Not to mention that Jake Kazdal stands as he walks the streets of Kyoto en route to his company's office, 17-BIT. Due to his lively presence and unbeatable appearance on the metal band, he's not something to call your "average" developer based on the Kyoto game – but this is by far his most interesting work, and after more than a decade of life in Japan, he has assembled an old team for that very different from monsters: software designed at both orientals and western senses in the mind. While he may not look like your traditional citizen, he emphasizes that Kyoto – once the seat of power of the Japanese empire – is a really good place to live.
"My spoken Japanese is good these days, at least a little bit, and if you can speak here, people are just that," Kazdal said. "They exist in spite of you I don't know and speak Japanese, but the ability to communicate and communicate well is just such a pleasure. It's been over 10 years now and I love it more than ever. There is a strong sense of community here, and not using a car in your daily life means having lots of interaction with the neighbors, running to friends all the time, and the feeling of a small town being very present even in a big city like Kyoto. I honestly think it's one of the best places to live in the world. There is a thriving independent game space here, and the proximity to Nintendo and Capcom leads many a great night out. "
Kazdal may have come from far from his North American roots, but even as a child, his connection with the sport seemed a bit premature. "My dad had pizza puzzles when I was growing up, always with little arcade machines, so I was kind of the world's most successful kid back in the 70's & # 39; s and early / mid 80's & # 39; s. my had to work it was easier to give me a cup full of rooms than to avoid babysitter, which was to my advantage! Asteroids, Zaxxon, Super Mario Bros., all Donkey Kongs, Centipede, Storm, Battlezone, Star Wars, Ikari Warriors, Ms. Pac-Man, Space Invaders… all those amazing art of the time! Clearly those were good years of construction, when games were a must feel it it's amazing because the drawings are so limited. "
He has a strong love and interest in proven games, it was only natural that Kazdal moved into the industry – and his first role was in every NES owner's dream position: a Nintendo game advisor. "It was good, "you're biting." The pay was fun, the work was fun, and I had full access to all the NES games I could play. We could buy them cheap at a company store, but we could watch any game we liked, they encouraged us to play as many games as possible so that we could talk about them legally as game advisors. I made friends throughout my life and found myself growing up popular video game industry. "He would receive his first game credits this time, working as a game and QA mentor on Enix's SNES RPGs The illusion of Gaia and Brain Lord.
I had full access to all the NES games I could play. We could buy them cheap at a corporate store, but just look for any game we like
Via his connection to Nintendo, Kazdal would brilliantly transform into a proper game development with Lobotomy, a small studio made by Nintendo's former US executives and perhaps the most popular today for shipping Duke Nukem and The quake at Sega Saturn. "It was the Wild West back then for small independent engineers," recalls Kazdal. "I remember the three founders Brian Anderson, Dane Emerson and Paul Lange posing for SNES footage at the CES show; it was more difficult then than now. I have a ton of respect for those people. The Lobotomy was a perfect house, a bunch of days together with great passion and intensity – it actually reminds me a bit of 17 -BIT these days! ”Next up was Boss Game Studios. "Boss was my first major venture with the right cubicles and a $ 30,000 SGI workstation, a far cry from the PC-based independent Lobotomy experience. Both experiences were a great experience and led to lifelong friendships."
However, Kazdal's heart told him that his future was outside of North America. The seed was planted in 1993, on his first visit to the island that he now calls home. "The popularity of Japanese video games has always been obvious, but it was learning this language and its history in college that made me a semester in Kobe during my sophomore year." He actually arrived on foot when he finally moved to Japan well; his first role was in the role of Sega Assistants United Game sponsors Sega, run by the famous Tetsuya Mizuguchi.
"I really liked UK Edge magazine, and they had published a great interview with Mizuguchi-san I had just read when an American boy from Alias, Kenneth Ibrahim, came to Boss Studio to update the artists for the latest release of Alias PowerAnimator. many times at that time, and my desk was full Virtua Fighter toys and more. Kenneth mentioned & # 39; Wow, a big Sega fan, eh? I've been working in Sega in Tokyo for Mizuguchi, have you ever heard of him? & # 39; It was the future. I was a huge fan Sega Rally I couldn't believe my luck. Kenneth brought me to Mizuguchi-san at E3 a few weeks later, and my life changed completely. "
Kazdal's first project was ancient religion Space Station 5, then moved on to a little game called Rez. You power I've heard about it. “It was the coldest project ever,” he recalls. “I couldn’t believe my luck and my place in the project. Imagine how unfortunate I am when I find a large chunk of my teammates coming from direct Panzer Dragoon group. It was probably too much. I had already completed my work on Space Channel 5, and I used to work on mysterious projects without a start, which further defines who I am as a designer, really enjoying life on the creative frontier. "
During the development of Rez, Sega made the difficult decision to move out of the domestic arena and become a software-driven company. Kazdal was there to see this opportunity to exchange power. "It was sad, and easy to see that the end of the season, but it was the most shocking thing for people who had been there for many years; I remember the meeting when Misuguchi-san told the news to the whole team, it was the quietest, quietest room I had ever had with so many people. the first PS2 Sega ever published, so I'm obviously proud of myself, but I was a Dreamcast fan and the most disappointed people didn't do it the way it should. "
After leaving Sega, Kazdal returned to the United States and joined EA, where he would work on an unchanging adventure game LMNO none other than Steven Spielberg. "The band was full of crazy talent, and I made a lot of long-time friends there, including Borut Pfeifer and Ben Vance, who continue to build Shogun scars with me. I learned a lot about the long pre-production phase, a lot about concept art building and showmanship in general. It's a shame that the game never made it into production, but the lessons I've learned are very important and I really enjoyed my time there. After that game was discontinued, I moved to Command and Victory group, and I met my future 17-BIT COO Raj Joshi, along with our lead artist at 17-BIT, Sam bird. "
My two favorite games I work on are both fast, powerful, Turn based Ships: Shining Force and Advance Wars
In consultation with people who needed to start on their own, Kazdal decided to create his own studio, first called Haunted Temple Studios and then 17-BIT, in Seattle. However, Japan made a comeback, and decided to set up an office in Kyoto – which just happened to be Nintendo-based. The upper Skulls of Shogun are the first fruits of the group's activities.
"My two favorite games are both fast, tasty, and smart series: Power Shining and Wars of Advance, "Kazdal said when asked about the design after the game was written 17-BIT on the map." I wanted to do something in that capacity, to combine a frozen, fun-loving image with a world of cool and vibrant ideas. "You think this game is symbolic of the studio in many ways." With the discovery of many new mechanical and novel approaches to how things work, I think it's a strong example of the ethos of design at 17-BIT. Take something unique, reinvent it in sensible ways and take some risks, but escape the hell out of it. That's what we do. "
Shogun pieces received a lot of critical acclaim when it was launched in 2013, during what could be seen as the days of despair of the Xbox Live Arcade's indie gold. It has since received a much wider audience thanks to releases on iOS, PS4 and – last year – Nintendo Switch. It will be the next 17-BIT match that will allow Kazdal and his team to really stretch their wings, even though it was not a spectacular commercial success.
Galak-Z originally announced as PlayStation 4 exclusive In 2013, and much was made of the enemy's sharp AI, process-oriented environments and the fact that deep space physics. Fans of Japanese pop culture are also inclined to note that the game owes its debt to classic anime, with its graphic character and small drawings, fascinating ship designs – oh, and the unintentional shuttle signage, inspired by Ichiro Itano's seminal work Macross series. A few delays eased the hype, and when it finally arrived in 2015, it was met with positive reviews but disappointing sales. Free-to-player spin-off theme Variant S it found a much better receptive audience, especially on the switch – but nothing avoids the fact that Galak-Z did not protect the broader audience as 17-BIT wanted.
"The game was totally fun to build, it has a lot of rabid fans but it has never been as successful as we would have liked," Kazdal said. Despite his obvious disappointment, it's impossible to doubt his enthusiasm for a project he has made for his studio, and if he doesn't do it again, he's not sure he'll change anything. "I'd like to create something that challenges me every day, and it's fun to play and to play and discover. I'd much rather be on the fence than working in the mega-franchises where you just sort and repeat the same" "Mechanics, we don't include anything. Obviously, one day we hope to create something new and new but it's up to the critical success. We'll continue to slip, though. "
Galak-Z is another expansion project with Kazdal in other ways, because it gave him the opportunity to work with one of his favorite friends in the game industry, Jason Brookes, who tragically died in late 2019 after a long illness. And being a close criminal, Brooke was instrumental in shaping the work of Kazdal for the reasons we mentioned. "It was Jason who wrote Edge interviews with Mizuguchi-san all those years ago, which really changed my life," Kazdal said. "Later we met and became very close friends. I ran into everything about him, and he became a robber Type-Rs fan was human, focused on being part of the Galak-Z group. He made our poster, a lot of merchandise, he made our webpage, and it was and so on the hero of the game. We had such a love for design, music and play and it was always a pleasure to work with. He was a dear, dear friend and his loss was hard to believe and it was heartbreaking. However I try to remember him with a smile, he was a good influence on the team; you will be remembered. His poster hangs right in front of my desk, I see and think about it every day. "
I would love more than anything for Nintendo to get into this space and own it … Me indeed missed the many dimensions available in 3D
The next 17-BIT call switch took place in Virtual Reality, a platform that Kazdal believes is nowhere near its full potential right now. "I think there are a lot of misconceptions about VR; people somehow think you need a dedicated room in your house, and I thought so at first, but it turns out that I make most of my VRs sit down in a stool or in my own. in the real world don't push things off the shelves or move around. With full camera control (people, it turns out, too much be able to use their necks and eyes as cameras) you can focus 100% on playing this game, and that inside the game world is rather controversial going into it in a small 2D window, it's just a different world. The experience is more than just an experience you can hear on a flat screen TV. "
According to Kazdal, the 17-BIT focus on VR means that its next game ("the biggest game we've ever made and a very special project for many reasons") will sadly not be tied, even though it comes Those VR – something he regrets a bit. "We are fans of Big Change and hope to do something that works there as well as in VR Next– The title! "You're laughing." I'm a big fan. I'm a hardcore Nintendo fan. I play my switch almost daily; it's my favorite platform for Nintendo since SNES. "
Love of both VR and Nintendo has launched something of a dual personality in Kazdal, and hopes that in the future, Nintendo will find a way to get the promise of gaming more confident than it did with Lena VR. "My playing time is really divided – – I love Nintendo's first-team stuff and all the great indie games I play all the time, and when I have the time to jump on something more fun I break my Oculus and Rift, and my PSVR. far more than anything about Nintendo getting into this space and owning it; their reviews so far are fantastic, and indeed missed the many dimensions available in 3D. In fact, I'm joking Super Mario 3D Earth and now on the 3DS. It's just more satisfying than playing on a 2D screen. "
With his experience working with western and Japanese game developers, Kazdal has a unique perspective on modern, global game design – but how has his work shaped the way he runs 17-BIT today? "I have been fortunate to work in small teams, who love working with bold, innovative and robust software in almost all projects," he responds. "I've never worked in a mega team, so I can't compare. I've enjoyed my time with all the teams I have been involved in. I can say that I think the Japanese work has been great and I have seen a good game with a lot of burnout as a result, so we make sure we stick to the right hours at 17-BIT, which keeps people motivated and honest, or can lead to shipping delays … But we have put together great staff and the importance of everyone working perfectly and proper breaks should not be overlooked. On both sides of the globe, I've learned to accept the unknown and spend your time doing something never been done before, I feel free to take on new challenges and take pride in pushing the medium forward, even if you don't have great bands. Rez didn't sell very much every time that first time, but it has become a matter of in time, and I won't have it any other way. "
With two solid games under its belt and a wealth of interactive experiences you can call upon, is it the right time for 17-BIT to expand and challenge the world's great boys for game development? Kazdal insists that the studio is in the place he wants to be now, and is unlikely to change. "We've got about 15 people now alongside a few contractors, and this is a great place for us. It's small enough to be strong and bold, without needing a big budget. That's where the magic happens, and I can't wait to share our next topic with the world!"
Although not limited to Change, we can't wait, either.
We would like to sincerely thank Jake for dedicating his valuable time to speaking with us.
