This short interview with Endless Shirafu, the doujin group behind Akashicverse, serves as a short companion to the longer game*spark interview. Although much of the same ground is covered in better detail there, some information found only here includes the origin of their group name and the Akashicverse title.
Category: Uncategorized
Akashicverse – 2013 Developer Interview
This lengthy interview with the young developers behind the new doujin STG Akashicverse appeared in 2013 in game*spark. It covers all aspects of the game, and is a great introduction to those curious about Akashicverse or doujin STG generally. In fact, the interviewer considers Akashicverse the crowning achievement of doujin STG of the last 10 years. The developers, Endless Shirafu, are all college-aged and display their love of the STG genre proudly.
Ai Cho Aniki Endings
These were done on shmupforums at the request of vgmuseum.com (and have since been coded into the PC Engine rom). I think the silliness speaks for itself… Also, if you like Cho Aniki, be sure to check out the short interview with Kouji Hayama, who composed the music for the first Cho Aniki game, among others.
After Burner II – Developer Interviews
These two Afterburner interviews are from 1988 and 1996, but I have compiled them (by subject matter) into a single interview. The three-man team of Yu Suzuki, Satoshi Mifune, and musician Hiroshi “Hiro” Kawaguchi discusses the cabinet design, stage design, and conclude with a series of humorous anecdotes about working at Sega AM2. Since Afterburner II is so similar to the first game, most of the interview is about After Burner generally rather than the sequel.
ADK Ninja Games – 1998 Developer Interview
In this collection of brief interviews, several members of the SNK-affiliated developer ADK (formerly Alpha Denshi) discuss the origins of the company and some of their most memorable Neo Geo works, including the fighting game World Heroes, the hardcore action-platformer Magician Lord and the first-person fantasy combat game Crossed Swords, with special focus given to ADK’s unabashed love of ninjas and their many ninja-laden titles, including Ninja Combat, Ninja Commando and Ninja Master’s.
Ace Attorney: Justice for All – 2002 Developer Interview
Long before it was re-released on the DS in the west, Ace Attorney (or Gyakuten Saiban) was a critical hit in Japan on the GBA. These two interviews go over the influences of the series and the differences between the first and second games. The second interview between Hideo Kojima and Shinji Mikami is more lighthearted, and features Kojima’s effusive praise for the series.
1994 Game Developers – Interview Collection
This collection of interviews first appeared in a Japanese book called “Introduction to Game Design,” published in 1994. Although featured as interviews, these are more like testimonials and are directed at aspiring young game developers in Japan. Each interviewee talks about how he got into the industry, his experience developing games, and what qualities he thinks a good developer should have.
59 Developers, 20 Questions – 1985 Interview Special
This fun little questionnaire was featured in the October 1985 edition of BEEP! magazine, an early video game publication in Japan. The fifty-nine (!) developers interviewed here all went on to have long careers at Namco, Capcom, Nintendo, Square, Enix, and elsewhere. It’s a charming time-capsule view of this period.
1986 Game Music Round Table Interview
interview with several early game music composers was first featured in the 6/86 issue of Beep Magazine. It features an extremely young Yoshiki Okamoto and Capcom’s early composer star, Ayako Mori (of Ghosts and Goblins fame). The phenomenon of game music was just starting to take off, and popular songs like the Mario theme feature in the discussion.
19XX – Developer Interviews and DevDiary
These interviews with the composers and developers of Capcom’s famous arcade shmup 19XX were sourced from the liner notes of the official ost and the secret file. The interviews include a track-by-track commentary for the stage bgm, as well as design details and anecdotes from the other programmers and planners. Finally, I’ve also included a funny development diary, full of the usual grumbling about crazy deadlines and crunch time.