VERACITY IN GAMING
VERACITY IN GAMING
AUTOMATON WEST
Delivering gaming news from Tokyo/Osaka Japan.
Interview: Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii’s developers maintain the mindset of “plain ol’ guys,” and that’s what makes the series so genuine
Interview with RGG Studio's top devs about user feedback, not putting on airs, and the upcoming Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii.
Pole To Win is an established leader in game debugging, but their new concept is “More Than Just Debugging.” We asked them about what’s changed
Pole to Win is a leader in Japan’s debugging industry, but that’s not all they do. The company exhibited at TGS 2024 in September under the tagline of "More Than Just Game Debugging." AUTOMATON spoke with Pole to Win’s Teppei Komiya during the event to find out more about where the company is headed.
Shiren the Wanderer 6 is the series’ fastest-selling entry to date, but it’s struggling to take off in the West. Its creators hope to win over overseas roguelike lovers
Developer interview with the creators of Spike Chunsoft's Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island.
Like a Dragon’s programmers publicly shared some of Infinite Wealth’s source code as a message to aspiring programmers. We ask them about the unprecedented decision
Interview with the Like a Dragon series' technical director and lead programmers about their approach to training newcomers.
Interview: Former Devil May Cry developer talks about their new action game MIGHTREYA and the enthusiastic support they’ve received from English-speaking fans as an indie
Interview with Wazen, the independent developer behind the highly anticipated anime-inspired action game MIGHTREYA.
Like a Dragon’s programmers talk about the struggles involved in making game-breaking mechanics like Kiryu’s Dragon Resurgence
Interview with the main programmers of RGG Studio about Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth's creation, the Dragon Engine, and the series' future.
Interview: Suda51 on the resurrection of Shadows of the Damned, his undying love for Zelda, and getting more directly involved in game development
In-depth developer interview with Grasshopper Manufacture's CEO Suda Goichi, also known as Suda51, about his recent work.
The Steam Deck has seen widespread success, but it’s not stopping there. We ask Valve about the Steam Deck’s challenges and future goals
Interview with Valve's Steam Deck development team about the platform's success so far, challenges it faces and goals for the future.
Led by Japanese industry veterans, studio GPTRACK50 uses an unusual development style its members have “always wanted to try out”
Interview with GPTRACK50's CEO Hiroyuki Kobayashi and lead engineer Shinya Shigeyoshi about the studio's development style and upcoming game.
Interview: From abilities that transcend human understanding to fully 3D scenes that left no room for error, Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE involved challenges incomparably bigger than Danganronpa
Interview with Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE Plus director Takahiro Suzuki and production manager Tatsuya Marutani.
5 times when non-horror games scared the living daylights out of us
In the run-up to Halloween, we look back on 5 non-horror games that managed to scare us so much we still get flashbacks...
Interview: After juggling 5 to 10 titles at a time at Capcom, Devil May Cry and Dragon’s Dogma’s producer is now able to pour all of his energy into one passion project at his new studio
Interview with ex-Capcom producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi about his new studio GPTRACK50 and upcoming action RPG.
Romancing SaGa 2 Revenge of the Seven Preview: 5 pleasant discoveries we made in the remake
We get hands-on with Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven to find out what surprises Square Enix's remake has in store...
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth’s Sicko Snap was created to solve a very real problem during development. Series director and lead planner talk about the behind-the-scenes of Yakuza content-making
Like a Dragon series director and lead planner talk about the creation of Sicko Snap and other "middle aged guy" content.
Interview: BAKERU’s developers talk about the game’s inspirations, reception in Japan and polished gameplay
Interview with BAKERU producer Etsunobu Ebisu and director Tadanori Tsukawaki about the game's development, inspirations and reception.
Like a Dragon developer interview: How did guys in diapers make it into the game? It’s all about curating content with a clear message, according to series director Horii
Interview with Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth’s director Ryosuke Horii and lead planner/game design supervisor Hirotaka Chiba. Part 1.
Interview: Dragon Ball Sparking! ZERO is less about balance and more about feeling as overpowered as you should playing Gogeta
Dragon Ball Sparking! ZERO producer Jun Furutani explains how the game takes the legendary Budokai Tenkaichi series to new heights
Interview: Spike Chunsoft plans to keep catering to the niche its known for, with localization full of love towards the source material
Interview with Spike Chunsoft about the publisher's future activities in the US and Europe, as well as their policy regarding localization.
Interview: BOKURA just hit a 600k milestone, and the viral co-op game is getting a successor that’s going to make players “fight even more”
Developer interview with Tokoronyori, the indie creator of BOKURA and its upcoming successor BOKURA: planet.
Exclusive: Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth’s artists made all of Hawaii’s 3D assets from scratch, creating the series’ largest area to date. What did they do to capture the essence of an all-new location?
In-depth exclusive interview with Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth's art director and lead designer about the game's development process.
Exclusive: Like a Dragon series’ artists talk about their passion for designing hostess clubs and movie billboards players wish were real
Interview with Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio's art director and lead designer on their behind-the-scenes work on Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth.
Exclusive: Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth’s artists on RGG Studio’s “think for yourself” policy and the series’ progressive technological advancements
Exclusive interview with RGG Studio's art director and lead character designer about the behind-the-scenes of making Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth.