STG TRANSLATION PROJECT: GRADIUS DEVELOPER INTERVIEWS (I, II, & GAIDEN) Machiguchi Hiroyasu Interview choice to make a horizontal scroller, it was because Game Hihyou, September 1999 we had materials for Scramble and decided to reuse Translated by Alex Highsmith those as much as possible. In fact, Gradius originally started as "Scramble 2." Machiguchi Hiroyasu. As it was our first title, we didn't have any Born 1960. Joined Konami in 1983. confidence about what we were doing. We had a lot At age 23, became team leader for the of anxiety. In any event, we started coming up with Gradius development group. things, and we tested out idea after idea on the actual monitor screen. For example, with the Selected Titles: Options, we must have tried out around 20 different Gradius (1985): Programmer movement patterns for them, proceeding by the Gradius II (1988): Director process of elimination when something didn't work. Gradius III (1989): Director The development period for Gradius took about a Gradius IV (1998): Producer year, and all the while it was a process of continual experimentation and refinement. I joined Konami sometime around 1982 or 83. When I joined I didn't really like games that much... or rather, I didn't know much about them. After being hired, I had to learn everything about games from step one. I learned most everything on the job as we went along, even basic things like what we call the element of "game play." I started out as a designer, but after awhile it was determined that I didn't have any talent for that. (laughs) So I got reinstated as a programmer. When I was hired, Konami was working hard to transition from making medal games to video games, and a lot of projects Figure 1: Scramble (1981) ended up getting shelved. As a result, the first game I actually released publicly was Gradius. I was given a team to work with, but since you definitely can't make a game with only your own ideas, I started off by asking everyone what kind of game they wanted to make. To my surprise, everyone responded "STG!", and with that we began planning. At that time it was the golden age of Namco's Xevious, and everyone was driven by the enthusiastic sentiment that "If we're going to make a STG, let's surpass Xevious." As for our Figure 2: Gradius (1985) STG Translation: Gradius Another one of our goals for Gradius was to be a huge impact on us. Not the story, but the way the able to express something that previous games plasma and lasers and such were drawn left a big hadn't been able to do. That would be what we call impression. On the way back from the theatre we "sekaikan" [[story/world/setting]] today. I think were talking, and we decided "Let's add something having a unique world and setting was one of like that plasma laser to our game!" And that was Gradius' defining points. how the Laser weapon came to be. At the same time we were developing Gradius, We had many difficulties, but one that stands out Konami finished work on its first 16 bit PCB, the was the limitations of the memory. For its time it was "Bubble System." It was a huge step up in terms of quite a large amount of memory, but it still wasn't display and processing power. Nowadays home enough. In Gradius, when you die, you're sent back consoles have 128bit CPUs, but back then a 16bit several screens to a checkpoint. The truth is that system was very powerful. Accordingly we had all wasn't in our original game design plans. The sorts of wild ideas reflecting our desire to do background data would be loaded 3 screens at a something new that couldn't be done before. The time, and then the next background data would be fact that each stage has a totally different image transferred, but when that transfer would get came from our desire to make a variety of different interrupted in the middle by a player death, to allow worlds for the game. For Gradius, this idea came time for the background data to be transferred we first, and the gameplay followed from it. had to send the player back 3 screens. We had to do that due to memory issues, but it ended up leading us to the interesting "recovery pattern" system, so it was all for the best.2 Another thing we struggled with was the power- up gauge. This was the most difficult. We also tried out a system where you pick up individual items, like a "speed up item" and "missile item", but it somehow wasn't very satisfying. We wanted to give the players freedom in their choices. Not just the choice of whether to pick up an item or not pick it Figure 3: Gradius PCB (Konami Bubble Software) up, but something more detailed. So we figured we'd have players pick up power-ups that they could store, but we really struggled with how they would For the world of the game, we were very be used and what kind of selection system there influenced by science fiction movies. The popular sci-fi movies at that time were Star Wars and 2 Translator note: According to a knowledgeable source, Lensman1. (laughs) Lensman had just come out this limitation may have been because the bubble memory when we were thinking about what kind of STG we'd required the "bubbles" to be electrically pushed along inside make, and we all went and saw it as a team. It had the memory. It's too slow to read a lot of data from one part, then go read another, and come back. The programming knowhow required to work around this may also have been 1 lacking, as it was this particular team's first game. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lensman:_Secret_of_The_Le ns 2 STG Translation: Gradius would be. We got a flash of inspiration from the way even if the profit falls a bit, and the replay value is the function keys on personal computers of that time low, I think games you can play for a long time are were laid out. It was their layout and arrangement necessary. This was one of the motivations for us in that gave us the image for the power up gauge. making Gradius IV, as well. After that we made the power up button. At that time there were almost no 3 button control panels. So we Recently, due to the influence of games like also made a 2 button version of Gradius, but as we DDR, the focus at game centers has been on casual expected, it wasn't very fun. In the end, after players. That is, players who don't know much about thinking about the players' responses from the games but come to the game center to play anyway. location test, we decided on the 3-button setup. If we don't grasp this fact as designers, even if we make a good game, players will quit before they can I think Gradius' success lies in the fact that we even understand what's interesting about it. I'd say were able to take everyone's ideas on the team, that is the most pressing thing for us to consider debate and discuss them, and make something that now. reflected the whole team's intentions. Also, we didn't pay much heed to ideas from the outside. The As I've been making games for a long time, in decision to use a 3-button setup is one example of my view one of the greatest changes in game that. Instead we forced our way ahead. (laughs) Of development has been the way we make games. course, that was because we were confident that When my generation worked as designers, we'd what we were making was interesting. draw characters on paper with a marker, but now everything is polygons. Its a huge change. And this In the world of arcade games, you're judged is my perspective of things, but I'd say that up till under two different standards: one is the strict now we haven't had to think much about production question of whether the game made income for the costs. There was a strong sentiment to just make operator, and the other is whether the players liked the games we wanted to make. But that has it. And sometimes there is a gap between these two. changed now. Also, we used to think only about Its especially apparent lately. There's various satisfying players, but now we have to think more aspects of arcade gaming... there are games that about our original customers, the arcade operators. draw a low income but are loved by players, and If we can't make the operators happy, then the there are also games that are popular but have a players won't get to experience our games either. I low replay value, so their income ends up being low. think that has been the greatest change--having to Gradius was very popular, but it had a low replay strike a balance between the game as a creative value and didn't draw much income. Still, I think it work and a commercial product. made on average 18000 yen in a day. From our perspective as game designers, we felt that a game where "the better you are, the longer you can play" was best.