shmuplations

Grandia - 1998 Developer Interviews

http://shmuplations.com/grandia1998/

These Grandia interviews all appeared in Sega Saturn Magazine in 1998. They make a nice companion read to the Grandia interviews I tra...

A Quick January Update

Greetings and a happy 2017 to all! The lack of updates this month may have already tipped you off, but I'm taking a break this January from translating in order to attend to some administrative tasks and, well, just to take a break! Many patrons and ...

The Making of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

http://shmuplations.com/zeldalttp/

This Link to the Past interview originally appeared in the 1/92 edition of Famicom Tsuushin magazine. In typical Miyamoto fashion, it...

The Women of Game Design – 1990 Developer Interview

http://shmuplations.com/womenofgamedesign/

This questionnaire-style interview was originally featured in the 10/90 edition of BEEP! Megadrive magazine. It’s b...

The Making of Darius

http://shmuplations.com/darius/

This Darius feature originally appeared in the April 1987 edition of Japan’s famed BEEP! magazine. While I usually stick to “pure” intervi...

Toaplan Game Music – Composer Interview Collection

http://shmuplations.com/toaplanmusic/

These composer remarks/interviews were compiled from liner notes of the many Toaplan cds released over the years from 1987-1992. In ...

Koji Kondo – 2001 Composer Interview

http://shmuplations.com/kojikondo/

This lengthy interview with famous Nintendo composer Koji Kondo was originally featured in the jp book series game maestro. It looks back ...

Final Fantasy VI – 1994 Developer Interview

http://shmuplations.com/ff6/

These Final Fantasy VI interviews first appeared in the 1994 editions of Game-On and Hippon Super magazines; I have joined them together and slightly ...

Kazuma Kaneko x Tomomi Kobayashi – Designer Interview

http://shmuplations.com/kobayashikaneko/

This candid, wide-ranging interview between lauded designers Tomomi Kobayashi and Kazuma Kaneko first appeared in Game Hi...

Real Bout Fatal Fury – 1995 Developer Interview

http://shmuplations.com/realboutfatalfury/

This Real Bout Fatal Fury interview first appeared in an official strategy guide in 1995. I’ve supplemented it with...

What is Game Design? Three Perspectives

http://shmuplations.com/whatisgamedesign/

This interview originally appeared in the 1996 omnibus edition of Game Hihyou magazine. It was written in a hybrid arti...

Thunder Force III – Developer Interviews

http://shmuplations.com/thunderforceiii/

This interview with Technosoft alumni Naosuke Arai is excerpted from a longer feature at Famitsu discussing the release o...

Art of Fighting 2 – 1994 Developer Interview

http://shmuplations.com/aof2/

This short Art of Fighting 2 interview appeared in a special issue of Gamest in May 1994. Although the interview text is regrettably quite shor...

Alisia Dragoon / Ranger X - Developer Interviews

[[Note: the Ranger X interview that was voted on this month was again a bit short, so I decided to translate something from another Megadrive classic, Alisia Dragoon, to make up the difference!]]

2016-09-28 16:21:54 +0000 UTC View Post

Super Mario 64 – 1996 Developer Interviews

http://shmuplations.com/mario64/

These two lengthy interviews with Shigeru Miyamoto and key members of the Super Mario 64 development team first appeared in two official ...

Shigeki Toyama and Namco Arcade Machines

http://shmuplations.com/shigekitoyama/

This interview with veteran Namco designer Shigeki Toyama first appeared in vol. 0 of STG Gameside (2011). It begins with an ...

Chrono Trigger – 1995 Developer Interview Collection

http://shmuplations.com/chronotrigger2/

This is a collection of Chrono Trigger interviews from early 1995, originally featured in Japanese magazines Famicon Tsuush...

Deathsmiles (Superplayer) / Mushihimesama interviews

[[Note: the Mushihimesama interview that was voted on this month turned out to be kind of short, so I decided to translate another Cave interview from the list, hence the two-in-one update!]]

2016-08-29 14:42:04 +0000 UTC View Post

The Making of Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike

http://shmuplations.com/sfiii/These three Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike interviews were originally featured in Gamest magazine and the Capcom Secret File. They cover the origins ...

I.Q.: Intelligent Qube – 1997 Developer Interview

http://shmuplations.com/iq/

In this "cerebral" interview, I.Q. designer Masahiko Sato talks puzzle design, gameplay, and the origins of the I.Q development. With a background ...

Tomohiro Nishikado – 2000 Developer Interview

http://shmuplations.com/nishikado/

As the creator of the revolutionary Space Invaders, Tomohiro Nishikado could rightly be called the Father of Japanese video games. Th...

Silhouette Mirage – 1997 Developer Interviews

http://shmuplations.com/silhouettemirage/

This collection of Silhouette Mirage interviews from 1997 and 1998 first appeared in game hihyou and Sega Saturn magazi...

Satoru Iwata – 1999 Developer Interview

http://shmuplations.com/iwata/

his insightful interview with Satoru Iwata originally appeared in the 1999 quarterly edition of jp Used Games magazine. It captures Iwata in ...

Super Mario Kart – 1992 Developer Interview

http://shmuplations.com/supermariokart/

In this vintage Super Mario Kart interview from 1992 (which first appeared in the official jp strategy guide), Shigeru Miya...

Designing the A-Life System – 1996 Developer Interview

http://shmuplations.com/alife/

This short interview about the “A-Life” system from NiGHTS was originally featured in game hihyou magazine in 1996. Yuji Naka shares some...

The Rock Stars of Sega – 2009 Composer Interview

http://shmuplations.com/sst/

This lengthy and candid interview from 2009 with alumni Sega composers Hiroshi Kawaguchi and Takenobu Mitsuyoshi first appeared online at game mu...

Switching from "Monthly" to "Per-Creation"

After much consideration, I've decided to switch this Patreon from a monthly to

per-creation campaign. In general, completing 5 translations a month is not a problem, although it is a "near capacity" level of work for me. And since I'm...

Final Fantasy Tactics – 1997 Developer Interview

http://shmuplations.com/fft/

This Final Fantasy Tactics interview originally appeared in jp magazine Famitsu. It explores the challenge of designing a SRPG in the Final Fanta...

Super Mario Land 2 – 1992 Developer Interview

http://shmuplations.com/supermarioland2/

This small Super Mario Land 2 interview from 1992 was originally featured in the official Nintendo guidebook published th...

Alien Soldier – 1995 Developer Interview

http://shmuplations.com/aliensoldier/

I've updated this page with two more short Alien Soldier interviews, this time with Masato Maegawa. They provide some additiona...