As Nintendo fans will no doubt know, Masahiro Sakurai has been taking a well-deserved rest after capping off his involvement with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Well, here’s a peek into how things have been going for Sakurai so far!

In a recent interview with Denfaminicogamer, the Super Smash Bros. series creator shared more about what he has been doing since working on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – before adding that he also considered himself to be semi-retired now. Specifically, he dived into the process behind his ongoing YouTube video series about game development – including the folks that he has been collaborating with to make their videos possible.

Here are some select excerpts from the interview below (translations courtesy of PushDustin):

6. Of course Sakurai makes mistakes while filming, but his policy is to keep filming and keep trying until he has a good collection of takes. He removes the takes and sends it to an editor. He also records his own gameplay if it fits the topic.

— Will (PushDustIn) (@PushDustIn) December 27, 2022

8. In end, the actual gameplay recording is probably a 50/50 split between Sakurai and Qbist. The video production is supervised by Sakurai as he works on filming new videos. When the videos are nearly finished they are given to 8-4 for translation.

— Will (PushDustIn) (@PushDustIn) December 27, 2022

10. For the production of the videos, the communication is all done via email. On average, each video will include 8-9 emails exchanged. Things don't always go so smoothly, and Sakurai wishes he could change some things in some of the videos he's already produced.

— Will (PushDustIn) (@PushDustIn) December 27, 2022

12. He does his recording often at night because the sound of traffic is too much during the day. Sometimes he will have to redo a section because of an ambulance or a car.

— Will (PushDustIn) (@PushDustIn) December 27, 2022

14. Sakurai confirms that he is semi-retired. He is 52 after all. When Smash for 3DS / Wii U and Ultimate he spent 9 years in active development. Sakurai felt that if he is just continuously making games full time, his life will be over before he realizes it.

— Will (PushDustIn) (@PushDustIn) December 27, 2022

At the very least, it looks like Sakurai is really enjoying his new endeavors on YouTube! We’ll report back if we hear more in the future!