Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Blinx Creator Talks Independent Development In Japan

Posted by simoniker on from the meeeeow dept.

Thanks to 1UP for its interview with Japanese game developer Naoto Ohshima, who "gained notoriety at Sega's Sonic Team for creating characters and playing integral roles in the development of games like Phantasy Star, Nights, and Sonic Adventure", and now "heads up developer Artoon." Ohshima discusses topics such as being a Japanese developer making Xbox titles (the Blinx series) for Microsoft ("I basically like challenges. If there's something hard or difficult to do, it's something that gets me excited"), how the Blinx sequel will differentiate itself from other Xbox games ("In Blinx 2, that's what I'm trying to do, to get the full range [from kids to adults], whereas when I look at Conker I think it's targeted at an adult -- a more hardcore audience"), and licensed games ("I look at that as almost a new genre of games -- these licensed games or movie games or whatever. When I see that they're selling well or that they are hits, it's really hard to evaluate whether or not it means it's a good game.")

2 of 11 comments (clear)

  1. Here's what I'd ask Ohshima... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Why did Pinobee suck shit? Honestly, man, why was it so awful?

    I tried that game just because you had worked on it. I loved NiGHTS, and I loved SonicCD (sometimes called "Ohshima's Sonic", opposed to the other "Naka's Sonic" games). But Pinobee... puh-leeze! That game was terrible, slow, boring, and god-awful UGLY. If it had been released for the Game Gear, I'd say it looked decent, but on the GBA it is crap.

    But anyway, you are a skilled artist (NiGHTS... best character design EVER!!!), so I wish you best of luck in your next projects.

  2. Re:Nintendo DS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    "I get the feeling that DS game designers are trying to fit games to the touch creen [sic], rather than designing a game that may end up using the touch screen."

    Clarify that statement, because from my interpretation of what you typed, playing games that are created using the former strategy (using the touch screen by design) sounds far more appealing to me as a gamer than the latter (using the touch screen only in happenstance).

    All new technologies introduced to a market by a single competitor are "gimmicks" until they become industry standard, or remain exclusive to one competitor's offerings, or simply fade away. Nintendo's track record of introducing such controller technologies is far better than anyone else ever in the business (which is to be expected from the folks who invented the D-pad, of all things), so I'm willing to give the DS a shot. In fact, I've pre-ordered one at GameCrazy. After all, Sony themselves are often the ones to validate Nintendo's controller introductions to console gaming (analog sticks, rumble, button layout), so I'm not sure that your statement wouldn't also be true for (say, as an example) the folks that did Ape Escape for Sony, where use of their new dual analog sticks was a major design influence. Ape Escape, of course, is extremely fun BECAUSE of this controller "gimmickry."