Tecmo on Again: Eye of Providence (Nintendo DS)
Developer CiNG is renowned for its sterling work with Nintendo on the Hotel Dusk and Another Code series of mystery adventure games. However, it also struck up a relationship with fellow Japanese company Tecmo when working on the Japanese-only DS release 'Monster Rancher'. As a result of that successful partnership, the two teams are working closely to craft an intriguing new crime thriller called Again: Eye of Providence for the Nintendo DS (known as Again: FBI Chou-Shinri Shousakan in Japan), which hits Japan on 10th December, 2009. The main premise is that a tragedy from 19 years ago is about to happen all over again, but other details have been scarce so far. Therefore, Cubed3 decided to catch up with the Producer of the project to find out more details, uncover whether it will eventually hit Europe, as well as discuss prospects for further sequels?
AGAIN Producer, Kouichi Yamaguchi: The team consists of more than thirty people. I think it's quite huge for a development team working on a Nintendo DS title. I have no idea if it's larger or smaller than it was when the team was developing those titles, though.
AR: Many Nintendo fans have enjoyed CiNG's Another Code and Hotel Dusk games. Will there be any similarities between those games and Again? Also, what completely new aspects are being put in the game?
Yamaguchi-san: Of course, you can find some similarities like the world being controlled by touch, a well-polished story being included, in-depth character development, all of which play important roles in AGAIN, just as they did in CiNG's past titles. Also, you can enjoy the puzzle essence, taking advantage of the hardware aspect of the Nintendo DS. In addition to those aspects, you can find more enjoyable elements like how the team has created a more suspenseful way in which the story unfolds, as well as solving puzzles by comparing information found on the left and right screens [ ED: Again is played holding the DS on its side ].
AR: The art style is very different from CiNG's other DS and Wii adventure games. Why have you chosen to take this new direction? Are you worried that some fans may not like this new style?
Yamaguchi-san: I would like to stress to you that the aim of this project was not to make AGAIN like a sequel to "Hotel Dusk" or "Another Code". They were published by Nintendo, whilst AGAIN is something brand new that CiNG and TECMO are working on together. Yes, we are using a new art style - the photographed image technique. If you have a chance to watch the videos of the actual gameplay, I believe you can see the solid art style that CiNG is still there, and that the team has been successful in making the game quite beautiful.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wJYzUfwA-0&feature=player_embedded
AR: Can you please briefly explain the game's story?
Yamaguchi-san: An unsolved series of murders that occurred 19 years ago starts again in present day. Each of the stories focusing on various people from the past and present are portrayed across the whole of the game. The important clue for the incidents is the "Eye of Providence," which is drawn on the back of a one Dollar bill. Jay, who is a FBI agent, uses his special ability called "past vision" that enables him to see what happened in the past, and he is faced with some facts he had previously sealed off in his mind.
AR: Music plays a very important role in CiNG's games, with a great amount of emotion being expressed thanks to a very impressive soundtrack. Will the same composers be creating music for Again, or is Tecmo's development team working on the soundtrack?
Yamaguchi-san: CiNG is working on this particular element of the game. The team is paying full attention to the creation of the best possible soundtrack this time round as well.
AR: In general, how is the game's development being shared between the two companies? What main aspects are CiNG dealing with and what is Tecmo's role in the development process?
Yamaguchi-san: Creators from both CING and TECMO co-operated in determining the overall direction, such as the game system or plot. After that, we entrusted the development to them and have respected their creativity. The TECMO side has checked the quality of each milestone and directed any required modifications.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCj1FRd8r3c&feature=player_embedded
AR: CiNG has a very close relationship with Nintendo, so why is this new project being developed with Tecmo? Is it because of the previous collaboration on Monster Rancher?
Yamaguchi-san: TECMO has a great history in the Text Adventure Game genre (such as "DS Kyotaro Nishimura Suspense," "Misa Yamamura," and so on). The next step following from those titles was to approach CiNG and offered a co-operative development deal, aiming to "Create a Text Adventure game that can be enjoyed all over the world."
Actually, this is merely the "official" reason. To be honest, when we were working together on "Monster Rancher", I talked with Mr. Miyagawa, who is President of CiNG, about TV dramas, movies and games, and we totally hit it off with each other, and then promised to develop a world-wide Text Adventure game together. This is how the project really started!
AR: Again has been delayed quite considerably. Can you please explain why this delay happened and reveal when the game is now going to be released?
Yamaguchi-san: In the development of AGAIN, the changes in art style, the new system of "past vision", composite of 3D backgrounds and photographed images - everything was a new challenge to us. This is why it took us so long. We truly apologise to the many fans that have been looking forward to this title. However, we are sure that time made AGAIN more elaborate and solid on the whole. We are planning to launch it early next year in North America and Europe.
AR: Can you tell us what your sales expectations for the game are in Japan? If you cannot tell us, can you at least say if you think the game will be as popular as Another Code and Hotel Dusk?
Yamaguchi-san: I'm afraid I cannot tell you the exact sales expectations, but we've got a good response from the Tokyo Game Show, where people went hands-on with the playable version. We're going to have many kinds of promotion across various media forms, taking advantage of the unique world of AGAIN and its visuals, so we are sure that we can provide you with new topics that are different from Hotel Dusk or any other titles in this genre.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wld83zn5ZU&feature=player_embedded
AR: Tecmo has already confirmed that Again: Eye of Providence will be released in both the US and Japan. But when will the newly formed Tecmo Koei Europe be releasing the game in the European market?
Yamaguchi-san: It will definitely be released in Europe, but a firm date hasn't been confirmed yet at this point.
AR: Tecmo seems keen to bring Again to Western DS gamers, but will not translate the two Kyotaro Nishimura mystery games or the Misa Yamamura game. Can you please explain why one mystery adventure is being considered for localisation but these other three are stuck in Japan? There are many Cubed3 readers that really want to try Masahiro Shidara-san's games.
Yamaguchi-san: Thank you so much for asking this! Needless to say, we are eager to have more European people play our Suspense titles. However, it hasn't become a reality for many reasons. If you can send fan letters to our head office, requesting that we localise those games for the European region, it may make it more likely! I greatly appreciate all your support!
AR: Are there already plans for another Again game, or will you wait to see if the first one has strong sales?
Yamaguchi-san: Actually, I have the plot for the sequel in my mind already and it is so exciting! However, no one knows if it will become a reality just yet. All I can tell you now is that I'm just working hard to make "AGAIN: Season2" a reality.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulzK0b_ZKWQ&feature=player_embedded
AR: If you do a sequel to Again, would you prefer to continue on the DS or would you consider making a Wii version?
Yamaguchi-san: It's going to be on DS or on the next handheld after DS. That's because the past vision system of AGAIN was created especially for the DS set-up.
AR: Telltale Games has had great success with 'episodic' games on WiiWare and even Capcom will be releasing episodes of Gyakuten Saiban on DSiWare soon. Will Tecmo or CiNG also consider making monthly episode releases on either of Nintendo's download services?
Yamaguchi-san: Of course, we are considering it!
Quelle