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06-07-2005, 06:00 PM
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 #1 |
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Lakitu
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Sigma Star Saga's Director and Producer Interview
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The following questions have kindly been answered by Matt Bozon, Creative Director and Producer of Sigma Star Saga at WayForward Technologies. The game is due to be published Namco.
Cubed³: With most of the world focusing on systems like the Nintendo DS and other forthcoming next-generation platforms, what magic ingredient will be included in Sigma Star Saga to make people stand up and give the game the right amount of attention?
Matt Bozon: While we certainly are at the end of the GBA life cycle as the newer and more powerful handhelds come out, we didn't want to deny the millions of GBA owners out there by just abandoning their favorite handheld. We wanted to deliver what amounts to one last ''hurrah" for the GBA; a game that encompasses the progress of the past several years of GBA development and delivers a high-caliber gaming experience from Namco. I'm confident that SSS has some of the best graphics, sound, story, and gameplay available on the GBA. In fact, while you can draw various comparisons to other games (present or past), SSS will open player’s eyes to the possibilities of blending genres that traditionally remain separate; gamers won't even realize how hard the fun train slammed into them until they can't put the game down.
C3: Mixing such a fine blend of 2D space shooting and action role playing in one game must be arduous at times. Have you been able to draw inspiration from any previous titles in those respective fields to ease the development process at all?
MB: Of course we always research what has been done in the past and see what worked and what didn't. All video game development is like this, which is what makes the evolution of gameplay, sound and graphics so exciting! You're never on top for long, because the next guy will always have a way to improve upon what you just did. I don't like to draw direct comparisons to other games since SSS is its own experience; it marks the evolution of the RPG. Chances are if you are playing it (and have knowledge of the classics), you will see the spirit of certain elements from games we all grew up playing. If you find yourself saying, "Hey, this is sort of like but better", then chances are that was one of the titles we all played when we were kids and it influenced us.
C3: Has your extensive past in handheld development taught you any lessons that have been implemented whilst working on the GBA this time round?
MB: Meeting deadlines never gets easier, and just because it sounds good on paper doesn't mean it will actually be cool when implemented into the game.
C3: If SSS proves to be a major success, where do you see the franchise heading in the future?
MB: It's been my goal from day one to deliver the best GBA experience that Namco has ever released, and to turn SSS into the next Namco RPG franchise. If the GBA version is well received - which I'm sure it will be - there is no telling where the franchise could go. If the series is continued, the next installment would be bigger, darker and take place on more of an epic scale. It would also feature new gameplay elements that evolved as we moved through development for SSS. More importantly, it would be influenced by fans of the first Sigma Star Saga – I’m always looking for feedback/suggestions.
C3: The soundtrack to a game can often make or break it amongst many groups of fans. Can you please tell us what sort of direction the score is going in with SSS and whether there will be any use of voice sampling at all?
MB: Shin'En (Iridion/Nanostray fame) was contracted to do our entire musical score and all sound effects. The benefits of having a dedicated team working on audio - even for GBA! - are apparent from the second you turn the game on. I can say with supreme confidence that the audio in SSS is among the best, if not the best available on the GBA. I highly doubt that any future GBA games (at least this generation of GBA) will have better audio. We have recorded limited VO samples and the character "mumble" that happens sometimes when text boxes appear, but it is still to be determined if it will make it into the final version of the game. It may be cool to have a feature on the official Web page that samples our deleted sounds/music that didn't make the final cut.... Thanks for the idea!
C3: In terms of longevity, with many GBA titles being criticized for lasting ten or less hours, it is superb to see such depth to SSS. But are there any added incentives to ensure gamers want to come back and play through for another of the multiple endings? And is there scope for multiplayer within the title?
MB: SSS does have the multiple endings based on decisions you make during gameplay (and I'm not talking about answering a question differently, I'm saying that decisions you make when facing a certain enemy during the shooting stages will affect the outcome). On top of that, we have Gun Data hidden through the entire game... if you decide to play through a second time you can attempt to locate any Gun Data you missed the first time around and have an even more powerful arsenal, which will most likely make you play through levels in a completely different way than you did the first time. (Try to get the 3 circling orbs with the flame thrower... instant fire shield!).
Early on in development, we took a look at multiplayer and decided that we needed to focus on delivering a strong single player experience. Multiplayer is always a wild card when developing games; it can potentially take away a lot of development time and money from the single player experience and still not turn out correctly (especially in a situation like this when we're doing something unique). Since the core of SSS is the awesome story that weaves itself into the single player experience, we had no doubt that the best way to serve gamers out there was to concentrate on making that core experience as best as it could be. If a sequel does happen, we will definitely have some kind of multiplayer/data swapping support; we've had several discussions about this and have various ideas that all sound really cool!
Many thanks to Matt for taking the time to answer ours questions and to Tara Samuels, Kristin Calcagno and the rest of Namco for sorting out this interview with Matt and WayForward.
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http://www.cubed3.com/viewnews.php?storyid=3967 |
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06-07-2005, 06:10 PM
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#2 |
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Like Spinning Plates
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Dead Air Space
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Matt Bozon
Shin'En (Iridion/Nanostray fame) was contracted to do our entire musical score and all sound effects. The benefits of having a dedicated team working on audio - even for GBA! - are apparent from the second you turn the game on.
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Kickass.
Mark my words, this is going to be one of those games that nobody gives a crap about when it's released and that people will be splooging over five years hence.
__________________
Exeunt omnes ha ha
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06-07-2005, 09:21 PM
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 #3 |
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Magikoopa
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 842
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This game looked all right from the screen shots I saw at Namco's site more than a month ago, and it is an interesting concept. I'm not sure, but I might be interested in purchasing it after it releases. I still need to read about it some more.
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