Koichi Sugiyama – 1988 Developer Interview The first of these three Koichi Sugiyama interviews comes from an early edition of BEEP magazine and covers his personal history and approach to game music. The second interview with Satoshi Tajiri, while focusing more on Tajiri’s career, exposes a side of Sugiyama which has not often been appreciated… Continue reading Koichi Sugiyama – 1988 Developer Interview
Month: January 2022
Creating the 3DO – 1994 Developer Interview
Creating the 3DO – 1994 Developer Interview These 3DO interviews from the GSLA represent a kind of time capsule, taking you back to the eve of the next-gen hardware wars in 1994. I don’t usually translate material that is this “promotional” in nature, but in between the shilling and (now amusing) bravado are some interesting… Continue reading Creating the 3DO – 1994 Developer Interview
Forty Years of Sun Denshi: A Look at its Past and Future
40 Years of Sun Denshi: A Look at its Past and Future This detailed article (translated by Thomas James and generously donated to us by sharc) is excerpted from a lengthy biography written in commemoration of the 40th anniversary of Sun Denshi and originally published in The Mid-Japan Economist Journal in 2011. While it’s primarily focused… Continue reading Forty Years of Sun Denshi: A Look at its Past and Future
Zuntata – 2009 Composer Interview
Zuntata – 2009 Composer Interview This lengthy interview with Hisayoshi “OGR” Ogura and music team Zuntata was featured in the Darius Odyssey book published last year. It covers the history of the series, from the original arcade Darius to Dariusburst on the PSP. It was translated by rancor from shmupforums, who runs the Tokyo Shmups!… Continue reading Zuntata – 2009 Composer Interview
Zanac – 2015 Developer Interview
Zanac – 2015 Developer Interview In this lengthy 2015 interview, Compile alum Takayuki “Jemini” Hirono discusses the making of their popular vertical STG Zanac, a game that made waves with its use of dynamic auto-adjusting difficulty, relatively wide variety of weapons, and high-speed scrolling. Zanac also cemented Compile’s long and fruitful association with shooting games.… Continue reading Zanac – 2015 Developer Interview
Yukio Kaneoka – 1985 Developer Interview
Yukio Kaneoka – 1985 Developer Interview Yukio Kaneoka was one of Nintendo’s earliest sound engineers / composers, working at a time before those two jobs were separate. In the west he would be best recognized as the composer for most of Nintendo’s early hits, including Donkey Kong, Mario Bros., and Punch-Out!! In this short but… Continue reading Yukio Kaneoka – 1985 Developer Interview
Yukio Takahashi – 2007 Developer Interview
Yukio Takahashi – 2007 Developer Interview This interview was originally taken from the Game Shokunin book (a collection of developer and industry insider interviews published in 2007) and focuses on planner/designer Yukio Takahashi’s work at Namco. The majority of the conversation centers around the developments of arcade horror-shooter Baraduke and the singular horror-platformer Genpei Toumaden.… Continue reading Yukio Takahashi – 2007 Developer Interview
Yoshitaka Amano – 1987 Artist Interview
Yoshitaka Amano – 1987 Artist Interview Yoshitaka Amano is probably best known in the west for his work on Final Fantasy, Vampire Hunter D, and Mamoru Oshii’s animated film Tenshi no Tamago. The 1987 interview here is from Beep!, an early Japanese video game magazine. It doesn’t really go over his game work (unless you… Continue reading Yoshitaka Amano – 1987 Artist Interview
Yoshi’s Island – 1995 Developer Interview
Yoshi’s Island – 1995 Developer Interview This short-but-sweet interview with producer Shigeru Miyamoto provides some rare insight into the development of Yoshi’s Island. For some reason, this is the only Yoshi’s Island interview I’ve found; perhaps Nintendo’s tightly controlled PR decided it was best to leave some room for the soon-to-be-released N64. In any event,… Continue reading Yoshi’s Island – 1995 Developer Interview
Yoshio Kiya – 1987 Developer Interview
Yoshio Kiya – 1987 Developer Interview This short interview with the famous programmer/designer Yoshio Kiya of Nihon Falcom was first featured in the 11/87 issue of Beep Magazine. The interviewer goes one-by-one through his early games up to Sorcerian, which he was working on at the time. Although short, the interview contains many valuable insights… Continue reading Yoshio Kiya – 1987 Developer Interview