RegPaq
Mar 23, 2005, 02:48 PM
This is an interview that was released in Electronic Gaming Monthly about PSU:
Background on Phantasy Star Universe (Page 1 of 2)
by Shane Bettenhausen 03.21.2005
Though Sega released a teaser trailer for Phantasy Star Universe at last year's E3, the company has been mum on the game since, offering very few details about the title publicly. That is, until the May 2005 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly that just started hitting subscribers, where Sega goes in-depth on the game for the first time anywhere. For the full story on the offline and online modes of PSU, check out the new EGM in stores, and read on to see the extended version of their interview with Sega R&D creative officer Yuji Naka.
EGM: Could you briefly explain the history of the project?
YN: The series has now entered its fifth year, and this is the right time for a new start. Online RPG games are basically limited, but I want to move on and make a difference in the genre. I spent a very long time on the PS series, and we've spent many years and we've gathered a lot of feedback from the users. So, we certainly have a lot of stuff to include in the game.
EGM: Did the PS2 HDD support dropping affect your plans?
YN: I'm not going to change my mind, and Sony will still support our network game, even without support for the HDD. Actually, I haven't even shown this game to Sony yet...you're the first people outside the company to see it. Nobody even knew what platform it was going to be on until today.
EGM: It's rather late in the PS2's life cycle...any chance of porting this to other systems?
YN: I'm not quite sure yet...the PS2 is the hardware with the biggest market right now, and the next-generation platforms won't have a very large installed base at first. It would be fairly risky to launch an online game for these new systems too early.
EGM: What has been the greatest challenge in PSU's development?
YN: Actually, we're still in the middle of development, and the most difficult part of making an online game is making the network stable. So the hardest part is still to come, about one or two months before the game is finished.
EGM: What will you do about cheaters?
YN: We have experienced the cheaters for five years, so we've piled up a lot of know-how of how to deal with them. I think our security is pretty high, nearly 100%. The PSU security will be like that of PSO: BB with server-side characters and info.
EGM: Could you share some of your memories of working on the original Phantasy Star games?
YN: From the beginning of the series, I always wanted to surprise users -- to make something unique and creative, and I kept that as my design philosophy all these years. I still advise my producers to make something new and interesting. Because I felt like this, that's why I've been able to keep creating games for 21 years.
EGM: The Sci-fi theme makes PSU unique&do you enjoy the sci-fi theme personally?
YN: I do enjoy that type of atmosphere, and you see that most of the RPG games are set in the middle ages with an ancient atmosphere, but I wanted something set in space, in the future. Everybody likes Star Wars, and everyone has a curiosity about the future.
EGM: Sonic Team's GC games have done very well in the U.S. Will you continue to support GC?
YN: I want to continue to support GameCube, and I'm currently developing a title for it.
EGM: PSP and DS are both out now -- how do you feel about each one?
YN: As Sony says, the PSP is a portable PlayStation: You can play PlayStation games anywhere without having to use a TV. It's a very nice platform. But the DS has added two all-new factors to have fun that no one has ever done before, so Nintendo has created an interesting, innovative way to play games.
EGM: Do you think a game like PSU would work on a handheld?
YN: I literally don't think it's possible to put PSU on PSP, as we're using the full power of the PS2. But if the network gets better and it's stable, maybe we could conceive of porting PSO to PSP. It's very interesting, but we don't have enough people to do that at this point.
EGM: What about a mini-game for PSU where you put it on the PSP, maybe where you play as your helper robot?
YN: That's a very interesting idea. If we could do that, we'd love to. We haven't gotten official information from Sony, but looking at information from the outside, it does appear that you can download things from a PS2 game to a PSP, so if that's possible, we'd like to do something like that. If everyone tells Sony that it's a cool idea, maybe they will let us do that in order to make games more fun. Right now, the PSP has a lot of functions that people don't fully understand, like the ability to play games from the memory stick...Sony is being very careful so that people don't start pirating games.
The next generation of hardware (Page 2 of 2)
EGM: Are you excited about the next gen consoles, or do you think it's too early?
YN: I think it is too early. The PS2 and GameCube are still both very good platforms. Personally, I don't want the next generation platforms to come out this early, because they will be very difficult and expensive to develop for. Seriously, it might take three times the effort to make one game. If we look at movies that use CG, you don't have to use CG for everything. Look at Spider-Man -- that character is CG, and everyone in the theater looks at him and it looks great, but the rest of the shot might be film shot of real things and people. Whereas in games, everything has to be created with CG, from every side, and angle -- the buildings and everything. With next-generation platforms, we'll have to make everything look as good as movies...it will be very difficult. It will be cool when you can play a game that looks like a movie, but there's no way a company will be able to make a game in one year like that. And if fans of a franchise have to wait three years for the next game, that will be a shock to them. People who like games want to play them more often these days. Like Half-Life 2 -- it took five years to come out! What's next? Will gamers be willing want to wait 15 years for a game!? (laughs) The father will start programming a game, and he'll have to pass it on to his son to finish it after he dies. On PC right now, there aren't a lot of games being released like it used to be...I think the same thing will happen to consoles. It takes a lot of time to develop a top-quality game.
EGM: Which of your games that you've worked on is your favorite game?
YN: Sonic the Hedgehog. If I hadn't worked on Sonic, I probably wouldn't be working in the game industry now. That's how important Sonic is to me. And although it's been 18 years since I first started Phantasy Star, I've released more Sonic titles, so it's the most important. Sonic has anime, and lots of toys, so the Sonic franchise is so big...I have a lot of good memories for it. There was talk of an anime based on PSO two years ago, and it might still happen in the future.
EGM: Did you play any games from other publishers that you've liked in the last year?
YN: Other publishers!? (laughs) Well, in the past year I've been playing a lot of Nintendo games, including all of the DS games. I really enjoyed WarioWare Touched! I also played a lot of Gran Turismo 4, and I even bought the steering wheel. The wheel is so great, with its force feedback. I go to the circuit and race real cars, and while the wheel isn't quite realistic, I do enjoy playing the game with it. In future, I'd love to make a game that uses force feedback extensively. When you play a game, there are three important factors: It used to just be looking and hearing, but now it's also touching. It took Nintendo 20 years to create a game that you touch, and that's a really important innovation. That GT4 steering wheel costs $200, though, so kids can't buy that -- only adults with a lot of money can. If there was a controller for around $30 that gave that you feedback that would be amazing. The game industry should focus more on touching and interacting with games, rather than just focusing on games. I want somebody to create a controller that actually looks good -- a controller that you hold that actually makes you look good. When you hold a normal controller, you bend over and don't look very cool: I want a controller that makes you look cool like when you're playing a guitar. That kind of factor could push games beyond movies in the entertainment industry.
EGM: Nintendo's new system might have a cool, new way to control it. If so, will you be excited to make games for it?
YN: I would be really excited if Nintendo does something like that. And as you know, back when Sega was making hardware, we were investigating new ideas for controllers for the Dreamcast. But we couldn't ever reach a point where we made something that made you look cool that was also good for controlling games. But, since Nintendo invented the D-pad, I'm hopeful that they will be able to invent something new and cool.
EGM: What do you hope to accomplish at Sega over the next few years?
YN: It's a really difficult time to look at the future because of the next generation platforms. It's tough to predict what will happen, so it will be a good time to focus on PC and online games.
EGM: What do you think about the viability of the DS and PSP as online platforms?
YN: I am interested in making portable network games, but I don't currently have any plans, as we're busy with PSU and Sonic. I'm currently trying to recruit new staff members in both Japan and the US to help with projects like this! I would personally be interested in playing network games on the DS.
http://phantasystaruniverse.com/image/screen/universe_00.jpg
http://phantasystaruniverse.com/image/screen/universe_01.jpg
http://phantasystaruniverse.com/image/screen/universe_02.jpg
umm. looks so awesome!! Can't wait for release! Looks like the last picture is the online lobby maybe? The first picture may mean that the game is the same style as EP I&II. However these are pictures of FMV sequences. Still no screen shots on actual gameplay. It will only be released on PS2 and PC around November 2005.
Background on Phantasy Star Universe (Page 1 of 2)
by Shane Bettenhausen 03.21.2005
Though Sega released a teaser trailer for Phantasy Star Universe at last year's E3, the company has been mum on the game since, offering very few details about the title publicly. That is, until the May 2005 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly that just started hitting subscribers, where Sega goes in-depth on the game for the first time anywhere. For the full story on the offline and online modes of PSU, check out the new EGM in stores, and read on to see the extended version of their interview with Sega R&D creative officer Yuji Naka.
EGM: Could you briefly explain the history of the project?
YN: The series has now entered its fifth year, and this is the right time for a new start. Online RPG games are basically limited, but I want to move on and make a difference in the genre. I spent a very long time on the PS series, and we've spent many years and we've gathered a lot of feedback from the users. So, we certainly have a lot of stuff to include in the game.
EGM: Did the PS2 HDD support dropping affect your plans?
YN: I'm not going to change my mind, and Sony will still support our network game, even without support for the HDD. Actually, I haven't even shown this game to Sony yet...you're the first people outside the company to see it. Nobody even knew what platform it was going to be on until today.
EGM: It's rather late in the PS2's life cycle...any chance of porting this to other systems?
YN: I'm not quite sure yet...the PS2 is the hardware with the biggest market right now, and the next-generation platforms won't have a very large installed base at first. It would be fairly risky to launch an online game for these new systems too early.
EGM: What has been the greatest challenge in PSU's development?
YN: Actually, we're still in the middle of development, and the most difficult part of making an online game is making the network stable. So the hardest part is still to come, about one or two months before the game is finished.
EGM: What will you do about cheaters?
YN: We have experienced the cheaters for five years, so we've piled up a lot of know-how of how to deal with them. I think our security is pretty high, nearly 100%. The PSU security will be like that of PSO: BB with server-side characters and info.
EGM: Could you share some of your memories of working on the original Phantasy Star games?
YN: From the beginning of the series, I always wanted to surprise users -- to make something unique and creative, and I kept that as my design philosophy all these years. I still advise my producers to make something new and interesting. Because I felt like this, that's why I've been able to keep creating games for 21 years.
EGM: The Sci-fi theme makes PSU unique&do you enjoy the sci-fi theme personally?
YN: I do enjoy that type of atmosphere, and you see that most of the RPG games are set in the middle ages with an ancient atmosphere, but I wanted something set in space, in the future. Everybody likes Star Wars, and everyone has a curiosity about the future.
EGM: Sonic Team's GC games have done very well in the U.S. Will you continue to support GC?
YN: I want to continue to support GameCube, and I'm currently developing a title for it.
EGM: PSP and DS are both out now -- how do you feel about each one?
YN: As Sony says, the PSP is a portable PlayStation: You can play PlayStation games anywhere without having to use a TV. It's a very nice platform. But the DS has added two all-new factors to have fun that no one has ever done before, so Nintendo has created an interesting, innovative way to play games.
EGM: Do you think a game like PSU would work on a handheld?
YN: I literally don't think it's possible to put PSU on PSP, as we're using the full power of the PS2. But if the network gets better and it's stable, maybe we could conceive of porting PSO to PSP. It's very interesting, but we don't have enough people to do that at this point.
EGM: What about a mini-game for PSU where you put it on the PSP, maybe where you play as your helper robot?
YN: That's a very interesting idea. If we could do that, we'd love to. We haven't gotten official information from Sony, but looking at information from the outside, it does appear that you can download things from a PS2 game to a PSP, so if that's possible, we'd like to do something like that. If everyone tells Sony that it's a cool idea, maybe they will let us do that in order to make games more fun. Right now, the PSP has a lot of functions that people don't fully understand, like the ability to play games from the memory stick...Sony is being very careful so that people don't start pirating games.
The next generation of hardware (Page 2 of 2)
EGM: Are you excited about the next gen consoles, or do you think it's too early?
YN: I think it is too early. The PS2 and GameCube are still both very good platforms. Personally, I don't want the next generation platforms to come out this early, because they will be very difficult and expensive to develop for. Seriously, it might take three times the effort to make one game. If we look at movies that use CG, you don't have to use CG for everything. Look at Spider-Man -- that character is CG, and everyone in the theater looks at him and it looks great, but the rest of the shot might be film shot of real things and people. Whereas in games, everything has to be created with CG, from every side, and angle -- the buildings and everything. With next-generation platforms, we'll have to make everything look as good as movies...it will be very difficult. It will be cool when you can play a game that looks like a movie, but there's no way a company will be able to make a game in one year like that. And if fans of a franchise have to wait three years for the next game, that will be a shock to them. People who like games want to play them more often these days. Like Half-Life 2 -- it took five years to come out! What's next? Will gamers be willing want to wait 15 years for a game!? (laughs) The father will start programming a game, and he'll have to pass it on to his son to finish it after he dies. On PC right now, there aren't a lot of games being released like it used to be...I think the same thing will happen to consoles. It takes a lot of time to develop a top-quality game.
EGM: Which of your games that you've worked on is your favorite game?
YN: Sonic the Hedgehog. If I hadn't worked on Sonic, I probably wouldn't be working in the game industry now. That's how important Sonic is to me. And although it's been 18 years since I first started Phantasy Star, I've released more Sonic titles, so it's the most important. Sonic has anime, and lots of toys, so the Sonic franchise is so big...I have a lot of good memories for it. There was talk of an anime based on PSO two years ago, and it might still happen in the future.
EGM: Did you play any games from other publishers that you've liked in the last year?
YN: Other publishers!? (laughs) Well, in the past year I've been playing a lot of Nintendo games, including all of the DS games. I really enjoyed WarioWare Touched! I also played a lot of Gran Turismo 4, and I even bought the steering wheel. The wheel is so great, with its force feedback. I go to the circuit and race real cars, and while the wheel isn't quite realistic, I do enjoy playing the game with it. In future, I'd love to make a game that uses force feedback extensively. When you play a game, there are three important factors: It used to just be looking and hearing, but now it's also touching. It took Nintendo 20 years to create a game that you touch, and that's a really important innovation. That GT4 steering wheel costs $200, though, so kids can't buy that -- only adults with a lot of money can. If there was a controller for around $30 that gave that you feedback that would be amazing. The game industry should focus more on touching and interacting with games, rather than just focusing on games. I want somebody to create a controller that actually looks good -- a controller that you hold that actually makes you look good. When you hold a normal controller, you bend over and don't look very cool: I want a controller that makes you look cool like when you're playing a guitar. That kind of factor could push games beyond movies in the entertainment industry.
EGM: Nintendo's new system might have a cool, new way to control it. If so, will you be excited to make games for it?
YN: I would be really excited if Nintendo does something like that. And as you know, back when Sega was making hardware, we were investigating new ideas for controllers for the Dreamcast. But we couldn't ever reach a point where we made something that made you look cool that was also good for controlling games. But, since Nintendo invented the D-pad, I'm hopeful that they will be able to invent something new and cool.
EGM: What do you hope to accomplish at Sega over the next few years?
YN: It's a really difficult time to look at the future because of the next generation platforms. It's tough to predict what will happen, so it will be a good time to focus on PC and online games.
EGM: What do you think about the viability of the DS and PSP as online platforms?
YN: I am interested in making portable network games, but I don't currently have any plans, as we're busy with PSU and Sonic. I'm currently trying to recruit new staff members in both Japan and the US to help with projects like this! I would personally be interested in playing network games on the DS.
http://phantasystaruniverse.com/image/screen/universe_00.jpg
http://phantasystaruniverse.com/image/screen/universe_01.jpg
http://phantasystaruniverse.com/image/screen/universe_02.jpg
umm. looks so awesome!! Can't wait for release! Looks like the last picture is the online lobby maybe? The first picture may mean that the game is the same style as EP I&II. However these are pictures of FMV sequences. Still no screen shots on actual gameplay. It will only be released on PS2 and PC around November 2005.