians are accomplished and varied enough to work on the game's music. Sure, there are some specific non-Japanese composers that I'd like to see on that list, but not because they're not Japanese.

 

[SS-bros14]

What'd you expect from a game directed by Japan?

 

[Kevandre]

Yeah, I scanned down the list looking for Wise and was sad he wasn't there. But, it's Smash. The music will be great as always.

 

[Booster]

Not really, I don't need muzak to play a game. Can't say the same for voice acting in story heavy games though.

 

[D-idara]

I don't care where they are from, I just think there's no composer that makes music the same style as David Wise's atmospheric masterpieces, Jake Kaufman's upbeat, retro chiptunes, Christophe Heral's fairy-tale magic...I mean, as far as particular styles go, Mahito Yokota's grand orchestral pieces are amazing, Jun Ishikawa's cheerful compositions are uplifting, and Motoi Sakuraba's downright epic music (Although I don't particularily care about his work on Dark Souls when you compare it to KIU). That's why I also mentioned some missing, extremely iconic composers that have a style that has defined the videogames they work for, Jun Senoue and Michiru Yamane come to mind.

I just think that there are some missing 'music styles' that deserve a shot on this Smash. Besides, 90% of the composers listed don't have a very particular or distinctive style, there's nothing like Hideki Naganuma's signature 'lyric instruments' for example. None of those people maybe bar Mahito Yokota and Jun Ishikawa really make you say 'this is a insert name here song, isn't it!?'.

Not really, I don't need muzak to play a game. Can't say the same for voice acting in story heavy games though.

I'm willing to bet you play nothing but atmosphereless, emotionless MMOS...music's one of the more important parts of a videogame, without it the videogame plays like a dried husk, try playing Super Mario Galaxy without music and tell me the experience is as good...So you'd rather have all the voice acting on Skyrim rather than those beautiful soundtracks when you're going up a mountain? Just, perfect.

If you can't tell by now, the absence of Mr. Senoue from the list of composers rustles my jimmies severely.

 

[TheMagicalKuja]

Falk's not full time professional though, as damn good as he is.

Also it's kinda made in Japan with a lot of people in house between Bandai Namco and Nintendo, what did you expect? Maybe the Wii U will come to the rescue, but you're out of luck, son.

 

[Xermo]

I'm sure they're saving the non-japanese composers for the american smash bros.

 

[MachoCheeze]

One day, my friends, one day...

 

[Renji64]

Alot of these composers are very versed in different styles of music it doesn't matter where they are from. Good music will speak for it's self.

 

[Raijinken]

I tend to prefer Japanese-composed music, so no, I am not bothered by their abundance. There's a few I wish had shown up for the 3DS version (retro composers for FE, for instance), and a few more recent guests that would be cool (such as Revo), but I'm quite satisfied with the list we've been given.

 

[shrooby]

Keep in mind that we only know the composer list for the 3DS version.
The Wii U version will, presumably, have a larger set of tracks, thus leaving room for more composers.

More to the point though, I too would be disappointed for the complete lack of David Wise in both versions.
I need my David Wise dose. I would love to hear his take on random Nintendo tunes. (Not necessarily from Donkey Kong.)

 

[CrimsonYoshi]

Hey, the composers they wanted just happened to be Japanese. It's smash, they know what they're doing. If they didn't want some of the composers the OP posted, there was a reason.

 

[Busterbie]

Having dkc: tc tracks in the game would make my day. Some of them could fit really well

 

[the8thark]

Yeah, I scanned down the list looking for Wise and was sad he wasn't there. But, it's Smash. The music will be great as always.

Not always so. Thought some of the Brawl arrangements were not done that well at all. But we shall see if the SSB4 arangements are good or not.

 

[Ryuutakeshi]

Well, music being what it is and the kinds of music they're using being what they are, I don't see why them being Japanese is a concern.

I'd love to get some Beethoven, Wagner, maybe even a little Schönberg or Songheim, but I can't have everything. Also two of them are dead.

 

[QuickRat]

This nationalist tears are pretty strange for me. I don't mind if they are Japanese, American or Southern New Welsh... I want just professionality and good music arrangements. Why it cannot be possible if everyone is Japanese?

 

[SmashShadow]

Needs more David Wise. Every soundtrack needs more David Wise...

 

[D-idara]

This nationalist tears are pretty strange for me. I don't mind if they are Japanese, American or Southern New Welsh... I want just professionality and good music arrangements. Why it cannot be possible if everyone is Japanese?

You do realize I'm not North-American and a good number of the composers I listed aren't even American? It just pisses me off that we're missing so many huge names of videogame music, thinking about Nintendo arrangements done by Wise or Kaufman...god, that would be amazing, or Zelda's more fairytale-esque tunes rearranged by the greatest fairytale composer ever, Christophe Heral.

Also, it can be possible with only Japanese people, but it would be much better if it wasn't because there are non-Japanese composers with super-iconic and unique music styles that would spice up the soundtrack even more, also, the Japanese rarely delve into things like Dubstep or Rap, that's why I'd like people like Richard Jacques to rectify the missing genres, just look at his dubstep-influenced work in All-Stars Racing Transformed, it's amazing.

This game should have EVERYTHING, that's my point, what I'd give for a medieval fairy fountain remix, or a sinister, eerie dubstep mix of Stone Tower Temple...

We already heard the Fairy Fountain remix on the Direct...and it sounds unmistakably Japanese...it doesn't sound amazing or epic...it's just Fairy Fountain.

The only hopeful thing I've heard is the Gerudo Valley remix being more like a fast techno with Eurobeat elements, and that sounds nice and unique.

 

[the8thark]

View attachment 22722

One day, my friends, one day...

Only if Richie Sambora comes back

 

[Tino]

Games made in Japan and their soundtracks are done by music composers from Japan. What do you expect?

 

[Aureola]

I really don't care where they're from. Actually, I don't really care who they are as long as the music is good. Is it really that big of a deal?

 

[cmbsfm]

Man, David Wise should compose for this game.

 

[TJ-Works]

I don't see composers for their ethnicity. I see them for their music. Like you should, I guess.

I think the real issue is why hasn't Sakurai branched out outside of Japan for composers? I'm not really sure that matters, as I'm sure Sakurai thought was "I need highly talented composers that I can reach within my region and who have short distance access. Do I have the contacts that meet that quota?"

I'm guessing he did, and boom. He has enough for an orchestra.

This is probably for the best. As long as the music is top notch in the final build, I don't care.

 

[Big-Cat]

I don't see what the issue is. As TJ-Works said,there were plenty of composers Sakurai could be in contact with easily. They just happened to be in Japan, where the game is made. It's also quite possible that it may be a convenience issue as Western composers would possibly have to fly over to Japan a good number of times.

 

[KaZe_DaRKWIND]

Not really. As long as it's good I could care less who makes it.

 

[TheFirstPoppyBro]

As long as the music is good (and trust me, with all my gushing over Full Steam Ahead), I don't really care.

Besides, we still might see some on the WiiU, but the thing here is that most of the musicians in the game do arrangements, like the musician for Wild Arms arranging Realm Overworld from Spirit Tracks. So unless David Wise did an arrangement of a TF track, or any other track for that matter, he probably won't be listed unless there's a Tropical Freeze music track completely unedited.

 

[ChikoLad]

I don't know why you would mention Micheal Jackson when:

1) He's dead, and therefore can't compose anything for the game.
2) He wasn't even credited in Sonic 3 (apparently by his request).

So why would he ever be credited in Smash Bros?

And seriously, why the heck would Falk be on board with Smash Bros?

Don't get me wrong, Falk makes amazing music, but he/she's not affiliated with SEGA, let alone Nintendo and Smash. They compose music for fan made Sonic games/mods, and that's it.

 

[Marakatu]

I'm bothered by lack of non-Japanese designers and programmers and testers. Danm people from Japan, they are all Japanese, how dare they?

 

[the8thark]

And seriously, why the heck would Falk be on board with Smash Bros?

His family (acting very uncool) would not allow it. His family had a likeness of MJ as a zombie removed from the original plants and zombies game. So more than likely him used in any game would not be good by them.

 

[FalKoopa]

I don't think their is anything left for me to say. While I do want David Wise on board, I don't really care about this as long as the music is good (which it is, and you probably agree too.)

 

[Frostwraith]

I'm bothered by lack of non-Japanese designers and programmers and testers. Danm people from Japan, they are all Japanese, how dare they?

This is sarcasm, right?

Anyway, everyone else here has made the same points I wanted to make here, besides we have very good composers here:
- ACE
- Motoi Sakuraba
- Yuzo Koshiro
- Mahito Yokota
- Ryo Nagamatsu
- Michiko Naruke
- Yasunori Mitsuda
- Shota Kageyama (his work on Pokémon Black/White and X/Y is fantastic)
- Yoko Shimomura
- Noriyuki Iwadare
- Hirokazu Tanaka

Just having those would be fantastic enough, let alone what we got. We have 40 composers for the 3DS version, which is two more than Brawl's 38 composers.

And it makes perfect sense for a game produced in Japan to have Japanese composers, much like how American-made games feature the work of American composers. It's easier to find talent and hire people from nearby place, after all.

Having David Wise would have been great, but he's British and flights from Europe to Japan aren't cheap and are quite tiring for the passengers. Hiring non-Japanese composers would be costly and not really worth it in the end, especially when there's already very good talent in Japan.

Also, I can't believe people are being serious about Michael Jackson when you know, he's dead. He can't really compose music anymore, now can he?

 

[Marakatu]

This is sarcasm, right?

Yes.
I don't mind the fact that Sakurai's co-workers are from the same country as him. My co-workers are from the same country as me.

 

[Superyoshiom]

No. All the characters, (with the exception of Diddy), came from Japan. All stages came from Japanese published games. It's not as if there's some western niche waiting to be filled in this game. While I wouldn't mind it, we really don't need non Japanese composers...

...Except for David Wise. He's an absolute legend. We need his beautiful compositions in this game.