Gold VG Developers Say

A collection of well-spoken words from video game developers. Please understand.

[gold-vg-devs-say]

Takahashi: This time, I wanted to depict the feelings of the six main characters equally, so I tried to keep the word count of the dialogues as even as possible. Of course, the central figures Noah and Mio have a few more lines, but compared to the first and second titles, which focused on the hero and heroine, you will notice that the other characters are also strongly involved in the story. It may sound extreme, but I didn't want the other characters to just be nodding along toward the end of the game...

Source: Nintendo - Ask the Developers

[gold-vg-devs-say]

My body is still ready

Source: Nintendo of America Twitter

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Masashi Takahashi : We haven’t even thought of having DLC. The retail version is a complete game.

Source: Dengeki Online translated by Siliconera

[gold-vg-devs-say]

I question what we’ll do with the next title, and I feel that having ‘all characters playable’ (for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate) may have been a Pandora’s Box that could ruin possibilities for what’s next in the series.

However, honestly speaking, I’m not thinking about what’s next!

I’m just working hard on the best possible way to offer maximum satisfaction right now. Truth be told, I’m not getting any younger and I don’t think I’ll be able to keep up with such dense workload forever, but the now is more important than later!

Source: Ryokuta2089

[gold-vg-devs-say]

If you look at Nintendo over these many years, the number of analysts that have gotten it right are fairly small. And it’s because we as a company hold things close to the vest, we love to surprise the overall community and environment, and when we surprise, we surprise big. What I say is – Don’t worry.

Source: Bloomberg Technology

[gold-vg-devs-say]

On the [women] in Battlefield, this is something that the development team pushed. Battlefield V is a lot about the unseen, the untold, the unplayed. The common perception is that there were no women in World War II. There were a ton of women who both fought in World War II and partook in the war.

…

These are people who are uneducated—they don't understand that this is a plausible scenario, and listen: this is a game. And today gaming is gender-diverse, like it hasn't been before. There are a lot of female people who want to play, and male players who want to play as a badass [woman].

And we don't take any flak. We stand up for the cause, because I think those people who don't understand it, well, you have two choices: either accept it or don't buy the game. I'm fine with either or.

Source: Gamasutra

[gold-vg-devs-say]

I was slightly aimlessly playing “King of Fighters ‘95” when someone joined me, playing on the other side. Despite feeling that I’d really want to just play alone..the fight was on! I landed my moves cleanly, and quickly took the first two games. One more team member to go and victory was mine! 

…Weird. Something’s not right. My enemy is way too unresponsive, unresistant. Thinking something was strange, I stealthily used the reflection in the window glass to take a peek at my opponent, and to my surprise, they were…a normal couple! And the current player was the girlfriend.

Oh no…! I was filled with regret and remorse. [...]

From the couple’s perspective, the two had probably walked into the arcade just to have some casual fun and have a nice time. And there, I had mercilessly destroyed them. [...]

Interviewer: You annihilated a complete newcomer?

Sakurai: With Zanretsuken combos. Sigh…

Source: Source Gaming

[gold-vg-devs-say]

When asked, Aonuma confirmed that a player could go directly to the final boss of the game from its opening moments if they wanted. However, he also stressed that he didn't view this as an ideal way to play.

"Anybody who can go straight to the goal without doing anything else — there's two possibilities," Aonuma said. "Either they're a really good gamer, or they could be somebody that's a little bit crazy. But it's not impossible. I created the game like that.

"Maybe it might be fun for fans to compete in a challenge for who can clear it first."

Source: Polygon

[gold-vg-devs-say]

After we released the Game Boy, one of my staff came to me with a grim expression on his face: “there’s a new handheld on the market similar to ours…” The first thing I asked was: “is it a color screen, or monochrome?” He told me it was color, and I reassured him, “Then we’re fine.” (laughs)

Source: Shmuplations

[gold-vg-devs-say]

We decided to get rid of guns really early on. It was part of the pitch: We’re going to do first-person melee. Everybody said, ‘That’s really hard.’ Yes, it is. But it was the right thing to do for this title, and we stuck to it and overcame the problems associated with it.

Source: Polygon

[gold-vg-devs-say]

It was about 10 years ago when we were working on the original Drakengard that I thought about the meaning of “killing.” I was looking at a lot of games back then, and I saw these messages like “You’ve defeated 100 enemies!” or “Eradicated 100 enemy soldiers!” in an almost gloating manner.  But when I thought about it in an extremely calm state of mind, it hit me that gloating about killing a hundred people is strange. I mean, you’re a serial killer if you killed a hundred people. It just struck me as insane.

That’s why I decided to have the army of the protagonist in Drakengard be one where everyone’s insane, to create this twisted organization where everyone’s wrong and unjust. I wanted to weave a tale about these twisted people. And then we worked on Nier…We created this game called Nier, and after the world experienced the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the war in Iraq, we were being bombarded with updates on terrorist organizations and activities even in Japan. That’s when my opinion changed.

The vibe I was getting from society was: you don’t have to be insane to kill someone. You just have to think you’re right. So that’s why I made Nier a game revolving around this concept of “being able to kill others if you think you’re right,” or “everyone believes that they’re in the right.”

Source: YouTube (transcript from Gamechurch)

[gold-vg-devs-say]

What the hell was [Deep Silver] thinking making a crappy PV like this?!  Unforgivable.

Source: Twitter

[gold-vg-devs-say]

I wanted to make a game that couldn't be explained well with words, rather than a freeform experience. Smart game design or cool game mechanics are so great, but some elements of fun are more primitive or instinctive in people. It might be jumping, singing, drawing or dancing. These concepts don't need much explanation; people can feel it. I think that's great. Anyway, I looked for that, and then I found Noby's game style. It was a perfect motif for me, but also very hard to finish. However, I'm thinking about this type of "primitive fun" concept for a future game.

Source: 1UP

[gold-vg-devs-say]

I know that no one would ever wear a box in war, but I want to change the mood, relieve the stress and tension and control a little bit the feelings of the player by letting them calm down and relax for a second and then continue through the mission. Placing this stuff through the game strategically, I think that it helps the player stay in the game for longer periods of time, and helps me tell the very serious story I’m trying to relate.

Source: Time

[gold-vg-devs-say]

We came to conclusion that three players were best, especially because when you have two people working together and there's one person going off on his own, the group of two will worry about the lone player. And vice versa, the player that's traveling alone will look around for the other two. It keeps everyone close together and worrying about one another.

Source: GameSpot

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I think a big key to that is how the games portray the lives and emotions of all the characters -- even the standard enemy units. We've gotten feedback that we should give all the units names, even the unimportant [grunt soldiers]. I think that's all part of the unique feeling Fire Emblem creates -- we work to make it seem like each unit has their own life, so when somebody dies, their presence stays with you in a way. That's why all the enemies in this game have full artwork as well as the main characters -- you can see their faces on-screen when comparing battle stats and such. 

Source: 8-4, Ltd.

[gold-vg-devs-say]

But I have to disagree with people saying Noby Noby Boy is NOT a game, because there is no definition of a game. There is no rule or law about what a game has to be. We live in the 21st century, and I think that both people who create games and who play them should have more freedom.

Source: Telegraph