Brains behind Meteos speak out
Two of the men behind the shoot ‘em puzzler explain how it took three days to create
With falling rocket-blocker Meteos just released, the marketing push to sell the game is well and truly on with two websites carrying interviews with some of the people behind the game.
First up the official Nintendo website catches up with Takeshi Hirai, the director of development of the game at Q Entertainment. Amazingly he reveals the game was originally designed for PC not DS.
“The DS came afterwards,” Mr Hirai explained. “Of course, Meteos naturally shifted its form to the model which perfectly suits a stylus and dual screen system. As you will see, the DS is so perfect for Meteos that we can’t help thinking Nintendo kindly developed it specifically with Meteos in mind.”
As for its inspiration, although some puzzle games like Tetris and Zoo Keeper were used, there was another, more surprising element. “I’d say Meteos has a very close model to that of fighting action games,” he says. “You are forced to operate simultaneous tactics since blocks are raining down quickly and frequently. What is remarkable about Meteos is its versus battle which is quite exciting. You can play against up to three computer or human players. We are pretty confident that you’ll be absorbed in its breathtaking battle!”
The full interview is available at www.nintendo-europe.com (registration required).
Meanwhile over at Edge online (www.edge-online.com), there’s an interview with the game’s designer, Masahiro Sakurai. He says it didn’t take long to design. “It was created by one designer, one graphic artist and one programmer, and took three days,” he recalls.
As for the question of what type is game it is, Mr Sakurai reckons it’s a ‘shoot-up puzzle’. “I think it may be more fitting to call it ‘ignition’ in English,” he says. “It is accomplished by many rules and logic, but the basic process is line up, ignite, and launch. And that process is addictive!”
But the important element of Meteos, he think, is fun. “This is simple: make it more fun and complete. Games compete not only with other games, but also with film, TV, music, comics, magazines. The only choice between games and anything else the consumer can select is how fun it is. It doesn’t matter whether it is a free internet game or otherwise: fun wins the user’s heart.”
