Aksys Games: Get Hype! - Fanime 2010
http://www.rarityguide.com/articles/articles/299/1/Aksys-Games-Get-Hype---Fanime-2010/Page1.html
By Douglas Shepard (Editor in Chief, RarityGuide.com)
Published on 06/1/2010
Covers the Aksys Games panel from Fanime 2010 Get Hype! Featuring Mori Toshimichind Daisuke Ishiwatari.
Aksys Games: Get Hype! - Fanime 2010
At Fanime this year, Aksys Games made an appearance and presented a panel covering many of their upcoming games. Present at the panel was Mikey Macamerica, Mori Toshimichi, Dale, Jane Gye and Daisuke Ishiwatari. After their introductions, they went right into a question and answer session after a few brief announcements. The first was on Blazblue: Continuum Shift. They said that there would be three new characters. The net code returns, and there are still some surprising remaining for this upcoming game. After that, they spoke briefly on Death Smiles, their upcoming Gothic Lolita side scrolling manic shooter. It was to be the test game, to see what the market was for games like it in the US. If it sold well, then they would work at localizing more games like it and others related to it that had been made in Japan.
The first question they were presented was if there were plans for a Guilty Gear vs. BlazBlue crossover, like Marvel Vs. Capcom. The reply was it was possible, if there would be enough requests. Another person asked if there would be another BlazBlue game after Continuum Shift. The panelists told everyone there simply, if it sells, that there would be another. They also had some fun with the people who had pirated the game, saying that they should buy a few copies to help support the game and make sure more would come over to the US.
After someone asked if any of the characters from Guilty Gear: Overture will make it into the fighting part of the series. The panelist responded that there was another Guilty Gear in the planning phase. If another fighting Guilty Gear was made though, they said, some of them might show up in it.
The next person asked about Fanny, who was the Wonderswan games, and why she never appeared in any other games. The panelists replied simply that it has not been the right time or place for the character. Ever elusive though, they hinted that she might appear in a future title.
The following question was about a rumor that BlazBlue had, at one point, been planned as an RPG. The panelists just plainly stated that BlazBlue had always been planned as a fighter.
The panelists gave an interesting response to the next person’s query. They had asked what mistakes they had made and what they would do differently if they could. One of the panelist joked around a minute, saying that he did not make any mistakes, ever. After that though, the tone changed and they said that making a game was always a learning experience. In the moment they did what they felt was right and it was always afterwards they learned just what they had done wrong. One said that hindsight was always twenty twenty.
The question after was about how much planning went into the stories of the games. The designers said that they saw a big difference in how they did stories between when they started and how they do them now. One would always be jotting down notes of good ideas they had. From there, they would discern the theme of the game and work in the narrative. The process for them went from something quick and simple to something that took a lot longer to do. As an example, the panelist said that BlazBlue had a definite end. In two to three months they had the general plot and then broke it down into what would be in each of the parts. Another of the designer started to talk about their process, saying that they would be getting their ideas as they were starting to fall asleep. He would wake up throughout the night with ideas and quickly write them down. In the morning though, he would have to work at decoding all of his own notes. He felt that he was on the verge of creating a new language for all his work on his own hand writing.
For these questions, the panelists told us to use our imagination. One of them was if Jubei, Mokoto, Kokonoe would be appearing in any future BlazBlue games. Another was pointing that many of the Saya clones bore Greek letters for their names. One, however, had been considered a failure and they had asked if, under the hood, it was Noel.
There were a few questions just focusing on BlazBlue itself. One was, in future games, if the players would be seeing some of the different cities in the world. The panelists confirmed this, hinting there would be a good number included in future BlazBlue games. Another was if there were any particular influences on the music of BlazBlue. The composer simply responded that he had been trying to take the world of BlazBlue and put it into sound. A different person asked about them testing Mu-12 against the other characters because of some clips they had seen of the character. The panelists confirmed that they had indeed done so. They also announced that they would be releasing a balance patch for the game after six months. The last question of the panel also fits in here, as the person asked if Raleus would be playing a bigger role in the future games. The panelists said that he would be.
The panel itself was fairly informative, though it was interesting to be dealing with the panelists who would be using a translator to help them communicate with the audience. It sometimes did result in the odd translation usually with amusing results. Aksys games definitely has a good number of decent games pending this year. It will be very hard to wait for E3, when they will likely be announcing other upcoming titles as well.
At Fanime this year, Aksys Games made an appearance and presented a panel covering many of their upcoming games. Present at the panel was Mikey Macamerica, Mori Toshimichi, Dale, Jane Gye and Daisuke Ishiwatari. After their introductions, they went right into a question and answer session after a few brief announcements. The first was on Blazblue: Continuum Shift. They said that there would be three new characters. The net code returns, and there are still some surprising remaining for this upcoming game. After that, they spoke briefly on Death Smiles, their upcoming Gothic Lolita side scrolling manic shooter. It was to be the test game, to see what the market was for games like it in the US. If it sold well, then they would work at localizing more games like it and others related to it that had been made in Japan.
The first question they were presented was if there were plans for a Guilty Gear vs. BlazBlue crossover, like Marvel Vs. Capcom. The reply was it was possible, if there would be enough requests. Another person asked if there would be another BlazBlue game after Continuum Shift. The panelists told everyone there simply, if it sells, that there would be another. They also had some fun with the people who had pirated the game, saying that they should buy a few copies to help support the game and make sure more would come over to the US.
After someone asked if any of the characters from Guilty Gear: Overture will make it into the fighting part of the series. The panelist responded that there was another Guilty Gear in the planning phase. If another fighting Guilty Gear was made though, they said, some of them might show up in it.
The next person asked about Fanny, who was the Wonderswan games, and why she never appeared in any other games. The panelists replied simply that it has not been the right time or place for the character. Ever elusive though, they hinted that she might appear in a future title.
The following question was about a rumor that BlazBlue had, at one point, been planned as an RPG. The panelists just plainly stated that BlazBlue had always been planned as a fighter.
The panelists gave an interesting response to the next person’s query. They had asked what mistakes they had made and what they would do differently if they could. One of the panelist joked around a minute, saying that he did not make any mistakes, ever. After that though, the tone changed and they said that making a game was always a learning experience. In the moment they did what they felt was right and it was always afterwards they learned just what they had done wrong. One said that hindsight was always twenty twenty.
The question after was about how much planning went into the stories of the games. The designers said that they saw a big difference in how they did stories between when they started and how they do them now. One would always be jotting down notes of good ideas they had. From there, they would discern the theme of the game and work in the narrative. The process for them went from something quick and simple to something that took a lot longer to do. As an example, the panelist said that BlazBlue had a definite end. In two to three months they had the general plot and then broke it down into what would be in each of the parts. Another of the designer started to talk about their process, saying that they would be getting their ideas as they were starting to fall asleep. He would wake up throughout the night with ideas and quickly write them down. In the morning though, he would have to work at decoding all of his own notes. He felt that he was on the verge of creating a new language for all his work on his own hand writing.
For these questions, the panelists told us to use our imagination. One of them was if Jubei, Mokoto, Kokonoe would be appearing in any future BlazBlue games. Another was pointing that many of the Saya clones bore Greek letters for their names. One, however, had been considered a failure and they had asked if, under the hood, it was Noel.
There were a few questions just focusing on BlazBlue itself. One was, in future games, if the players would be seeing some of the different cities in the world. The panelists confirmed this, hinting there would be a good number included in future BlazBlue games. Another was if there were any particular influences on the music of BlazBlue. The composer simply responded that he had been trying to take the world of BlazBlue and put it into sound. A different person asked about them testing Mu-12 against the other characters because of some clips they had seen of the character. The panelists confirmed that they had indeed done so. They also announced that they would be releasing a balance patch for the game after six months. The last question of the panel also fits in here, as the person asked if Raleus would be playing a bigger role in the future games. The panelists said that he would be.
The panel itself was fairly informative, though it was interesting to be dealing with the panelists who would be using a translator to help them communicate with the audience. It sometimes did result in the odd translation usually with amusing results. Aksys games definitely has a good number of decent games pending this year. It will be very hard to wait for E3, when they will likely be announcing other upcoming titles as well.