Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai details from the latest Iwata Asks
A new third-party Iwata Asks has gone live on the Japanese Nintendo website. AM2 head Makoto Osaki, director Motoshi Takabe, project manager You Utsumi, and Satoru Iwata participated in the interview.
Andriasang picked out some of the more important details from the discussion. We’ve compiled the information into a handy summary. You can find it below.
– Osaki is the head of AM2
– He’s been working on Hastune Miku since Project Diva Arcade
– Osaki describes his role as “probably what would generally be called something like a producer”
– The producer is very involved in the development scene like that of an old-style game
– Takabe wrote the design doc, gave instruction for creation of the “PV” videos that play during the game, and oversaw the development scene
– Takabe left money/staff issues to Osaki
– Iwata said that he played a lot of Daytona USA
– AM2 has been making Hatsune Miku since 2009
– Technology in Miari and the special Miku videos they make for live concerts comes form Virtua Fighter
– Creation of PVs, simulation of Miku’s hair (the basics and the staff making them) are from Virtua Fighter
– Future Stars shows the Hatsune Miku vocaloids in SD/big-headed style
– According to You Utsumi, the game at first showed the characters in their standard proportions
– The team felt that something wasn’t right about this
– Miku looked smaller when dancing on the 3DS screen, and this was without even considering that they’d have to show the notes for the rhythm gameplay
– The staff eventually decided on making the characters SD style and settled on proportions of Good Smile Company’s Nendoroid figures
– There were some suggestions of other head sizes before this
– Nendoroid proportions made sense because the Nendoroid figures for Miku are the second best selling licensed Hatsune Miku products (Sega’s games are first)
– Voice and face recognition in the game
– Use your voice to select songs
– Facial recognition used for the game’s alarm clock mode
– In this mode, Miku will wait to make sure you’re gone, then will come out and look around
– There were concerns about how the player would be able to see this in action
