Miscellaneous
You started out at AM2. How has that influenced you?
Nagoshi: The graphics then in the games they were making when I was working there were very high-tech and innovative. I also liked the approach in communications amongst the staff in planning the games and these designs.
We’ve noticed tracks from your games (Scud Race, Daytona 2) will be appearing in Outrun 2. How did you go about working with AM2 and Sumo Digital for this? I take it you and the folks from AM2 still get along very well?
Nagoshi: I haven’t done anything for Outrun 2 at all, no. AM2’s in the same building here, though, so of course the staff of both teams still interact quite often.
Do you think we’ll ever see any sort of straight ports of those titles? Racing fans have been clamoring for them for a while now.
Nagoshi: Hmmm, I run quite a tight schedule here... [laughs] but our staff has talked about it before. A few of our younger staff members at Sega have expressed interest in taking them on themselves, even.
Recently footage of the original Dreamcast Scud Race tech demo surfaced on the internet. Were there any plans for a full release of the game?
Nagoshi: No, just a demo. A lot of people really wanted it, but... We didn’t because...huh, I really don’t know why. [laughs]
Speaking of which, any chance of a new Daytona anytime in the near future?
Nagoshi: We don’t have any public plans at the moment. But right now, driving games like Need for Speed and Burnout are big in the US, so we’ve had thoughts about a Daytona 3.
Tell us a little bit about the collaboration with Nintendo on F-Zero. What sort of advantages and difficulties were present in working with them?
Nagoshi: They have very serious and strict policies in making their games to a very high standard. The two staffs working together sometimes had to compromise on conflicting views on things like the visuals. It was rather hard to communicate with them, all the way in Kyoto... But other than that, not many problems.
What recent games have you personally enjoyed the most? (Besides Sega games, of course.)
Nagoshi: Hmmm, I’ve been playing lots of stuff to study what’s all out there. Lots of Flash and freeware games...those are quite enjoyable. I’ve been playing those for fun the most.
Ever thought of making an RPG style title?
Nagoshi: Yes, yes. We’ll probably announce something in the near future. Of course we can’t delve into the small details, but our team is working on some stuff, including an action-adventure and an RPG style game. Next year should be very interesting for us. This year was sort of like a preparation, really. Please look forward to it!
We will, and thank you for this interview.
