I want to start off by thanking you for responding to that email.

I also want to say I disagree with some emailers that said that it was Brawl that ruined the experience in the Smash series
(I think just last month or the month before that they said this).

I think the next Smash Bros. 4 will ruin the Smash series by a larger degree when it comes out/in development and here’s three reasons why:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Smash_Bros._4

1.  Wii U and 3DS connectivity resembles the GameCube and GBA connectivity (something I regretted buying when I was young; I grew up during the N64 days, admittedly, with an N64 and a Gameboy Pocket as starting consoles).
This might, or might not because it isn’t even in development yet, mean Nintendo would probably want to force players into getting both consoles just to play the full roster of characters or stages for each console.
The game content will be split in half with half the characters and stages be on one console and the other half on the other….like how developers never finish their games for the 360 and PS3 and rely on DLC instead to sell and finish their games.
Melee never had any GBA connectivity to begin with, which is why no Smash game existed on the GBA (or on any handheld until the 3DS) and was still successful without it.

2.  Masahiro Sakurai (creator of Smash Brothers and Kirby) wants to include “customization on the player.”
I have a strong feeling he’s referring to what’s being done in New Super Mario Bros. Mii and he would want to put that in Smash 4.
No gamer will want to play as themselves (Miis) in a fighter, they will want to play as Mario, Link, Zero Suit Samus, etc.
Sure, in Brawl you could customize your own stage, but it was entirely optional…and fun to do for a while I admit, but it was extremely limited.

3.  Here’s what really made me question Sakurai’s motives for Smash 4 and I’ll quote it:

He also commented on the possibility of including Capcom characters in this iteration of the series, saying that “I can’t say that it’s entirely out of the realm of possibility that some Capcom character could appear in the next Smash Bros. The big problem, though, comes from the idea of trying to get characters from a completely different universe to fit with the style that has been dictated by Nintendo’s characters in a fighting game.”

Is he talking “universe” from an “in-game universe” perspective or from a “difficult to program/license because it’s from a company (Capcom) who makes completely different fighters from ours” perspective?
If it’s the latter, I don’t understand how this could be the “big” problem as Sakurai did not have a problem with incorporating Solid Snake and Sonic in Brawl;
Nintendo did not have a problem with incorporating Link in the GC version Soul Calibur 2 or the Ridley stage in Dead or Alive: Dimensions for the 3DS;
and Capcom certainly didn’t have a problem creating Tatsunoko vs. Capcom for the Wii or Capcom vs. SNK 2 for the GC.
If he’s worried about Capcom wanting to cram as many fighters from their games into Smash, than a simpler solution would be to create a “Nintendo vs. Capcom” game
(and there are people who do want this to happen just as much as Operation Rainfall).  I thought Nintendo and Capcom got along with each other…or am I mistaken?

Anyway, based on the above, I believe those earlier emailers should think Brawl as a small crack on the windshield to the Smash series, and Smash 4 to be the one that will shatter the series to pieces for good.
However, I could be entirely mistaken and misled from this article as it is Wikipedia after all.

Sakurai still has the chance to cancel, or change, the game concept as it is not in development yet, but judging from the above it seems that even he is starting to slip over
(or slip even further because of Brawl) to the dark side of Nintendo to join Miyamoto, Iwata, and Anouma.

The best path for Smash Brothers is for it to focus on the fundamental gameplay. All this other stuff like ‘customization’, ‘story’, and such all seem like distractions. We just want good, solid fundamental gameplay that stays fresh no matter how much we play it. All these other things are ‘doodads’… they don’t matter.