Products
Examples
Interview
Simultaneous Release On Three Platforms
The Role of Middleware in The SOULCALIBUR II Project.
Platform
Products Installed
CRI ADX / CRI Sofdec / CRI Clipper
Separated at birth?!
Yabuno: As you know, the original SOULCALIBUR II images are incredibly high-quality. Being in charge of encoding, whenever I am faced with high-quality, difficult images, it motivates me! - I like the feeling of rolling up my sleeves and saying "OK let's get this baby workin'!!" SOULCALIBUR II presented its share of difficulties, but it was a very rewarding game to work on.
Oshimi: You're in fact a big SOULCALIBUR II fan, is that correct?
Yabuno: Well, yes - but that's nothing to do with my work! (laughs). With any game that I'm in charge of, I feel strongly about wanting the final product as high quality as possible. So when I notice things about the game that are unrelated to encoding, I always want to pass my comments along - even if I realize it's outside of my purview. Of course, this often ends up causing a replacement of images, or a re-encoding, and it ends up being a lot of work! But knowing that this leads to an overall improved product and makes it worth it.
Onda: Recently, it seems that even if you create a good product, it doesn't necessarily sell well, wouldn't you say? I feel like there's a trend toward focusing on attention-getting and promotional elements in games. Games that are just good, pure fun to play - they have a hard time getting out into the market. It's as if in this age the whole concept of creating fun games is secondary.
Oshimi: I see.
Onda: In that respect, we're fortunate to be at Namco. For example, the SOULCALIBUR team was motivated by creating a game that would be more fun to play than any other game before. I believe that our method of game design gets a product into the hands of the consumer that offers a high level of satisfaction.
And on this project, I really feel that CRI supported us, especically in our effort to provide a product "improved beyond improvement". And in this respect, the more meetings I had with Yabuno, the more I noticed our shared viewpoint. I began to wonder if we were separated at birth!
Oshimi: We here at CRI don't make actual games, but we're all big game fans. Every one of us wants each game to be the best it can be, and wants it to sell as well as possible. I think that's the reason why we are naturally able to provide the kind of support that enables our client to reach these goals.
