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- Mar 14, 2001
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SNK NeoGeo Hong Kong interview about KoF'02...
Copied & pasted from the MMCafe bulletin board:
"Here is the transcript of the interview between Hong Kong game Magazine (GX)and 3 of the developers for KOF2002. Nothing new from what everyone has knew, as expected. I do not know how to translate their Japanese names to English, so I will just leave it as P1, P2, P3.
Q1: What are your experiences in KOF development?
P1: Since 94, I have been responsible with the characters, mainly Athena, Mai and Andy. I also designed all the final bosses of 97 to 2K2.
P2: I’ve joined Brezza Soft in 2001, but I am involved in the creation of Ryo in Art of Fighting, plus some of the character designs in Power Instinct.
P3: I am mainly involved in the development of Demo Design such as the one in 2K1. (Note: Demo Design means the intro, endings etc)
Q2: When is 2K2 going to be released?
P1: Tentatively in Oct, but definitely in 2002.
Q3: When is 2K1 going to be ported over to the home systems?
P1: It has been announced for DC and PS2, but we haven’t decided on the time.
Q4: How many people were involved in the making of 2K2?
P1: 25.
Q5: Why was 2K2 made a dream match?
P1: We wanted it to look like a trilogy for every new story development, just like Star Wars. 95 to 97 was the Orochi story, then a dream match, 99 to 2001 was the NESTS story, so we decided that 2K2 should be a dream match again.
Q6: What is the main difference of 2K2 and 2K1?
P1: This year we are confidence that the overall play will be better – and it will definitely be more exciting and fun than 2K1. Also, the character balance will be the best in the series, even better than 98! (Ed note: Does that mean no striker system? We shall see…)
Q7: Who are your favourite KOF characters?
P1: Igniz. He is the ending boss of the whole NESTS saga, and I deliberately made him looked like someone who is 20 odd years old even though he is 56.
P2: Ryo Sakazaki! Because I was involved in his creation, it feels like a baby to me.
P3: Angel. I like her dress style.
Q8: How do you think Hong Kong players fare in KOF?
P1: I came to Hong Kong when 97 was first released, and since they have not really played the game and had only played 96, I won easily (laughs). But I think they should be as good as Japanese players.
Q9: What do you think of the development of fighting games?
P1: In 94 , 95…people told us that the fad for fighting games is over but as you can see it is still as popular till now, just look at all the fighting game players in the arcades…there is still a demand and market for it.
Q10: Will you guys still be developing 2D fighters or will you switch to develop 3D ones?
P1: We will still place emphasis on developing on the MVS board, but we will definitely try 3D boards if possible. Tentativelly at Brezza Soft we will still be developing 2D games as I think they still have a certain influence these days! We are confident of that.
Q11: What other games have you guys have experience in developing?
P1: “Top Hunter - Roddy and Cathy”.
P2: “Egg Man” and (sorry I don’t know how to translate the name of the other game)
Q12: Will you guys develop the sequel to those? Or other games?
P1: If the opportunity arises, yes, but our focus will still be on developing KOF, as it is the most popular game.
Q13: What is your current direction in game developments?
P1: What a difficult question! (laughs). I suppose we will based on the user need and demands of the players as main priorities.
Q14: Will Hong Kong be one of the Beta Test sites for 2K2?
P1: Not likely.
Q15: How many new characters are there in 2K2? What is the ratio of male to female?
P1: There will not be any new characters in 2K2. The ratio of male to female is approximately 7:3.
Q16: Will the “Striker System” be intact in 2K2?
P1: We can’t disclose that now, but there will be special new elements in the game.
Q17: What will the “Power Gauge” be like in 2K2?
P1: Again we can’t disclose that now, but we have added quite a lot of new game systems into it.
Q18: Will the old game systems such as “Wire Damage” and “Super Cancel” be eliminated?
P1: We always eliminate or modify those systems that are not effective in gameplay every year.
Q19: Will there be 2 Korean teams this year since the game is developed in Korea?
P1: Where did you hear that from?(laughs) (Ed answers: From the Internet) No, these are just rumours.
Q20: Is the person responsible for character design of 2K1 in charge of character design again for 2K2?
P1: We can’t disclose that now, but there will be changes from 2K1. (Ed note: Does that mean a new person responsible for character design? Again we shall have to wait and see…)
Q21: What is the next project for you guys?
P1: The company has no concrete plans on the development of 2K3 as of yet. We are having our vacation now after finishing 2K2, that’s why we are here in Hong Kong! (laughs). We are not responsible for developing SNK vs Capcom – that is being done by another development team.
Q22: Classic fighting games are being created in the KOF series? Have you guys thought of combining these classic into one and releasing on the home systems?
P1: We will have to see if the players demand for it. I am keen on the idea, but it all boils down to the decision of Playmore. It is unlikely to be developed from the old Neo Geo though.
Q23: How do you guys find Hong Kong?
P1: This is my second time here. The first time was in 1997. I remembered there was a huge, terrifying thunderstorm when the plane landed in the airport. I noted that there are more high-rise buildings now.
P2: This is my first time here. I have seen photos of Hong Kong before and now I am certain that those photos really depict how Hong Kong looks like.
Q24: Any words for the players in Hong Kong?
P1: We put in our best efforts in 2K2, so please do show the game a lot of support!!
P2: 2K2 is interesting, and I definitely enjoy it very much, and hopefully you guys will too."
----------
Not much news I'd say, though it's nice to see SNK HK is at least doing interviews. Oh, during the past week I've dug up a lot of background info on various SNK and Capcom games and "P1" in this interview is most likely C. Yamasaki, who's been a Front Designer for the KoF series since '94. Nice to see there's still some of the old SNK staff working for Playmore.
Copied & pasted from the MMCafe bulletin board:
"Here is the transcript of the interview between Hong Kong game Magazine (GX)and 3 of the developers for KOF2002. Nothing new from what everyone has knew, as expected. I do not know how to translate their Japanese names to English, so I will just leave it as P1, P2, P3.
Q1: What are your experiences in KOF development?
P1: Since 94, I have been responsible with the characters, mainly Athena, Mai and Andy. I also designed all the final bosses of 97 to 2K2.
P2: I’ve joined Brezza Soft in 2001, but I am involved in the creation of Ryo in Art of Fighting, plus some of the character designs in Power Instinct.
P3: I am mainly involved in the development of Demo Design such as the one in 2K1. (Note: Demo Design means the intro, endings etc)
Q2: When is 2K2 going to be released?
P1: Tentatively in Oct, but definitely in 2002.
Q3: When is 2K1 going to be ported over to the home systems?
P1: It has been announced for DC and PS2, but we haven’t decided on the time.
Q4: How many people were involved in the making of 2K2?
P1: 25.
Q5: Why was 2K2 made a dream match?
P1: We wanted it to look like a trilogy for every new story development, just like Star Wars. 95 to 97 was the Orochi story, then a dream match, 99 to 2001 was the NESTS story, so we decided that 2K2 should be a dream match again.
Q6: What is the main difference of 2K2 and 2K1?
P1: This year we are confidence that the overall play will be better – and it will definitely be more exciting and fun than 2K1. Also, the character balance will be the best in the series, even better than 98! (Ed note: Does that mean no striker system? We shall see…)
Q7: Who are your favourite KOF characters?
P1: Igniz. He is the ending boss of the whole NESTS saga, and I deliberately made him looked like someone who is 20 odd years old even though he is 56.
P2: Ryo Sakazaki! Because I was involved in his creation, it feels like a baby to me.
P3: Angel. I like her dress style.
Q8: How do you think Hong Kong players fare in KOF?
P1: I came to Hong Kong when 97 was first released, and since they have not really played the game and had only played 96, I won easily (laughs). But I think they should be as good as Japanese players.
Q9: What do you think of the development of fighting games?
P1: In 94 , 95…people told us that the fad for fighting games is over but as you can see it is still as popular till now, just look at all the fighting game players in the arcades…there is still a demand and market for it.
Q10: Will you guys still be developing 2D fighters or will you switch to develop 3D ones?
P1: We will still place emphasis on developing on the MVS board, but we will definitely try 3D boards if possible. Tentativelly at Brezza Soft we will still be developing 2D games as I think they still have a certain influence these days! We are confident of that.
Q11: What other games have you guys have experience in developing?
P1: “Top Hunter - Roddy and Cathy”.
P2: “Egg Man” and (sorry I don’t know how to translate the name of the other game)
Q12: Will you guys develop the sequel to those? Or other games?
P1: If the opportunity arises, yes, but our focus will still be on developing KOF, as it is the most popular game.
Q13: What is your current direction in game developments?
P1: What a difficult question! (laughs). I suppose we will based on the user need and demands of the players as main priorities.
Q14: Will Hong Kong be one of the Beta Test sites for 2K2?
P1: Not likely.
Q15: How many new characters are there in 2K2? What is the ratio of male to female?
P1: There will not be any new characters in 2K2. The ratio of male to female is approximately 7:3.
Q16: Will the “Striker System” be intact in 2K2?
P1: We can’t disclose that now, but there will be special new elements in the game.
Q17: What will the “Power Gauge” be like in 2K2?
P1: Again we can’t disclose that now, but we have added quite a lot of new game systems into it.
Q18: Will the old game systems such as “Wire Damage” and “Super Cancel” be eliminated?
P1: We always eliminate or modify those systems that are not effective in gameplay every year.
Q19: Will there be 2 Korean teams this year since the game is developed in Korea?
P1: Where did you hear that from?(laughs) (Ed answers: From the Internet) No, these are just rumours.
Q20: Is the person responsible for character design of 2K1 in charge of character design again for 2K2?
P1: We can’t disclose that now, but there will be changes from 2K1. (Ed note: Does that mean a new person responsible for character design? Again we shall have to wait and see…)
Q21: What is the next project for you guys?
P1: The company has no concrete plans on the development of 2K3 as of yet. We are having our vacation now after finishing 2K2, that’s why we are here in Hong Kong! (laughs). We are not responsible for developing SNK vs Capcom – that is being done by another development team.
Q22: Classic fighting games are being created in the KOF series? Have you guys thought of combining these classic into one and releasing on the home systems?
P1: We will have to see if the players demand for it. I am keen on the idea, but it all boils down to the decision of Playmore. It is unlikely to be developed from the old Neo Geo though.
Q23: How do you guys find Hong Kong?
P1: This is my second time here. The first time was in 1997. I remembered there was a huge, terrifying thunderstorm when the plane landed in the airport. I noted that there are more high-rise buildings now.
P2: This is my first time here. I have seen photos of Hong Kong before and now I am certain that those photos really depict how Hong Kong looks like.
Q24: Any words for the players in Hong Kong?
P1: We put in our best efforts in 2K2, so please do show the game a lot of support!!
P2: 2K2 is interesting, and I definitely enjoy it very much, and hopefully you guys will too."
----------
Not much news I'd say, though it's nice to see SNK HK is at least doing interviews. Oh, during the past week I've dug up a lot of background info on various SNK and Capcom games and "P1" in this interview is most likely C. Yamasaki, who's been a Front Designer for the KoF series since '94. Nice to see there's still some of the old SNK staff working for Playmore.
<img src="graemlins/tickled.gif" border="0" alt="[Tickled]" /> 
