At the Square Media Tour 2000 in Tokyo yesterday, we were given the chance to pose questions to a few of the key members of the development team of The Bouncer from both Square and Dream Factory . The first batch of questions and subsequent answers were prepared by Square and help give us a lot of new information and details about the company's upcoming PlayStation 2 title that has been pretty much clouded in mystery ever since it was first announced. Following the initial batch of questions and answers are the answers given by the staff of The Bouncer to the questions asked by the journalists attending the event.

Tetsuya Nomura, Character Design

Q: For which other games have you designed the characters?

A: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII, the Parasite Eve series, to name a few.

Q: Where does your inspiration come from when you create characters for the games?

A: Basically, most of my ideas come from movies and magazines, or I just create them in my head.

Noriko Matsueda / Takahiko Eguchi, Composer

Q: Do you work on the music at the same time as the game is created, or do you come at the end of the creation, watch the game, and create music that the game inspires?

A: In the case of The Bouncer, we already had the scenario prepared, so the music for each scene (theme music for events and characters) was already being discussed at the earlier stages. Afterwards, everything basically moved forward at about the same pace. In some scenes, though, the images were created earlier, so we sometimes compose the music to match the already-created scene. In such cases, we still try to keep in mind the initial inspiration we got from the storyboard and CG while preserving the premise of the story, but at the same time, aiming for quality in the music that can hold its own.

Q: In what kind of atmosphere did you create your music for The Bouncer?

A: Don't skip meals, get plenty of sleep, and take a moderate amount of leisure time. Of course, when crunch time rolls around, following these rules becomes increasingly difficult...

Experience feelings of deep emotion. Set aside enough time to think by yourself. Doing such things will help raise creative images. It is important to know what works for you. Finally, make sure you appreciate and respect those around you...(is that too corny?)

I cannot write good music if I forget to follow these rules. I'm serious.

Takashi Tokita, Director

Q: Will there be an online element to The Bouncer?

A: Unfortunately, there are no online elements.

Q: Describe the three bouncers who star in the game; how do their personalities differ? What are their best and worst characteristics?

A: Obviously, each of their moves/techniques will be unique. It follows the typical, age-old rule of the three-person group: an orthodox member, a cool one, and a comical one. Additionally, to give a more manly and mature impression, the game starts with the characters not butting into each other's business. Their best and worst characteristics will be determined by the player. My personal favorite is Kou.

Q: What kinds of business is the Mikado Group involved in?

A: Primarily, the company works on space development and is also involved in various aerospace and other related industries.

Q: Describe a typical task Dominique's rescuers might face and how they use their cunning to get out of a sticky situation.

A: They basically battle and defeat enemies, which allows them to move forward.

Q: The game is described as an "action RPG." Describe a typical action sequence and tell us about the sort of RPG-style problems the group will see.

A: The selling point of an "action game" is the feeling of oneness with the character, but on the other hand, action games lack characterization and story development. RPGs can cover most of these narrative factors, but command input-type RPGs sacrifice the tempo (speed), thrill factor, and the feeling of immediacy. The Bouncer's system is a combination of the best elements from these two genres.

Q: Will the game be mission-based or a continuous affair?

A: It would be the latter.

Q: What made you want to work on a game like this?

A: I would have to say the new and improved hardware, the PS2. I also wanted to create a fast-paced story.

Q: What will the emphasis be ¿ action adventuring with lots of exploring plus head-kicking, or head-kicking all the way?

A: The adventuring elements are not going to be that numerous. Mostly, the adventure will change slightly depending on what character you choose. My primary concern was to make a fast-paced story with feel-good action elements.

Q: Has the lack of solid information and visuals been deliberate? After all, it's been one of the most eagerly-anticipated PS2 games at the moment, which is surely no coincidence. Or have there been problems getting the game running well on the machine?

A: Visually, I feel confident that The Bouncer is of the highest quality. Since a massive amount of data and memory is being used, it became ever more important to reduce the load times and properly divide up the memory.

Q: Is the final game close to what you imagined when you first started creating the game?

A: It's actually more than what we expected, and the entire staff is quite excited about it.

Q: Does reality inspire you?

A: We've refrained from using comic expressions in this title. A lot of emphasis has been placed on reality, with the use of full voice-overs and realistic lighting to set the tone of the screen. Also, we've tried to scale back unlikely (unrealistic) moves from the characters' repertoires.

Q: What have been the most exciting aspects of developing The Bouncer on PS2?

A: It is the opportunity to work on such an anticipated title. On the PS2, Square has not yet released its flagship title: FFX. Having the chance to take the initiative before such a title is a worthwhile challenge.

Q: You will have fighting sequences in the game. How many moves does each character possess? Tell us about some of the trademark moves each fighter can pull off.

A: There will be roughly 20 moves per character that can be learned and developed.

Q: The Bouncer is set to revolutionize beat-em-up games. What exactly makes the game different?

A: I believe it's the ability to have multiple character versus multiple character combat in a 3D environment. Also, the ability to customize your characters freely is another big point.

Q: Are there role-playing/character development elements in the game, or do the characters stay the same thoughout the entire game?

A: As I mentioned earlier, the game has a character development system with a high degree of freedom. For some players, action games may not be their strong points, but this system was designed to help resolve that.

Q: Will the story be linear, seamlessly linking different fights and encounters, or can the player make choices that affect the direction the story takes?

A: I would say it's a cross between both. There is one basic story, but there are branches that allow you to see it from different angles.

Q: Fighting games have changed very little over the last years. Do you think there will be other games that, like The Bouncer, try to give a new direction to the genre now that new technology is available?

A: In future titles, the borders between genres will probably fade away or become very blurred.

Q: As you are breaking new ground with The Bouncer, you probably encountered new problems as well. Which aspects of the game were the most difficult to realize.

A: The hardest part was definitely working with the PS2 for the first time. Also, working with large-capacity media (DVD) was a new thing. The burden on the programmers has become heavier, so adjusting the schedule was the biggest obstacle.

Q: Square's website claims that The Bouncer will be like playing an action movie. How have you managed to balance the pace of full-on action with the exposition required in a cinematic game?

A: We let the tension of the story build to a certain point (as in an action movie), and when it reaches that point, you pick a character and go into battle.

Q: What level of interactivity will there be in the characters' environment (objects, buildings, etc.)?

A: This time around, we didn't place any emphasis on interactivity with the environment. We focused on the interactivity of multiple characters in a larger-scale brawl.

Q: You state clearly that The Bouncer is not an RPG, but what makes it more than a free-roaming beat-'em-up?

A: The various outcomes in story mode can affect elements in the versus mode. It's both an RPG and a fighting-action game, but also something more, I believe. It's a different type of game.

Q: What kind of freedom will the player have to switch between characters?

A: You will always be able to pick any of the three characters at the beginning of the fight scenes and in scenarios with branching points.

Q: What lessons about beat-em-ups did Square and Dream Factory learn from the ambitious Ehrgeiz?

A: We certainly did gain further insight into the fighting action genre, but we also got a better understanding of character animation. The technology we acquired there has been realized in the story aspect of the game.

Q: With the potential for multiple characters fighting on-screen at the same time, how hard has it been to retain a focused, less crowded playing experience?

A: The player will always see the character he/she is controlling in the center. The camera angles and the enemy AI were adjusted with this in mind.

Q: Do you see The Bouncer as the birth of an exciting new franchise?

A: Yes, of course. However, from a standpoint of game production, there are certain parts of the process that have taken us back to our roots.

Q: Will the DVD mean extra options? What about trailers for other Square games?

A: The concept of the title will determine how the large capacity will be used or how much memory a certain part will take. The concept becomes clear once the title is set to come on DVD.

Q: What about online?

A: The network lag and glitches during action sequences would be a problem. Especially in Japan, the transmission speeds are still way slower compared to the US.

Q: Is the "No Sabotender" patch on Volt's jacket just an inside joke or are there some links between the universe featured in The Bouncer and FFVIII?

A: The character design for The Bouncer is done by Tetsuya Nomura, the character designer that did FFVII, FFVIII, and Parasite Eve. I would have to say that he is the link for these worlds.

Round Table Discussion

Q: Looking at the past games from Dream Factory, Tobal No. 1, Tobal 2, Ergheiz, they're all fighting-based games. Would you say that The Bouncer is a culmination of the work done on all these titles?

Tokita: Yes, that's one way to look at it. But on top of that, in addition to the fighting characteristics of the past, The Bouncer will also be characterized by the storyline, the characters, and the possibility of customizations and other RPG elements will be added.

Q: How was the concept of the game arrived at?

Tokita: Well, in terms of the fighting characteristics, we wanted to upgrade from the past Dream Factory titles so that it's basically a fighting game that allows multiple characters to fight. We will also be adding plenty of RPG characteristics, but the RPG flavors will be different than what you get in an RPG like Final Fantasy. The concept is basically a combination of a fighting game and an RPG.

Q: Can you tell us more details about the game modes?

Tokita: Basically, there are two modes -- the story modes and versus modes. There are specific rules that apply to the versus modes, but we can't give out any details about how these will apply at this time. As for the story mode, what's new is that it's possible to customize your character and you'll be able to use this character to play against a friend in versus mode. It's not like your conventional game where it's over once you've completed the game.

Q: Can you give us any information on the Japanese and U.S. soundtracks for the game, as well as details about the title theme?

Matsueda: The title tune is "Love is the Gift" and is produced by Michael Walden, who is renowned for producing for Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston in the past. It will be released on November 1st in Japan as part of a charity album named "Music of Love for Children". The release details for the U.S. has not yet been determined. It will be released, though.

The original soundtrack itself will be released sometime between the end of December and early January.

Q: How does The Bouncer take advantage of the PlayStation 2's DVD capabilities?

Tokita: First, the DVD has a large capacity, so that enables the full voiceover. Therefore the games can have the Japanese and English bilingual voiceover so that the player can switch to the language that he or she chooses. So, the Japanese voices will also be in the game released in the U.S. market. The DVD is also suited for the FMV. Compared to the original PlayStation the resolution is four times as high and the framerate is twice as much.

Matsueda: DVD is helpful because of its large storage capacity and it has also helped us incorporate more music and unlike the previous versions of hardware which only had two channels of sound, L and R, with DVD hardware, 5.1 channel playback is now possible, therefore the surround sound effect is now available. Therefore, the music can be now enjoyed more so than before and it can now enhance the game much more than before with the DVD capacity.

Q: With Dream Factory's previous games, Tobal No. 1 and Tobal 2, they seemed more geared towards the hardcore fighting fan, but with The Bouncer's more cinematic style, will it be geared more towards the mainstream game player?

Tokita: By emphasizing the story, we have lowered the threshold so that the mainstream fans can also enjoy it, not just the hardcore fans. We have lowered the threshold in terms of the fighting characteristics in the fighting sense, but the game contains a high degree of customization. In action oriented games there will be differences demonstrated in the way core gamers and beginners play. Core users will have an advantage over the novice of intermediate users and they'll be able to get more out of The Bouncer because of the customization features. However, because this is the first DVD product by Dream Factory, we wanted it to appeal to mainstream gamers, as well.

Q: Considering that The Bouncer is a different style of game than you've worked on in the past musically, what did you look for as far as inspiration for doing the music for the game?

Eguchi: Of course we read books, we see movies and films and whatever we've seen in these will have some influence in what we do. But, for composing music for the game, whatever we compose must fit well with what's going on in the game. Plus, the quality of the music should be good enough to stand alone.

Q: One of the best features about the Final Fantasy series is that they stress the consequences of your actions unlike most games that don't seem to care about this. Will The Bouncer, which is a fighting game, require the player to realize the consequences of his or her actions in the game?

Tokita: As we explained earlier, the game player will make selections out of the three bouncers and for each section there is one specific bouncer that will best suit the situation. If you don't make the right choice, the story won't evolve as nicely as it should. And as you play through the story mode, a broader range of characters will be available in the versus mode. So, if you play well in the story mode it will help players out in the versus mode. So, it's not a conventional fighting game that discourages players from thinking about the consequences of their actions.

Q: Will The Bouncer have any functionality with PlayOnline?

Hashimoto: No. The Bouncer is a packaged title and there will be no functionality with PlayOnline as that's not yet available.

Q: What will be the general theme of The Bouncer?

Tokita: The theme is pretty much love, but in the more broader definition of the concept of love.

Q: What other fighting games are The Bouncer similar to? Like, does it have anything similar to games like Powerstone or Final Fight in terms of gameplay mechanics?

Tokita: In terms of the camera, there might be similarities between The Bouncer and Powerstone. And in the terms of the number of opposing characters that you can fight at a time, it can be compared to a title like Final Fight.

However, The Bouncer is unique in that it has the capabilities of 360 degrees, so that your character may be surrounded by opponents and will have to fight many enemies surrounding you. This has never really bee seen in any other games.

Q: Will there be any interaction with the backgrounds as far as picking up and using things like chairs?

Tokita: Well, the style of the fighting requires you to beat the enemy with your skills instead of suing things like chairs. However, there will be some advantage to attacking your enemies from a higher level like if you're at the top of the stairs.

Q: How much research was done at local bars and is that research going on still today?

Tokita: That is my daily pursuit.

Q: Where did the inspiration for the characters in The Bouncer come from? It was rumored that the inspiration for Squall was based loosely on Tetsuya Nomura himself.

Nomura: River Pheonix was the inspiration for Squall. Nobody understood it.

In designing the characters for The Bouncers, I begun with deciding what kind of costumes the characters would be wearing and there are no correlations with any real people. I have to say this because people will start rumors otherwise.

Q: How long did the character designs for The Bouncer take?

Nomura: I spent a lot of time designing the characters and was never working only on The Bouncer at one time as I am always working on plenty of different projects. I probably worked on The Bouncer for about a year and there were some designs that weren't approved by Dream Factory.