shmuplations.com
@shmuplations.bsky.social
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80s/90s/00s japanese gamedev interviews | patreon:
http://patreon.com/shmuplations
pinned post!
We have some great new translations this month! First up, an interview with MuuMuu director Yukihito Morikawa from 2000, in which he talks about his background as a CG artist and the making of his pioneering AI game for the PS1, Ganbare Morikawa-kun (Pet in TV).
shmuplations.com/yukihitomori...
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Yukihito Morikawa β 2000 Developer Interview - shmuplations.com
This lengthy interview with Yukihito Morikawa discusses his early background, his past work as a CG artist, and his pioneering work on Ganbare Morikawa-kun.
https://shmuplations.com/yukihitomorikawa/
about 1 month ago
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shmuplations.com
John Learned
7 days ago
Holy shit.
@shmuplations.bsky.social
translated a massive thread of old tweets from Hideo Yoshizawa that goes deep into the NES Ninja Gaiden's development, including finally confirming the Castlevania influence
shmuplations.com/ninjagaiden/
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Ninja Gaiden β Developer Commentary (2023) - shmuplations.com
Taken from a string of social media posts shared in 2023, these comments from director Hideo Yoshizawa recount the making of Tecmo's classic side-scrolling action game, Ninja Gaiden.
https://shmuplations.com/ninjagaiden/
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Breath of Fire Fans / γγ¬γΉ γͺγ γγ‘γ€γ’γγ‘γ³
15 days ago
If you've never read these translated Breath of Fire III dev interviews by
@shmuplations.bsky.social
, you really owe it to yourself!
shmuplations.com/breathoffire...
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Breath of Fire III β 1997 Developer Interviews - shmuplations.com
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...
https://shmuplations.com/breathoffireiii/
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Mando
24 days ago
a long form researched article WITH COMMISSIONED ART in collaboration with shmuplations??? inject it directly into my veins
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Design Room
24 days ago
For the Shadow of the Colossus story, we interviewed 14 people including project leads Fumito Ueda and Kenji Kaido, hired Gravity Rush concept artist Takeshi Oga to illustrate the cover, and put together a 10,000-word story with help from
@milkman.bsky.social
@shmuplations.bsky.social
and others.
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Shadow of the Colossus: An oral history
Celebrate the 20th anniversary of Team Icoβs masterpiece by looking back with 11 people who worked on it (and three who didnβt).
https://www.designroom.site/shadow-of-the-colossus-oral-history/
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Captain Kabuki
25 days ago
Jumping Flash! fans rejoice! Another interview has appeared! Taken from Game Maestro Vol. 4, there's a lot of cool info from Mr. Morikawa's early career that really hasn't been discussed much around the English web.
shmuplations.com/yukihitomori...
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Yukihito Morikawa β 2000 Developer Interview - shmuplations.com
This lengthy interview with Yukihito Morikawa discusses his early background, his past work as a CG artist, and his pioneering work on Ganbare Morikawa-kun.
https://shmuplations.com/yukihitomorikawa/
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Oh, and I almost forgot, but we also added an extra message from producer Takahiro Kaneko to the Legend of Legaia interview from last month!
shmuplations.com/legaia/
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Legend of Legaia β 1998 Developer Interview - shmuplations.com
This in-depth Legend of Legaia interview originally appeared in The Playstation magazine and covers the story, battle, character design, and music.
https://shmuplations.com/legaia/
about 1 month ago
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Finally, we have a nice Final Fantasy III DS interview from the FFIII Official Complete Guidebook. The team discusses the revamped character designs, job system, and difficulty level, while also touching on aspects of the original Famicom development.
shmuplations.com/ff3ds/
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Final Fantasy III DS β 2006 Developer Interview - shmuplations.com
This lengthy Final Fantasy III roundtable interview originally appeared in the FFIII Official Complete Guidebook in 2006.
https://shmuplations.com/ff3ds/
about 1 month ago
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Next up, a long-running patron request, we have a Ghost in the Shell roundtable interview from 1997 with the Exact and SCE teams. This one focuses on the gameplay and origins of the project, which was actually initiated by Masamune Shirow himself!
shmuplations.com/ghostinthesh...
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Ghost in the Shell β 1997 Developer Interview - shmuplations.com
This Ghost in the Shell interview (actually a compilation of two interviews) originally appeared in The Playstation magazine in 1997.
https://shmuplations.com/ghostintheshell/
about 1 month ago
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We have some great new translations this month! First up, an interview with MuuMuu director Yukihito Morikawa from 2000, in which he talks about his background as a CG artist and the making of his pioneering AI game for the PS1, Ganbare Morikawa-kun (Pet in TV).
shmuplations.com/yukihitomori...
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Yukihito Morikawa β 2000 Developer Interview - shmuplations.com
This lengthy interview with Yukihito Morikawa discusses his early background, his past work as a CG artist, and his pioneering work on Ganbare Morikawa-kun.
https://shmuplations.com/yukihitomorikawa/
about 1 month ago
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shmuplations.com
Derek Yu
about 1 month ago
Interesting to note that GnG's director, Tokuro Fujiwara, has said that he came up with Red Arremer before Arthur when conceptualizing the series:
shmuplations.com/makaimura/
So it would make sense to return to Firebrand, in a "full circle" kind of way!
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shmuplations.com
Edward La Barbera
about 2 months ago
Hideo Kojima and Shinya Tsukamoto discussing their feelings on Tokyo are vibes, man.
shmuplations.com/kojimatsukam...
Brilliant translation by
@shmuplations.bsky.social
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shmuplations.com
Gold Skull Games
2 months ago
59 Game Developers in 1985 were asked 20 Questions in a questionnaire for Beep! magazine. The responses are cracking me up, you should check it out:
shmuplations.com/20questions1...
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59 Developers, 20 Questions β 1985 Interview Special - shmuplations.com
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 l...
https://shmuplations.com/20questions1985/
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the thing about having a 1.5yo daughter is you can't call in sick to play Silksong all day π
2 months ago
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And for more of our recent translations (from May to July), check out this excellent summary thread by our editor/translator GSK!
add a skeleton here at some point
2 months ago
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And finally, we have another update to our pinball interview series, this time with Data East Pinball employee Masaya Horiguchi. It's a nice glimpse into Japan's pinball scene and the challenges faced by Sega and Data East as video games overtook the market.
shmuplations.com/pinball/
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Japanese Pinball β Developer Interview Collection - shmuplations.com
Two short digital pinball developer interviews with SNES/Saturn developer KAZe and Satoshi Matsuoka, creator of the original Famicom Pinball.
https://shmuplations.com/pinball/
2 months ago
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Next up is a very special interview between Hideo Kojima and director Shinya Tsukamoto. I don't want to spoil the content but as a huge Tetsuo fan this was one of my favorites. If only that "Flying Tetsuo" collab Kojima jokes about had really come to pass...
shmuplations.com/kojimatsukam...
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Hideo Kojima x Shinya Tsukamoto (1999) - shmuplations.com
This special interview between then-rising star Hideo Kojima and horror auteur Shinya Tsukamoto originally appeared in Game Hihyou magazine.
https://shmuplations.com/kojimatsukamoto/
2 months ago
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First off we have a neat Legend of Legaia interview from 1998, covering the story/world design, the "fighting game" battle system, and the music. To the best of my knowledge, this is the only developer interview available for Legaia.
shmuplations.com/legaia/
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Legend of Legaia β 1998 Developer Interview - shmuplations.com
This in-depth Legend of Legaia interview originally appeared in The Playstation magazine and covers the story, battle, character design, and music.
https://shmuplations.com/legaia/
2 months ago
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greetings all! been a bit remiss in the monthly updates lately (toddler life), but we've got a fresh crop of great translations to share today!
2 months ago
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Erin!!
2 months ago
Holy shit this Shmupulations interview between Hideo Kojima and SHINYA TSUKAMOTO??? I'm blown away at them talking frankly about Bullet Ballet and MGS and The Matrix and gun violence and Alien 6, this is incredible stuff
shmuplations.com/kojimatsukam...
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Games From The Black Hole
2 months ago
If youβve been enjoying my Shining Force III blog posts then Shmupulations has a real treat for youβ¦ A lengthy 1998 interview now translated into English!
shmuplations.com/shiningforce...
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Shining Force III β 1998 Developer Interview - shmuplations.com
In this Shining Force III interview, the team discusses the motivation for making a trilogy, world design, and the connections between Shining the Holy Ark.
https://shmuplations.com/shiningforceiii/
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Teddy
3 months ago
shmuplations.com/archive/
every once in a while I stumble back onto shmuplations - it has such an awesome archive of interviews, if you're into retro gaming at all I really recommend going thru and seeing if there's any interviews about games you like
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archive - shmuplations.com
1986 Game Music Round Table Interview December 10, 2021 Capcom; Nichibutsu; SNK; Yoshiki Okamoto; Ayako Mori; Kenji Yoshida; Hiroshi Tsuji; Kasatoshi Yoshino; ASO; Gunsmoke; Super Mario Bros; 1986 199...
https://shmuplations.com/archive/
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shmuplations.com
4 months ago
An interview about Ikaruga, one of my favourite games ever. It covers the early prototyping stages, design influences, and more.
shmuplations.com/ikaruga/
Make sure to support
@shmuplations.bsky.social
, they do incredible work.
#gamedev
#retro
#shmup
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Ikaruga β 2001/2002 Developer Interviews - shmuplations.com
These two Ikaruga interviews (slightly edited to read as one) follow the evolution of Ikarugaβs design and gameplay. Iuchi also talks about its connection to Radiant Silvergun and Ikarugaβs reception ...
https://shmuplations.com/ikaruga/
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GSK | ALL CITY SLOP SHOP (ETA SOON)
4 months ago
(those "issues" being shipping virtually nothing in the last 2+yrs) Mecha Ritz is one of my fav doujin STG of the last decadeβicymi, dev HEY was interviewed by IGN Japan about the most recent revision, and you can read a translation here
shmuplations.com/mecharitz/
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Mecha Ritz: Steel Rondo β 2022 Interview - shmuplations.com
Originally published by IGN Japan, this interview sees developer HEY conversing with a STG veteran and a STG novice about the making of Mecha Ritz: Steel Rondo 2.0.
https://shmuplations.com/mecharitz/
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GSK | ALL CITY SLOP SHOP (ETA SOON)
4 months ago
catching up on
@shmuplations.bsky.social
updates from the last month or two⦠this interview with Sega's Akinori Nishiyama saw them answering user-submitted questions about Sonic Rush, covering their utilization of Nintendo DS hardware, the conception of Blaze & more
shmuplations.com/sonicrush/
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melos han-tani
5 months ago
Reading Mario sunshine interviews. This one is funny - Yeah it feels like going on a vacation...to HELL!!! Sunshine's interesting bc you feel the creators confronting a lot of what Mario means to them and player, the result being messy but quite interesting at times
shmuplations.com/mariosunshine/
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shmuplations.com
Classic Namco Daily
5 months ago
Born January 27th, 1956 in Shizuoka, Japan, Ohnogi Nobuyuki composed the music for many early Namco titles, starting with Rally-X's high score music, before moving onto bigger titles like Galaga and Mappy, the latter of which he actually designed the bonus stages of!
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Omg, what a relief. I was praying something like this might happen. The forced switch to monthly billing was really going to screw us (especially now that I'm juggling translation work and full-time childcare)
add a skeleton here at some point
6 months ago
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elizzyviolet
6 months ago
Been reading lots of old translated japanese game developer interviews on shmuplations (
shmuplations.com/archive/
), they have interviews with shmup developers but also with a lot of people who worked on stuff like kirby and ace attorney and the original armored core. Worth a read!
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And finally, we translated a short Seiken Densetsu interview with Koichi Ishii, conducted in 2005 to celebrate its 15th anniversary. Seiken fans will love this one as he touches on the themes of melancholy and sadness which defined the series from the very start.
shmuplations.com/seikendenset...
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Final Fantasy Adventure β 1991 Developer Messages - shmuplations.com
This short message from the developers of the Seiken Densetsu (known as Final Fantasy Adventure overseas) appeared in the liner notes of the Seiken Densetsu OST.
https://shmuplations.com/seikendensetsu/
6 months ago
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We also did a couple short pieces to round things out: here is a small Ape Escape 2 interview with director Naoto Ohta and designer Toshiyuki Yonekura. It's a quick read that mainly contrasts and explains the differences with the first game.
shmuplations.com/apeescape/
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Ape Escape 2 β 2002 Developer Interview - shmuplations.com
This fun Ape Escape 2 interview with director Naoto Ohta and designer Toshiyuki Yonekura was originally featured in The Playstation magazine.
https://shmuplations.com/apeescape/
6 months ago
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Next up, and my personal favorite of the month, is this series of "relay essays" from eight Sega developers in 1991. Featuring several Phantasy Star alums like Rieko Kodama, Toru Yoshida, and Toyonaka Ozaki, it's a very fun read with interesting tidbits throughout.
shmuplations.com/segarelay/
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Sega 1991 Developer βRelay Essaysβ - shmuplations.com
In 1991, Megadrive FAN magazine published a monthly feature on Sega history which included these charming "relay essays" by various Sega developers.
https://shmuplations.com/segarelay/
6 months ago
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Just uploaded our translations for April! First off, we have an in-depth interview with Yuji Naka from 2000, in which he discusses his otaku origins and the making of Girl's Garden, Phantasy Star, and Sonic.
shmuplations.com/yujinaka/
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Yuji Naka β 2000 Developer Interview - shmuplations.com
One of animator Yoshinori Kanada's famous scenes, the fire dragon from Genma Taisen (Harmageddon). Naka tweeted about his love for this scene in 2022, incidentally. βWow, you got to meet so many artis...
https://shmuplations.com/yujinaka/
6 months ago
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One of our more impressive and complete collections, all thanks to the patronage of
@aresarcadia.bsky.social
btw!
add a skeleton here at some point
6 months ago
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megmar
6 months ago
there is 0 chance they would ever say this about mario even 5 years later, a fascinating insight
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Knoebel
7 months ago
Square Enix, Sega, Taito and Capcom commit to "archiving past (game) development materials". "These materials are important for accurately documenting the history of Japanese games"
www.gamesindustry.biz/square-enix-...
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HokutoAndy π€π€β‘οΈ π¦Άπ
7 months ago
1997 Bushido Blade interview, motion capture suits! Idea began with "one hit win" "run freely into background", inspirations include surprises like "Knightly (western) code of chivalry" "Streets of Fire sledgehammer duel!"
shmuplations.com/bushidoblade/
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Finally, we have a vintage Street Fighter interview from 1987! The conversation includes comments on the character design, their inspirations, and the challenges of creating the unique pneumatic-button cabinet.
shmuplations.com/streetfighter/
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Street Fighter β 1987 Developer Interview - shmuplations.com
This vintage Street Fighter interview first appeared in Gamest magazine and offers a rare window into the origin of Capcom's famous fighting franchise.
https://shmuplations.com/streetfighter/
7 months ago
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Next, we have the second half of the long Mario Kart: Double Dash interview we published last month. This part focuses on the item and character design, with some enthused comments about the LAN features at the end.
shmuplations.com/doubledash/
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Mario Kart: Double Dash β 2003 Developer Interview - shmuplations.com
This lengthy Mario Kart: Double Dash interview with Tadashi Sugiyama, Shinya Takahashi and Kiyoshi Mizuki originally appeared in Nintendo Dream magazine.
https://shmuplations.com/doubledash/
7 months ago
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This week we have three new translations to share! First up, a Metal Slug 2 interview from 1998 with planners Akio Oyabu and Meeher. They discuss the differences between MS2 and the first game, as well as various aspects of the character and stage design.
shmuplations.com/metalslug2/
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Metal Slug 2 β 1998 Developer Interview - shmuplations.com
This lengthy Metal Slug 2 interview originally appeared in Gamest magazine and covers various aspects of its stage and character design.
https://shmuplations.com/metalslug2/
7 months ago
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Jer
7 months ago
Thank you for the heads up
@zeether.bsky.social
and thanks to
@shmuplations.bsky.social
for translating it! This is so funny. The creators of Gradius were inspired by the Lensman anime, but NOT its story... the way they drew plasma and lasers!
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8 months ago
Losing my mind learning about "After Burner Panic," an event held by Sega's sound team before the SST Band was formed that was apparently so terrible that Katsuhiro Hayashi started dancing to serve as entertainment The final song wouldn't even start correctly so they played Christmas music instead
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VGDensetsu
8 months ago
Gentle reminder: My work on VGDensetsu, the database, the articles, all the research I do and everything I post here is the equivalent of a full-time job in terms of working hours. You can support me via Patreon or Ko-fi or simply by sharing my work.
www.patreon.com/c/vgdensetsu
ko-fi.com/vgdensetsu
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Get more from VGDensetsu on Patreon
creating a database and writing articles
https://www.patreon.com/c/vgdensetsu
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PandaMonium
8 months ago
The Takenobu Mitsuyoshi interview is now online! A sincere thank you to Mitsuyoshi-san for agreeing to speak with me, to SamIAm for facilitating the conversation and translating the interview, to Korimaru for connecting me with SEGA, and Burntends for connecting me with Kori.
youtu.be/fQoZG4DgJSM
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boocanan | commissions open
8 months ago
THIS WHOLE GODDAMN TIME
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Autumnal Dryad
8 months ago
"Enjoyable to anti-Sonic people." Oddly, that was me. I disliked the Genesis Sonic games as a teen cuz I would get lost or they'd slow you down a lot in odd places... but I LOVED Sonic Adventure 1! Everything just felt so epic!
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For anyone curious about our output last year (we continued to publish at a slightly reduced pace), our editor/translator GSK did a detailed write-up that you can read here!
add a skeleton here at some point
8 months ago
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And finally, a long-awaited patron request, we have two pinball-themed developer interviews: from KAZe (the developer of several digital pinball titles on the Saturn/SFC) and Satoshi Matsuoka, the HAL Laboratory programmer who created the original Famicom Pinball.
shmuplations.com/pinball/
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Japanese Pinball β Developer Interview Collection - shmuplations.com
Two short digital pinball developer interviews with SNES/Saturn developer KAZe and Satoshi Matsuoka, creator of the original Famicom Pinball.
https://shmuplations.com/pinball/
8 months ago
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Next we have a lengthy Mario Kart: Double Dash interview from 2003, with Tadashi Sugiyama, Shinya Takahashi, and Kiyoshi Mizuki. After some brief introductions, they discuss course design, the differences between DD and MK64, and more. We'll be publishing part 2 soon!
shmuplations.com/doubledash/
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Mario Kart: Double Dash β 2003 Developer Interview - shmuplations.com
This lengthy Mario Kart: Double Dash interview with Tadashi Sugiyama, Shinya Takahashi and Kiyoshi Mizuki originally appeared in Nintendo Dream magazine.
https://shmuplations.com/doubledash/
8 months ago
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