Category: News

“The goal, to put it simply, was to beat you-know-who.”

– Sonic the Hedgehog 2 art director Yashushi Yamaguchi explains how the origins of Sonic involve Super Mario Bros. 

Shmuplations has shared another translated article from its archives, this time featuring a collection of developer interviews about the creation of the original Sonic the Hedgehog.

The compilation collects conversations with a number of Sonic developers, including programmer and team leader Yuji Naka, designer and art director Naoto Oshima, planner Hirokazu Yasuhara, and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 art director Yasushi Yamaguchi and touches on how the idea for Sonic came to be, as well as how the game’s development progressed. 

In one interview, Yuji Naka explains that he had actually wanted to make a racing game and that the idea for Sonic had been fairly low on the list of games he wanted to create, but Sega was eager for a game that could challenge Nintendo’s mustached plumber mascot. 

“I wrote up a memo that was basically a ‘next game I want to make’ list, and showed it to my boss. But the one that caught his attention was the very last entry on the list, which said ‘an action game to challenge Mario,’” recalled Naka, laughing. “I tried to object, saying ‘Actually, I wrote them in order of which ones I want to do…’ but he didn’t listen to me at all. (laughs) So we got started on the Sonic the Hedgehog development, with 3 or 4 members.”

Sega’s urge to compete with Mario pops up a few other times in the interview collection. In one instance, Naka explains that Sonic’s speed was an answer to the repetitive nature of starting a game like Super Mario Bros. from scratch. He explains that he wanted Sonic’s speed to be used as a way for experienced players to run through the earlier levels every time they booted up the game, unlike with Super Mario Bros. where each playthrough required players to progress slowly through the basic, early stages. 

However, playtesters had other plans and would just sprint full-speed from beginning to end. In response, Naka implemented Sonic’s ring system, “where as long as you had even one ring, you could still play recklessly and get through ok.”

It looks as though Microsoft may have plans to release an accessible Xbox One controller soon, based on an image that was leaked today. 

As reported by The Verge, Twitter user WalkingCat seemed to be the one to leak the image, which features a controller with two oversized A and B pads, a d-pad, and the standard Xbox button and navigation controls. 

A three-light LED seems to suggest that some of the functionality could be customizable, and a USB port on the side might make programming relatively easy for users.

Microsoft has shown an effort to be more inclusive in the past, with the inclusion of wheelchairs and prosthetics for Xbox Live avatars.  

While there’s no information about a release date, it’s been reported that the controller will be revealed during Microsoft’s E3 presentation this year. 

[In this extensive interview, id Software CEO Todd Hollenshead and artist Andy Chang answer questions about the creative intent of Rage by describing exactly what the team hoped to accomplish from both art and design perspectives.]

Rage marks id Software’s first major release since 2004’s Doom 3. It’s been in development for a long time, and features the company’s own engine technology, id Tech 5, which has gone down some different technical paths than the majority of engines used in game development in 2011.

Gamasutra already spoke to legendary id programmer John Carmack about how he made the decisions when creating the engine, but that is, of course, not the whole story. In this feature interview, Gamasutra speaks to id artist Andy Chang and CEO Todd Hollenshead about the creative decisions the development staff made for Rage.

When it was first announced, the post-apocalyptic and wildly successful Fallout 3 wouldn’t be released for over a year; Borderlands showed up a year after that. Does Rage have what it takes to compete in what has become a thriving sub-genre of the current generation? Do decisions made years ago bear fruit, or are they evolutionary dead ends?

In this extensive interview, Hollenshead and Chang answer such questions by describing exactly what the team hoped to accomplish from both art and design perspectives.

What do you personally feel is the unique element of Rage that’s going to get people really playing it?

Todd Hollenshead: Well, the game has a number of things, but I think it starts off with — as most games do — with “What does it look like?” And when you look at Rage, regardless of what platform you’re playing on, it is a game that doesn’t look like any other game. It’s the only game that has uniquely textured environment, it’s the only game that’s using id Tech 5, and visuals go a long way towards like, “Okay, this is something.”

But we go beyond that with combining, I think, the classic elements of the shooter genre that we invented, with other elements as well, and when it’s put all together — as you play the game, the whole game is sort of brighter than the sum of its parts. And it’s that element of putting these things together, as opposed to, “Well, we have this, and we have this, and we have this,” and go down a check box list of features, or “We have this, and another game doesn’t,” or “we have that, and another game doesn’t.”

I don’t actually feel like it looks unlike every other game. It does kind of look like Borderlands or Fallout to me. I mean, I’m sure, when you really get into the tech, it looks different. But it does have a similar kind of look and feel.

Andy Chang: It really came down to the approach of how we constructed the landscapes and stuff. Rather than using procedurally generated mountain programs or stuff like that, we developed our own technique of making unique geometry, and used the stamping system to make sure it didn’t apparently look like things were tiled, and stuff like that. So that’s kind of the approach we took to making it unique.

Do you think people will really notice? I mean, on the consumer side?

AC: We notice, and we’re gamers. We make an effort to make sure it’s visually excellent, so that’s pretty much my train of thought on that.

Driving around the environments, I noticed these bandits are incredibly artistic. They’ve got art up on the walls, they’re building structures and sculptures, and things like that. I feel like I’m going around and murdering an artist colony somehow.

AC: Yeah. Someone pointed it out — he asked me if any of the artists had ever been to Burning Man. And I was like, “No, but we looked at lot of Burning Man pictures, so we tried to get in the heads of these guys.” And you’re right, they’re probably found artists. They found garbage and they thought hey, this looks light enough, let’s take it to our place and decorate with it.

Within the mythology of the game, is there a reason why these guys are so art-inclined?

AC: It’s because they were made by guys that were art-inclined.

The Gamasutra Job Board is the most diverse, active and established board of its kind for the video game industry!

Here is just one of the many, many positions being advertised right now.

Location: San Jose, California

Cold Iron is seeking an experienced Console Gameplay Engineer to join us in creating a shooter set in the Alien universe for consoles and PC! Are you a passionate game developer? Is making an awesome game the thing that gets you out of bed in the morning? We’re sure you’re amazing in your field, but do you see perfecting your skills as the means to making the best experiences possible? Great, we want to hear from you!

Your Day to Day

You can expect to be responsible and accountable for the following:

• Write game, engine, and tools code using C/C++
• Help design, schedule, and implement features that meet game and console requirements
• Regularly debug, profile, optimize, and maintain code
• Bring up the game on next gen consoles and be “the platform expert” for the rest of the development team
• Develop new features and mechanics within Unreal Engine 4
• Provide technical assistance by responding to inquiries regarding errors, problems, or questions with programs

Your Career Progression

Do the best work of your career! No, really, that’s what we expect of you. Come aboard and work with industry veterans all working to improve their craft and become better game developers. Your portfolio of experience will grow, and the size of the audience you reach will expand exponentially. The small team atmosphere allows you to contribute more and have greater ownership over what you do day to day.

Requirements

• 5+ years of C++ experience, console experience preferred, but not strictly required
• Ability and drive to contribute towards and advance all aspects of the game
• Work independently and efficiently under deadlines
• Excellent programming, debugging, and optimization skills
• Experience with technical requirements, APIs and hands-on development for Xbox and PlayStation consoles 

Would Love to See

• Experience with Unreal engine (ideally UE4)
• Experience with various scripting languages (e.g. Javascript, Python, Perl, HTML)
• Experience with the games industry (ideally developing first-person shooters

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, mathematics, physics, or related degree
• Or equivalent industry experience

Benefits

Health and Wellness

• Medical, Dental and Vision
• 401(k)
• Prescription Drug Coverage
• Life Insurance
• Business Travel Insurance
• Flexible Spending Accounts
• Employee Assistance Program
• Long Term Disability

Perks

• Employee Referral Program
• Education Reimbursement
• Fitness Club Discounts
• Training and Development
• Commuter Incentives and Hybrid Vehicle Purchase/Lease Program
• Merchandise Discounts

About our Location

Cold Iron Studios, a division of FoxNext Games, is on a mission to create games they want to play with people they love to work with. The studio was founded by three industry veterans in 2015, and has since expanded to 25+ awesome developers who are all experts in their discipline. The Cold Iron team is a diverse group of passionate gamers with decades of experience developing and launching award-winning MMO and action titles. Currently, the team is working on a new PC and console shooter based on the Alien franchise. The team is especially excited to be entrusted with the Alien universe and to provide Alien and gaming fans with an experience they will love. 

Interested? Apply now.

Whether you’re just starting out, looking for something new, or just seeing what’s out there, the Gamasutra Job Board is the place where game developers move ahead in their careers.

Gamasutra’s Job Board is the most diverse, most active, and most established board of its kind in the video game industry, serving companies of all sizes, from indie to triple-A.

Looking for a new job? Get started here. Are you a recruiter looking for talent? Post jobs here.