Return to Survival Horror
Iwata
Today my guests are developers at Capcom who made the Resident Evil: Revelations game for the Nintendo 3DS system. Thank you for coming.
Kawata
Sorry for barging in in such great number! (laughs)
Iwata
No, not at all. The fans will enjoy it more if I talk to people in different positions since we'll be able to talk about it from different angles. I'm looking forward to our discussion.
Everyone
We are too.
Iwata
First, I would like you to introduce yourselves briefly, including what you were in charge of. Kawata-san, we have met before in the "Nintendo 3DS: Third Party Game Developers" series of "Iwata Asks.", so this is our second time.
Kawata
Yes. I'm Masachika Kawata, producer of Resident Evil: Revelations. Beside me is Takenaka-san, who is with the team as my assistant producer.
Takenaka
I'm Tsukasa Takenaka. Nice to meet you. I have worked on the Mega Man Battle Network series, and I was director of Mega Man Battle Network 5: Double Team DS. After that, I was a plan man together with Nakanishi-san for Resident Evil 5.
Iwata
At Capcom, "planning man" is what you call in-house people in charge of planning, right?
Nakanishi
Yes. But when I think about it, why "man"? (laughs)
Kawata
We also say "character man" for designers. And programmers are "software man". This happens regardless of people's gender. And next to him… Is it really all right for me to just introduce everyone? (laughs)
Nakanishi
Okay, I'll take over. (laughs) I'm Koshi Nakanishi, director of Revelations. I haven't been at Capcom that long. It's only been four years, but I came in as a planning man partway through Resident Evil 5.
Kawata
I was chief of this project, but everyone has been in the industry for about 15 to 16 years. But Hori-san came from a different industry. Even so, he's been soldiering on for about ten years.
Hori
I'm Yoshizumi Hori. I was art director this time. I've mostly worked on the Resident Evil series since joining the company. Kawata-san has really put me through the wringer! (laughs)
Kawata
I think I've been nothing but nice to you. (laughs) And down at the end is Suzuki-san in charge of sound.
Suzuki
I'm Kota Suzuki. This is my ninth year in the industry. Recently, I've worked a lot on the Resident Evil series. As a composer, I'm mainly in charge of music. I worked on Resident Evil 5 and Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D. This time, like before, I coordinated the overall sound.
Iwata
All right, thank you. At Capcom, you made both Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D and Resident Evil: Revelations for the Nintendo 3DS system. How did the projects kick off? Who would be best to answer that?
Kawata
I guess I'll answer! (laughs) I became involved with this project a little before the E3 of 2010. Hearing that there was going to be a hardware that can show 3D without special glasses, the first thing I thought was I wanted to make a full-on Resident Evil game rather than just port the series into a handheld system and set that as my goal.
Another thing was that, whereas Resident Evil 4 had changed the model for the series of the numbering titles from there on out, I wanted to get back to the origins of the series by returning the direction to its horror roots. We created a team that could create a truly frightening Resident Evil.
Iwata
It's that way with everything, but when a franchise continues for a long time, it takes in a massive shift along the way. The big change with Resident Evil 4 served its own purpose in a very important way, but what you did earlier in the series was closer to what would be considered truly scary, frightening horror.
Kawata
That's right. Many people still say that Resident Evil for the Nintendo GameCube system was the best game in the series. So this time, we wanted the fans to enjoy the fear element. And, of course, we talked about wanting to make use of the know-how we had cultivated up to that point to provide a great entertainment experience. We also talked about giving it a lot of volume.
Takenaka
The first demo for E3 was like a concept trailer for showing how much we could do with the Nintendo 3DS system. It was like we were making a promise to the world—"We're going to make a game at this level!"
Iwata
You made a promise to the fans about quality, sort of cracking the whip over your own heads.
Takenaka
Exactly. We set up our own hurdles. (laughs)
Nakanishi
Then when the specs actually came into view, the atmosphere of the 3D really fit horror and the Resident Evil vibe, so after E3, we decided to head in that direction.
Kawata
But at that time, no one had used the Nintendo 3DS system much yet, so the stereoscopic 3D elements weren't going very well. So with learning points like that, whenever there was an opportunity for an exhibition, we put a version for test play out, had as many people as possible try it, and tried to remove anything unsatisfactory that came up.
Nakanishi
That was incredibly useful this time.
Iwata
You didn't just use the exhibitions for promotion, but interacted with those who tried it out. Machines are funny. The more you fiddle with them, you find better ways to improve their performance. When a team makes a game, they are able to make changes to everything from the visuals to game elements more the second time than the first, and more the third time than the second.
Kawata
That's right. We thought we could make something even better than we had set out to, and said, "Why don't we make Mercenaries?"
The Second Lap of Development
Nakanishi
What kicked off Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D was we needed to actually run a game on a Nintendo 3DS system, so we took Resident Evil 5 and ran it on a Nintendo 3DS, and the impact it made was more than we had imagined.
Kawata
Then we thought, "We can make this into a product." The difficulties of moving this forwards as its own project aside, there was reason to make it just in terms of experience. In regards to the controls, we were able to make changes to Mercenaries and finish Revealations looking at the players' feedback. And by making Mercenaries first, I feel like we were able to determine the capabilities of Nintendo 3DS. In terms of it being a developmental challenge, I would say that Mercenaries is the one that's really pushing it hardware-wise.
Nakanishi
The Resident Evil: Revelations team had experienced making Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D, so they were on their second lap of development, allowing them to make it smoothly. Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D made use of know-how from Resident Evil: Revelations, and Resident Evil: Revelations drew on feedback from Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D, so I feel like we were able to interact with the players.
Iwata
That's like some of the members of Nintendo who made both nintendogs + cats and Mario Kart 7.They did two laps in making games for Nintendo 3DS as well. Some things you just don't know until you finish making the game. One reason Revelations reached its degree of completion must have been from your experience making Mercenaries.
Kawata
Saying this might get me in trouble, but because of that, we could have set the deadline sooner than actually planned.
Iwata
Everyone worked twice as much. (laughs)
Takenaka
Yes. (laughs) About one year ahead of time, we were able to address all kinds of problems you might expect to arise about half a year before completion, so Resident Evil: Revelations went really smoothly.
Hori
You say it like it's nothing, but we were the ones scrambling around! (laughs)
Takenaka
Oh, sorry. Thanks for that, really.
Nakanishi
Well, in the end it was a big plus, so it's good we did it.
Kawata
While we were making Mercenaries, there was work to do aside from the actual programming, like the script for Resident Evil: Revelations, so I think it was an efficient way to work. And the staff worked two or three times as much, which I'm incredibly grateful for.
Iwata
What was that like as one who had to work that hard?
Hori
To be honest…the development periods overlapped completely.
Nakanishi
Mercenaries had reached a certain point to let you breathe around the end of 2010.
Iwata
Hori-san, what do you think was the secret that allowed you to create such impressive visuals in such a challenging schedule?
Hori
I think the visuals went smoothly because we had decided up front that the key concept was horror and it was clear that the script was based on the sea and a ship. Kawata-san pulled me in after E3.
Kawata
I asked him to take the demo visuals that we had barely pulled off in time for E3 and turn them into something that would run as a game.
Iwata
But you wouldn't like it if you made visuals to run in the game and someone said, "They don't look as good."
Hori
Right. So I talked with the programmers and checked into the memory and thought about what to do. Part of my job was also consulting with others on level design—stage design and layout—and making decisions as we went along.
Iwata
Do art directors also determine the direction to take with level design at Capcom?
Hori
While it's not always the case, for this title I was the one responsible for it. I made decisions like, "The game is like this, so we have to go with this type of design."
Iwata
The way you design from function is a lot like our approach at Nintendo.
Kawata
Hori-san was doing something a lot like planning. In addition to making the visuals, he proposed a lot for the makeup of gameplay.
Hori
As I worked in accordance with the plans for the game, I made decisions about design.
Kawata
In that way, we were able to follow the concept for Revelations while making full use of the features of the Nintendo 3DS system and never departing from the horror direction we wanted to take. I think that's why we were able to make it in such a miraculously short period of time.
Iwata
Looking at the volume and quality of the final product, I do get the feeling that development was very concentrated.
Nakanishi
I think my experience working on Resident Evil 5 (RE5) was a plus for me as well. In terms of RE5, we received many comments from the fans saying that they wanted more horror, so this time we were able to make up for what we weren't able to put in RE5 without hesitating.
Kawata
Lots of people we have talked to in the foreign media have also said, "Revelations is horror, right? That's awesome!" I think it is the kind of game that will be appealing to such fans.
Iwata
It has more personality.
Kawata
Yes. When Nakanishi-san doesn't hesitate, he works fast. The massive amount of work he took care of was another big factor. I've never praised him to his face, though. (laughs)
Like a TV Series
Iwata
Could I have you tell me about the story?
Kawata
This time, the story is extremely voluminous and packed full of ideas.
Nakanishi
We decided at the very start on a serial drama format. There's a method called a cliffhanger. Like ending a cutscene making you wonder what happens next, short scenes follow one upon the other, while showing quick, different plotlines unfolding for different character. We wanted to try that this time.
Iwata
That way you get pulled into the world of the story.
Nakanishi
Yes. We created 12 scenarios that we wanted to end a certain way in a specific situation and had the scriptwriters link them together. Some got cut out that wouldn't fit no matter what, though. During the development process the story writing and game development ran practically in parallel so being able to make changes as we were making the game had a big influence on how each of the stages turned out. Hori-san made lightning-fast decisions when it came to sorting things out.
Kawata
We recognized each other's strengths and did a good job of dividing up the work, with what I could entrust to Hori-san going to him and pulling it all together going to Nakanishi-san.
Nakanishi
Well, it does get somewhat out of hand, but I think we were able to walk a fine line to make players think, "Maybe that could really happen!"
Iwata
But don't Resident Evil stories tend to end with something absolutely unbelievable? (laughs)
Everyone
(laughs)
Iwata
But you subtly build upon something that seems possible, so as you're playing, you get drawn into the world.
Nakanishi
That's right! (laughs) That's our traditional art, you might say, carried on since the early days of the series. And we've done it this time, too.
Hori
In the latter half, we tend to be like, "As long as it's fun, it'll be fine!" (laughs)
Everyone
(laughs)
Takenaka
Capcom is always like that. We make the main events interesting and then fill in the gaps with forced logic.
Iwata
Ohh… You just come right out and say it? (laughs)
Takenaka
Yes. (laughs)
Kawata
This time, the contribution of the sound to playing horror is considerably high. Now we can finally hear from Suzuki-san.
Suzuki
Thank you! (laughs) When I saw the first trailer at E3, I thought it was incredible, so I nominated myself and joined the team. I made a conscious effort to create rich sound effects and music so as not to lose to the graphics. Our concept was to go back to old-style horror, so in conformity with that, we generated a mysterious feeling with the music, and sometimes left out music and used only sound effects.
Kawata
We determined the direction for the music fairly early on, right?
Suzuki
Yes. When I heard from Nakanishi-san that it was going to be like a foreign TV series, I made some catchy theme music. And I put recurring theme music into the first flashback scene and brief transitional clips and so on.
Kawata
The song called "Revelations," really sticks in your head, so we've put it in all the trailers.
Iwata
Ah. Like you would for a movie.
Suzuki
Yes. And this may just be my own preconception, but the game is set on the sea, and when it comes to the sea and suspense, I think of piano music.
Everyone
(laughs)
Nakanishi
Where's the connection?! (laughs)
Suzuki
When I saw the first demo, for some reason a piano came to me! (laughs) We recorded a piano and orchestral instruments, and tried to make the sound richer.
Kawata
After we finished the first recording session, I thought, "That should be good enough," but he came up to me, with his eyes all red, and said, "Kawata-san, it isn't enough, so let me record more!" (laughs) That's how much enthusiasm he put into making the sound.
Suzuki
For the second recording, in addition to an orchestra, we recorded things like a chorus and violin solos, really pushing to the limit. The sound effects and voices are really rich, too.
Kawata
For the first time in the series, we recorded voices in Japanese. I think that helped make it feel even more like a foreign TV drama.
Editor's note: When foreign TV dramas are broadcasted in Japan, the shows are often aired with Japanese voice-overs where the voice actors frequently use terms and expressions that are hardly found in daily conversations in Japanese culture, which comes across as distinctive to the Japanese fans watchings foreign TV dramas. Here, Kawata-san is saying that it helps make the game feel like a foreign TV drama because that game follows its voice-over style.
Nakanishi
That, too, was for making it feel like a foreign drama. If it were just English voices those who couldn't understand English won't be able to turn the subtitles off, so we put it voices for the whole game.
Takenaka
And it's not just Japanese that we put in, we also put in FIGS.
FIGS: An acronym for French, Italian, German and Spanish. Resident Evil: Revelations features voice-overs for these languages in addition to English and Japanese.
Nakanishi
Even compared with other game genres, sound is particularly important to horror games. We can't get players in the mood if we don't pay as much attention to sound as we do on the visuals and gameplay. Actually, if you turn the sound off, it becomes much less scary. Several people in the company play tested without sound once, and then turned in written comments to the effect that it wasn't scary at all. After that, we were very specific that they have headphones when we show it at events!
Suzuki
It's perfect for the Nintendo 3DS system's surround mode. The sound effects are quite elaborate, so if you wear headphones, it feels like you are really surrounded by that space. Above all else, I recommend playing in a dark place, with the 3D Depth Slider cranked way up and headphones on. (laughs)
Kawata
The sound clearly conveys exactly where you are walking.
Suzuki
Yes. Ever since way back, we have paid attention in the Resident Evil series to the sound of footsteps, so we talked it over thoroughly with the scroll team and determined the sound of footsteps in line with the type of material underfoot.
Iwata
You thought about it and took action yourselves. That's a good team.
Hori
Our teamwork was good. We maintained eye contact as we worked.
Kawata
Everyone thought and acted for themselves in order to bring out their best in a short period of time, and I think that led to the results this time.
"Bioreal"
Iwata
To ask about it a different way, what would you say is the "essence of Resident Evil"?
Nakanishi
Hmm… Having worked on the series for 15 years, that's difficult to say. A lot of people made a lot of titles, and many of its different directions have been accepted…
Iwata
That's like the way we at Nintendo can't say what the essence of Mario or of Zelda is in a simple statement. But because there is something that everyone on the team shares, if you depart from it even a little, you can say, "That isn't like Mario," or "That isn't like Zelda."
Nakanishi
Well, I could mention two. One is that Resident Evil is a "Survival Horror Game." That, was what I thought when I played it as a player, was epoch making, and feel that is the foundation of what makes it a Resident Evil game. In making the game this time, we've looked back at the past games in the series and revisited the elements on what make this series a survival horror. The other is a made-up word traditionally shared within our company.
Iwata
Traditionally? (laughs)
Nakanishi
Yes. That word is "bioreal." It means real in the world of Biohazard (Resident Evil). What would be a good example?
Takenaka
Viruses. When something happens, you can explain it by the mutation of a virus. That's bioreal. But if a ghost showed up, that's no good.
Iwata
Oh, so zombification is caused by a virus. The dead can't come back to life some other way, say because of a curse or magic, right?
Takenaka
Exactly.
Nakanishi
Whenever we are deciding on ideas for the script or stages, someone will say, "That isn't biorealistic!" But can anyone state a clear standard to measure it by?
Takenaka
Perhaps it's a process of gradually spooling out lies. First there's a virus, and a tiny mutation, and then these horrible creatures start showing up. I feel like neatly building up the story like that, making lies that don't feel like lies, is bioreal.
Iwata
The story connects smoothly, so even if a number of impossible things happen at the end, it doesn't feel unusual to the players.
Nakanishi
But where we draw the line can change with the flow of development. We have a meeting at first, but toward the end of development, we're like, "Put that in, and that, and that, too!" So as to where we draw the line, I feel a lot of it happens by intuition.
Suzuki
But we do scrap some ideas because they aren't bioreal, so there must be something there.
Kawata
But we're also scared of concerning ourselves so much with biorealism that we end up doing the same thing over and over. Even though the series took off in all different directions and the gameplay changed, I think there is something at the core of the series that has been cultivated across the last 15 years. It has gone on for a long time, so each person has his or her own image of it, but the essence of Resident Evil—a virus, entering someplace spooky, and fighting zombies or creatures—hasn't changed.
I feel like Resident Evil leaves our hands and goes into the players'. Even if we want to do something drastically different, we must overcome the image that the players have of Resident Evil. That kind of dialogue with the players is interesting.
Iwata
You want to contradict their expectations in a good way, so finding just the right touch is important. You don't want them to think, "I never imagined they'd do that! I hate this!" but rather "I never imagined they'd do that! Cool!"
Kawata
Right. Our goal this time was a return to the origins of the series as horror, but the game system is new. We intended to remove any dissatisfaction from before. This game came together as a result of all that has built up so far, and fundamental to that is the essence of Resident Evil, of which even we have only a vague sense.
Iwata
How about you, Hori-san?
Hori
Let's see… I've pondered over this for about ten years, too. If you were to draw a line, I suppose it's a kind of horror that excludes ghosts and splatter.
Iwata
That's a restraint you place upon yourselves.
Kawata
But compared to the other characters, Rachel makes a different presence this time. She's sort of like a spirit, almost not like a character for Resident Evil, but I think she turned out to be a fresh new character that turned out really well.
Nakanishi
Yes. There, we aimed for something that would stand out a bit from the essence of Resident Evil.
Hori
But I suppose each person working on it has his or her own feeling toward Resident Evil.
Iwata
While there may be similarities, it's impossible that they should all have the exact same idea of the essence of Resident Evil.
Nakanishi
Yes…when it comes to biorealism, too, everyone just says whatever they want! (laughs)
Hori
For example, I don't have any strong opinions about horror, so I just make the games with haunted mansions in mind.
Iwata
Oh, so that's the concept behind level design.
Hori
That's right. Likewise, when it comes to the sound, Suzuki-san also operates under his own idea, I believe.
Kawata
That's why his idea about pianos came up this time. As I mentioned earlier, I was surprised at first, too.
Suzuki
It's just the first thing I intuitively felt. (laughs) If the music were too pretty, it would stray from horror, which makes balance essential. I tried for music that would have an old-style atmosphere but also do something new.
Fear and Immersion
Iwata
What was absolutely necessary in making this Resident Evil game?
Nakanishi
We always had fans play it at events, and the feedback from them was extremely helpful. That was huge.
Iwata
But while fans' comments are something to be extremely thankful for, they can be troubling and cause you to lose your way. Did you find that?
Nakanishi
Yes, but like Hori-san mentioned earlier about haunted houses, that is precisely why we have the players try it out. During development, I read a book by Hirofumi Gomi who is a haunted house producer. And even in haunted houses, they make adjustments looking at the visitors' reactions. That is exactly like making a Resident Evil game. We check the players' reactions and say, "Let's have the enemy appear half a second later," and make repeated adjustments.
Iwata
So there is an incredible value to watching how people actually react to it live.
Nakanishi
Exactly. When you make horror games, you get anaesthetized and lose sight of what's scary. We'll make the games logically thinking, "this must be scary", but since it's all just logic, live events are important for testing the results of that.
Iwata
If the player is surprised, you can rest easy and feel satisfied.
Nakanishi
Yes. But sometimes we think, "Huh? Is that part really that scary?" So we do in-house testing as well, and when I see someone playing with the palms of their hands all sweaty, I think, "You're super scared!" (laughs)
But fear, even as far as emotions go, is difficult. Resident Evil surprises you, somewhat like a haunted mansion, but even though they are seeing the same thing, there are people who get scared and people who don't.
Iwata
I do feel like there are bigger personal differences in fear than laughter. Some put on a brave face and pretend like they aren't scared, while others show their fear openly. There are various patterns, so it's a tricky matter.
Nakanishi
Yes. Some people get really scared of psychological things, some are surprised by a direct surprise, while some enjoy something gory. In that way, compared to comedy, horror still has room for study.
Suzuki
When it comes to music, sometimes we use bright music in a dark scene, and that incongruity causes fear.
Iwata
If there's usually a balance but suddenly there's an imbalance, our emotions grow unsettled. What is different about how the final product feels as horror on a handheld?
Takenaka
Laughter is shared by all, but horror is one-on-one, I believe. So the immersion of staring into a handheld's small screen is great for horror.
Suzuki
And being able to see 3D without glasses is great, as well. You can concentrate without being distracted.
Kawata
There's a stronger feeling of exploring. For example, if you wonder what's inside a cave, that feeling of diving in deeper and deeper is unique to the Nintendo 3DS system. In that way, it's perfect for the limited setting of the inside of a ship.
Nakanishi
At first, among the reasons we decided to focus on horror after E3 were the 3D immersion and the fact that it was a handheld. We thought that the game world would be right there and we would be able to make the players feel quite literally as if something is around that corner when we have them turn the corner down the hallway. The reason we had the story unfold in a ship was to make use of its sense of its limited space.
Kawata
But nothing but the inside of a ship would lack change, so we introduced some variation, like snowy mountains and coasts.
Nakanishi
Yes. We were imagining a serial drama, and you play handheld games for relatively short periods of time, so we wanted to make contrast by introducing more variation to the settings. I wanted players to think, "Ugh! Here again?!" when returning to the ship from out in the open.
Iwata
That's like a drama, too.
Nakanishi
Yes. I think it came off well.
Kawata
It's structured like a drama, so the events aren't always in chronological order. I think that's a first for Resident Evil.
Like a TV Series
Iwata
Could I have you tell me about the story?
Kawata
This time, the story is extremely voluminous and packed full of ideas.
Nakanishi
We decided at the very start on a serial drama format. There's a method called a cliffhanger. Like ending a cutscene making you wonder what happens next, short scenes follow one upon the other, while showing quick, different plotlines unfolding for different character. We wanted to try that this time.
Iwata
That way you get pulled into the world of the story.
Nakanishi
Yes. We created 12 scenarios that we wanted to end a certain way in a specific situation and had the scriptwriters link them together. Some got cut out that wouldn't fit no matter what, though. During the development process the story writing and game development ran practically in parallel so being able to make changes as we were making the game had a big influence on how each of the stages turned out. Hori-san made lightning-fast decisions when it came to sorting things out.
Kawata
We recognized each other's strengths and did a good job of dividing up the work, with what I could entrust to Hori-san going to him and pulling it all together going to Nakanishi-san.
Nakanishi
Well, it does get somewhat out of hand, but I think we were able to walk a fine line to make players think, "Maybe that could really happen!"
Iwata
But don't Resident Evil stories tend to end with something absolutely unbelievable? (laughs)
Everyone
(laughs)
Iwata
But you subtly build upon something that seems possible, so as you're playing, you get drawn into the world.
Nakanishi
That's right! (laughs) That's our traditional art, you might say, carried on since the early days of the series. And we've done it this time, too.
Hori
In the latter half, we tend to be like, "As long as it's fun, it'll be fine!" (laughs)
Everyone
(laughs)
Takenaka
Capcom is always like that. We make the main events interesting and then fill in the gaps with forced logic.
Iwata
Ohh… You just come right out and say it? (laughs)
Takenaka
Yes. (laughs)
Kawata
This time, the contribution of the sound to playing horror is considerably high. Now we can finally hear from Suzuki-san.
Suzuki
Thank you! (laughs) When I saw the first trailer at E3, I thought it was incredible, so I nominated myself and joined the team. I made a conscious effort to create rich sound effects and music so as not to lose to the graphics. Our concept was to go back to old-style horror, so in conformity with that, we generated a mysterious feeling with the music, and sometimes left out music and used only sound effects.
Kawata
We determined the direction for the music fairly early on, right?
Suzuki
Yes. When I heard from Nakanishi-san that it was going to be like a foreign TV series, I made some catchy theme music. And I put recurring theme music into the first flashback scene and brief transitional clips and so on.
Kawata
The song called "Revelations," really sticks in your head, so we've put it in all the trailers.
Iwata
Ah. Like you would for a movie.
Suzuki
Yes. And this may just be my own preconception, but the game is set on the sea, and when it comes to the sea and suspense, I think of piano music.
Everyone
(laughs)
Nakanishi
Where's the connection?! (laughs)
Suzuki
When I saw the first demo, for some reason a piano came to me! (laughs) We recorded a piano and orchestral instruments, and tried to make the sound richer.
Kawata
After we finished the first recording session, I thought, "That should be good enough," but he came up to me, with his eyes all red, and said, "Kawata-san, it isn't enough, so let me record more!" (laughs) That's how much enthusiasm he put into making the sound.
Suzuki
For the second recording, in addition to an orchestra, we recorded things like a chorus and violin solos, really pushing to the limit. The sound effects and voices are really rich, too.
Kawata
For the first time in the series, we recorded voices in Japanese. I think that helped make it feel even more like a foreign TV drama.
Editor's note: When foreign TV dramas are broadcasted in Japan, the shows are often aired with Japanese voice-overs where the voice actors frequently use terms and expressions that are hardly found in daily conversations in Japanese culture, which comes across as distinctive to the Japanese fans watchings foreign TV dramas. Here, Kawata-san is saying that it helps make the game feel like a foreign TV drama because that game follows its voice-over style.
Nakanishi
That, too, was for making it feel like a foreign drama. If it were just English voices those who couldn't understand English won't be able to turn the subtitles off, so we put it voices for the whole game.
Takenaka
And it's not just Japanese that we put in, we also put in FIGS.
FIGS: An acronym for French, Italian, German and Spanish. Resident Evil: Revelations features voice-overs for these languages in addition to English and Japanese.
Nakanishi
Even compared with other game genres, sound is particularly important to horror games. We can't get players in the mood if we don't pay as much attention to sound as we do on the visuals and gameplay. Actually, if you turn the sound off, it becomes much less scary. Several people in the company play tested without sound once, and then turned in written comments to the effect that it wasn't scary at all. After that, we were very specific that they have headphones when we show it at events!
Suzuki
It's perfect for the Nintendo 3DS system's surround mode. The sound effects are quite elaborate, so if you wear headphones, it feels like you are really surrounded by that space. Above all else, I recommend playing in a dark place, with the 3D Depth Slider cranked way up and headphones on. (laughs)
Kawata
The sound clearly conveys exactly where you are walking.
Suzuki
Yes. Ever since way back, we have paid attention in the Resident Evil series to the sound of footsteps, so we talked it over thoroughly with the scroll team and determined the sound of footsteps in line with the type of material underfoot.
Iwata
You thought about it and took action yourselves. That's a good team.
Hori
Our teamwork was good. We maintained eye contact as we worked.
Kawata
Everyone thought and acted for themselves in order to bring out their best in a short period of time, and I think that led to the results this time.
"Bioreal"
Iwata
To ask about it a different way, what would you say is the "essence of Resident Evil"?
Nakanishi
Hmm… Having worked on the series for 15 years, that's difficult to say. A lot of people made a lot of titles, and many of its different directions have been accepted…
Iwata
That's like the way we at Nintendo can't say what the essence of Mario or of Zelda is in a simple statement. But because there is something that everyone on the team shares, if you depart from it even a little, you can say, "That isn't like Mario," or "That isn't like Zelda."
Nakanishi
Well, I could mention two. One is that Resident Evil is a "Survival Horror Game." That, was what I thought when I played it as a player, was epoch making, and feel that is the foundation of what makes it a Resident Evil game. In making the game this time, we've looked back at the past games in the series and revisited the elements on what make this series a survival horror. The other is a made-up word traditionally shared within our company.
Iwata
Traditionally? (laughs)
Nakanishi
Yes. That word is "bioreal." It means real in the world of Biohazard (Resident Evil). What would be a good example?
Takenaka
Viruses. When something happens, you can explain it by the mutation of a virus. That's bioreal. But if a ghost showed up, that's no good.
Iwata
Oh, so zombification is caused by a virus. The dead can't come back to life some other way, say because of a curse or magic, right?
Takenaka
Exactly.
Nakanishi
Whenever we are deciding on ideas for the script or stages, someone will say, "That isn't biorealistic!" But can anyone state a clear standard to measure it by?
Takenaka
Perhaps it's a process of gradually spooling out lies. First there's a virus, and a tiny mutation, and then these horrible creatures start showing up. I feel like neatly building up the story like that, making lies that don't feel like lies, is bioreal.
Iwata
The story connects smoothly, so even if a number of impossible things happen at the end, it doesn't feel unusual to the players.
Nakanishi
But where we draw the line can change with the flow of development. We have a meeting at first, but toward the end of development, we're like, "Put that in, and that, and that, too!" So as to where we draw the line, I feel a lot of it happens by intuition.
Suzuki
But we do scrap some ideas because they aren't bioreal, so there must be something there.
Kawata
But we're also scared of concerning ourselves so much with biorealism that we end up doing the same thing over and over. Even though the series took off in all different directions and the gameplay changed, I think there is something at the core of the series that has been cultivated across the last 15 years. It has gone on for a long time, so each person has his or her own image of it, but the essence of Resident Evil—a virus, entering someplace spooky, and fighting zombies or creatures—hasn't changed.
I feel like Resident Evil leaves our hands and goes into the players'. Even if we want to do something drastically different, we must overcome the image that the players have of Resident Evil. That kind of dialogue with the players is interesting.
Iwata
You want to contradict their expectations in a good way, so finding just the right touch is important. You don't want them to think, "I never imagined they'd do that! I hate this!" but rather "I never imagined they'd do that! Cool!"
Kawata
Right. Our goal this time was a return to the origins of the series as horror, but the game system is new. We intended to remove any dissatisfaction from before. This game came together as a result of all that has built up so far, and fundamental to that is the essence of Resident Evil, of which even we have only a vague sense.
Iwata
How about you, Hori-san?
Hori
Let's see… I've pondered over this for about ten years, too. If you were to draw a line, I suppose it's a kind of horror that excludes ghosts and splatter.
Iwata
That's a restraint you place upon yourselves.
Kawata
But compared to the other characters, Rachel makes a different presence this time. She's sort of like a spirit, almost not like a character for Resident Evil, but I think she turned out to be a fresh new character that turned out really well.
Nakanishi
Yes. There, we aimed for something that would stand out a bit from the essence of Resident Evil.
Hori
But I suppose each person working on it has his or her own feeling toward Resident Evil.
Iwata
While there may be similarities, it's impossible that they should all have the exact same idea of the essence of Resident Evil.
Nakanishi
Yes…when it comes to biorealism, too, everyone just says whatever they want! (laughs)
Hori
For example, I don't have any strong opinions about horror, so I just make the games with haunted mansions in mind.
Iwata
Oh, so that's the concept behind level design.
Hori
That's right. Likewise, when it comes to the sound, Suzuki-san also operates under his own idea, I believe.
Kawata
That's why his idea about pianos came up this time. As I mentioned earlier, I was surprised at first, too.
Suzuki
It's just the first thing I intuitively felt. (laughs) If the music were too pretty, it would stray from horror, which makes balance essential. I tried for music that would have an old-style atmosphere but also do something new.
Fear and Immersion
Iwata
What was absolutely necessary in making this Resident Evil game?
Nakanishi
We always had fans play it at events, and the feedback from them was extremely helpful. That was huge.
Iwata
But while fans' comments are something to be extremely thankful for, they can be troubling and cause you to lose your way. Did you find that?
Nakanishi
Yes, but like Hori-san mentioned earlier about haunted houses, that is precisely why we have the players try it out. During development, I read a book by Hirofumi Gomi who is a haunted house producer. And even in haunted houses, they make adjustments looking at the visitors' reactions. That is exactly like making a Resident Evil game. We check the players' reactions and say, "Let's have the enemy appear half a second later," and make repeated adjustments.
Iwata
So there is an incredible value to watching how people actually react to it live.
Nakanishi
Exactly. When you make horror games, you get anaesthetized and lose sight of what's scary. We'll make the games logically thinking, "this must be scary", but since it's all just logic, live events are important for testing the results of that.
Iwata
If the player is surprised, you can rest easy and feel satisfied.
Nakanishi
Yes. But sometimes we think, "Huh? Is that part really that scary?" So we do in-house testing as well, and when I see someone playing with the palms of their hands all sweaty, I think, "You're super scared!" (laughs)
But fear, even as far as emotions go, is difficult. Resident Evil surprises you, somewhat like a haunted mansion, but even though they are seeing the same thing, there are people who get scared and people who don't.
Iwata
I do feel like there are bigger personal differences in fear than laughter. Some put on a brave face and pretend like they aren't scared, while others show their fear openly. There are various patterns, so it's a tricky matter.
Nakanishi
Yes. Some people get really scared of psychological things, some are surprised by a direct surprise, while some enjoy something gory. In that way, compared to comedy, horror still has room for study.
Suzuki
When it comes to music, sometimes we use bright music in a dark scene, and that incongruity causes fear.
Iwata
If there's usually a balance but suddenly there's an imbalance, our emotions grow unsettled. What is different about how the final product feels as horror on a handheld?
Takenaka
Laughter is shared by all, but horror is one-on-one, I believe. So the immersion of staring into a handheld's small screen is great for horror.
Suzuki
And being able to see 3D without glasses is great, as well. You can concentrate without being distracted.
Kawata
There's a stronger feeling of exploring. For example, if you wonder what's inside a cave, that feeling of diving in deeper and deeper is unique to the Nintendo 3DS system. In that way, it's perfect for the limited setting of the inside of a ship.
Nakanishi
At first, among the reasons we decided to focus on horror after E3 were the 3D immersion and the fact that it was a handheld. We thought that the game world would be right there and we would be able to make the players feel quite literally as if something is around that corner when we have them turn the corner down the hallway. The reason we had the story unfold in a ship was to make use of its sense of its limited space.
Kawata
But nothing but the inside of a ship would lack change, so we introduced some variation, like snowy mountains and coasts.
Nakanishi
Yes. We were imagining a serial drama, and you play handheld games for relatively short periods of time, so we wanted to make contrast by introducing more variation to the settings. I wanted players to think, "Ugh! Here again?!" when returning to the ship from out in the open.
Iwata
That's like a drama, too.
Nakanishi
Yes. I think it came off well.
Kawata
It's structured like a drama, so the events aren't always in chronological order. I think that's a first for Resident Evil.
Nakanishi
Oh, that's right. The scriptwriters wanted to make a suspenseful elements like in a foreign drama in order to introduce a feeling of unease to the players. Like, "Huh? What's going on?" and the mystery pulls you into the story.
Suzuki
Also, I think a full-fledged Resident Evil game that you can carry around is incredibly appealing.
Nakanishi
Huh? But as a sound designer, wouldn't you be happier if people played home in bed with headphones on?
Suzuki
Oh…right, well people can enjoy it both ways. (laughs)
Everyone
(laughs)
Hori
To take a different approach, there are two screens, so when they touch the bottom screen, a lot of players will take their eyes away for a second. When you're playing, that moment awakens a feeling of horror.
Iwata
Oh, I see.
Hori
You're extremely uneasy about looking away. An enemy might get you or something might jump out while your eyes are elsewhere. Those types of elements contribute to the feeling of horror.
Iwata
It's a structure that heightens the fear. Of course, holing up in your room is one way to play, but handhelds allow you to freely change the time, place and occasion, so I think the ways people play will change. What do you think about that?
Kawata
For example, if the console goes to sleep, the game would pause. As a horror game we hesitated in allowing the player to pause the game at will, but we decided it would be necessary as a portable game. And the cliffhanger structure of the story allows you to confirm your progress so far. So I think it's easier to get into compared to previous Resident Evil games.
Nakanishi
We were firm about that for the main game, but since it's for a handheld, you want to get together with someone and play, right? That gave birth to Raid Mode.
Energetic Fellows and Twice the Work
Iwata
Could you please explain a little about Raid Mode?
Nakanishi
It's a multi-player mode for two people aside from the Campaign mode that is the main game. In Raid Mode, you enjoy the game together with a friend. It's a completely different concept than in the main mode.
Kawata
We had turned Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D into a product, so we started thinking of different bonus games, and as we were pondering the various possibilities, we looked at a nearby team and they were having a great time with a game called Monster Hunter. (laughs) We were gazing on in envy and the staff pulled it together nicely.
Iwata
But Raid Mode goes beyond the boundaries of a simple bonus game, doesn't it?
Nakanishi
There was a response among the development staff that games you can play together with others are fun, so we should make one. We got rid of elements unnecessary for multiple players and focused on a pure battle mode.
Kawata
The next thing I noticed, it felt like we were making two games—the main game and a multi-player one.
Nakanishi
That was indeed the end result. (laughs) Actually, the people who were tuning Mercenaries worked on Raid Mode after it was complete. Since they were on their second round of development, they were able to churn out high volume at a fast pace.
Iwata
Today's conversation always seems to lead to the conclusion that making Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D was a good thing.
Kawata
I agree. (laughs)
Takenaka
The Campaign of the main game is single-player, the Raid Mode for battles is two-player, and we want people to take Resident Evil out into the streets with them. One game lasts about five to ten minutes, but focused sessions may even end in three seconds, so you can play in spare moments. It can be fun just going in and out of the shop until there's a good assortment. (laughs)
Iwata
Instead of just adding a bonus game, you could say you made one product out of a game you can thoroughly enjoy by yourself and one you can carry around and enjoy with your friends.
Nakanishi
You can actually play Raid Mode even if you don't finish the whole main game. In that way as well, I wanted it to do everything as a Resident Evil game for a portable gaming device.
Iwata
Well…you're a team of energetic fellows who made the first full-fledged Resident Evil game for a handheld. It's dense and you did it in an unprecedented 11 months after release of the hardware. It's the result of your refusal to let yourselves cut corners because it's for a handheld.
To finish up, I would like each of you to say something to the fans. Suzuki-san, would you please start?
Suzuki
Okay. Like we just discussed, we didn't pay much attention to the fact that it was for a handheld. We just made a full-on Resident Evil game. As part of the game's new essence, I tried to make music that would allow the players to immerse themselves in the game and to make tracks that would stick with them. I hope that as players enjoy the game they will pay attention to the music, but also to the sound effects.
Iwata
Thank you. Hori-san?
Hori
We tried to make graphics like for a home console game rather than a handheld, so I hope people will enjoy that. And, when it came to Raid Mode, we fine-tuned it to just the right koshi—sorry, that's our own in-house jargon—so please enjoy that.
Nakanishi
Like koshi as in the perfect texture of udon noodles. (laughs)
Iwata
Right. (laughs) Thanks. Nakanishi-san?
Nakanishi
As I said today, everyone worked really hard, including a lot of people who aren't here today, and this game is a result of that immense effort.
Iwata
Such enthusiasm. (laughs)
Nakanishi
I would be so happy if everyone who buys it enjoys it.
Iwata
Thank you. Takenaka-san?
Takenaka
I'm sure that the fans who have loved Resident Evil so far will be able to enjoy it, but it also has the new element of being able to be carried around town, so I truly hope people will take it outside to play.
Iwata
Thank you. And last, Kawata-san.
Kawata
Maybe I shouldn't say this, but looking at the finished game makes me think why we didn't slap a number on the title!! It's a true-as-can-be Resident Evil game from head to toe, so please enjoy it.
Iwata
All right, thank you. Now I have a sense of why this team was able to make such a dense game, with such a great volume, at such a high speed. It's enthusiasm and working twice as much! (laughs)
Everyone
(laughs loudly)
Kawata
And another thing was—to repeat myself—being able to interact with the public. Being able to indirectly converse with them was immensely important.
Iwata
This game came together because you made good use of every presentation to watch the players' reactions, listen to them and gather feedback.
Nakanishi
Yes. Because of that, I had to ask the staff to create a playable version of the game each time which further added to their workload,, but thanks to that, we were able to make it as we did. I hope everyone will try it out at least once.
Iwata
It was fun hearing everything you had to say today. Thank you very much.
Everyone
You're welcome!
No comments:
Post a Comment