Feature: Disney Finds Tradition With Spectrobes
Somewhere along where the bullet train glides and down past where Suntory distills whiskey, lies Kyoto. If Tokyo is in charge of keeping things new and modern, Kyoto bares the burden of upholding the old, the traditional. It's a crisp, warm morning in late January as I hop in a taxi. It's a four dollar train ride from my house to Kyoto. The cab's gonna be slightly more expensive, but I was told Disney would reimburse.
First up, meet with Buena Vista Games PR. Then head over to Jupiter Corporation to check out their new joint DS title, Spectrobes. Jupiter is the studio behind Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, Mario's Super Picross and the upcoming It's A Wonderful World. The company has gone from a three man team working out of a beat-up, run-down apartment to its current incarnation in just 15 years.
For Disney, a company that has relied on its own movies for game ideas, this is their first original game. There are no established characters, no mice and no ducks for it to rely on. And for the 100 employee strong Jupiter, its biggest title to date — An entirely new game backed by Disney.
We arrive in Kyoto's Fushimi area. We being me, Anoop Gantayat from IGN and some gentleman from Play Magazine. I didn't get his name, because he never gave it to me, but he seemed friendly enough. With him is a rotund Japanese photographer. There's William Barns, who does localization and translating for Jupiter as well. We clomp out of the station, down a street towards a covered shopping street.
It appears that Jupiter Corporation is located across from the bullet train and the car ride. A camera crew appears. They are going to film b-roll someone says, but I'm not paying attention. We enter a building, climb out of the elevator and take off our shoes. There's a room in the back. I do a quick inventory: Refrigerator, microwave, cardboard boxes, CRT television, Wii, three Wii games, Spectrobes posters and a table covered with canned and bottled drinks.
There was a press event yesterday in Tokyo. Jet-lagged and cranky, I missed it. Buena Vista's Kentaro Hisai is bringing me up to speed. Jupiter guys are scurrying about trying to connect the DS to a Samsung screen. No luck.
"The screens are so small, we gotta get friendly," he says, scooting his chair close. He gives a quick plot run down. In short: Set in the future. An evil species called the Krawl is attempting to take over. Planetary Patrol Officers Rallen and Jeena dig up an extinct species called "Spectrobes," the Krawl's enemy. These fossils are re-animated and used in a battle to save the galaxy.
There are 24 base type creatures, which can then evolve into 127 different types. Adding items and customizing the creatures brings the grand total to over 500 monsters. Ensuing Pokémon comparisons are inevitable, if not warranted. Though, there is something fresh about the game, something that keeps it from Poké-clone territory.
DS connected to the Samsung screen!
In-game, both screens are in 3D. We've seen this before, but it's still nice to see it again. Graphic Designer Kouji Kiriyama explains: "We wanted to show the entire field as you played." Kiriyama is wearing a bandana. Spectrobes director Aguru Tanaka is not and adds, "DS games usually run at 64 frames per second. To make the both screens in 3D, we had to run each at 32 frames per second and then alternate between them as they run."
I count the people in the room. There are 14.
To find the fossils, players scour planets. A small Spectrobe follows the player and to scan the ground, simply press the touch screen. If blue sparkles appear, then there is a mineral to be unearthed. Yellow sparkles indicate that there are fossils. Touch the screen again and begin the excavation.
Press the "L" button to scan the fossil or mineral. There are an array of tools for digging. Some of them are more powerful and can accidently destroy whatever you're digging up.
"You've got all this debris. What do you do?" Hisai asks me.
"Get a vacuum," I retort.
"Good idea, but no. You blow." He blows at the mic, and all the debris is dusted off the rock.
Oh, right.
Hisai pulls out a fossil — A fossil for a creature that the game's Planner Koji Arai doesn't seem to have heard of. Arai asks what the fossil is, and Buena Vista's Hisai tells him. Arai kinda sits there, hands on hips, thinking. He looks over at the posters off all the monsters. Still thinking out loud. Someone locates the monster on the poster. Oh, of course!
I give it a go. Start clearing off rock and promptly destroy the fossil. Another go, and start gingering unearthing the stone. Once you clear 95 percent of the fossil, you can unearth it. Easy, it's not, but fun. We're told that the remains haven't been placed randomly, and it's hinted at that fossils are usually located behind rocks or next to trees.
After you've got your fossil, you take it to the ship and put it in an awaking chamber. Then scream at the DS for three seconds to awaken it. Perfect for train gaming! After that, give the creature a name.
I count the drinks on the table. There are 12. We are two drinks short. Somebody's gonna be thirsty.
The Creature Planner (capitalize?) Kyouske Sakaya says that the creatures were inspired by traditional Japanese art. That was the design motif. He elaborates;
"You know, Kyoto has been around for many generations. Seeing these traditional things definitely has influenced me. We would go to temples and gather ideas."
Later, Buena Vista's Hisai chimes in: "We have two thousand years of history that people still are interested in. People haven't forgotten. It's popularity isn't waning." Hisai is wearing a camouflage Mickey Mouse shirt.
Jupiter has been working on this title for two and a half years — one and half of it being actual production. Sure, the game wasn't something they took to Disney, but something Disney asked them to make. But they've put in insane hours to finish it and figure out things like ad-hoc WiFi. The bandanna guy actually ended up in the hospital, apparently from overwork.
We're shown plastic cards that can be used with the game. There are little numbered holes in the cards. Pplace them on the screen in order and press in the holes with your stylus to unlock a monster. The cards are slightly bigger than the touch screen.
One of the other journalists asks if there are plans to franchise Spectrobes like Pokémon, spin it off until oblivion. The attitude on both the Disney and the Jupiter appears to be wait and see how the game does.
"How much are the cards?" I ask.
"Free."
Four of them will be included with the game, and extra packs will be distributed for free at retailers. They're still ironing it out. Some creatures are available only via cards. So add cards to monsters and the DS, and Spectrobes seems to have every base in kiddy hit covered.
The meeting wraps up. Slowly. We trade business cards, and the team stands against the wall with posters, because they make a better background than a fridge, microwave and cardboard boxes. The rotund photographer snaps off a flurry of shots, and we all shuffle over to the door. The bottled and canned drinks sit on the table untouched.
There's a lunch planned, but I politely decline and make my way up the shopping arcade towards the train station. Alone. There's a convenience store, and I duck in for something to drink. Make my way over to the register, where there's a display for a Tokyo Disneyland campaign. I pay for my drink and leave.
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