It’s been a relatively busy day for Nintendo news. The company’s holiday lineup just got a little substance with the announcement that a port of Pikmin 3 from the Wii U is heading to the Switch in October. Alongside that, they announced that in the latest Super Smash Bros. Ultimate update (version 8.1.0) players would gain access to a new stage, free of charge.
The new stage is titled “Small Battlefield” and is, as the name suggests, a smaller take on the popular Battlefield stage. A tweet from the game’s director Masahiro Sakurai stated that the regular Battlefield stage is too wide to play one-on-one and therefore “it is unsatisfactory” before confirming that “the stage will be adjusted to two scaffolds.” This is down from the usual three platforms on the regular Battlefield and six on Big Battlefield.
突然ですが『スマブラSP』に、”小戦場”を追加しました!
競技シーンでは主流の対戦である1on1をするには、戦場だとちと広い。終点だとちと物足りない。そんな見解から、足場を2枚に調整したステージになります。 pic.twitter.com/d9DIpNYwV9— 桜井 政博 (@Sora_Sakurai) August 5, 2020
The full patch notes for version 8.1.0, which is already live, can be seen below:
Stage
・ The Small Battlefield stage has been added. You can also set Small Battlefield as a Preferred Rule in Online battles.
・ You can now select any stage-specific music for the Battlefield, Small Battlefield, Big Battlefield, and Final Destination stages.Online
・ The online user experience has been adjusted.
・ The way matching is determined when using Preferred Rules has been adjusted.
・ Following a look at the current number of players eligible for Elite Smash, the threshold for entry has been recalculated to allow more players. Additionally, the way initial values for Global Smash Power are calculated has also been adjusted.General
・ Several issues have been fixed to improve gameplay experience.
The two biggest points for me, aside from the new stage, are the fact that players can now “select any stage-specific music for the Battlefield, Small Battlefield, Big Battlefield, and Final Destination stages.” and that “The online user experience has been adjusted.”
While there are no further details on the point about online experience, other than the fact it’s “been adjusted”, I’m sure I speak for everyone when I say that I hope some of the stability and latency issues have been improved. The notes do add that “Further investigations and adjustments to Online mode are expected”, which is definitely a good sign.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is available now on the Nintendo Switch alongside the Fighters Pass and Fighters Pass Vol. 2.
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