SEGA RALLY 2005 Interview

[20/12/04 10:54] Most driving game sequels don't take six years. But then most driving game sequels aren't the latest Sega Rally, says Edge After a strangely long absence, Sega Rally Championship is preparing to re-enter the race - and not in the arcade but on PlayStation2. We talked to producer Jun Taniguchi and director Kenji Sasaki about their new direction for a treasured franchise. Sega Rally has traditionally led as an arcade title. What made you decide to develop this version on PS2? JT: The requests from gamers were quite important. Of course we had many requests for an arcade version as well and, yes, we like to challenge ourselves on powerful platforms. Arcade, PC or Xbox could have suited us in that matter, but PS2 is the biggest market of all. It is the tenth anniversary of the series. Until now, we had enjoyed sharing our passion of automobiles with a broad public: first in the arcade when that market was at its peak, then on Saturn with 1.2 million copies worldwide and later on Dreamcast with around a million copies worldwide. As you know, though, [coin-op] sales are down. With this anniversary in mind we wanted to make a game so fans and newcomers alike could enjoy our game. The best way to reach so many people was PS2. KS: The base of the series is our love for automobiles: the fun in driving a car is the core element of the game. Of course, the gap in terms of technology between arcade and the console is quite important, but the main difference is you can't enjoy an arcade game as you would enjoy a consumer game. You have to deliver all the fun in three minutes for the arcade while, on console, you expect to be able to play the game for as long as you want, whenever you want. So if our main motivation is the same, we have to redesign the game rules and play time to fit with this new market. "Games are getting too difficult to enjoy. Most racing games claim they are realistic, but I think realism has several faces and one is the way you enjoy the game" How has that affected the play modes on offer? KS: Two of them are very similar to what you had in the arcade. The Quick Race mode is what we used to call the Championship mode. Then you have Time Attack. The third mode is really specific to the consumer market, the Career Mode. It follows an automobile enthusiast who decides to drive competitively, first locally and later aiming at higher classes until finally entering the Sega Rally Championship. He then has a year of competition to reach the top of that championship. I know this style of play is quite common nowadays, but usually you need to clear a race in order to access the next one. And eventually you come to a race that's too difficult, and you can't progress beyond that stage, which is where most players give up. We want to avoid these problems with our vision of the career mode in Sega Rally 2005. All our events and training session are scheduled on a calendar, and you are free to attend or ignore them as you wish - although some may have conditions for attendance, such as achieving great results in a previous race or holding a certain licence. But presumably there'll still be a need to clear a series of events to access the final championship. KS: Well, the game will give the player the freedom to do what he wants. If he wants to become the overall champion, he will aim at the Sega Rally Championship and play hard. Others might only enjoy one kind of race, like the Toge, illegal mountain races. You may prefer to be just a local champion. The Career mode is divided into classes like you would find in WRC, but we did not put a limitation on the car choice as you would find in other games. Of course, you will definitely need to gain access to a higher class in order to buy a more powerful car, but you can get a powerful car from the beginning if you can afford it, just like in reality. For example, you could buy an Impreza or a Lancer Evo as your first car. You can go to your car dealer, buy them and then attend a local rally competition. In the game you can do the same. How many cars will be featured? KS: There are not that many, around 20. One problem was that there are not many cars in the WRC championship. JT: But you know, in Europe, you have lower classes like the Junior WRC and the Super 1600. In these classes you find competitive cars like the Astra, the Golf, etc, but rally fans are focused on the higher classes with cars like the Impreza and the 307. So packing the game with hundreds of cars is not always the solution, and I'm not convinced that players play all these cars. Plus, hundreds of cars mean you need to prepare the equal number of physics - so we preferred to focus on a smaller number of cars but making them individually really enjoyable. What about the cars at the heart of the series - the Toyota Celica, the Lancia Delta and the Stratos? KS: They appeared in the demo, but we're not yet completely sure if we will use them in the final game. I can say you shouldn't expect old but legendary cars like the 205 or the Alpine, though. This 2005 version is a way for us to reset the series and make a fresh start on console. Will there be any focus on tuning your cars, or are you concentrating on the racing aspect? KS: Since I want to bring game back to racing, I would prefer to avoid having players spend too much time on this. So this option is purposefully not that deep in the game. You've announced the game will feature a random course generator - is this as an aside from the prebuilt courses for the main game modes? KS: Yes, we developed the random course program as an idea to help make players enjoy our game. But our problem at the moment is to determine whether the courses it creates are fun. There are also plenty of courses. We are planning something like 400 tracks of various types for the Career mode - although that does not mean you will find 400 different landscapes. We will also have various weather conditions prepared, and we are still working on effects in order to study what we can do in addition to the 'classic' conditions. How about the other racers? Are you working on giving them personality through AI? JT: Career mode will feature AI rivals who will have their own names and their own specialities. So according to your driving style you may always find yourself confronting a given rival. And they each have a kind of 'psychological profile', a way that they drive. Previously, you only had types of car as rivals, but now you have Mr X on Evo, or Mr Y on another Evo, Mr Z on Impreza, etc... KS: You will find one AI known for high speed, another for aggression, and so on. JT: This Career mode is a start for us and I see in the future something much more developed, deeper - maybe some kind of a simulation or team management mode. Simulation-style rally games have proven popular in the console market - are you making any concession to that within this version in the series, or keeping to Sega Rally's arcade heritage? KS: We want to deliver a gaming experience and, in that regard, it will be arcade. So, yes, it would be closer to a game like RalliSport Challenge on Xbox. I know they did that game because they loved our Sega Rally, which I find really cool. And we enjoy playing RalliSport in our office sometimes! Overall, I think games are getting too difficult to enjoy and very inaccessible for many. I still believe that we can enjoy games purely for fun. Most of the racing games on consoles claim they are realistic, but I think realism has several faces and one of them is the way you enjoy the game. That sounds similar to the approach you've always taken with the series. KS: When we did the first Sega Rally, we had many competitors on the market: Daytona, Ridge Racer, etc. When we decided to make Sega Rally, we agreed to change the way players should enjoy a racing game. We first wanted the player to feel as if he was actually driving a real car. In other racing games, you would have a high sense of speed. In Sega Rally, we decreased this speed and focused everything on controls. We amplified the controls to make them very easy to understand. So our cars in Sega Rally were drifting in a way a real WRC car would not. At that time, we did not spend any time in testing real WRC cars, but the result was that users were delighted and found our game very 'realistic'. With Sega Rally 2, it was a time when simulators were numerous, like Gran Turismo. So this time, we went testing rally cars with real drivers. We realised how much our game was different from the reality. Then I felt the need to give the opportunity to the players to experience a rally race through the driver's eyes. That became the base for Sega Rally 2. We analysed the cars' specifications to reproduce some of the physics, but our main concern was to recreate the way the driver would see a landscape or the road and the way the controls would work. You talked about making a fresh start - do you think the arcade series is over? KS: Hmm... What I can say is you may expect something different from us in the arcade. I mean, seven years have passed since the last Sega Rally in the arcade. When did you start working on Sega Rally 2005? KS: My feelings about Sega Rally did not disappear during the seven years that I was not working on it. We really started on this version last year, in April or June. But the beginning of the development was quite slow, with few staff working on it. Of course the libraries and our track-building program were in progress for quite some time so it helped speed things up. Currently, there are around 15 of us working on the game. I know you will find much bigger teams working on a single title these days and, yes, I would like to do the same - but right now, I think we are doing OK. How have you found working with Sony's hardware, given how little experience you've had with it? KS: I think we're starting to see something quite interesting indeed with how the game is developing. In fact, the designers working on the game are coming from our past structure, Sega Rosso. Now, for this game, since the difficulties of working with the PS2 have been no secret for most of the industry, we have benefited from the past experience of others to build this engine. It will deliver 60fps and we will work to ensure this is constant throughout the game. Will you be looking to support PS2's online options? JT: No. The game will be a standalone experience with no twoplayer option. KS: A player who wants to speed through everything should clear it in 20 to 30 hours. This experience is our objective right now. begin 666 spacer.gif M1TE&.#EA`0`!`+,``/_______P`````````````````````````````````` H`````````````````````"'Y! $`````+ `````!``$`0 0"$$0`.P`` ` end begin 666 callout_header_280x7.png MB5!.1PT*&@H````-24A$4@```1@````'! ,````A5T]%````!W1)344'TPH7 M#S<KZ.>M[P````EP2%ES```+$@``"Q(!TMU^_ ```!503%1%,S.965FLF9G, M\O+Y0$"?____LK+9R,T%30```#U)1$%4>-IC" U69!@40,@TE"$T9:!=`0-N MH0QA`^T&!$AE,!EH)R" ,X/"0#L!`9@8! ;:"0C .- .0 $`$F\$'^]DM9(` +````245.1*Y"8((` ` end begin 666 callout_footer_280x7.png MB5!.1PT*&@H````-24A$4@```1@````'! ,````A5T]%````!W1)344'TPH7 M#S<;SCZ=0P````EP2%ES```+$@``"Q(!TMU^_ ```!503%1%____\_/YF9G, M65FL,S.9L[/90$"?U,%/_0```#Y)1$%4>-IC<!E$@,%DH%V `,X,*@/M! 1P M8A ;:"<@0"(#ZT [`0$"&!C"!MH-,)#*P,# J#S0KH `(P$&`"<Q`F(6Z6/V ,`````$E%3D2N0F"" ` end

almost forgot: http://gamesradar.msn.co.uk/features/default.asp?siteid=60&sectiontypeid=8&subsectionid=1635&pagetypeid=2&articleid=33488&page=1

"Xenon" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... > > almost forgot: >What? that your a pointless crossposting ass feltcher.

Thanks for relaying this useless piece of info to computer users.... Dave "Xenon" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

Quoted text (8 lines)

> > [20/12/04 10:54] > Most driving game sequels don't take six years. But then most driving game > sequels aren't the latest Sega Rally, says Edge > > > After a strangely long absence, Sega Rally Championship is preparing to > re-enter the race - and not in the arcade but on PlayStation2. We talked

to > producer Jun Taniguchi and director Kenji Sasaki about their new direction > for a treasured franchise. > > Sega Rally has traditionally led as an arcade title. What made you decideto > develop this version on PS2? > JT: The requests from gamers were quite important. Of course we had many > requests for an arcade version as well and, yes, we like to challenge > ourselves on powerful platforms. Arcade, PC or Xbox could have suited usin > that matter, but PS2 is the biggest market of all. It is the tenth > anniversary of the series. Until now, we had enjoyed sharing our passionof > automobiles with a broad public: first in the arcade when that market wasat > its peak, then on Saturn with 1.2 million copies worldwide and later on > Dreamcast with around a million copies worldwide. As you know, though, > [coin-op] sales are down. With this anniversary in mind we wanted to makea > game so fans and newcomers alike could enjoy our game. The best way toreach > so many people was PS2. > > KS: The base of the series is our love for automobiles: the fun in drivinga > car is the core element of the game. Of course, the gap in terms of > technology between arcade and the console is quite important, but the main > difference is you can't enjoy an arcade game as you would enjoy a consumer > game. You have to deliver all the fun in three minutes for the arcadewhile, > on console, you expect to be able to play the game for as long as youwant,

Quoted text (19 lines)

> whenever you want. So if our main motivation is the same, we have to > redesign the game rules and play time to fit with this new market. > > > > > "Games are getting too difficult to enjoy. Most racing > games claim they are realistic, but I think realism has several faces and > one is the way you enjoy the game" > > > > > > > > How has that affected the play modes on offer? > KS: Two of them are very similar to what you had in the arcade. The Quick > Race mode is what we used to call the Championship mode. Then you have

Time > Attack. The third mode is really specific to the consumer market, theCareer > Mode. It follows an automobile enthusiast who decides to drive > competitively, first locally and later aiming at higher classes until > finally entering the Sega Rally Championship. He then has a year of > competition to reach the top of that championship. > > I know this style of play is quite common nowadays, but usually you needto > clear a race in order to access the next one. And eventually you come to a > race that's too difficult, and you can't progress beyond that stage, which > is where most players give up. We want to avoid these problems with our > vision of the career mode in Sega Rally 2005. All our events and training > session are scheduled on a calendar, and you are free to attend or ignore > them as you wish - although some may have conditions for attendance, suchas > achieving great results in a previous race or holding a certain licence. > > But presumably there'll still be a need to clear a series of events to > access the final championship. > KS: Well, the game will give the player the freedom to do what he wants.If > he wants to become the overall champion, he will aim at the Sega Rally > Championship and play hard. Others might only enjoy one kind of race, like > the Toge, illegal mountain races. You may prefer to be just a local > champion. The Career mode is divided into classes like you would find in > WRC, but we did not put a limitation on the car choice as you would findin > other games. Of course, you will definitely need to gain access to ahigher > class in order to buy a more powerful car, but you can get a powerful car > from the beginning if you can afford it, just like in reality. Forexample, > you could buy an Impreza or a Lancer Evo as your first car. You can go to > your car dealer, buy them and then attend a local rally competition. Inthe

Quoted text (11 lines)

> game you can do the same. > > > > > > How many cars will be featured? > KS: There are not that many, around 20. One problem was that there are not > many cars in the WRC championship. > > JT: But you know, in Europe, you have lower classes like the Junior WRC

and

Quoted text (11 lines)

> the Super 1600. In these classes you find competitive cars like the Astra, > the Golf, etc, but rally fans are focused on the higher classes with cars > like the Impreza and the 307. So packing the game with hundreds of cars is > not always the solution, and I'm not convinced that players play all these > cars. Plus, hundreds of cars mean you need to prepare the equal number of > physics - so we preferred to focus on a smaller number of cars but making > them individually really enjoyable. > > What about the cars at the heart of the series - the Toyota Celica, the > Lancia Delta and the Stratos? > KS: They appeared in the demo, but we're not yet completely sure if we

will > use them in the final game. I can say you shouldn't expect old butlegendary > cars like the 205 or the Alpine, though. This 2005 version is a way for us > to reset the series and make a fresh start on console. > > Will there be any focus on tuning your cars, or are you concentrating onthe

Quoted text (10 lines)

> racing aspect? > KS: Since I want to bring game back to racing, I would prefer to avoid > having players spend too much time on this. So this option is purposefully > not that deep in the game. > > You've announced the game will feature a random course generator - is this > as an aside from the prebuilt courses for the main game modes? > KS: Yes, we developed the random course program as an idea to help make > players enjoy our game. But our problem at the moment is to determine > whether the courses it creates are fun. There are also plenty of courses.

We

Quoted text (23 lines)

> are planning something like 400 tracks of various types for the Career > mode - although that does not mean you will find 400 different landscapes. > We will also have various weather conditions prepared, and we are still > working on effects in order to study what we can do in addition to the > 'classic' conditions. > > How about the other racers? Are you working on giving them personality > through AI? > JT: Career mode will feature AI rivals who will have their own names and > their own specialities. So according to your driving style you may always > find yourself confronting a given rival. And they each have a kind of > 'psychological profile', a way that they drive. Previously, you only had > types of car as rivals, but now you have Mr X on Evo, or Mr Y on another > Evo, Mr Z on Impreza, etc... > > KS: You will find one AI known for high speed, another for aggression, and > so on. > > JT: This Career mode is a start for us and I see in the future something > much more developed, deeper - maybe some kind of a simulation or team > management mode. > > Simulation-style rally games have proven popular in the console market -

are

Quoted text (19 lines)

> you making any concession to that within this version in the series, or > keeping to Sega Rally's arcade heritage? > KS: We want to deliver a gaming experience and, in that regard, it will be > arcade. So, yes, it would be closer to a game like RalliSport Challenge on > Xbox. I know they did that game because they loved our Sega Rally, which I > find really cool. And we enjoy playing RalliSport in our office sometimes! > > Overall, I think games are getting too difficult to enjoy and very > inaccessible for many. I still believe that we can enjoy games purely for > fun. Most of the racing games on consoles claim they are realistic, but I > think realism has several faces and one of them is the way you enjoy the > game. > > > > That sounds similar to the approach you've always taken with the series. > > > KS: When we did the first Sega Rally, we had many competitors on the

market: > Daytona, Ridge Racer, etc. When we decided to make Sega Rally, we agreedto > change the way players should enjoy a racing game. We first wanted the > player to feel as if he was actually driving a real car. In other racing > games, you would have a high sense of speed. In Sega Rally, we decreased > this speed and focused everything on controls. We amplified the controlsto

Quoted text (11 lines)

> make them very easy to understand. So our cars in Sega Rally were drifting > in a way a real WRC car would not. At that time, we did not spend any time > in testing real WRC cars, but the result was that users were delighted and > found our game very 'realistic'. > > With Sega Rally 2, it was a time when simulators were numerous, like Gran > Turismo. So this time, we went testing rally cars with real drivers. We > realised how much our game was different from the reality. Then I felt the > need to give the opportunity to the players to experience a rally race > through the driver's eyes. That became the base for Sega Rally 2. We > analysed the cars' specifications to reproduce some of the physics, but

our > main concern was to recreate the way the driver would see a landscape orthe > road and the way the controls would work. > > You talked about making a fresh start - do you think the arcade series is > over? > KS: Hmm... What I can say is you may expect something different from us in > the arcade. I mean, seven years have passed since the last Sega Rally inthe > arcade. > > When did you start working on Sega Rally 2005? > KS: My feelings about Sega Rally did not disappear during the seven years > that I was not working on it. We really started on this version last year, > in April or June. But the beginning of the development was quite slow,with

Quoted text (7 lines)

> few staff working on it. Of course the libraries and our track-building > program were in progress for quite some time so it helped speed things up. > Currently, there are around 15 of us working on the game. I know you will > find much bigger teams working on a single title these days and, yes, I > would like to do the same - but right now, I think we are doing OK. > > How have you found working with Sony's hardware, given how little

experience > you've had with it? > KS: I think we're starting to see something quite interesting indeed with > how the game is developing. In fact, the designers working on the game are > coming from our past structure, Sega Rosso. Now, for this game, since the > difficulties of working with the PS2 have been no secret for most of the > industry, we have benefited from the past experience of others to buildthis

Quoted text (7 lines)

> engine. It will deliver 60fps and we will work to ensure this is constant > throughout the game. > > Will you be looking to support PS2's online options? > JT: No. The game will be a standalone experience with no twoplayer option. > > KS: A player who wants to speed through everything should clear it in 20

to

Quoted text (10 lines)

> 30 hours. This experience is our objective right now. > > > > > > > > >

"Caged animal mastUrbator" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:41cbf9a1$0$49716$[email hidden]...

Quoted text (8 lines)

> > "Xenon" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > news:[email hidden]... > > > > almost forgot: > > > What? that your a pointless crossposting ass feltcher. >

gfys

"Xenon" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...

Quoted text (16 lines)

> > "Caged animal mastUrbator" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > news:41cbf9a1$0$49716$[email hidden]... >> >> "Xenon" <[email hidden]> wrote in message >> news:[email hidden]... >> > >> > almost forgot: >> > >> What? that your a pointless crossposting ass feltcher. >> > > > gfys > >

Will do right after ya mom has finished me off, at least one of your family isnt completely pointless.

Nice one. -- Andi. Remove only one zero to reply "Dave St.Onge" <1@1> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... > Thanks for relaying this useless piece of info to computer users.... > > Dave > > "Xenon" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > news:[email hidden]... > > > > [20/12/04 10:54] > > Most driving game sequels don't take six years. But then most driving game > > sequels aren't the latest Sega Rally, says Edge > > > > > > After a strangely long absence, Sega Rally Championship is preparing to > > re-enter the race - and not in the arcade but on PlayStation2. We talked > to > > producer Jun Taniguchi and director Kenji Sasaki about their new direction > > for a treasured franchise. > > > > Sega Rally has traditionally led as an arcade title. What made you decide > to > > develop this version on PS2? > > JT: The requests from gamers were quite important. Of course we had many > > requests for an arcade version as well and, yes, we like to challenge > > ourselves on powerful platforms. Arcade, PC or Xbox could have suited us > in > > that matter, but PS2 is the biggest market of all. It is the tenth > > anniversary of the series. Until now, we had enjoyed sharing our passion > of > > automobiles with a broad public: first in the arcade when that market was > at > > its peak, then on Saturn with 1.2 million copies worldwide and later on > > Dreamcast with around a million copies worldwide. As you know, though, > > [coin-op] sales are down. With this anniversary in mind we wanted to make > a > > game so fans and newcomers alike could enjoy our game. The best way to > reach > > so many people was PS2. > > > > KS: The base of the series is our love for automobiles: the fun in driving > a > > car is the core element of the game. Of course, the gap in terms of > > technology between arcade and the console is quite important, but the main > > difference is you can't enjoy an arcade game as you would enjoy a consumer > > game. You have to deliver all the fun in three minutes for the arcade > while, > > on console, you expect to be able to play the game for as long as you > want, > > whenever you want. So if our main motivation is the same, we have to > > redesign the game rules and play time to fit with this new market. > > > > > > > > > > "Games are getting too difficult to enjoy. Most racing > > games claim they are realistic, but I think realism has several faces and > > one is the way you enjoy the game" > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > How has that affected the play modes on offer? > > KS: Two of them are very similar to what you had in the arcade. The Quick > > Race mode is what we used to call the Championship mode. Then you have > Time > > Attack. The third mode is really specific to the consumer market, the > Career > > Mode. It follows an automobile enthusiast who decides to drive > > competitively, first locally and later aiming at higher classes until > > finally entering the Sega Rally Championship. He then has a year of > > competition to reach the top of that championship. > > > > I know this style of play is quite common nowadays, but usually you need > to > > clear a race in order to access the next one. And eventually you come to a > > race that's too difficult, and you can't progress beyond that stage, which > > is where most players give up. We want to avoid these problems with our > > vision of the career mode in Sega Rally 2005. All our events and training > > session are scheduled on a calendar, and you are free to attend or ignore > > them as you wish - although some may have conditions for attendance, such > as > > achieving great results in a previous race or holding a certain licence. > > > > But presumably there'll still be a need to clear a series of events to > > access the final championship. > > KS: Well, the game will give the player the freedom to do what he wants. > If > > he wants to become the overall champion, he will aim at the Sega Rally > > Championship and play hard. Others might only enjoy one kind of race, like > > the Toge, illegal mountain races. You may prefer to be just a local > > champion. The Career mode is divided into classes like you would find in > > WRC, but we did not put a limitation on the car choice as you would find > in > > other games. Of course, you will definitely need to gain access to a > higher > > class in order to buy a more powerful car, but you can get a powerful car > > from the beginning if you can afford it, just like in reality. For > example, > > you could buy an Impreza or a Lancer Evo as your first car. You can go to > > your car dealer, buy them and then attend a local rally competition. In > the > > game you can do the same. > > > > > > > > > > > > How many cars will be featured? > > KS: There are not that many, around 20. One problem was that there are not > > many cars in the WRC championship. > > > > JT: But you know, in Europe, you have lower classes like the Junior WRC > and > > the Super 1600. In these classes you find competitive cars like the Astra, > > the Golf, etc, but rally fans are focused on the higher classes with cars > > like the Impreza and the 307. So packing the game with hundreds of cars is > > not always the solution, and I'm not convinced that players play all these > > cars. Plus, hundreds of cars mean you need to prepare the equal number of > > physics - so we preferred to focus on a smaller number of cars but making > > them individually really enjoyable. > > > > What about the cars at the heart of the series - the Toyota Celica, the > > Lancia Delta and the Stratos? > > KS: They appeared in the demo, but we're not yet completely sure if we > will > > use them in the final game. I can say you shouldn't expect old but > legendary > > cars like the 205 or the Alpine, though. This 2005 version is a way for us > > to reset the series and make a fresh start on console. > > > > Will there be any focus on tuning your cars, or are you concentrating on > the > > racing aspect? > > KS: Since I want to bring game back to racing, I would prefer to avoid > > having players spend too much time on this. So this option is purposefully > > not that deep in the game. > > > > You've announced the game will feature a random course generator - is this > > as an aside from the prebuilt courses for the main game modes? > > KS: Yes, we developed the random course program as an idea to help make > > players enjoy our game. But our problem at the moment is to determine > > whether the courses it creates are fun. There are also plenty of courses. > We > > are planning something like 400 tracks of various types for the Career > > mode - although that does not mean you will find 400 different landscapes. > > We will also have various weather conditions prepared, and we are still > > working on effects in order to study what we can do in addition to the > > 'classic' conditions. > > > > How about the other racers? Are you working on giving them personality > > through AI? > > JT: Career mode will feature AI rivals who will have their own names and > > their own specialities. So according to your driving style you may always > > find yourself confronting a given rival. And they each have a kind of > > 'psychological profile', a way that they drive. Previously, you only had > > types of car as rivals, but now you have Mr X on Evo, or Mr Y on another > > Evo, Mr Z on Impreza, etc... > > > > KS: You will find one AI known for high speed, another for aggression, and > > so on. > > > > JT: This Career mode is a start for us and I see in the future something > > much more developed, deeper - maybe some kind of a simulation or team > > management mode. > > > > Simulation-style rally games have proven popular in the console market - > are > > you making any concession to that within this version in the series, or > > keeping to Sega Rally's arcade heritage? > > KS: We want to deliver a gaming experience and, in that regard, it will be > > arcade. So, yes, it would be closer to a game like RalliSport Challenge on > > Xbox. I know they did that game because they loved our Sega Rally, which I > > find really cool. And we enjoy playing RalliSport in our office sometimes! > > > > Overall, I think games are getting too difficult to enjoy and very > > inaccessible for many. I still believe that we can enjoy games purely for > > fun. Most of the racing games on consoles claim they are realistic, but I > > think realism has several faces and one of them is the way you enjoy the > > game. > > > > > > > > That sounds similar to the approach you've always taken with the series. > > > > > > KS: When we did the first Sega Rally, we had many competitors on the > market: > > Daytona, Ridge Racer, etc. When we decided to make Sega Rally, we agreed > to > > change the way players should enjoy a racing game. We first wanted the > > player to feel as if he was actually driving a real car. In other racing > > games, you would have a high sense of speed. In Sega Rally, we decreased > > this speed and focused everything on controls. We amplified the controls > to > > make them very easy to understand. So our cars in Sega Rally were drifting > > in a way a real WRC car would not. At that time, we did not spend any time > > in testing real WRC cars, but the result was that users were delighted and > > found our game very 'realistic'. > > > > With Sega Rally 2, it was a time when simulators were numerous, like Gran > > Turismo. So this time, we went testing rally cars with real drivers. We > > realised how much our game was different from the reality. Then I felt the > > need to give the opportunity to the players to experience a rally race > > through the driver's eyes. That became the base for Sega Rally 2. We > > analysed the cars' specifications to reproduce some of the physics, but > our > > main concern was to recreate the way the driver would see a landscape or > the > > road and the way the controls would work. > > > > You talked about making a fresh start - do you think the arcade series is > > over? > > KS: Hmm... What I can say is you may expect something different from us in > > the arcade. I mean, seven years have passed since the last Sega Rally in > the > > arcade. > > > > When did you start working on Sega Rally 2005? > > KS: My feelings about Sega Rally did not disappear during the seven years > > that I was not working on it. We really started on this version last year, > > in April or June. But the beginning of the development was quite slow, > with > > few staff working on it. Of course the libraries and our track-building > > program were in progress for quite some time so it helped speed things up. > > Currently, there are around 15 of us working on the game. I know you will > > find much bigger teams working on a single title these days and, yes, I > > would like to do the same - but right now, I think we are doing OK. > > > > How have you found working with Sony's hardware, given how little > experience > > you've had with it? > > KS: I think we're starting to see something quite interesting indeed with > > how the game is developing. In fact, the designers working on the game are > > coming from our past structure, Sega Rosso. Now, for this game, since the > > difficulties of working with the PS2 have been no secret for most of the > > industry, we have benefited from the past experience of others to build > this > > engine. It will deliver 60fps and we will work to ensure this is constant > > throughout the game. > > > > Will you be looking to support PS2's online options? > > JT: No. The game will be a standalone experience with no twoplayer option. > > > > KS: A player who wants to speed through everything should clear it in 20 > to > > 30 hours. This experience is our objective right now. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >