1. ''I Want to Work in Kyoto.''

Iwata:

Thank you for coming today.

Everyone:

It’s a pleasure.

Iwata:

Today, I have gathered the developers involved in Star Fox 64 3D. Dylan-san, would you please introduce yourself?

Dylan:

Sure. I’m Dylan from Q-Games.1 I founded a company ten years ago in Kyoto. Fast forward, and I’m director of Star Fox 64 3D. Before that, I made Star Fox Command .2 (Editor’s note: Dylan Cuthbert was speaking in Japanese during this interview and his comments have been translated into English by Nintendo.) 1. Q-Games, Ltd.: A video game developer established by Dylan Cuthbert and others in 2001. Head office: Kyoto. The company developed Star Fox Command for the Nintendo DS system and has also developed Nintendo DSiWare software such as Digidrive, Trajectile, Starship Defence and X-Scape. (Editor’s note: These titles were released in Europe as Art Style: Intersect, Reflect Missile, Starship Patrol and 3D Space Tank respectively.) 2. Star Fox Command: A strategy and 3D shooting game released for the Nintendo DS system in Japan in August 2006.

Iwata Asks
Iwata:

Going back a bit, you were also involved in development of the original Star Fox3 for the Super Famicom. 3. Star Fox: A shooting game released for the Super Famicom system in 1993. The first game in the Star Fox series. This was released in Europe as Starwing .

Dylan:

That’s right. Going even further back, about 20 years ago, I came to Japan from England for the first time.

Miyamoto:

That was 1990. You came to lend support as a programmer for Star Fox.

Dylan:

Yes.

Iwata:

How old were you then?

Dylan:

I was 18. I remember asking Miyamoto-san how old he was. The next thing I know, I’m about the same age that he was then.

Miyamoto:

So you’re still young. (laughs)

Iwata:

You’ve got a lot ahead of you.

Dylan:

Yes. (laughs) The first time I came to Kyoto, I was only here for one week, but it was really interesting.

Iwata:

What was your goal during that week?

Dylan:

There was a 3D game for the Game Boy system.

Iwata:

Oh, you mean X .4 4. X: A 3D action-shooting game released for the Game Boy system in Japan in May 1992. It was never released in Europe.

Dylan:

That’s right. I was in charge of making X. I was working for a company named Argonaut Software5 and came to show Nintendo a 3D engine I had worked hard on. I came with a colleague. When they showed us into the meeting room, about 30 people all wearing the Nintendo jackets (uniforms) filed in. I thought, “Uh-oh…” (laughs) 5. Argonaut Software Ltd.: A British video game developer that developed a 3D engine. Currently Argonaut Games PLC.

Everyone:

(laughs)

Iwata:

Everyone was incredibly interested in the engine you had made.

Dylan:

Yes, but I was nervous.

Iwata:

There were only two of you, but 30 of us, so you must have been under a lot of pressure. You were only 18 years old and in a different country, so it’s only natural you would feel that way. (laughs)

Dylan:

But my impression of Japan, especially of Kyoto, of this town, was great. It suited me and I thought I wanted to work in Japan.

Iwata:

What did you like about Kyoto?

Dylan:

Well…

Miyamoto:

(whispering) The girls?

Dylan:

Well, yes. I was 18, so especially that. (laughs)

Everyone:

(laughs)

Dylan:

The people were great. Everyone at Nintendo was friendly. During that one week, we ate together at all kinds of places, which to me as an 18-year-old was a lot of fun.

Iwata:

The food in Kyoto was good and the people were nice.

Dylan:

Yes, exactly.

Iwata:

So you heard interesting things every day and thought, “I wish I could work somewhere like this.”

Dylan:

Yes. And I had come from London, where it’s always raining, so Kyoto seemed incredibly bright. It was great.

Iwata:

Maybe you came in the right season?

Dylan:

It was July.

Miyamoto:

In July, the rainy season would have just ended.

Dylan:

It was really hot. And it wasn’t just hot, it was hot and steamy. Everyone in Kyoto complains about that, but I found it refreshing. (with a puzzled expression) I thought to myself, “What is this feeling?” (laughs)

Everyone:

(laughs)

Miyamoto:

It’s the feeling of subtropical Asia.

Dylan:

Yes. When you’re outside, the humidity is so high it’s like you’re in a sauna. I thought, (happily) “It’s too humid!” (laughs)

Iwata:

I thought the same thing when I first came to Kyoto from Hokkaido. (laughs)

Dylan:

It’s totally different.

Iwata:

It really is! (laughs)

Dylan:

My impression of Kyoto was really great, so I wanted to work with Nintendo.

Iwata:

Hearing about those days is fun, so I’d like to ask a little more. Miyamoto-san, what was your impression of Dylan-san when he was 18 years old?

Miyamoto:

I was surprised that he could handle programming at that age—that he could perform this kind of role when so young. I thought, “Oh, so that’s what kind of world this industry is.” The first thing I thought when I met Dylan-san was that this isn’t a field in which you can only get recognition by being older.

Iwata Asks
Iwata:

He was able to make 3D games—which were cutting edge at that time—at only 18 years old.

Miyamoto:

Right. You really wanted to learn kanji back then, didn’t you?

Dylan:

Oh, absolutely.

Miyamoto:

He could write hiragana.

Iwata:

Oh, so you were interested in Japanese language?

Dylan:

The first time I came to Japan for that week, I thought, “You know, I’ve really got to study Japanese!” I bought a book at the airport on the way back and studied it all the time. Then the next time I came to Japan, I could write hiragana.

Miyamoto:

Later, when he started working at Nintendo, I taught him Japanese and he taught me English. He said my English was weird. I asked him what was weird about it, and he said my prepositions were mixed up.

Dylan:

(laughs)

Miyamoto:

So I started studying prepositions and asked him things like, “Do I use ‘with’ here?”

Iwata:

So Miyamoto-san spoke English and Dylan-san, you spoke Japanese?

Dylan:

That’s right.

Iwata:

I suppose that was the best way to study.

Miyamoto:

I made rapid progress back then. (laughs)

Dylan:

Yes, because we did it almost every day. And Miyamoto-san would try hard to tell the most ridiculous jokes in English. (laughs)

Iwata:

The sort of corny jokes you would expect more from a Japanese grandfather, right? (laughs)

Dylan:

Yeah! (laughs) But that was fun. Thanks to that, I was able to study a lot about Japanese culture.

Miyamoto:

Oh, you were, eh?

Everyone:

(laughs)