Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword interview
Tomonobu Itagaki werd geïnterviewd over de Ninja Gaiden DS game.
Tomonobu Itagaki mag best trots op zichzelf zijn met de Ninja Gaiden reeks, want er zijn inmiddels al meerdere delen verschenen die elk best goed te noemen zijn. En hoewel meneer Itagaki het naar zijn zin heeft op de consoles, gaat hij nu ook een Ninja Gaiden uitbrengen voor de DS: Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword. Vandaag heeft GameSpy hun interview met Tomonobu Itagaki over Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword gepubliceerd en wij posten hem hieronder voor je:
GameSpy: Can you tell us what your goals were when designing Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword?
Tomonobu Itagaki: First of all, videogames and computer games in the past have been played using controls like the keyboard and mouse. Of course, I'm good at making games in the traditional fashion as well, but when I look at the DS, it's got a very unique interface where you're able to interact directly with objects on the screen. To make a slightly exaggerated analogy, it would be like if traditional game control methods were like MS-DOS, then the DS would be like a GUI-based operating system like Windows or Mac OS. I felt that there was that big of a paradigm shift when working on this hardware.
So basically the difference is whether your interface is procedure-oriented or object-oriented. When I first saw what the DS hardware was capable of, I thought if we made an object-oriented game, it would enable people to interact more directly with what's happening on the screen, and make a game that's more intuitive in that someone without prior knowledge of how controllers or keyboards and things like that work would still be able to interact directly, and be able to control that game.
I know that some fans have said that if you're going to do a portable version of a fast-paced action game like Ninja Gaiden, why not make it for the PSP, which is ostensibly more powerful hardware. But, you see, the thing about the PSP is it's still essentially the same type of design as a console. It's still procedure-oriented. If I was going to make a game for that, I might as well make another one for the 360, or something like that, because it's not essentially changing the paradigm that you push a button and something happens, you move a stick and something happens. What I really wanted to do was take advantage of the unique design that the DS hardware offers.
GameSpy: The DS, as you mentioned, isn't the most powerful system compared to the PSP. Do you enjoy the challenge of pushing a system's limits?
Tomonobu Itagaki: It is challenging, but I was a graphics programmer back in the Super Nintendo days, so there are certain elements of this that I find almost nostalgic. Plus, obviously it's more powerful hardware than the Super NES. I mean, they do have 3D capabilities, so it's been interesting going in and seeing what kind of techniques, both new and old, we can use to make the most of the hardware.
We had a programmer on our team who had only worked on Xbox in the past, and I put him on the DS team specifically because I wanted to show him that working on hardware that has certain limitations can really help you hone your skills in writing optimized programming. He took that challenge in stride and was really enjoying working on the project.
GameSpy: Do you feel, from a gameplay standpoint, that there are certain advantages to stylus-driven control versus buttons and direction pads?
Tomonobu Itagaki: Yeah, I mean certainly the speed at which a player is able to transmit his thoughts and will to the game is much faster this way. If you wanted to play a game like this with a setup that was procedurally-oriented, using something like a wired controller, it wouldn't work. If you were trying to, say, throw shurikens at three targets in the background while at the same time slashing the guy next to you, and then hitting him up and attacking him in the air... if you wanted to do all that once on an existing console with a standard control scheme, you just wouldn't be able to.
So as a result, I think it's interesting to note that the gameplay in Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword is much more speedy and much more direct than any Ninja Gaiden game in the past.
GameSpy: What was your strategy when planning out the different move sets for Ryu Hayabusa in Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword?
Tomonobu Itagaki: Because the screen is so small, we need his animations to be kind of big and dynamic, so that you can tell what's going on, so that was something we certainly focused on. Also, unlike previous games in the series, this is something that I want kids to play as well as adults, so I wanted to include as many cool and flashy moves as possible.
GameSpy: To what do you attribute your team's ability to get so much action and graphic fidelity out of the Nintendo DS? It looks a whole lot better than anything else we've seen.
Tomonobu Itagaki: I think it's because we're familiar with high-end hardware as well. We also have veterans who are familiar with programming techniques from back in the Super Nintendo days. I mean, a computer in the overall scheme of things is just a box, and it's up to you to learn how to get the most out of that box.
The young programmer I told you about earlier who's on the DS team, I think he's really lucky, because there are a lot of programmers in Japan who due to budgetary concerns will never get to work on any hardware but the DS. But he'll be able to take his knowledge about how to make a program efficient and compact back to the high-end systems, and make further use of it there. So I think that's an important step. He'll be able to take that knowledge back to, let's say, the 360, and create visuals that are much better than we would've been able to do before because he has a greater overall knowledge of programming in general. I think it's important to have all those experiences in different fields when creating games.
GameSpy: How would you compare the difficulty of developing for the Nintendo DS versus a next-generation system?
Tomonobu Itagaki: I'd say it's the same. It's kind of like asking somebody whether it's harder to win at roulette or craps. The rules are different.
GameSpy: It's still difficult to be good at either one, correct?
Tomonobu Itagaki: Yeah, that's why it's fun to do.
GameSpy: After playing Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword, I noticed that I never had to go out to a menu to use a healing item, it was just non-stop action. That's also something I noticed in Ninja Gaiden II. Do the two games share some design fundamentals?
Tomonobu Itagaki: I'm an executive producer, so I have to oversee a lot of games, but the two games that I'm directly involved with, and directly overseeing, are the DS game, and Ninja Gaiden II. So I think that they both reflect my current thinking on the ideal design for action games right now.
GameSpy: Does this include making the Ninpo more useful than it was in Ninja Gaiden, which is also something I noticed in the two new games?
Tomonobu Itagaki: Yeah, Ninpo is something that's very important to me. On the original Xbox, for a number of reasons we weren't able to implement Ninpo the way I wanted it, but I think it's turned out really well for the DS.
GameSpy: Obviously action is the first priority, but how do you feel about being able to tell an interesting story on the Nintendo DS with anime-style cut scenes and things like that?
Tomonobu Itagaki: I tend to take a kind of holistic view of certain elements, and so this was simply a case where we had a girl on the team who's just a really great artist, and when I saw her work I said that we should do comic-style cut scenes based on this artwork. I think the story's going to be very interesting, and certainly would hope that everyone pays attention to that, but even more so, I would hope that everyone looks at these comic-style cut scenes that we're doing, because I really think we do have world-class artwork here, and it's something that Team Ninja can be proud of.
GameSpy: Do you ever look at other games that come out on the Nintendo DS, and then look at what you're working on, and feel that perhaps they're not doing as much as they can, or do you just see that as a competitive advantage?
Tomonobu Itagaki: Not necessarily. I mean, this is the first time we've ever done a portable game, so right now I'm just really focused on getting my own game done. I really don't play many other games on the DS. I played Chibi-Robo with my daughter and that was about it. Now this may label me as being an ineffective producer, in a sense, but I don't really pay much attention to other games out there that might be competitors or whatever, I'm just really focused on making this the best game it can be.
However, there are game that I've noticed that I felt were really poor implementations of DS software, and those are games where they're basically taking a console-style game and just porting it to the DS without making use of its unique functionality.
GameSpy: Do you feel that that's what would've happened if you had made a 2D side-scrolling Ninja Gaiden? The fans may like it, but you're doing something completely different, and much more ambitious, so do you feel that it would've been a disappointment to make a game like that?
Tomonobu Itagaki: I agree with your statement: we're certainly trying to do something much more ambitious. The fact of the matter is that while we respect the old Ninja Gaiden series on the NES, that wasn't done by myself, that was done by my predecessors, and I respect what they've done. Those platformers are totally different from the new Ninja Gaiden franchise that we started on the Xbox.
Back when we were originally doing the Xbox game, a lot of people basically threatened me, and said "don't you dare make Ninja Gaiden 3D! It has to be 2D!" Now we can laugh about it, because it's in the past, but at the time there were a lot of people who were like "don't spoil my memories," people who were fans of the classic games. There's always going to be that kind of feeling when you're trying to do something new.
GameSpy: That mentality crops up with a lot of classic franchises.
Tomonobu Itagaki: I think the reason why a lot of franchises fail when they try to resurrect these classic gaming titles is because they don't have a clear concept of what it is they're trying to resurrect. For us it was simple. Making a 2D side-scrolling platformer is not Ninja Gaiden. For us it was, making the best action game of the time when it's released is the core essence of Ninja Gaiden, and we felt that that was what defined the franchise. And I think we were successful with the 3D resurrection on the Xbox. That's really the key, and it's the same thing here.
It's the exact same concept with Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword as well. We want to create the best, fastest, most satisfying action game on the hardware. If we can accomplish that, then that's why we can call the game Ninja Gaiden. That's really what defines the franchise.
GameSpy: What single aspect of Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword are you most proud of?
Tomonobu Itagaki: I think it's what I've been talking about, just having the fastest, most direct, most intuitive game, where the player's inputs are having a direct action on what's going on. Having Hayabusa kill his enemies quickly and very stylishly, and have an action experience that you can really enjoy. I think that's the key to this title.
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Interessant interview 
Ondanks z'n lichte arrogantie vind ik het altijd prettig om te lezen wat hij te melden heeft ^^
Ondanks z'n lichte arrogantie vind ik het altijd prettig om te lezen wat hij te melden heeft ^^
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