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Summer of Sonic 2013 – Kazuyuki Hoshino interview
Special thanks to Bobby Wertheim for translating

It was a Saturday. It was Summer of Sonic. It was sunny. Very sunny. London was over-run by hundreds of bicycles. Tesco Local was a warm sandwich gauntlet of death. Small hyperactive children ran around in circles outside with pointy blue hats… Oh and we spoke to the legendary SEGA artist/designer Kazuyuki Hoshino about all things NiGHTS. It's not often you get to sit down and have a jolly good chat with the Lord of Nightmares dad, so yeah! Prepare to be slightly awed by the creator of everything wonderful from Jackle to Metal Sonic!
{The following is an transcript of our short interview we have on audio recording unedited. There also exists a video version by Mr Awesome Eva who loaned us his camera, but for now have the full untouched version with the lols, rustlings, insanely obscure questions and jokes still included. As we were pressed for time and didn't get the chance to have our other interview with Iizuka san (long series/story based questions) we kind of had to just pick short questions on the fly since our plans got messed up a bit. But what we got was still very very cool.}
Also random Jun Senoue *happened* which was hilarious at the time.
Read on for the full interview:

[DiGi] Allllright! Cool.
[Hoshino-San] *spots DiGi's NiGHTS E3 T-shirt* What a great T-shirt!
[DiGi] It's hers! *laughs*
[TRiPPY] It's mine… he took it off my shelf :<
*T-shirt/camera related ramblings and interview begins*

[DiGi] Okay, so firstly, how did you end up working for SEGA and how did your career begin as an artist?
*insert comedy group harassing of translator* Come on Bobby. *fast writing*

[Hoshino-San] I actually went to an art University and always liked pictures and drawing art, I always wanted to be a designer of some sort. Now in Japan at the time games were all the rage and the Famicom was huge for example. When I was in University I wanted to and had the ambition that I want to make games and be involved in that. So in my mind I either wanted to apply for Nintendo or SEGA. Nintendo's HQ they're based in Kyoto, which is quite far away from Tokyo. Now after University when I was going through the whole job hunting phase I was asked by Nintendo to come down to Kyoto for an interview. 'Where do I have to go for this interview?' I said. *laughs* They said 'Kyoto', as at the time they didn't have a Tokyo office. So I just immediately ruled that one out because that's just -too- far away.
*laughter*
So I applied for SEGA. I passed the entrance exam and joined the design/artwork section. That was the beginning of my career.

[TRiPPY] What is your favourite NiGHTS cameo of all time out of all the Sonic games?
*pause*

[Hoshino-San] Pinball (in Japanese).
*TRiPPY and DiGi laugh*
[DiGi] It's ok you don't need to translate that *laughter*

[DiGi] For the NiGHTS series what did you have a hand in creating? What characters were your creation? What did you create for that series?
[Hoshino-San] *starts listing character names in Japanese* But suddenly does a VERY familiar noise. This is the ingame sound effect of Elliot's voice when he jumps in the air* (wow!!)
*pause* [Hoshino- San] What's the name of the fish?
*group laughs*
[TRiPPY and DiGi] Gulpo, Gulpo.
(Translated)[Hoshino] The characters that I specifically created were Elliot, Claris, they were the playable characters that I created. You probably already know but did you know I was the voice for Elliot? I done all the the 'HYAH!' *motions*
*bemused laughter from TRiPPY and DiGi (We didn't know!)*
And also I designed all of the bosses, Puffy and all of them.

[DiGi]Jackle! I LOVE Jackle.
[TRiPPY] You're a Jackle fanboy.
[DiGi] Amazing.

*Jun Senoue suddenly walks in the room. Everyone stops and looks up. Jun pauses and waves.*
[Jun] Yo.

[TRiPPY] Hello Junnn~
[Group] Eyyyy! *laughter* /end random Jun (Is shushed by TRiPPY)

[TRiPPY] -Begins confusing question of doom about concept art- About Reala! He used to have a different design, he had a different shaped head. I think it was uh, one part Ohshima-San's design and the other part you designed and then they both came together.
[Hoshino-San] *surprised*
Can you tell us a bit about why Reala was changed because the design seemed pretty final, then he got the red and black colour scheme?
[DiGi] We seen some concept art for the first game for Reala and his design changed completely from what he was.
[TRiPPY] *laughter* He used to have earrings.
[Hoshino-San] *laughing* You know too much, you know so much.
[TRiPPY] I know – everything! *laughs*
[DiGi] Fangirl.

[Hoshino-San] So originally it was actually Ohshima-San's job to create Reala, he was designing NiGHTS. He was really struggling, so he actually asked me like 'Hey, Hoshino help me out'.
[LAUGHTER]
[TRiPPY] Do my homework for me.
[DiGi] I need a favour.
[Hoshino-San] So I was like 'Okay' and I started making some designs. So Ohshima-San basically took what he liked from the designs I made, like the nails and stuff like that.

[DiGi] Out of ALL your creations, which one would you say is your favourite and why?
[Hoshino-San] (Japanese) Wizeman.
[DiGi] Yeaaah.

Photo thanks to sonicwrecks.com

*insert Hoshino-San enthusiastically describing Wizeman by doodling on paper and mimicking his hands and cape*
(TRiPPY and DiGi fangirl mode while the translator needs new paper to write on)
[DiGi] Keep going.
[LAUGHTER]

[Hoshino-San] In the story Wizeman is like the all knowing, all seeing, be all and end all, he is the creator of creation. He is everything. He is the ultimate god. So I really wanted to sort of scale that and represent that visually. That sort of scale of what he represents. So i took inspiration from the Buddhist statue. You know like a Buddhist statue, a typical Japanese Buddhist statue has multiple hands and they've got this sort of halo effect thing going on in the background.

[TRiPPY] Journey of Dreams has the halo in.
[DiGi] Yes!
[Hoshino-San] It's not your sort of Christian halo though, it's like Japanese halo in the background. So I've taken inspiration from those statues for that. So he has all floating hands, *in the circle* so that's what it's forming. And instead of having a body, he's got no body but he has a cloak – and by not having a body it represents like infinity.
[DiGi] That's awesome~
[Hoshino- San] He hasn't got eyes, but he's got eyes in his hands. That's basically him, he's not looking because he hasn't got eyes, but he's seeing everything. Like he sees – everything. So it's that sort of sense of spirituality, that mythic feeling that he has, that sort of religious motif, that's what I think of, I really like that.

[DiGi] He is a great design.
*laughter*
[TRiPPY] Well done!
Wizeman in Journey of Dreams was amazing, I loved him.
*thinks* Uh, If you voiced Elliot who voiced Reala? *laughter* Does anybody know? I know how the voices were done for the game (*Anon members of Sonic Team recorded the voices during sleep overs at the office in secret)(Just because)(Sonic team)(90's!) So does anybody know?

[DiGi]Nobody knows.
[TRiPPY] Everyone asks me!
*long think*
[Hoshino-San] I'm not too sure.
[TRiPPY] I think it's better if nobody knows *laughs*
[Hoshino-San] I will ask Ohshima-San!
[TRiPPY and DiGi] Yaaay, cool.

[TRiPPY] Where any of the Nightmare designs inspired by nightmares in your own dreams?
[Hoshino-San] Well from when I was a student I was always interested in dreams and what it meant, what it could mean. I read up a lot about it, the philosophy and academic side of what others think of it, like Freud and Jung. So that's what really I was basing it all around. But it turned out, different, what we were concepting at first was quite a difficult and academic thing to grasp. Ohshima-San wanted to implement a more entertainment based, feeling of festivity, of almost like a circus. So it really transferred from being a really academic point of view to start with- to a more light-hearted entertainment colourful and flashy sort of thing. So anyone should be able to understand. It's more sort of mass acceptable entertainment content. Then, with it being a very evil world as well, rather than it being being based specifically on my experiences.

*End of interview ramblings, signing and nattering*

Thank you Hoshino-San for a great and funny interview! Thank you everyone for your questions. Don't be disheartened if your question didn't get asked this time because I'll try to get everything answered eventually by those in the know.

I sometimes forget that the blindingly epic songs I've been listening to for months still haven't been heard by the rest of the fanbase. My bad.

The release of the upcoming NiGHTS: Lucid Dreaming album by OCR is nearing closer, so just to poke more proverbial sticks into the anticipation bonfire – here's a preview from a selection of the songs featured on the final product.

I'd also like to divert your now jiving attention to our previous post regarding the donation pool for this project. Thanks hugely to the people who have helped out so far but we still have a long way to go to reach the goal. Help a man out and salute Level 99's determination in getting a batch of these albums made in hardcopy. All the funds raised will be going directly to the printing of those physical copies, which contains two CD's and an artbook. NiGHTS merch collectors – this will be one bit of gear that will become quite rare in a few years time. So help out all you can. After the amount of time and effort each of the musicians poured into this it's our duty to make sure the project is a success. Remember - If you donate $25 or more, you will get a copy of the physical release!

Without a doubt this is one of the most professional and beautiful fan projects that I've ever seen, so hats off and dig deep folks.

July 5th, mark it in your calenders.

It's July the 5th, it can only mean one thing – another year of NiGHTS into Dreams. Another year of hoping your old Saturn doesn't bite the dust, another year of looking back and remembering the fans and people who brought him here today. Time really flies, I can't believe 14 years have passed! I'm still as hyped as I was in 1996 for the game and everything else that goes with it.

It's quite staggering isn't it, the fact that NiGHTS' fanbase has remained strong for so many years and actively stuck around. Every year that goes by just sort of bolsters my love for this community. I always wonder who will turn up in the upcoming year, what new friendships will be forged, what sort of news and general mischief we'll get involved in. Thanks guys, for caring about NiGHTS. There has been points in my life where I've considered passing the torch to someone else and stepping away from the .com, but I never have, especially not when because of this website I found the greatest love of all through my wonderful co-admin DiGi. NiGHTS brought us together and I know that he's done the same for a lot of other people. It always makes me smile. So it's DiGi and I's job to stick up for the purple guy even if it gets us into trouble sometimes

We have a lot of cool secret things coming between today and NiGHTS' next birthday in 2011. None of which I'm going to talk about right now incase I jinx them, but stick around for the regular sort of madness.

One of the big things happening that I -can- talk about and that I'm personaly looking forward to is the OCRemix NiGHTS project- NiGHTS: Lucid Dreaming. Due for release in 2011, today we have something real special for you thanks to the insanely talented Level 99.

A full track from the album which is free to download – Twin Seeds Flyby  (Right click and save as).

Level 99:
This is the teaser track for the upcoming NiGHTS: Into Dreams arrangement album called NiGHTS: Lucid Dreaming. This project is brought to you by OverClocked ReMix, in part association with NiGHTSintodreams.com.

The project is going to feature the original soundtrack to NiGHTS: Into Dreams ReMixed, by over 20 different musicians. The project will also feature a strong emphasis on art that captures the feeling of the music and the original game.

The track you are listening to is Twin Seeds Flyby by me, Level 99. It is a ReMix of Growing Wings, and you can follow the following link to the project thread to both download the song and stay up-to-date with project progress:
http://ocremix.org/forums/showthread….

The project will be released on July 5th, 2011, in honor of the 15th Anniversary of NiGHTS' original game release. This teaser track is being released on NiGHTS' 14th Anniversary, as a birthday present and to show a little bit of what to expect from the project. It is also being released in support of NiD15.com, an online campaign to get Sega to port the original NiGHTS onto current-generation systems so that many more people can have the opportunity to play this fantastic game. Please go to NiD15.com and show your support!

July 5th, 2011. Be ready to fly.

 

Happy Birthday NiGHTS

NiGHTS into Dreams… OST

The NiGHTS into Dreams 'Original Soundtrack' was released under the PolyGram label on 7.10.1996. Credits to Tomoko Sasaki, Naofumi Hataya, Fumie Kumatani. Catalogue No# POCX-1038. It contains a lovely 14 page (16 including the cover) full color glossy booklet (in full Japanese) which alone is worth buying a hardcopy for. Rare. Mint copies are hard to come by and come with a protective slip and an Obi spine card. This CD can go for over £100 on Ebay.

The following tracks are stand alone mp3's not included on any remix albums.
To listen to fan albums instead please click [HERE].
To download an mp3 right click the download link and 'save link as'. All remix tracks © to their respective owners. Please do not upload onto other websites without artists permission. We only accept .MP3 files for subs.

Dale North
[website]
Dale North – Merry Little Christmas

DistantJ
[website]
DistantJ – NiGHTS into Euphoria
DistantJ – NiGHTS into Euphoria 2007

Elfonso
Elfonso – DREAMS DREAMS LiVE 2006

Elson 'Darkspeeds' Wong
Elson Wong – Love At First Flight
Elson Wong – Heavenly Dance

Klace
Klace – DREAMS DREAMS Piano

Musashi_HUmar
Musashi_HUmar – High Flyin' Dreamer (guitar)
Musashi_HUmar – High Flyin' Dreamer

Skrypnyk
[website]
Skrypnyk – Celebration Remix (2006 edit)
Skrypnyk – Going Home Remix
Skrypnyk – Escape Into The Twilight Remix

SpinningCannon
[website]
SpinningCannon – DREAMS DREAMS (Broken Soul Remix)

Strike911
Strike911 – Dreamer

Whirlwynd
Whirlwynd – DREAMS DREAMS Reflection Remix
Whirlwynd – DREAMS DREAMS Eternal Lullabye
Whirlwynd – Only A Dream
Whirlwynd – Nightlight

November 2007:

It's not very often you get contacted by SEGA out of the blue, nor is it very often you're given the chance to have some questions answered by one of the original creators of NiGHTS into Dreams -represented- by SEGA. Ohohoh.

Takashi Iizuka, producer, director, and lead designer of Journey of Dreams was in London's SEGA headquarters to promote his new game. Community manager Kevin Eva (Also admin of Sonic Wrecks ) attended to represent the .Com, as DiGi and I couldn't attend due to busting our bank flying out to Amsterdam SEGA Benelux a few weeks prior on short notice to play the JoD Beta D:
Mr AAUK went armed with a selection of obscure questions I'd written up regarding both the original and the new game.

Thanks to Mike Taylor from NintendoLife we have audio/video and a transcript of the interview. Mike was also there asking questions along with G from SEGANerds. Consider the following to be the 'epic combi meal' of our Websites' joint efforts.

Media:
-DOWNLOAD AUDiO FULL Q&A INTERVIEW- (.MP3)
-DOWNLOAD JOURNEY OF DREAMS IiZUKA GAME DEMONSTRATION VIDEO- (.3GP)

Interview Transcript:

Nintendo Life: When did development for Journey of Dreams start?
Takashi Iizuka: The idea came about 2 Years ago. Development began 1 and a half years ago

Nintendo Life: Years ago rumors came about, for a game called Air NiGHTS, a proposed sequel for the original game. Motion control was rumored to be the main idea for the game back then. Was Air NiGHTS a real game, and did it have any bearing on Journey of Dreams?
Takashi Iizuka: At the time SEGA had been playing with the idea of motion control on their consoles. Air Nights was a prototype game testing out the technology. Nothing came of it, and development stopped.

SEGANerds: Where did you come up with the idea for the My Dream segment of the game?
Takashi Iizuka: It was developed from the A-Life system in the original NiGHTS. While the original only allowed you to interact with A-Life in the missions. You now have a separate, small world, the beauty of A-Life, is it creates a place where the developers will not be able to predict what will happen.

SEGANerds: Why did you decide to give NiGHTS a voice? And why did you choose a female voice?
Takashi Iizuka: [LAUGHS] Well the original game had voice clips for NiGHTS, but in Journey of Dreams I wanted to use more voice acting. The voice helps to add depth to the game play, and tell the story in the cut scenes.
NiGHTS is neutral, and therefore has no gender. The impressions of the character with regards to gender are totally up to the player.

SEGANerds: Will there be any unlockable content in Journey of Dreams? Like with Christmas NiGHTS – you could unlock Sonic.
Takashi Iizuka: There will be some unlockable features, but I cannot say what they are. They are meant to be a surprise. But if players get high rankings, they will unlock features.

SEGANerds: Is there anything you would have liked to have changed or added to the final release of Journey of Dreams?
Takashi Iizuka: No, nothing more. I feel that we have implemented everything we wanted to. I think we did everything we could do with the Wii’s features.
Nintendo Life: [JOKES] Nothing more you could so. Perfect!
Takashi Iizuka: [LAUGHS]

SEGANerds: Which control method do you prefer?
Takashi Iizuka: I personally prefer the Wiimote controls, as you get the feeling of free flying with these controls.
But I suggest that fans of the original may wish to use the GameCube controller, as it is more like the Saturn controller, and is what players will be used to, at least at first.

NiGHTSintoDreams.com: Some people say that BellBridge (the game’s fictional setting), resembles parts of London. Is there any truth to this? And if so, why did you choose this setting?
Takashi Iizuka: Well like the character of Sonic is designed to be more like American style, NiGHTS has been designed to be more like that of European. So that is why the stages have the look of a more European setting.
It is also why the characters in NiGHTS have English accents.

NiGHTSintoDreams.com: How many people worked on NiGHTS Journey of Dreams?
Takashi Iizuka: There were 26 developers from Sonic Team USA working on the game. With the sound and CG developed in Japan.

NiGHTSintoDreams.com: Why was Jackle not included in Journey of Dreams? Is the Chameleon boss meant to be a replacement? In addition, will we see Jackle again?
Takashi Iizuka: [LAUGHS] Well really I like the character, but if we created all the characters again we would be looking at the same game. We only wanted to keep Wizeman and Reala. [LAUGHS] It is a new game.

(*)NiGHTSintoDreams.com: The second biggest mystery of NiGHTS! What did the deleted boss Selph look like? Apparently there was a deleted boss from the original game called Selph.
Takashi Iizuka: [LAUGHS] How do you know about Selph?
NiGHTSintoDreams.com: ‘They’ know.
Takashi Iizuka: [LAUGHS] They, who is they?
NiGHTSintoDreams.com: Fans.
Takashi Iizuka: [LAUGHS] Ah, ok.
Well the idea for the character existed, but he was never actually created.(*)

Nintendo Life: In Journey of Dreams, NiGHTS has different masks, which he can use. What is your favourite mask?
Takashi Iizuka: It depends on the situation; I like the Rocket mask because you can use it to create your own strategy.
But my favourite will have to be the Dragon mask.

Nintendo Life: While we were having a play of your game a little while ago, we noticed that there is a counter in the game. The counter seems to change with each night you play. Does this have any effect on the game at all?
Takashi Iizuka: No. It is just there as a counter, for you to know how long/many times you have been playing.

SEGANerds: NiGHTS used the Saturn’s internal clock to add new game play/secrets to the game, depending on the date. Will the same feature be used in Journey of Dreams?
Takashi Iizuka: No. For the Saturn, it was a new feature and a new challenge.
With the Wii, the Forecast Channel is the new challenge. However there will be seasonal events within the game, which will appear in the My Dreams section.

Nintendo Life: It has recently been announced that NiGHTS is being remade for the PS2. Will the game be released worldwide? In addition, are there any plans for a Wii version, perhaps on the Virtual Console?
Takashi Iizuka: There are currently no plans for the PS2 version to be released outside of Japan.
Nintendo Life: [TUTS]
Takashi Iizuka: [LAUGHS] It is being released in Japan, due to the high demand for the game. So there are no plans for a worldwide release… for now. As for Virtual Console there are no plans for a release either… for now.

NiGHTSintoDreams.com: For gamers who played NiGHTS into Dreams obsessively, you could unlock rare Nightopians called King or Superpians. Will there be any rare Nightopians in Journey of Dreams?
Takashi Iizuka: In the My Dreams section of the game it is possible to mix Nightopians with the Marens (baddies) to create new creatures.
There will also be Superpians.

Nintendo Life: Thank you very much, for your time and for making a new NiGHTS game.
Takashi Iizuka: Thank you.

Are we finished yet? Heck no! The following Monday morning we were sent a parcel of glee from SEGA, fiendishly gathered together during a meeting with Iizuka-san later on to discuss our lovely fanbase (THAT'S YOU GUYS). Here's some pictures of our amazing Christmas gifts!

Lélis and PhoenixBruno
Lelis and Bruno made some incredible costumes for the huge World Cosplay Summit competition and went on to win places in both regional and Brazilian events. I'm so proud of them! Getting on stage is no easy thing to do and they done it so well too. "
NiGHTS into Dreams is such a WONDERFUL game. I am a NiGHTS lover since Sega Saturn. Last year, the launch of "NiGHTS Journey of Dreams" for Nintendo Wii make the gaming community EXCITED. Me included =D
The game is good, not so good as "into Dreams" but the design of THIS NiGHTS is sooooo nice that I decided to cosplay him (or she xD) ? It was a hard costume. Damn, very HARD to make that HAT. And to find the correct fabric…'cause this NiGHTS has a special shiny thing ? XD I simply love to play NiGHTS. One of my favorite costumes, FOR SURE <3"

1rst Place at World Cosplay Summit Regional Eliminatory at Kodama 2008
10th Place at World Cosplay Summit Brazilian Eliminatory 2008