I continue to spread important for the history of exclusive interviews from the "Land of the Games". Following the material of Yu Suzuki's you and interview with Hideaki Itsuno that we took during a visit to Capcom. I organized this story, and Natalia Odintsov and Eugene Zakirov go there. Text - Natalia, photo - Eugene.
Hideaki Itsuno, creator of Devil May Cry 3 and Devil May Cry 4, very rarely gives interviews. Once I asked him, saying why he remained in the shadows during the advertising campaign DMC 4, Hiroyuki Kobayashi producer until tirelessly traveled to foreign exhibitions, promoting novelty. "I am the director, my goal - to make the game - he said. - So when is the development of new items, I better all the time I will dedicate it. "
It sounds perfectly logical, but at the same time, few people, except, perhaps, avid fans of Devil May Cry, knows very Itsuno. He is now fashionable to say, not media persons - does not constantly comments on the state of affairs in the industry, does not lead a violent life on twitter example Hideki Camii. Many people do not realize what he was doing their favorite retro fighting games - Rival Schools, Capcom vs. SNK. But knowing how to "SR method" like Devil May Cry, Itsuno-san agreed to give us an interview, and we took the opportunity to ask him about his career, about Capcom and the characteristics of the Japanese game industry.
What games would you like to do when settled in Capcom?
I really wanted to do large-scale innovations with polygonal graphics, but then at Capcom have not yet done. The company engaged in the games for the arcade, it was a full-fledged releases, but with 2D-graphics.
Tell us about the first game you worked on.
It was a Quiz and Dragons, something like a quiz with RPG-elements. She came out in 1992 on the arcades, and its even translated into English and published in America. I worked with both versions.
Tell us more, then how to develop your career.
I took up the sequel to Quiz and Dragons, then worked on Street Fighter Alpha as a game designer. Then participated in the creation of the first 3D-games from Capcom, Plasma Sword (Star Gladiator at home). At the beginning of the development I was still an ordinary game designer (Japanese designation of positions - scheduler), but in the middle of the production cycle from project replaced the producer and I was promoted to lead game designer (main scheduler). All of what I just told you happened in my first year at Capcom. And in the second year I worked as the director of Rival Schools - from the beginning to the end.
How do you do Rival Schools?
Since Plasma Sword was the first game of the polygonal Capcom, we had to work very hard to ensure the image went with a stable frame rate and motion characters look convincing (as a result of the game was at 30 FPS). When we finished the job, I was not completely happy with the graphics and I thought for sure we can improve our results if we get a chance to make another 3D-game. But when we began to discuss who will be able to lead such a project, it turned out that I - the only suitable candidate. And I really wanted to make a full and 3D-novelty, which would be dealing with 60 FPS. And so I started Rival Schools.
When you did the concept of Rival Schools, have already been established Capcom fighting game-series like Street Fighter and Darkstalkers. Why the company wanted to launch a new IP?
Personally, I did not burn at first determined to make a fighting game that does not relate to an existing cycles. But the company decided that it's time to replenish our library of games that way. The team then engaged in a new Darkstalkers Darkstalkers, and in the case of Street Fighter has just completed work on the Street Fighter 3 and Street Fighter Alpha 2 (in all cases it is a question of fighting games arcade versions. - Comm. Ed.). And we began to think what could please the owners of home consoles. Was thought to make three-dimensional Street Fighter for these platforms, although it then we are not embodied in life.
How did you come to the idea of ​​Rival Schools?
As I said, when we first pondered the idea of ​​creating a three-dimensional Street Fighter. And at first we have to choose the place of action and a common theme, the leitmotif of what is happening. I thought, why would I want to do is write a design document and showed it to the rest of the colleagues in the R & D department. And they said, "No, you're that, in any case, is not necessary." When I began to write the concept again, I realized that I needed to change everything that people want to buy. Choose a theme that would resonate with the maximum number of people. And then I got the idea that almost all the time to stay schoolchildren. So school life - a topic close to many. In addition, I wanted to do something a bit more comedy, less serious in spirit than the traditional fighting games such as Street Fighter. And took shape concept: characters - students (or teachers), and they have to fight with other students.
Around this time, the programmer Rival Schools told me that he found a way to display on the screen three characters simultaneously. So the idea that we can make a team attack with three, rather than two characters. Like, students are no longer one-on-one fight, and unite in the face of danger.
Why do you not have to do a sequel soon after came the second Rival Schools?
The fact that I was simultaneously oversaw the creation of Capcom vs. SNK. First Rival Schools and the first Capcom vs. SNK made approximately the same time. And second portions did not happen, Capcom vs. SNK 2 took me a lot longer (than I expected). When work on the Rival Schools 2 was over, I was still busy Capcom vs. SNK 2. In addition, it was the heyday of Dreamcast and I both watched over the creation of 5-7 new products. And since this part of my work is so increased, I just could not do anything for Rival Schools. But right now, I most want to do just Rival Schools 3.
Once you have so much time engaged in fighting games, what it was like to switch to third-person action games (Devil May Cry)?
I engaged in Devil May Cry, because the employee, who then led the DMC 2, worked with me in the same department, and things in the project was not very good. We periodically talked about it and he complained: behold, they say, need help bad. I myself was writing a design document new RPG. Of course, to Dragon's Dogma was still far off, but I already have plans for RPG. And my boss heard complaints that colleagues and says, "Okay, you can do it, finish DMC 2 instead of him." And I just said, "Okay."
Then it was decided to distribute Capcom projects for game designers or you can choose what to do?
Then we were in the company of several R & D units. I was in a unit dealing with arcade games. I and my boss decided on a project to send someone. In the case of DMC 2, he instructed me to take up the game, but in the case of Capcom vs. SNK 2, for example, I volunteered. So it is usually the case, both options worked.
Xu Takumi once said in an interview that when he chooses the character design, it ensures that the characters were recognizable silhouettes. Do you pay attention to what?
Taught me everything Akiman (famous artist, drew a lot of Street Fighter. - Approx. Ed.), Explained how the design looks good. Basically, I pay attention to the same thing, and Xu Takumi, I look at silhouettes, etc. But there is another important point: I want to see these characters on which we can just say what they are. Ie that even a child could look at the picture and tell what kind of a character called the basic character traits. And in the game it is important that you understand at a glance that the character does. For example, if he raises his fist like this, of course, you guessed right, it's his attacker reception.
As Japanese studios distributed responsibilities between the producer and the director of the game?
I would like to emphasize that it all depends on the company and even the particular team, but in my experience, the producer - the one who has to sell the game, and the director - the one who creates it. So my responsibilities are divided into teams. And so it is very important that the producer and the director managed to find a common language to understand each other's position. If they are often in conflict, it's bad for business.
As Capcom changed over the 20 years since you settled in your company?
Has changed a lot, especially ideas about what games do. Twenty years ago, we focused on what we do games for the domestic market, and for those who already is a gamer. The change began in the era of PS one, then we started thinking about how to attract a new audience and motivate games even those who normally do not play. And since the beginning of the era of PlayStation 2, we have started to think that our game should be interesting not only Japanese but also foreign gamers to sell well. And now we have to think about how to make a game in which users would pay money optional (for additional content). So much has changed in the last 20 years.
If someone at Capcom wants to revive the old series like Rival Schools or Onimusha, what does he do? What steps?
A lot of effort must be applied to make something similar. We as a company have tried, for example, to produce remakes of old arcade hits in the lineup PlayStation Arcade, to assess whether there is now an interest in such things. In the past, there was a surge of interest in a fighting game, but we're at it we can not believe we need to assess whether there is now interest in fighting games. Because our industry is now so global, we have to take into account that will be sold in Japan, and that will be sold somewhere else, so that the revival of the old TV series - a gradual process.
How would you describe the current generation of young game designers - in comparison with you and others who started at the same time?
The biggest difference is probably due to the development of the Internet. In the years of my youth, people who are addicted to something, for example, fighting games or sporting events such as the K-1 (championship kickboxing), a really dug the earth to find something else on a favorite hobby. In the library went, looking for videos of them exchanged. And now you can drive a query into a search engine, and here's the photos, records, reports. Therefore, people are now passion - this is not the erstwhile passion.
To illustrate his point of view, I want to emphasize that before, so if you are interested in something, you do makes every effort to collect all available information, it is actively looking for. And now, many young people take the position: "Tell me everything I'm too lazy to exert." In the past, information had to get to work, and now her so much that she goes to the people and they already belong to her more relaxed. Like, what is missing, and no big deal.
Does Capcom tradition that more experienced game designers are taught to young people? I got the impression that the company is always a lot of talented people - if someone leaves, takes his place someone else.
Now young creators (directors) at Capcom are not so many. The youngest, it seems to me - Takeshi Yamazaki of the team Ace Attorney. When Xu Takumi wanted to move away from Ace Attorney and do something else, he passed the baton Yamazaki. Because he was the only one who could be trusted Takumi sequel. Previously experienced directors quickly becomes the producer, so young game designers, in turn, becomes the director sooner. So sometimes occurs in large companies like Capcom.
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I heard that Japanese companies have this problem: the larger the project, the more complicated the decision making process. And when the game employs a number of people, as is the case with Dragon's Dogma, for example (150 permanent employees and 150 temporary), very difficult to organize workflow. Is this true?
Yes, it's true. First, we wanted to make the team was divided into groups of ten, and each group had its own chief. Group size is due to the fact that 10 people easily sit so that each was in sight chief, and he could easily control the process, help people to improve results. But if you have 150 people working on a project, then they are followed by more than 15 people, and you need more people who would be governed by these fifteen. So that the whole system is not just difficult to manage, but also keep it very expensive.
How did you come up with the concept of "Pawns" for Dragon's Dogma?
In fact, the design document RPG, I was working at the time of Devil May Cry 2, and served as the basis for Dragon's Dogma. In those years, high-speed internet was not available, all access to the network with a modem and a full game online RPG could only dream of, because the connection was straining every chaAs two. I had an idea to make a game where you had to go online for a short while, only to download data of friends. And when the characters of friends appear in your copy of the game, there is the illusion that you play together. And this time influenced me: in the days of Capcom vs SNK 1 and 2, we have followed the talk of players in online chatrumah and seen people deliberately bully each other, it is very insulting to interlocutors addressed. I then thought that even a child is always talking to Keigo (polite style of speech in Japanese), let me respond to the usual Japanese. And in this case, communication still gets pretty awkward, so much more convenient if users will simply share data (characters), and play alone.
You mentioned in an interview with Famitsu, that of the original design Dragon's Dogma embodied in the game somewhere 60-70%. What had to be abandoned?
For example, right now you can only hire Pesek-people. But first I would like to include Pesek were those domestic pets, and animal-(here Itsuno shows an illustration of a giant ogropodobnym and cute furry animals). Unfortunately, the final version is not included. Another example, we worked on the option, which would allow a pawn to keep those cards dungeons, where they visited, and then give them to new owners. That is, your travel Pawn with another team, passed the dungeon (where you do not yet have) and then come back and give you a map. But in the end we had to abandon the chips into force dates Dates and monetary circumstances.
Games that require a connection to online to fully enjoy all the features, it is very dependent on the servers. If the publisher of their trips, new users will never see the game the way it was intended. In Dragon's Dogma, you can play offline, but still very fun to get online, hire someone's pawn. You did not think about that when added to the online Dragon's Dogma?
Generally we would like to add the ability to copy the pawns on the memory card or usb-stick, so you can burn your data to come home to each other, insert the card into his console and thus exchanged characters. Unfortunately, due to time constraints could not implement it.
How do you calculate the lifetime of the server when the game is under development?
I love old games (from the era of NES), so I had my way, the servers would work forever. But if you look at things realistically, it is necessary to lay at least a year of work (for online games), and then - to look at the circumstances. 5 years or so - this is the approximate life span for servers with good cards.
Rumor has it that the Japanese programmers to work hard with Western engines because all documentation in English. And so you have to hire foreigners that they have worked with these engines. This is true?
Of course, abroad do a lot of engines and the documentation is really mostly in English. But this does not mean that the Japanese can not read this documentation. Sometimes they have problems with spoken English, but they can read quite well and deal with the accompanying documentation for them is not a problem. In Capcom we rarely use western engines, because many of them are imprisoned under more FPS. They built a lot of "chips", imprisoned under such games, but not under the type of games that I'll want to do, and who want to produce Capom. Therefore, we have developed our own MT Framework engine with lots of options, it is useful in our games. In addition, we are very demanding on the engine, and if we decide to use someone else's engine, it is likely that our claims to it would be very high, perhaps too much, and fitting the engine for our needs would take a lot of time and money. So it is logical that we decided to invest in its own engine.
