Interview
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 Interview (Xbox360)
After an energetic and insanely chirpy presentation, we sat down with CyberConnect2's President Hiroshi Matsuyama, to discuss the upcoming Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2. Even here, in a room consisting of us and his translator, Matsuyama's passion for the franchise can be felt through his every move and excitable animations.
Strategy Informer: What was the main focus for the sequel, and which area have you improved most?
Hiroshi Matsuyama: There are three main points I want to talk about: The first point is that we now have more than 40 characters available in the game. They're all playable online, so you can use them against anyone in the world. Second point: We have put a lot of strength and effort into the drama and the story. What we have tried to do here is focus a lot on the Naruto story, because we have a very deep and highly dynamic battle system, but we wanted a strong story as well. So what's going to be possible here is that the player will be able to enjoy the whole Naruto world in beautiful maps that are linked.
There's a huge quantity of story. The game will include the whole of Naruto Shippuden, from the very beginning, to the episodes that have not yet been broadcast in Japan. The Naruto you can see here is a very special Naruto, and will only be broadcast from this summer in Japan, so it contains three years of content in the game.Third point is that we have tried to improve the very popular boss battle mode that was implemented in the first episode. I'm proud because we can make very interesting gameplay from these boss battles, and it's different according to the moment you're fighting.
Strategy Informer: You mentioned that the game will be released in Europe before Japan, why was this decision taken?
Hiroshi Matsuyama: Naruto has been published for more than 10 years in Japan. It's very famous and very popular all over the world. The anime has been broadcast for more than 8 years. More and more countries are receiving this series and the anime.The reason we decided to release the game in Europe first is to encourage this instalment to more and more countries. We really want the fans to be happy and to be able to enjoy the content at the same time as the anime.
Strategy Informer: Has a US release date been confirmed yet? Will it coincide with Europe or Japan?
Hiroshi Matsuyama: The release date for the US is not decided yet. However, what we know is that there might be a one week delay.
Strategy Informer: For people who don't know about Naruto or the anime, how will they fair with the game? Are you trying to attract new fans to the series?
Hiroshi Matsuyama: I think the word 'ninja' is a word used all over the world; everyone can understand this. Even for people who don't know the world of Naruto, everyone can enjoy the story as it's a story of a ninja that will grow with friends. He'll have battles and learn things through an immersive story.
Strategy Informer: To the untrained eye, Naruto looks similar to the new Dragon Ball Z game- what sets these two apart?
Hiroshi Matsuyama: The point that is very interesting in the Naruto world is that it's based on real-world events in a fictional environment. What you can see throughout the Naruto story is that the characters aren't becoming very strong for no reason. They're not using superpowers when you don't know why. The heroes are really growing step-by-step, and they're having training, having terrible emotions and passions. This allows them to learn new techniques to grow- like humans actually!
Strategy Informer: Everyone has been talking about the beautiful visuals here, how do they compare to the best of the generation?
Hiroshi Matsuyama: What we can say about games that are beautiful is that most of them are aiming to a photo-realistic direction, they're trying to reproduce reality as closely as possible. To be honest, to us, they all look the same, as every photo-realistic illustration can be seen anywhere in the world. So, we can say that our games, that aren't aiming towards a photo-realistic direction are very different, and they require a ton of effort to produce. By the way, have you been able to see Enslaved?
Strategy Informer: Yes, I've just seen it!
Hiroshi Matsuyama: So for example, what I felt with Enslaved, they have a very interesting approach to graphics. It's high resolution and very nice graphics. However, it's not only trying to produce photo-realistic graphics, there's an artistic touch in the way the game is designed.
Strategy Informer: Are there any differences between the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of Naruto?
Hiroshi Matsuyama: No, there wont be any differences.
Strategy Informer: Any downloaded content scheduled?
Hiroshi Matsuyama: [Looks at producer and smiles] This is something we can't answer, I'm sorry.
Strategy Informer: Any final thoughts for our readers?
Hiroshi Matsuyama: This is the number one Naruto game in the world. The boss battles are amazing! [Laughs hysterically]
A huge thank you for Matsuyama for fitting us into his busy schedule. Expect more on this Naruto-flavoured sequel as we get it.
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| Lightning! Oh Noes! |
Strategy Informer: What was the main focus for the sequel, and which area have you improved most?
Hiroshi Matsuyama: There are three main points I want to talk about: The first point is that we now have more than 40 characters available in the game. They're all playable online, so you can use them against anyone in the world. Second point: We have put a lot of strength and effort into the drama and the story. What we have tried to do here is focus a lot on the Naruto story, because we have a very deep and highly dynamic battle system, but we wanted a strong story as well. So what's going to be possible here is that the player will be able to enjoy the whole Naruto world in beautiful maps that are linked.
There's a huge quantity of story. The game will include the whole of Naruto Shippuden, from the very beginning, to the episodes that have not yet been broadcast in Japan. The Naruto you can see here is a very special Naruto, and will only be broadcast from this summer in Japan, so it contains three years of content in the game.Third point is that we have tried to improve the very popular boss battle mode that was implemented in the first episode. I'm proud because we can make very interesting gameplay from these boss battles, and it's different according to the moment you're fighting.
Strategy Informer: You mentioned that the game will be released in Europe before Japan, why was this decision taken?
Hiroshi Matsuyama: Naruto has been published for more than 10 years in Japan. It's very famous and very popular all over the world. The anime has been broadcast for more than 8 years. More and more countries are receiving this series and the anime.The reason we decided to release the game in Europe first is to encourage this instalment to more and more countries. We really want the fans to be happy and to be able to enjoy the content at the same time as the anime.
Strategy Informer: Has a US release date been confirmed yet? Will it coincide with Europe or Japan?
Hiroshi Matsuyama: The release date for the US is not decided yet. However, what we know is that there might be a one week delay.
Strategy Informer: For people who don't know about Naruto or the anime, how will they fair with the game? Are you trying to attract new fans to the series?
 |
| YOU NEVER TAKE ME ANYWHERE NICE! |
Hiroshi Matsuyama: I think the word 'ninja' is a word used all over the world; everyone can understand this. Even for people who don't know the world of Naruto, everyone can enjoy the story as it's a story of a ninja that will grow with friends. He'll have battles and learn things through an immersive story.
Strategy Informer: To the untrained eye, Naruto looks similar to the new Dragon Ball Z game- what sets these two apart?
Hiroshi Matsuyama: The point that is very interesting in the Naruto world is that it's based on real-world events in a fictional environment. What you can see throughout the Naruto story is that the characters aren't becoming very strong for no reason. They're not using superpowers when you don't know why. The heroes are really growing step-by-step, and they're having training, having terrible emotions and passions. This allows them to learn new techniques to grow- like humans actually!
Strategy Informer: Everyone has been talking about the beautiful visuals here, how do they compare to the best of the generation?
Hiroshi Matsuyama: What we can say about games that are beautiful is that most of them are aiming to a photo-realistic direction, they're trying to reproduce reality as closely as possible. To be honest, to us, they all look the same, as every photo-realistic illustration can be seen anywhere in the world. So, we can say that our games, that aren't aiming towards a photo-realistic direction are very different, and they require a ton of effort to produce. By the way, have you been able to see Enslaved?
Strategy Informer: Yes, I've just seen it!
Hiroshi Matsuyama: So for example, what I felt with Enslaved, they have a very interesting approach to graphics. It's high resolution and very nice graphics. However, it's not only trying to produce photo-realistic graphics, there's an artistic touch in the way the game is designed.
Strategy Informer: Are there any differences between the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of Naruto?
Hiroshi Matsuyama: No, there wont be any differences.
Strategy Informer: Any downloaded content scheduled?
Hiroshi Matsuyama: [Looks at producer and smiles] This is something we can't answer, I'm sorry.
Strategy Informer: Any final thoughts for our readers?
Hiroshi Matsuyama: This is the number one Naruto game in the world. The boss battles are amazing! [Laughs hysterically]
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| Are... are there three of him? |
A huge thank you for Matsuyama for fitting us into his busy schedule. Expect more on this Naruto-flavoured sequel as we get it.
