Ninety-Nine Nights: Video Interview

Kikizo sits down once again with game design hero Tetsuya Mizuguchi, joined by Phantagram CEO Sangyoun Lee, for a 27-minute feature on their X360 collaboration.

Xbox 360 isn't exactly off to a dream start in Japan, but many believe the machine's eastern fortunes will change once the market starts to get some of the killer apps designed specifically with its native gamers in mind.

One of the most anticipated in this category is the promising Ninety-Nine Nights (N3), from ex-Sega legend Tetsuya Mizuguchi (see our latest separate interview with him here), and respected Korean developer, Phantagram.

The epic fantasy action-adventure game is set against a backdrop of natural disaster, unrest and eventually war between humans and other races, delivering a fine opportunity for lovingly crafted characters, level design and detailed battle gameplay patterns and mechanics, which the creators even reveal to us is based on classic top-down shooter design and the familiar call/response gameplay of Miz's music-based titles.

As the boss of his own studio, Q Entertainment, Mizuguchi sits down with Kikizo once again, joined by President and CEO of Phantagram, Sangyoun Lee, to discuss all things N3 in another huge video feature crammed with detail and in-game direct-feed footage. On the menu today:

COLLABORATION

• Difficulty of integrating teams at Q, Phantagram, MGS - English, Japanese, Korean - tough on translators...
• Over 100 people and 10 companies to make N3!
• "Like falling in love" - Mizuguchi
• Shared vision with Miz a surprise for Sangyoun Lee
• The key to collaboration is management - Miz
• Specific involvement of Mizuguchi

GAME

• Timeframe for the game to come to western markets
• Localisation for western version already prepared
• Background to the game, story, war etc
• All characters have history, friends, background...
• Playing from all characters point of view, not one-sided
• Over 60 minutes of motion cap - like interactive movie
• "In game cinema is quality of prerendered"
• Number of levels, diversity of stages etc
• Depth of gameplay system - customisation of attacks, items etc
• Variety in enemies - different and/or identical kind?
• Sound not as integral to game as previous Miz games - or it it?
• Gameplay design based on classic 2D shooters like R-Type
• N3's music composer - from Istanbul, lives in LA, young, talented
• CPU power used for each enemy having its own AI
• Further optimisation plans?

BIG ISSUES

• "I didn't want to make a war game 5 years ago but 9/11 changed a lot - we can't stop war, fighting is in the DNA of a human being" - Miz
• "Perfect 360 dev compilers won't exist for another year" - Lee
• When to stop perfecting game optimisation?
• Past experiences of starting and managing own game companies for Miz and Lee
• "Being CEO and Director of major project at same time and doing it properly is not possible!" - Lee
• Future collaborations
• Mr Lee beaten at own game!

Enjoy this latest video feature and stay tuned for more on the N3 front. The game is scheduled for Japanese release in spring 2006, with yet-to-be-confirmed western releases hopefully not too far behind. Does Kikizo think it will see release in western markets? A little bird tells us it will be so.

Adam Doree
Director, Kikizo.com

Click here for Kikizo's interview archive.