Shmup Dev Interview Translation (Famitsu XBOX 360)

[originalz]

The thing that raises the most red flags for me is the part where Asada mentions 360 sales (I commented about it on the 1st page). It might be the whole "never say what you mean" thing, but you'd think that Asada would use some actual facts to back up his feelings, instead of using justifications that are clearly BS. One thing you could double-check is the number Asada mentions. Are you sure he says "1 million" and not "10 million"? If he does clearly say "1 million", it could be possible that whoever was in charge of editing the interview made an error when typing it up.

Yeah, I thought this at first as well, that it was a translator error since it's easy to mistype numbers. Still though, 10 million doesn't make any more sense. That's an incredibly unreasonable number, as I don't think even the Wii has surpassed that number in Japan. At the rate things are going, it'll take a long time for any console to hit 10mil in Japan, so it seems unlikely that Cave would be upset about that. The 1 million thing would make more sense, if it wasn't untrue. Bloody bizarre.

[Cuilan]

Yeah, I thought this at first as well, that it was a translator error since it's easy to mistype numbers. Still though, 10 million doesn't make any more sense. That's an incredibly unreasonable number, as I don't think even the Wii has surpassed that number in Japan. At the rate things are going, it'll take a long time for any console to hit 10mil in Japan, so it seems unlikely that Cave would be upset about that. The 1 million thing would make more sense, if it wasn't untrue. Bloody bizarre.

The Wii has already hit 10 million sold in Japan earlier this year, according to Media Create (why didn't any of them mention the Wii in the interview anyway?). The PS3 is a little more than half-way there as of one week ago. But I agree with you. I guess I would consider 10 million slightly less ridiculous.

[hashiriya1]

The thing that raises the most red flags for me is the part where Asada mentions 360 sales (I commented about it on the 1st page). It might be the whole "never say what you mean" thing, but you'd think that Asada would use some actual facts to back up his feelings, instead of using justifications that are clearly BS. One thing you could double-check is the number Asada mentions. Are you sure he says "1 million" and not "10 million"? If he does clearly say "1 million", it could be possible that whoever was in charge of editing the interview made an error when typing it up.

I did go back check, and that is definitely what he said. It is not 10 million, it is 1 million. The only way this could make sense is if, as some of you have speculated, that this interview is pieces of many interviews that were done at different times. The red underlined is directly translated (no interjections) "We told Microsoft frankly that even if they sell 1,000,000 units　(100万台), it is not something to be happy about/not a great achievement." The sentence after that says "It is just average at that point."

In my original translation I inserted "which they are far from" and "it may not be feasible to develop for their system" as an attempt at inference to what Asada is really trying to say (interjecting emotion of the speaker). Japanese tend to do this a lot (beat around the bush, always speak indirectly), and anyone here who lives/lived in Japan can vouch for that. I added this so that native English readers would get an idea of what is understood-but-not-said-aloud by the interviewees/interviewer(s). That is one art of the Japanese language....speak indirectly in a way that the listener can understand what you are really tying to say without saying it at all. I read it over and over again, and that is the conclusion I came up with within the context of the conversation.

The only thing I can think of is that he was speaking about a time he talked to Microsoft that was in the past, before they hit 1,000,000 units. He didn't mention when he said that to MS, he just tells us that he told them at one point.



IMAGE REMOVED 12/15/2010. Please PM me if you would like it emailed to you. It seems CAVE-STG is trying to use my own image to make an attempt to shoot down my translation for reasons unknown (which was proofread by a native Japanese speaker). I am going to take a shot in the dark and say he would shoot down anybody who attempted to translate anything Cave-related if he didn't have a crack at it first He totally ignored that I did mention in this thread why I added some information for the sake of better understanding since it would not be clear to English readers to translate it directly. It was consistent with the attitude Asada had throughout the interview. EOJ could have handled this in a more professional manner. He did not make any attempt to contact me to ask any questions as to why I translated it this way (again, even though the answers are in this thread), nor did he contact me to say "Hey, I disagree with your translation, let's talk about it." I would have gladly sent him scans of the interview so we could talk it over. We could combine our strengths instead of using them against one another, you know, like adults. I stand behind my translation because I know it is accurate. I am surprised he didn't do a translation months ago. I did frequent the CAVE-STG blog and found it entertaining. It is a shame that EOJ has shown his true colors by attempting to step on a fellow Cave fan for the sake of more blog content or some other self-promoting agenda. And EOJ, if you are reading this, you could have handled this in a more respectful way. I am just another Cave fan like yourself. You lost one fan, but I doubt you care.

[Cuilan]

I see.

Well, I must say that your insertions make Asada's comment seem even more bizarre than it already is (and it is quite bizarre by itself). I don't disagree with your interpretation though. As for the possibility that he was talking about the distant past, I'd believe it. Though Asada should have mentioned at roughly what point in the past, or the Famitsu360 editors should have at least added a footnote to clarify it. It's pretty unprofessional of both of them. Even more-so on the side of Famitsu360 if this is in fact many interviews in one, and that they tried to pass it off as just one single recent interview.

[HamidoOs]

Thanks for the translation. Nice read.

That is one art of the Japanese language....speak indirectly in a way that the listener can understand what you are really tying to say without saying it at all.

Even more thanks then!

[brentsg]

We should just write this off as the interesting ramblings of eccentric game developers and move on.

[bcass]

$till the fact remain$ that M$ cockblocked XBLA for a period of time.

I wouldn't call that a fact. There's no good evidence to back it up, aside from hearsay. Maybe the thought of it crossed Microsoft's mind for a few days or something.

There's definitely evidence of it. Around the same time the 360 Ketsui/DOJ ports were announced, I recall the then head of XBLA stating that they were shifting the emphasis onto original content. That guy has since left. I remember it well, because I remember people in one of the Ketsui port threads saying they were sending the guy emails about it.

[Cuilan]

There's definitely evidence of it. Around the same time the 360 Ketsui/DOJ ports were announced, I recall the then head of XBLA stating that they were shifting the emphasis onto original content. That guy has since left. I remember it well, because I remember people in one of the Ketsui port threads saying they were sending the guy emails about it.

He may have said it, but did he actually act on it? I have strong doubts about that. Just look at the kinds of XBLA games that were being released before, during, and after that time period. Now that you mention it, that situation reminds me quite a bit of the controversy surrounding this interview...

I think it's more likely that the DOJ port was denied a XBLA release due to how buggy and unpolished it was (assuming it was actually meant to be a XBLA release in the first place).

[bcass]

I'm not saying they wanted to stop all ports, but they were releasing less, certainly ones that hadn't had a HD facelift. I reckon they knocked-back 5pb at the time because the ports didn't have HD graphics. Simple as that. It almost certainly had nothing to do with bugs. Microsoft assess very early versions of titles to determine if they want a game on the service or not, and part and parcel of early build software is the presence (abundance, even) of bugs.

[Cuilan]

I'm not saying they wanted to stop all ports, but they were releasing less, certainly ones that hadn't had a HD facelift. I reckon they knocked-back 5pb at the time because the ports didn't have HD graphics. Simple as that. It almost certainly had nothing to do with bugs. Microsoft assess very early versions of titles to determine if they want a game on the service or not, and part and parcel of early build software is the presence (abundance, even) of bugs.

Didn't 5pb originally say they were going to give their ports HD facelifts? I remember reading something like that long ago, anyway.

[bcass]

I don't remember them saying that. It's going back a few years now though, so I don't claim to remember every single detail.

[nZero]

There was this early preview of DOJBLEX: http://www.famitsu.com/game/coming/1213991_1407.html

The feature box at the bottom mentions arranged graphics, with the ability to choose between powered-up gfx and original arcade gfx.

[TrevHead (TVR)]

From what I remember reading from an internet article about those 2 cave games planned for xbla (blex and ketsui?) was that it mentioned nothing about M$ having problems with HD it was the fact that they had changed their xbla policy and moving away from arcade games especially arcade ports. Which might suggest why cave said they were making a 360 original title. which imo might be scrapped now due to M$ see-sawing on their xbla policy

[originalz]

I'm pretty sure that Cave has confirmed that the original title has been in development for quite some time, I don't remember details but I think it's supposed to be an adventure game, or there's some colaboration? I don't think that it's a shooter, doesn't really make sense to make one and pass on their arcade market.

Either way, I don't think it was ever planned to be for XBLA, they certainly never inferred it.

[TrevHead (TVR)]

Either way, I don't think it was ever planned to be for XBLA, they certainly never inferred it.

Thats right, its just me trying to read into it

[bcass]

From what I remember reading from an internet article about those 2 cave games planned for xbla (blex and ketsui?) was that it mentioned nothing about M$ having problems with HD it was the fact that they had changed their xbla policy and moving away from arcade games especially arcade ports.

Nobody has said Microsoft had problems with HD graphics. I merely observed that despite what they say their policy was, they were still allowing arcade ports to appear (albeit with HD graphics) as per Cuilan's comments. It would therefore not be beyond the realms of logic to assume that Microsoft saw HD ports in a different light, since they were still allowing those titles on the platform.

There was this early preview of DOJBLEX: http://www.famitsu.com/game/coming/1213991_1407.html

The feature box at the bottom mentions arranged graphics, with the ability to choose between powered-up gfx and original arcade gfx.

"Arranged graphics" does not necessarily equate to "HD graphics".

[manaka]

Chatani (Gulti): We have already prepared development for the PS3, we are just in talks with a publisher now.

Look at that, the slimes at Gulti made their bed with Mamoru-kun PS3 a long time ago. Hope it works out for them.

G.REV working on PS3 makes me hopeful for...

They are referring to Mamoru-kun.

[rtw]

@hashiriya1

Excellent effort Would it be possible to pair the pictures of the people interviewed with their names ?

[Aliquantic]

*Edited out because this is pretty counter-productive with hindsight... sorry *

[Animaitor]

outch!!