Author: shmuplations

Athena – 1993 Developer Interview

This short interview from Gal’s Island 2 (a Gamest mook series from the early 90s that focused on female game characters) covers the creation and character design of Athena. Although never very popular in the US, as an early “game character” Athena had a certain cult following in Japan, and continued to be used in SNK’s fighting games. I’ve also added a very short commentary from the developers of Psycho Soldier, the 1987 “sequel” to Athena. It’s mainly just them griping about devhell.

Assault Suits Valken – 1993 Developer Interviews

This is a collection of two short Assault Suits Valken interviews: the first from the 10/92 issue of Hippon Super, and the second from the 5/93 issue of Famicon Tsuushin. They make a nice companion to the other Valken interview hosted at shmuplations. I’ve also added the liner notes of composer Masanao Akahori, a translation of the official Assault Suits “technical readout,” and a selection of concept art.

Art of Fighting 2 – 1994 Developer Interview

This short Art of Fighting 2 interview appeared in a special issue of Gamest in May 1994. Although the interview text is regrettably quite short, it does contain a nice collection of concept art showing early alternate character designs, which I’ve appended to the end of the interview. There is also a short interview for the first Art of Fighting about King and Yuri which we’ve translated here.

Artdink Corp. – Developer Interviews

Founded in 1986 and still active today, Artdink is a Japanese pc/console developer famous (in Japan, at least) for their simulation games. The first of these two interviews touches on the origins of Artdink and the A-train games. The second is an unusual interview for shmuplations in that it is focuses on the advertising and public relations side of the game industry. Perhaps more interesting than any particular revelations about Artdink are the comments about empty game “journalism,” which now seem keenly prescient.

Animal Crossing – Developer Interviews

Animal Crossing – Developer Interviews These two Dōbutsu no Mori (Animal Crossing) interviews from 2003 and 2001 were both sourced form the old Nintendo Online Monthly website. The first interview explore the origins of the series and the guiding theme of “communication”, while the second focuses on Animal Crossing’s innovative use of music and sound;… Continue reading Animal Crossing – Developer Interviews

Alundra – 1997 Developer Interview

These two interviews from the late 90s discuss the genesis and development of Matrix Software’s much-beloved Playstation action-RPG Alundra and its sequel, Alundra 2. While the sequel turned out to be the less memorable game, it is interesting to note the design continuity discussed by the developers, particularly in terms of difficulty and gameplay that rewards players with a sense of accomplishment.

Alisia Dragoon – 1992 Developer Interview

This small Alisia Dragoon interview originally appeared in BEEP Megadrive and features staff members from both Gainax and Game Arts. It presents a very different picture from the Game Arts which would later be known for the Grandia series; in many ways, it was the last hurrah for the development of Game Arts’ first action series, Thexder (note the involvement of Thexder/Fire Hawk co-creator Satoshi Uesaka).

Alien Soldier – 1995 Developer Interview

This is a very short interview with programmer, artist, and director Hideyuki Suginami, in which he lyrically expounds on his love for Alien Soldier. It was originally found at the now-defunct GSLA archive. I have also added two Alien Soldier related excerpts from a couple longer Masato Maegawa interviews, and some artwork from a design contest Treasure ran in BEEP Megadrive magazine.