Q&As// Opoona Developers

SPOnG: Will Opoona use any of the Wii’s other features, such as the Wii Remote for minigames perhaps, or the WiiConnect24 service?

Sachiko Sugimura: At first we didn’t use any other features, because we concentrated on users being able to casually enjoy the game through simple control with Nunchuk. We call it “Easy play by a thumb, with Nunchuk only!” However, users can also use Wii Remote if they like.


SPOnG: You guys have been called an 'all-star' development team - how does it feel to be a legend?
Shintaro Majima: It is such an honour that the users evaluated our past creations and remember us. That gives us more freedom to try new things in our future production.

However, we have a lot of things we would like to challenge rather than appreciating our past productions. So, we don’t feel like a “defending champion”. We are only on the start line to really make a legend!


SPOnG: What has it been like developing for the Wii compared to other consoles?

Shintaro Majima: I am not really particular about Wii, in aspect of hardware structure. My expectation to Wii is that there may be a fresh appeal to new users that this game is not targeted to a small group of hardcore gamers.


SPOnG: The graphical style of the game is very family-friendly. A lot of titles for the Wii have taken this angle. From a developer’s point of view, do you feel that more mature games could suit the Wii as well?

Shintaro Majima: At a certain point in the past, I had a feeling that videogames were only for a small group of users who liked that particular style. From that point of view, I think it is important that we return to a starting point and try to create a game that everyone can enjoy.

Opoona is certainly a game which all family members will enjoy, but we didn’t emphasize a style which appeals to children. Rather, we aim to create a high-quality entertainment which has an appeal to adults.

It will be interesting if we can make something to spur a feeling – something like a childhood’s yearning to adulthood.


SPOnG: What have been the highs and lows of developing Opoona so far? Have any interesting anecdotes to share?

Shintaro Majima: Every day was the repetition of highs and lows, naturally the process to create something new is a lot of fun and at the same time takes a lot of pain.

The beginning of Opoona was my drawing – I drew the thing which appeared in my dream, when I was taking a bath just after waking up. I drew it by finger on the bathroom mirror.

That was already almost a final design of Opoona – but being so simple means that a subtle change during sophistication can make drastically different impression. So it took a very long time to finalize designs.


SPOnG: What games other than your own projects are you looking forward to this year?

Shintaro Majima: I can’t mention specific names, but I look forward to seeing a simple and high-quality title. I personally enjoy creating Mii, and I feel that it doesn’t necessarily have to be a “game” that I enjoy.

Ideally, I would like to look forward to our own project. That would be the best reward to working in a videogame development.

SPOnG:Thank you very much for your time.