Shinji Mikami (Completed the direction of biohazard remake and currently developing biohazard 4) and Tatsuya Minami (Producer of biohazard 0) talk about biohazard for the GameCube and game development, reason for releasing biohazard for the GameCube only, concerns about graphically "beautiful" games and thoughts on being a "Game Craftsman".
Source: HYPER CAPCOM SPECIAL 2002 Summer
Published: 15/7/2002
Published by: SONY Magazines
S = Shinji Mikami
T = Tatsuya Minami
Source: HYPER CAPCOM SPECIAL 2002 Summer
Published: 15/7/2002
Published by: SONY Magazines
S = Shinji Mikami
T = Tatsuya Minami
Interview Transcript
How's the feedback for biohazard on the GameCube?
S: Really good. I usually go around to internet web sites after a game is released, I checked several sites and at first, I didn't see many reactions but after a few days people started to post and I can say almost everybody was satisfied with the game.
This time was the first time to make biohazard for GameCube, was there any trouble?
S: We had a hard time on the movie part, capacity and processing. GameCube CPU doesn't process the animation computer graphics and other parts separately like PS2 does. But we got a lot of help from Nintendo and we solved the problem.
Do you think the graphic quality is high enough?
S: Yes, of course. I think quality is high enough because Capcom made the game. Our motto is "Guts", "Will power" and "Stamina". When I show our team's work site to guests, everybody always says, "Guts is the only strength we need."
T: Every development team in Capcom is like that. I think we are the only company that can do the job forcibly.
S: Basically, our staff are craftsmen, so they always find a way to make things happen. Even if they have to spend the night at the office all week.
About background animations, in biohazard remake, you used a lot of background animations to create the real feelings that other game don't have, will that atmosphere of BIO remake be carried over to BIO0?
T: Yes, of course. Usually, Shinji's Production Studio 4 makes BIOHAZARD series but this biohazard 0 is my -Production Studio 3- making with PS4's help. Even though we are making the game, it is still BIOHAZARD. So I had to follow the steps what BIO remake did. I saw BIO remake and I just couldn't let my team make pre-rendered backgrounds, so I'm remaking the backgrounds.
S: You're the MAN!!
T: Shinji wanted me to do it too.
S: WHAT?
T: You never told me to remake backgrounds but you gave me pressure when you showed me the background animation, like "I'm not gonna let you go with pre-rendering backgrounds."
S: Oh, no... You are saying I threatened you?
T: Well... Actually, when Shinji showed me the demo, I decided to remake biohazard 0. biohazard 0 was originally made for the N64, we started a long time ago but we changed almost everything. We delayed the release date a lot because of that.
S: I saw the background animation of biohazard 0 a few days ago, and at this point, already the quality is higher than BIO remake. And the story and everything is all new, so it feels fresh. Besides, biohazard 0 is started from the train scene, that is the best place to use background animation.
T: The good side of following in the foot steps of BIO remake is we can get data from the remake. I think we are lucky to get Rebecca data from the remake team, we just had to make a few modifications and use it. We have good cooperation.
About biohazard 0, there is the new game system in, like partner zapping system. Can you tell us about it?
T: When we started to develop the game, we made it for the N64. And with the N64 console characteristics, we don't have to think about loading time, and I came up the idea of changing the playable character back and forth without loading, and we put the idea to the GameCube. Game Cube is not the same console system as N64 but for RAM and capacity, we didn't have any problem.
I heard BIO0 is using the new game system that came from "Sweet Home" as the root of the BIO series.
T: Yes, we eliminated the item box. So, if players have a lot of items that they can't hold, they have to put it on the floor like "Sweet Home" did. Because we wanted to make the game harder, maybe a little bit different way for the people who want to enjoy the story and graphics, but....
S: I think it is OK that only people who like to play the "game" will enjoy it. Go back to the basics, enjoy the "game itself". BIO0 is a new BIO series since BIOHAZARD CODE:Veronica, I think there is a big difference from the remake. Remake is just remake.
T: If somebody thinks remake is just a remake of BIO HAZARD, that is a big mistake.
S: I don't care about what people think. Actually, compared to biohazard 0, the remake is not fresh enough.
Even if you said so, I was surprised by the changes and additions in the remake. By the way, why did you make the questions at the beginning of the game? Like climb up the mountain or walking?
S: I wanted the player to pick the hard way. If I put Easy or Hard, they will pick Easy. I want BIO to be alcohol, not popular drink like coke.
T: I picked hard and was killed by the first zombie.
S: I think the first zombie kills most of the people who play BIOHAZARD the first time.
T: Yeah, especially in the original BIO HAZARD. People didn't get used to moving the playable character and got eaten. That kind of "hard to play" part is fun. But now, I think some of the people play BIOHAZARD because the game is popular. Shinji wanted people to realize the basics.
S: After all, what the users want is important. Either they want beautiful graphics, interesting story and easy to play or they want to have a feeling to capture the game. If 1 out of 10 people feel like they want to capture the game, the point of view of the video game will change.
T: I think the remake is a good challenging game and also the graphics are real. I wanted to put a zapping system in to biohazard 0 because I wanted biohazard 0 to be a real game.
How hard is it to beat biohazard 0?
T: I only can say, "E3" version is hard. I put zombies in where I wasn't suppose to.
S: It surprised me when I saw the room full of zombies.
The remake is already released and biohazard 0 is coming soon, and biohazard 4 after that. Isn't it Mr. Mikami?
S: Yes.... but I don't think I can say something about biohazard 4 yet, the young staff is struggling to make a good one, so it is changing everyday. Of course I am checking what is going on, but we really don't know what is going to happen. The only thing I can tell you now is biohazard 4 will definitely release only on the GameCube, not on another console, if it happens, I will commit seppuku.
T: Yeah, I want to say this point LOUD. The BIOHAZARD series will only release on Nintendo, this is a done deal.
The users are confused because BIOHAZARD NETWORK is being developed on the PS2.
T: Yes, we are planning to release BIO Network on PS2, but I'm talking about BIOHAZARD with number series, 1, 0 and 4 and another number Resident Evil series. This kind of orthodox BIOHAZARD is ONLY in Nintendo.
S: I have to apologize to the users who believed me to buy the Dreamcast to play BIOHAZARD CV, I didn't know Capcom put out the "only on DC" thing. When I found out, it was too late.
T: This time, we really mean it.
What is the reason to stick with Nintendo?
S: Compared to the PS2, the GameCube doesn't have much of the market share, but this situation is what we want, we are -the software maker- and can take charge to make the market. I think if we can get a different kind of userbase that the GameCube already has, it is good for both of us.
BIOHAZARD 2, 3 and CV will be released on GameCube too?
S: Those games are NOT remakes, totally ports. Don't misunderstand that.
T: You will not remake those games?
S: No, I just released those games for the new users on GameCube.
T: Why don't you remake?
S: Personally, I want to remake, but if I do, the biohazard 4 release date will be delayed again.
T: Maybe it is better to just release the port and make it a cheap price.
S: So, I'm not going to add anything. If I add something or change something, die-hard fans will buy it, and I don't want that to happen. "No addition, No change".
Mr. Minami, do you have a message for the fans who look forward to playing biohazard 0?
T: Check the E3 version and please wait a while.
S: Really good. I usually go around to internet web sites after a game is released, I checked several sites and at first, I didn't see many reactions but after a few days people started to post and I can say almost everybody was satisfied with the game.
This time was the first time to make biohazard for GameCube, was there any trouble?
S: We had a hard time on the movie part, capacity and processing. GameCube CPU doesn't process the animation computer graphics and other parts separately like PS2 does. But we got a lot of help from Nintendo and we solved the problem.
Do you think the graphic quality is high enough?
S: Yes, of course. I think quality is high enough because Capcom made the game. Our motto is "Guts", "Will power" and "Stamina". When I show our team's work site to guests, everybody always says, "Guts is the only strength we need."
T: Every development team in Capcom is like that. I think we are the only company that can do the job forcibly.
S: Basically, our staff are craftsmen, so they always find a way to make things happen. Even if they have to spend the night at the office all week.
About background animations, in biohazard remake, you used a lot of background animations to create the real feelings that other game don't have, will that atmosphere of BIO remake be carried over to BIO0?
T: Yes, of course. Usually, Shinji's Production Studio 4 makes BIOHAZARD series but this biohazard 0 is my -Production Studio 3- making with PS4's help. Even though we are making the game, it is still BIOHAZARD. So I had to follow the steps what BIO remake did. I saw BIO remake and I just couldn't let my team make pre-rendered backgrounds, so I'm remaking the backgrounds.
S: You're the MAN!!
T: Shinji wanted me to do it too.
S: WHAT?
T: You never told me to remake backgrounds but you gave me pressure when you showed me the background animation, like "I'm not gonna let you go with pre-rendering backgrounds."
S: Oh, no... You are saying I threatened you?
T: Well... Actually, when Shinji showed me the demo, I decided to remake biohazard 0. biohazard 0 was originally made for the N64, we started a long time ago but we changed almost everything. We delayed the release date a lot because of that.
S: I saw the background animation of biohazard 0 a few days ago, and at this point, already the quality is higher than BIO remake. And the story and everything is all new, so it feels fresh. Besides, biohazard 0 is started from the train scene, that is the best place to use background animation.
T: The good side of following in the foot steps of BIO remake is we can get data from the remake. I think we are lucky to get Rebecca data from the remake team, we just had to make a few modifications and use it. We have good cooperation.
About biohazard 0, there is the new game system in, like partner zapping system. Can you tell us about it?
T: When we started to develop the game, we made it for the N64. And with the N64 console characteristics, we don't have to think about loading time, and I came up the idea of changing the playable character back and forth without loading, and we put the idea to the GameCube. Game Cube is not the same console system as N64 but for RAM and capacity, we didn't have any problem.
I heard BIO0 is using the new game system that came from "Sweet Home" as the root of the BIO series.
T: Yes, we eliminated the item box. So, if players have a lot of items that they can't hold, they have to put it on the floor like "Sweet Home" did. Because we wanted to make the game harder, maybe a little bit different way for the people who want to enjoy the story and graphics, but....
S: I think it is OK that only people who like to play the "game" will enjoy it. Go back to the basics, enjoy the "game itself". BIO0 is a new BIO series since BIOHAZARD CODE:Veronica, I think there is a big difference from the remake. Remake is just remake.
T: If somebody thinks remake is just a remake of BIO HAZARD, that is a big mistake.
S: I don't care about what people think. Actually, compared to biohazard 0, the remake is not fresh enough.
Even if you said so, I was surprised by the changes and additions in the remake. By the way, why did you make the questions at the beginning of the game? Like climb up the mountain or walking?
S: I wanted the player to pick the hard way. If I put Easy or Hard, they will pick Easy. I want BIO to be alcohol, not popular drink like coke.
T: I picked hard and was killed by the first zombie.
S: I think the first zombie kills most of the people who play BIOHAZARD the first time.
T: Yeah, especially in the original BIO HAZARD. People didn't get used to moving the playable character and got eaten. That kind of "hard to play" part is fun. But now, I think some of the people play BIOHAZARD because the game is popular. Shinji wanted people to realize the basics.
S: After all, what the users want is important. Either they want beautiful graphics, interesting story and easy to play or they want to have a feeling to capture the game. If 1 out of 10 people feel like they want to capture the game, the point of view of the video game will change.
T: I think the remake is a good challenging game and also the graphics are real. I wanted to put a zapping system in to biohazard 0 because I wanted biohazard 0 to be a real game.
How hard is it to beat biohazard 0?
T: I only can say, "E3" version is hard. I put zombies in where I wasn't suppose to.
S: It surprised me when I saw the room full of zombies.
The remake is already released and biohazard 0 is coming soon, and biohazard 4 after that. Isn't it Mr. Mikami?
S: Yes.... but I don't think I can say something about biohazard 4 yet, the young staff is struggling to make a good one, so it is changing everyday. Of course I am checking what is going on, but we really don't know what is going to happen. The only thing I can tell you now is biohazard 4 will definitely release only on the GameCube, not on another console, if it happens, I will commit seppuku.
T: Yeah, I want to say this point LOUD. The BIOHAZARD series will only release on Nintendo, this is a done deal.
The users are confused because BIOHAZARD NETWORK is being developed on the PS2.
T: Yes, we are planning to release BIO Network on PS2, but I'm talking about BIOHAZARD with number series, 1, 0 and 4 and another number Resident Evil series. This kind of orthodox BIOHAZARD is ONLY in Nintendo.
S: I have to apologize to the users who believed me to buy the Dreamcast to play BIOHAZARD CV, I didn't know Capcom put out the "only on DC" thing. When I found out, it was too late.
T: This time, we really mean it.
What is the reason to stick with Nintendo?
S: Compared to the PS2, the GameCube doesn't have much of the market share, but this situation is what we want, we are -the software maker- and can take charge to make the market. I think if we can get a different kind of userbase that the GameCube already has, it is good for both of us.
BIOHAZARD 2, 3 and CV will be released on GameCube too?
S: Those games are NOT remakes, totally ports. Don't misunderstand that.
T: You will not remake those games?
S: No, I just released those games for the new users on GameCube.
T: Why don't you remake?
S: Personally, I want to remake, but if I do, the biohazard 4 release date will be delayed again.
T: Maybe it is better to just release the port and make it a cheap price.
S: So, I'm not going to add anything. If I add something or change something, die-hard fans will buy it, and I don't want that to happen. "No addition, No change".
Mr. Minami, do you have a message for the fans who look forward to playing biohazard 0?
T: Check the E3 version and please wait a while.