Treasure Interviewed: Thoughts On Next-Gen, Teases Radiant Silvergun XBLA
If there is one game development studio out there that can do no wrong in my eyes its Treasure. Something about their small team epitomizes everything fun, exciting, and universal about game design. From the deceptively simple color based chaining featured in the legendary Ikaruga to the wonderfully adaptive fighting systems in classics like Gunstar Heroes and Astro Boy (GBA), they have consistently delivered some of the most solidly designed games available over the course of their 17 years in business. Peeks inside the reclusive studio are always a rare treat and the latest comes from an extensive interview with Gamasutra. The feature touches upon the inspiration for the level creation functions in Bangai-O Spirits, their approach to prototyping, and Microsoft asking them to bring the infamous eBay collector's item, Radiant Silvergun, over to XBLA.
One of the most thought provoking pieces of the interview for me was hearing speak on what "next-gen" gaming means to Treasure CEO Masato Maegawa while leaving us a with a possible hint on the direction of their next epic...
[Gamasutra] What do you consider to be a "next-gen" game? Is something like even important to a company like Treasure? MM: Well, that's what Sin & Punishment 2 is for... (laughs) I haven't really worked on a console since we made Ikaruga, but the Wii is what I'm working on now. We're a small company, so it's kind of tough for us to build the resources to work on the PS3 or whatnot, but while the Wii isn't exactly a "next-generation" machine, it's something that we're doing our best to challenge ourselves on.
It's not difficult to see where he's coming from. A single "next-gen" development team is on average double the size of the entire staff at Treasure. Putting all your eggs in one basket for one project is a risky business decision. Personally, I believe that HD-ready consoles are great tools for developers with the resources (cash, talent, and time) to create incredible experiences that push boundaries and perceptions of game design. But at the same time, this isn't the best fit for every developer and for each boundary of design that these number-crunching beasts can push there is another boundary that only "alternative" control based devices (Wii/DS/iPhone) can fully explore.
What does it mean when some of the brightest game designers are not best served by the technical complexity of current gaming hardware? What does this say about where the industry as a whole is headed?
[Games The Way They Want: Catching Up With Treasure] Gamasutra
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Posted to Video Games on 8 January 2009
Other stuff like this: gamasutra, ikaruga, interview, radiant silvergun, sin & punishment 2, treasure, xbla
