Greetings to all patrons new and old. It's time again to offer suggestions and feedback re: what you'd like to see translated in the next few months. I'll still be referring to the previous voting posts, but it's never a bad idea to post again what you'd like to see translated. Also, if multiple people suggest the same interview, it's more likely to get translated, so feel free to second other people's suggestions. And as always, don't hesitate to ask questions about the interviews if y...
2021-10-08 08:01:27 +0000 UTC
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http://shmuplations.com/skiesofarcadia/
Last year, we published a huge cache of Skies of Arcadia developer interviews which were commissioned by a very generous individual, who then gave his permission for them to be shared with everyone on shmuplations. You may recall that this was only the first batch; well, just in time for Skies of Arcadia's 21st anniversary, here is the remaining second half! ...
2021-10-05 14:09:29 +0000 UTC
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http://shmuplations.com/timecrisis/
http://shmuplations.com/shortcuts/
For our final update this month, I've got three interviews to share. The main one is for Namco's seminal lightgun shooter Time Crisis, but because it ended up being a little shorter than expected, I went and translated two additional small interviews (for Cool Boar...
2021-09-30 12:46:10 +0000 UTC
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http://shmuplations.com/marvelvscapcom2/
Originally printed in the March 2000 issue of Arcadia, this interview with director Tatsuya Nakae and producer Yoshihiro Sudo covers the making of Marvel vs. Capcom 2, the final 2D iteration of Capcom’s beloved series of crossover fighting games whose over-the-top “hyper” game systems, tag-team mechanics and detailed renditions of popular and obscure Marvel an...
2021-09-30 12:40:16 +0000 UTC
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http://shmuplations.com/goldensun/
This 2001 interview with Nintendo Dream magazine saw Camelot Software Planning co-founders Hiroyuki and Shugo Takahashi discussing the creation of Golden Sun, a Nintendo-published RPG for the Game Boy Advance whose unique “psynergy” system and cutting-edge visuals drew great acclaim from players and critics alike. In the interview, the Takahashi brothers cover, among other ...
2021-09-23 11:25:13 +0000 UTC
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http://shmuplations.com/summerofsfii/
This Street Fighter II developer interview originally appeared in vol. 62 of Gamest, about six months after the initial arcade release. By that time, Street Fighter was exploding in popularity in both Japan and abroad, and the nascent fighting game scene was starting to find its footing. This interview focuses on that early community aspect more than development secrets (...
2021-08-31 00:14:30 +0000 UTC
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http://shmuplations.com/bangaio/
Originally published in the Japanese Dreamcast Magazine, this 1999 interview saw Treasure alums Mitsuru “Yaiman” Yaida and Koichi “Kafuichi” Kimura discussing the conception and development of the frenetic side-view omnidirectional 2D shooting game Bakuretsu Muteki Bangai-O, with a particular focus given to the game’s deliberately classic and unadorned game design, as wel...
2021-08-30 13:11:07 +0000 UTC
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http://shmuplations.com/ffx/
This assortment of Final Fantasy X developer interviews originally appeared in a special edition of V-Jump magazine in 2001. These interviews mainly cover on the art and design side of FFX, with a special focus on the novel south asian aesthetic and the new opportunities presented by the PS2 hardware and voice acting. I’ve also included a selection of concept art with accompanying commen...
2021-08-24 12:35:01 +0000 UTC
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http://shmuplations.com/hellsinker/
This in-depth Hellsinker interview first appeared on jp.ign in 2019. Befitting the notorious complexity of Hellsinker, it’s one of the more high-level and abstract conversations featured here on shmuplations. Creator Tonnor has a very “meta” way of analyzing the STG genre and Hellsinker’s design choices which makes for a fascinating, if not occasionally inscrutable di...
2021-08-19 13:36:48 +0000 UTC
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http://shmuplations.com/mtj/
This 1989 feature, originally published in Gamest magazine, is part 3 of a 12 part series covering various aspects of console and arcade game design. We published part 5 (a three-person interview) earlier this year; this section focuses on enemy behavior algorithms, how to measure player improvement, and many other subtle points of game design. Filled with gems of wisdom that still hold tr...
2021-07-31 02:26:31 +0000 UTC
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http://shmuplations.com/persona2/
This pre-release Persona 2: Innocent Sin interview originally appeared in The Playstation magazine in 1999. Although fairly short as far as developer interviews go, it’s got lots of good info about Kaneko’s monster and character designs, story themes, and changes and improvements from the previous game.
...aaaand since this interview turned out to be a bi...
2021-07-28 23:23:06 +0000 UTC
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http://shmuplations.com/metalgearsolid/
This Metal Gear Solid interview with director Hideo Kojima and designer Yoji Shinkawa originally appeared in The Playstation magazine in 1998. The candid conversation largely focuses around Shinkawa’s work, including how he was hired at Konami and the designs for the mechs and characters of Metal Gear Solid.
[[Note: This is the "De...
2021-07-22 11:32:02 +0000 UTC
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Greetings to all patrons new and old. It's time again to offer suggestions and feedback re: what you'd like to see translated in the next few months. I'll still be referring to the previous voting posts, but it's never a bad idea to post again what you'd like to see translated. Also, if multiple people suggest the same interview, it's more likely to get translated, so feel free to second other people's suggestions. And as always, don't hesitate to ask questions about the interviews if y...
2021-07-06 04:57:15 +0000 UTC
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http://shmuplations.com/lennus/
These rare Lennus developer interviews were originally featured in The Super Famicom magazine and the official guidebook. Clumsily localized as “Paladin’s Quest” in the West, Lennus is mostly remembered today for its striking visual aesthetic, owed in large part to illustrators Hiroyuki Katou and Keisuke Gotou.
Director and writer Hidenori Shibao sadly passed away in 201...
2021-06-30 04:23:40 +0000 UTC
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http://shmuplations.com/egg/
This lengthy developer interview for Dreamcast cult-classic Elemental Gimmick Gear was originally featured in the official Japanese E.G.G. Complete Guide. E.G.G. was a joint development between Birthday and Hudson, and it is the Birthday staff featured here discussing the inspiration, design, and unique mecha models created for the game. The team’s affection for the character is on full-...
2021-06-17 11:28:58 +0000 UTC
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http://shmuplations.com/irem/
In 1989 renowned Gamest editor Zenji Ishii ran a large special feature on Irem, of which these two developers interviews were a part. The first is a roundtable interview with several Irem planners, mostly focusing on their planning process and including some interesting design notes about Ninja Spirit and Image Fight. The second half is a candid chat with then-President Yoshiyuki Takashi...
2021-06-08 10:25:10 +0000 UTC
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http://shmuplations.com/shiningforceii2/
This candid Shining Force II roundtable interview, conducted only a couple weeks after the game’s release, originally appeared in the Megadrive Fan Attack Special book. The team discusses the challenging (and lengthy) development schedule which overlapped with the Gaiden games, the improvements to the battle AI, story and thematic ideas, and other behind-the-scene...
2021-05-30 13:21:10 +0000 UTC
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http://shmuplations.com/capcomdesignroom1995/
Originally published in the 1995 Capcom Illustrations mook by Gamest, this roundtable interview chronicles the formation, purview and early processes of Capcom’s design room, an internal department dedicated to illustration and visual design and the incubator for Capcom’s most talented illustrators, both then and now.
Additionally, this intervie...
2021-05-28 11:35:27 +0000 UTC
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http://shmuplations.com/koeihistory/
This unique interview featuring Koei’s historical strategy/simulation games was originally published in the May 1988 edition of BEEP! magazine. Instead of the usual developers, Koei chose to send two senior PR/sales representatives to talk about their games; it was still common then for companies to hide the identities of their programmers for fear of poaching. Surprising...
2021-04-29 13:00:18 +0000 UTC
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http://shmuplations.com/yukiotakahashi/
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.
2021-04-29 12:56:01 +0000 UTC
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http://shmuplations.com/harmony/
Often considered the “black sheep” of the Castlevania GBA series, this Harmony of Dissonance interview with director Takashi Takeda and producer Koji Igarashi was originally featured in the Japanese NTT-PUB strategy guide and covers the game’s design and conception.
Though much of the conversation is rather broad (surprisingly so for a strategy guide interview), readers...
2021-04-19 11:33:56 +0000 UTC
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Greetings to all patrons new and old. It's time again to offer suggestions and feedback re: what you'd like to see translated in the next few months. I'll still be referring to the previous voting posts, but it's never a bad idea to post again what you'd like to see translated. Also, if multiple people suggest the same interview, it's more likely to get translated, so feel free to second other people's suggestions. And as always, don't hesitate to ask questions about the interviews if y...
2021-04-05 10:53:27 +0000 UTC
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http://shmuplations.com/bluestinger/
In this 1998 pre-release interview for Dreamcast launch title Blue Stinger, Climax Graphics president and designer Shinya Nishigaki shares how the project got started, thoughts about genre, and his approach to level and world design. I’ve also added composer Toshihiko Sahashi’s commentary from the Blue Stinger OST.
Being a pre-release interview, the commentary he...
2021-03-31 06:57:05 +0000 UTC
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http://shmuplations.com/starfoxadventures/
Taken from the 11/21/2002 issue of Nintendo Dream, this lengthy interview with long-time Star Fox series steward and character designer Takaya Imamura covers his early works at Nintendo, the conception of the Star Fox series, the backstories behind many of its characters and his recent forays into external collaboration, with a particular focus on his work mergi...
2021-03-29 12:14:39 +0000 UTC
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http://shmuplations.com/fantasyzone2/
The first of these Fantasy Zone interviews from 2002 looks back at the making of the popular Mark III port, made by prolific console port director Mutsuhiro “Mucchan” Fujii. The second, from 1997, catches up with the original arcade team after the release of the Sega Ages port of Fantasy Zone. It offers some additional insight (as well as precious concept art with dev...
2021-03-23 12:24:39 +0000 UTC
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http://shmuplations.com/kenjiterada/
Kenji Terada was a writer who, in addition to his extensive work in various 1980s anime series, also wrote the stories for Square’s first three Final Fantasy games, Dark Wizard, and Meremanoid, among others. This first interview is a candid chat with Namco luminary Masanobu Endou from 1988, just before the release of FFII. I’ve also added a shorter FFII interview with T...
2021-02-28 03:26:14 +0000 UTC
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http://shmuplations.com/akiman/
In this 2000 interview from Game Maestro volume 4, legendary artist and designer Akira “Akiman” Yasuda reflects on his origins as a developer, his early days at Capcom and his work on massively popular and genre-defining titles including Final Fight and Street Fighter II, with a particular emphasis on his awakening to the essence of game design growth from mere “dotter” to fu...
2021-02-25 14:44:11 +0000 UTC
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http://shmuplations.com/vampiresavior/
These two interviews chronicle the development of Vampire Savior (aka Darkstalkers 3), the third and most enduring entry in Capcom’s influential monster-themed fighting game series. While it introduced many well-received game systems and the popular new characters Jedah, Lilith, B.B.Hood and Q-Bee, Vampire Savior remains the last substantial Darkstalkers game.
2021-02-24 09:23:19 +0000 UTC
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http://shmuplations.com/breathoffireiii/
These two Breath of Fire III interviews originally appeared in The PlayStation magazine just prior to the games release in September 1997. Although five members of the team are listed, the majority of the interview is centered around director Makoto Ikehara, who had been involved as a planner since the first game, and would go on the direct the next two sequels as w...
2021-01-31 08:18:12 +0000 UTC
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http://shmuplations.com/futureofrpgs/
In this 1992 feature, originally printed in The Super Famicom magazine, four prominent game designers — venerated Nintendo producer Shigeru Miyamoto, Chunsoft’s Kouichi Nakamura, Sonic! / Camelot Software Planning’s Hiroyuki Takahashi and Red Entertainment affiliate Ouji Hiroi — discuss the contemporary state of RPGs, their expectations for the future of the genre...
2021-01-27 11:50:42 +0000 UTC
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