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Tetsuya Mizuguchi
IRC CHAT Interview from September 7th 2005
Works for: SEGA (own studio)
Position: Game Creator of SEGA Rally, Rez, Space Channel 5 and Lumines
Questions: 20
Interview by: IRC
Date posted: 7 September 2005
Ubisoft stated in a press release a few days ago that game creator "Tetsuya Mizuguchi" would come on IRC and have a chit chat with everybody regarding his latest project "Lumines".
Of course, being as one of the leading European Game Websites, PlayDevil.com was obliged to take part of this "IRC Interview" with the game creator of so many interesting games (SEGA Rally, Space Channel 5, Rez and Lumines).
In the following part you'll read the 'actual IRC interview', UNCUT.
We fired "Ryosan" (the moderator of the #Lumines IRC chan Ubisofts chat server) 6 questions and "Mizuguchi" (that's the legendary Tetsuya Mizuguchi) would try to answer as much as questions as possible. We used the nickname "PlayDevilcom".
Of course, PlayDevil.com weren't the only one that followed the IRC Interview but we managed to get "2" questions answered by Tetsuya Mizuguchi himself!
Anyway enjoy this "IRC Interview" with Tetsuya Mizuguchi in its UNCUT form regarding "Lumines" and ... :
Ryosan Hello and welcome to today’s Lumines chat!
Ryosan My name is Ryosan, I’ll be your host during this session.
Ryosan Thanks for joining us. Our guest today is Tetsuya Mizuguchi, creator of Lumines, and also well-known games such as Space Channel 5 and REZ.
Ryosan Thanks for taking the time to be with us Mizuguchi-san.
Mizuguchi Hi everyone
Mizuguchi thanks for having me tonight
Ryosan Let’s begin, then. The session will be moderated: only Mizuguchi-san and I may post.
Ryosan This is how we’ll proceed: you may send your questions only to me and I will relay them. Please do not send them directly to Mizuguchi-san, he will only answer to mine. To send me a question double-click on my nick (Ryosan) on the right hand column and a new window will open in which we may chat. We will then choose the questions according to their interest and relevance.
Mizuguchi I'm in TOkyo now !
Ryosan 1) PlayDevilcom Where did Tetsuya get the idea behind Lumines ? Did he had it already years but never found a decent platform to develop?
Mizuguchi Well...
Mizuguchi I had the idea for a long time...
Mizuguchi but when i saw a PSP, i just saw a new type of game with music
Mizuguchi that's Lumines
Ryosan 2) "Prism" So, why did you limit the high score in Lumines to 999,999 points? :)
Mizuguchi I just simply thought...
Mizuguchi no one could reach that high score...
Mizuguchi how many of you have reached the MAX already ?
'UbiRazz' A fair few of the more hardcore gamers seem to have reached it. Big fans of the game ;)
Mizuguchi I'm very happy to hear that
Mizuguchi Back to the question...
Mizuguchi Maybe I should change the MAX to 999,999,999 for the next Lumines...
Mizuguchi Anyways... the reason for 999,999 is...
Mizuguchi I was thinking how long PSP battery would last...
Mizuguchi I thought it would last about 2 hours... so i kinda calculated from it...
Mizuguchi then I decided to pick 999,999 =)
Ryosan 3) "Mercenary" Lumines is great, but I just dont get it. When playing in challenge mode what actually causes your level to raise and the skin to change?
Mizuguchi If you manage to delete a certain number of blocks, you can get next level and skin.
Ryosan 4) "yosh" How did you start working with Mondo Grosso?
Mizuguchi While making Lumines...
Mizuguchi I went to a Southern Island...
Mizuguchi it's called "Okinawa", located in Japan
Mizuguchi I was thinking about Lumines on the beach...
Mizuguchi then I heard Mondo Grosso's song...
Mizuguchi Dawn, then night... lots of stars were at the sky...
Mizuguchi it was very beautiful...
Mizuguchi then i was thinkin...
Mizuguchi if stars shine coresponding to music, that would be really interesting...
Ryosan 5) "JPinOsaka" How hands on were you during the actual play mechanics of Lumines? What were some of the changes Hattori-san made to your vision?
Mizuguchi Hattori is sitting next to me now...
Mizuguchi we've been creating games together for 15 years...
Mizuguchi He was with me when I was struggling to create Rez...
Mizuguchi We can share and understand each other with less words...
Mizuguchi He's a great staff who can understand my ideas very well...
Ryosan 6) "Hades0" Can you briefly explain us what is your game, Lumines, for the players who don’t know this title?
Mizuguchi Sure...
Mizuguchi This is a puzzle game...
Mizuguchi But, all the control/play sounds are on the music sheet...
Mizuguchi the sound you play will become a song...
Mizuguchi just like... making music by playing puzzles...
Mizuguchi fusion of puzzle game and music...
Mizuguchi sorry... kinda very normal explanation...
Mizuguchi haha =)
Ryosan 7) "BryterLayter" What inspirered you when making the sound and visual presentation of Lumines?
Mizuguchi Well...
Mizuguchi there is a drama behind it...
Mizuguchi after the sunset... stars started shining... then i had a dream...
Mizuguchi when i realized... it was already sunrise... then morning...
Mizuguchi it was like a show...
Mizuguchi i asked our art director Yokota to create such a "show" with music and visual.
Ryosan 8) PlayDevilcom Where do you basically get your 'game' ideas from? Spending time on your desk and waiting until something is on paper or ... ?
Mizuguchi that's a good question...
Mizuguchi i always think about different ideas simulteniously in my head...
Mizuguchi but while i'm thinking, usually i cannot come up with good ideas...
Mizuguchi but after i think a lot, when i start doing something totally not related to game development, usually great ideas come to me !
Mizuguchi for instance...
Mizuguchi talking to people from different industories...
Mizuguchi while driving... or on airplane...
Mizuguchi when just watching outside from the window...
Mizuguchi but the important thing is to talk to people...
Ryosan 9) "zoti" how big was the team that worked on Lumines ?
Mizuguchi 6 people
Mizuguchi the smallest team ever
Mizuguchi but since i didn't really work hard... so i should say 5.5 people =P
Ryosan 10) "Domstercool" I heard that Meteos only took three days to get a working version on the Nintendo DS. I was wondering how long did it take you to get Lumines running on the PSP? Is it a lot more difficult to work on the PSP than the Nintendo DS?
Mizuguchi In case of Lumines...
Mizuguchi We created 3 prototypes in a month
Mizuguchi I don't think PSP is more difficult than DS...
Mizuguchi I think not different...
Mizuguchi however...
Mizuguchi when we started Lumines development, PSP hardware itself wasn't available yet...
Mizuguchi so we had to proceed Lumines development on PC for a while...
Ryosan 11) "Prism" Did you expect the US and European versions of Lumines to outsell the Japanese edition?
Mizuguchi Honestly...
Mizuguchi we wanted to change music for each territory...
Mizuguchi however...
Mizuguchi so many people suggested me that US and European fans would like the music we selected...
Mizuguchi of course, i want to create different music version of Lumines...
Mizuguchi but I believe US and European fans would love the music and game more than Japanese fans!
'UbiRazz' I love the music myself :)
Mizuguchi Thank you =)
Ryosan 12) "Hyoushi" At Q!, are you going to keep focusing on music and rhythm-driven games for the games you direct yourself, or are you also going to direct other efforts?
Mizuguchi To continue to create a fusion of game and music or a game with a solid style is one of things we always want to do
Mizuguchi we will continue to challenge new things other than that...
Mizuguchi We are currently working on Xbox360 game called N3 (Ninety-nine Nights) is one of the challenges.
Ryosan 13) "CoffeeMan" do you play your own game, after they are release? if so which one do you play most, meteos or Lumines?
Mizuguchi that's a... mean question =P
Mizuguchi honestly...
Mizuguchi i've played Lumines quite often recently...
Mizuguchi I've traveled a lot recently...
Mizuguchi and on airplane, i just keep playing Lumines until a flight attendant tells me... "we're landing now!"
Mizuguchi but... i still cannot stop playing it !
'UbiRazz' What's your highest score on Lumines? :)
Mizuguchi 999,999, of course !
Ryosan ;)
Ryosan 14) "Dere" What genres of music, bands and songs do you like yourself? Are there artists whose music you would like to have in the next Lumines?
Mizuguchi I like all kinds of music really...
Mizuguchi if possible, i'd like to use Beatles songs for next Lumines !
Mizuguchi All need is love...
Mizuguchi classics sound good, too...
Mizuguchi Recently...
Mizuguchi i've listened to Chemical Brothers and Far Boy Slim a lot
Ryosan I think the most frequently asked question today is about Lumines 2 so...
Ryosan 15) "McCloud2" Will there really be a Lumines 2, if yes.. what are gonna be the major changes ?
Mizuguchi We haven't announced about Lumines 2 yet...
Mizuguchi but we've been trying out many things for Lumines 2...
Mizuguchi well...
Mizuguchi sorry... i cannot tell you more than that at this point...
Ryosan 16) "yosh" Apart from Mondo Grosso and Eri Nobuchika who provided two songs each, who else contributed to the game soundtrack? How many songs are available in Lumines?
Mizuguchi The rest of the songs were created by Takayuki Nakamura and Yokota
Mizuguchi Takayuki Nakamura was in charge of Vertur Fighter 1's music at Sega...
Ryosan 17) "BossG" when making games, how often do creators consider the high level players when tuning their games?
Mizuguchi When i create games, i always try to make the entrance very wide but make it so deep...
Mizuguchi Entrance is wide... which means, everybody can easily try out the games...
Mizuguchi but it will be difficult to reach further...
Mizuguchi it sounds easy, but actually it is really difficult to make a game...
Mizuguchi It always give me headaches !
Ryosan Because you're so many and so enthousiastic, I'm glad to announce you the live chat will last 10 more minutes! =)
Ryosan 18) "gloone" What is your favorite game released in the last year or so?
Mizuguchi Of course Lumines !
Mizuguchi I made Lumines because I wanted to play it =)
Ryosan 19) "^Simon" In Rez (awesome game, by the way) the last level (5) was really special, very specific and different from the other levels, and that really made a huge impression on me. In Lumines the same can be said for the "Lights" level with, as you describe, a sunset. Is this a very concious decision on your part, to hold some stuff back for the finale? Michel Ancel said surprise is very important to a game, do you agree with that?
Mizuguchi I'd like to thank you, who asked this question...
Mizuguchi Indeed, Rez 5th level and Lumines Lights have something in common...
Mizuguchi if some of you don't really understand how they are similer, sorry...
Mizuguchi but... the point is...
Mizuguchi i always want to put some message in games...
Mizuguchi it could be a small message, but i want players to feel something...
Mizuguchi from now on...
Mizuguchi more games will be like that...
Mizuguchi Once games become Hi-Def completely, it will be definitely like that...
Ryosan 20) "Robbo" My favourite skin in Lumines is probably Shake Your Body because of the intense background changes. What is your favourite Track / skin from the game?
Mizuguchi Shini' and Lights are my favorites
Ryosan 21) "Awwe" Why not make a remake of REZ for the PSP, beacuse of the high popularity with Lumines on the system?
Mizuguchi Umm...
Mizuguchi I created Rez when I was at Sega...
Mizuguchi Sega has all the copy rights...
Ryosan Mizuguchi-san, do you want to say something to your fans to finish this live chat?
Mizuguchi It's 11 pm in Tokyo...
Mizuguchi A big tyhoon hit Tokyo and it was very windy...
Mizuguchi but now it's completely fine... just like the sky of Shinin'...
Mizuguchi I think it's around 3pm there...
'UbiRazz' 3:15pm in the UK :)
Mizuguchi I think this is great that I can get to know you guys through a game...
Mizuguchi i'm very happy about it...
Mizuguchi Let's meet somewhere, sometime !
Mizuguchi I'm going to Paris on 9/22
Mizuguchi I'll attend the Game Hotel event there...
Mizuguchi See you everyone there !
Ryosan I guess that’s it then. Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions, especially at that hour for you. And a special thanks to Michiko, our marvelous translator ^__^
Mizuguchi Thank you!
Again thanks to "Tetsuya Mizuguchi" for doin' this excellent IRC Interview today, 7th September and thanks again for answering 2 of our own questions!
We are really looking forward to his upcoming projects!
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