Hey all! For the second update this month, I went back and added the Michiru Yamane portion of the Curse of Darkness interview we translated last month. I've also added a small update to the Super Mario RPG interview collection, in the form of a short pre-release interview by Shigeru Miyamoto that@pidgezero_oneon X notified me about last month.
These Final Fantasy IX interviews were originally published in Hyper Playstation magazine, shortly before the game's release in July 2000. As pre-release interviews, they contained a good deal of promotional fluff, so I have slightly edited them down to capture the more substantive parts. The conversation is largely focused on Sakaguchi's big-picture vision for FFIX, with interesting design tidbits scattered throughout.
This is just the first "tranche" of FFIX interviews in our archive here--next time I'll add Hiroyuki Ito's FFIX Ultimania interview, so look for more in the future!
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 patron's suggestions. And as always, don't hesitate to ask questions about the interviews if you're curious about their content/length etc.
To vote, please take a look at the list here: http://shmuplations.com/patreonlist/ and leave a comment on this post letting me know what you'd like me to translate.
Hey all! The last few months have definitely been challenging, as I've had this back injury and the pregnancy/birth of our child to work around, but GSK helped pick up the slack and kept the ball rolling. With the resumption of voting this month, we're going to focus once more on patron requests (starting with the FF9 collection that's been requested for awhile now, fyi). To be honest, the first few weeks of childrearing have been super challenging: colic + no family here in Japan == very little sleep, hehe, so the output may remain at 1-2 translations for awhile yet. But it won't be a permanent thing. Thanks again for hanging in there with us!
This mammoth Persona 4 interview with director Katsura Hashino was originally featured in the Persona Club P4 book. Hashino covers the character design, story influences, and larger themes in great detail. Please note that about half of this interview was privately commissioned by koda, who gave her permission for it to be hosted here for all to enjoy.
Hey all! These two will do it for March, and I'll be holding another voting thread next week to get back on track with patron requests. The good news I alluded to last time has indeed come to pass: my daughter Isabelle was born earlier this month, a couple weeks early but otherwise very healthy. She's home with us now, and if you like, from here on out you can imagine all this translation work taking place between diaper changes, haha :)
Conducted in commemoration of Puyo Puyo's 25th anniversary, this Famitsu interview saw former Sonic Team boss Yuji Naka trading insider info with current series producer Mizuki Hosoyamada on the creation of Puyo Puyo Fever, the first mainline Puyo Puyo title developed by Sega after acquiring the series from original developer Compile, and their attempts to soft-reboot the series for new audiences.
Taken from Shogakukan's official strategy guide, this interview saw members of Nintendo and co-developer Pax Sofnica discussing the making of Nintendo's 1994 Donkey Kong revival for Game Boy, with the discussion covering the genesis of the project, scrapped characters and concepts, utilizing the Super Game Boy and much more.
Hi guys! Just the one interview this month, again courtesy of GSK--but early March we'll have two big Puyo Puyo Fever and Persona 4 interviews to share. I've mostly healed up and am starting to get back to work here in earnest, so next month should be the standard three interviews, followed by the resumption of patron voting in April. I will hopefully have some very good news of a personal nature to share then too. Thanks for your patience and support!
Hey all! We've got two interviews to share today. These were on the shorter side, so I've combined them into one update for the purposes of patreon. All the translations this month were done by our editor GSK--give him a shoutout on twitter! My back is starting to feel better again, but I'm still taking it real easy for the time being. Otherwise, I'm almost done with that big Persona 4 interview, and partially through a long-requested FFIX interview series, so hopefully those will be ready next month.
https://shmuplations.com/contrashinobi Originally published in a January issue of Famitsu, this discussion between Contra: Shattered Soldier director/producer Nobuya Nakazato and Shinobi (PS2) director Toru Shimizu saw them discussing their reactions to their respective games' reveals, the essence of "cool" in action games, presenting traditionally difficult games to modern audiences and more.
https://shmuplations.com/capcompartnership Taken from a 2000 issue of Arcadia magazine, this short interview with producer Tatsuya Minami outlines the motivation behind the Capcom Partnership Project, an initiative that saw Capcom partnering with various STG specialists to produce new arcade games, focused on their ageing CPSII hardware. Also included are brief comments from members of collaborators Takumi, Raizing & Psikyo.
Taken from Arcadia magazine, this 15th-anniversary roundtable discussion saw Tekken series steward Katsuhiro Harada and several prominent community members discussing their history with and memories of each title, from the 1994 original to the then-recent Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion. Their conversation touches upon the series' rocky rise, user feedback, play style between regional cliques and more.
I apologize for the delay with the voting thread this month. Unfortunately, I'm still having a lot of health issues with my back (sitting in the hospital waiting room for an MRI right now), which is going to diminish my translation output for the next few months. I'm going to skip the voting thread this cycle, but I'll probably still be able to get 1-2 translations out per month, and potentially more with the help of guest translators. I'll be aiming to resume normal voting in April.
New patrons, please use the older voting thread from Oct/Nov/Dec to add anything you'd like to see translated. I've got a few things nearly complete for later this January.
And just to reiterate (since I know it can be confusing), unlike many other patreon campaigns, shmuplations is a "per creation" campaign, meaning you only get charged when we actually put out something. Once again, I appreciate your patience and continued support as I try to get things "back" in order, hehe :)
This humorous Akira Sakuma interview from 2000 was originally sourced from the GSLA archive. Known in Japan for Momotaro Densetsu, an early Dragon Quest clone, and the train-themed board game Momotaro Dentetsu series, the discussion here highlights Sakuma's unusual entry into game development, his philosophy of RPG design, and the insights he brought over from his tenure at Shonen Jump magazine.
A (belated) Merry Christmas and (early) happy New Year's to everyone! I've got a third translation nearly done here, but I'm going to save it for January and call it for this month. I hope you're all enjoying the holiday season, and thank you once again for your patronage. This was one of the tougher years for me in terms of personal health and family matters (and I know I'm not alone there), so I say with all sincerity that the support and enthusiasm you've shown for this work has been a real anchor to me. Here's to 2024 and many more years of unearthing the exciting gaming history found in these interviews--we're just getting started!
This lengthy Star Fox Assault interview with producers Takaya Imamura and Tsuyoshi Kobayashi and directors Toshiyuki Nakanishi and Yutaka Yoshida was originally featured in Nintendo Dream magazine. A joint development between Namco and Nintendo, the conversation explores that relationship while also looking at the character design, the changes from Adventure, and the project's Battle Mode origins.
From December 1996 to April 1997, "bit" magazine published a series of articles titled "Arcade Game Technology", authored by Ikegami Tsuushinki programmer Hirohisa Komanome. The last article was an in-depth examination of the making of the original Donkey Kong arcade game. From design issues to the actual math function behind Mario's jump, it offers a close look at how Shigeru Miyamoto's original Popeye plans became the classic and beloved game we know today.
This unique piece of gaming history was commissioned by video game essayist Critical Kate, who worked with Hit Save and Gaming Alexandria to organize a one-off crowdfunding campaign for this translation. Thanks to their efforts, we can now offer it here for all to enjoy. Be sure to check out Critical Kate's video essay which explores and contextualizes the many revelations in this article; readers of shmuplations will likely also find much to enjoy in her other long-form vg history research found at her site, acriticalhit.com.
Hey guys! Wrapping up November with the second part of this mammoth Metal Max interview. This time the conversation revolves around the "lost" Metal Max games--MM3 for the PlayStation and Metal Max: Wild Eyes for the Dreamcast. Towards the end they also discuss the reason for having more mature writing/themes in Metal Max--be sure to check it out!
This lengthy Castlevania: Curse of Darkness interview with producer Koji Igarashi and director Takashi Takeda originally appeared in the official Konami strategy guide. It mostly explores the individual character designs, but Takeda also takes time to talk about the new free camera, the Innocent Devils, and the Stealing/Weapon Synthesis gameplay systems. Please note, there is a very long Michiru Yamane section to this interview which I omitted this time, but will also be translating soon!
This lengthy RE4 interview with producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi (who also worked as a programmer on the earlier games) was originally featured in Nintendo Dream. The main topic of discussion is the complete overhaul that RE4 underwent, transforming the game from survival horror to action shooter. While Kobayashi's comments are somewhat general, they help illuminate the shift from "RE 3.5" to RE4.
Happy belated Hallloween! Haha, I'd really hoped to get this one out in October, but with my back injury earlier in the month I just ran out of time. The good news is, I'm almost back to 100% and November should have a normal round of updates (some of the commissions I've done in the last couple months will also be hosted here soon). Thank you for your continuing support and don't forget to vote if you haven't yet!
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 patron's suggestions. And as always, don't hesitate to ask questions about the interviews if you're curious about their content/length etc.
To vote, please take a look at the list here: http://shmuplations.com/patreonlist/ and leave a comment on this post letting me know what you'd like me to translate.
hey all! Last month I spent a few intense days at the Diet Library and I've now finally catalogued and uploaded them. There are 66 new interviews, mainly from "The Playstation 2" and "Nintendo Dream" magazines, covering the years of 2001-2005 (so the GameCube, PS2, and DS era). If you have any questions about the content of any of these, feel free to ask in the comments here!
A little heads-up: I herniated a disc while weeding last week (yeah, probably the lamest way to injure yourself) so my output might be a little slow/diminished this month while I recover. I'm working on the long-awaited Resident Evil 4 interview for later this month, but other than that, it's all patron requests!
This Shadow of the Colossus interview originally appeared in the 10/05 edition of The Playstation 2 magazine. It sees producer Kenji Kaido and director Fumito Ueda expounding on the merits of their just-released epic, discussing the project's origins, the design philosophy of the colossi battles, and how it differs from their previous hit ICO. Keep your eyes peeled for an early reference to The Last Guardian, also!
That does it for September! I wanted to make a quick note, for those who voted on Resident Evil 4 this last cycle, that it will be coming next month. I found a longer, much better interview (from Nintendo Dream) in the course of my recent research at the Diet Library and decided to pivot to that. Sorry for the wait!
These two vintage Klonoa 2 interviews were originally featured in The Playstation and Namco Games magazines, shortly after the game's Japanese release in March 2001. Producer and director Tsuyoshi Kobayashi and art director Yoshihiko Arai discuss their approach to making a sequel, their design and development process, and new additions like the jump-assist feature and action buttons.
This Metal Max interview with creators Hiroshi Miyaoka and Tomoki Tauchi originally appeared in Roleplaying Gameside #1, a short-lived offshot of Shooting Gameside. The interview covers the pair's post-apocalyptic and sci-fi influences, how the series got started, and their favorite characters and scenes. Please note, this is only the first part of the interview: we'll publish the rest in the coming months!
Greetings everyone! Just a quick note: I only managed to get one interview out last month, thanks to a visit from the family, a brief illness, and the adoption of two (very rambunctious) new tortie kittens that are just now starting to let me sleep, haha. I also devoted some time in early August to collecting more interviews at the Diet Library, this time focusing entirely on the 2000-2006 era--and yes, that is a Nintendogs interview there, haha. It's several hundred pages to scan but I should have them ready for voting next cycle!
In any event, we'll be back on schedule this month with three interviews (and potentially a couple extra interviews that were private commissions). Thank you again for all the support!
This interview with famed Konami illustrator and designer Yoji Shinkawa first appeared in volume 4 of the Game Maestro book series. The thoughtful questions trace a path through Shinkawa's career, from catching Hideo Kojima's eye at Konami, doing touch-up work on Policenauts, the differences between mecha and normal character design, his latest efforts on Zone of Enders and the new (at the time) MGS2.
Apologies for the wait on this one--had family visiting earlier this month and am just now catching up with work. We'll have two more interviews by the end of the month, and I've also completed a recent 3-day stint at the Diet Library, this time focusing primarily on interviews from the ~2001-2006 era. I still need to categorize and sort through them, but they should be available for voting early next month.
This interview with the three Jumping Flash! 2 teams of MuuMuu, Exact, and Sony was originally featured in The Playstation magazine. In what appears to have been a very congenial development, the teams here discuss character design and their motivation in making JF!2. Overall it's a bit light on info, but consider this an appetizer to the longer JF interview we'll be publishing with Yukihito Morikawa in the near future!
This rollicking Donkey Kong Jungle Beat interview originally appeared in Nintendo Dream magazine, shortly after the 2004 E3 exhibition. The game was still in-development, so the discussion largely focuses on the response from players at E3, but the enthusiasm of legendary tag-team duo of Koizumi and Shimizu is hard to resist as they relate the origins of the project and other thoughts on controller design.
This Burning Ranger interview (actually a composite of two interviews) originally appeared in Saturn Fan magazine about six months prior to the game's release the following year. Led by producer Yuji Naka, the Sonic Team members engage in a light-hearted discussion about their design goals and inspirations. I've also added some commentary from the game's three composers, taken from the OST liner notes.
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 patron's suggestions. And as always, don't hesitate to ask questions about the interviews if you're curious about their content/length etc.
To vote, please take a look at the list here: http://shmuplations.com/patreonlist/ and leave a comment on this post letting me know what you'd like me to translate.
hey guys! I took a much-needed break in May and didn't get to as many patron requests as I'd hoped last cycle, but rest assured those votes are still on my radar (Burning Rangers and Resident Evil 4 got a lot of requests, for example, so those are in the pipeline). Otherwise it's business as usual--my main goal this time is to get the updates back on a regular cycle, so people aren't tasked with reading everything all at once.
This is an update to the Bahamut Lagoon interview--I've added a brand new interview with the entire staff, taken from Famitsu's Bahamut Lagoon Fanbook. Some of the lore questions at the end are very silly, but overall there's a lot more to read now about how it was made. Check out the unique dragon illustrations from famous JP illustrators that were commissioned for this fanbook, too.
That does it for us this month! My apologies again for the delay, and (as always) I am hoping to get back to a more regular, weekly update schedule next month. We'll also have a new voting thread next week, so stay tuned!
In the late 90s, the Japanese gaming magazine "The Playstation" ran a monthly feature on the workspaces of famous gaming devs. I've collected four of these here and translated the original editorial commentary (which include some remarks from the devs themselves). I've also left the images at their full-size so all the neat time-capsule details can be appreciated. I hope to post more of these in the future as we collect them!
Before the Yakuza series, Toshihiro Nagoshi was mostly known for his arcade work at Sega, and this hardware-centric discussion originally published in Game Hihyou magazine reflects that history. In addition to the N64 and Dreamcast controller design, Miyamoto and Nagoshi also talk about their favorite arcade games, their management styles, and their thoughts on networking and the future of gaming.
This colorful Dimahoo interview originally appeared in the Great Mahou Daisakusen OST liner notes. It features commentary from programmer Yuichi Toyama and designer Kenichi Yokoo, as well as composers Kenichi Koyano and Atsuhiro Motoyama. Toyama shares a number of fascinating ideas that ended up getting axed, while the composers talk about their general approach to the music and various technical challenges.
This vintage Silent Hill interview with director Keiichiro Toyama, designer Takayoshi Sato, and sound director Akira Yamaoka comes from the GSLA, a Japanese archive of interviews from older print sources. Although short, it contains several intriguing musings from Toyama on how realism and dreams informed the setting. Sato and Yamaoka also expound on this theme in the domains of CG and sound design, respectively.
Hey guys! This Silent Hill interview was unfortunately a little short, so I've added a Bloody Roar 2 interview (https://shmuplations.com/bloodyroar2/) I mentioned earlier this month.
