E3 Preview: Elite Beat Agents

iNiS co-founder and VP of production Keiichi Yan, game designer of Ouendan and Elite Beat Agents, was at E3 watching folks play his new game. He graciously agreed to answer a few questions about the two titles for me.

N-Sider: The booth attendants told me you were spending some time at the DS bar watching attendees play Elite Beat Agents. Did it look like new people were picking up the game quickly? Did you see any other Ouendan-trained addicts besides me? How was it received overall?

Keiichi Yan: I think the game was received very well! We had four stations at E3 and there were constantly people on them as well as people waiting to play. Most people seemed to grasp the gameplay quickly and there were definitely quite a number of Ouendan fans playing! We won some awards at the show and got nominated for quite a few others so overall I think it was a success.

N-Sider: Let's go back in time to Ouendan's creation. Tell us about how the idea was conceived. Was it something that came out of your experiments with the DS, or was it a situation where Nintendo approached you first? Did you find the DS was up to the challenge? (I was surprised to find the touchscreen could keep up with some of the higher-level songs!)

Yan: We had been working on a game concept that featured Japanese male cheerleaders (non-fiction characters!) before the DS was announced, but we weren't quite sure how to get the play mechanic to work with existing hardware. We conceived a couple of scenarios, but none seemed to fit the way we wanted. It was E3 2004 that we were able to play the DS for the first time and it was then that we thought "Ouendan could work with this hardware!" We were very excited and presented the idea to Nintendo. Everything else just built from there.

The DS was the perfect hardware for our needs as it provides two screens to separate the gameplay and the storyline which we always felt was a problem with other rhythm-action games that we had made in the past.

N-Sider: Although it's hard to quantify, I feel pretty safe in saying that Ouendan was the game to import for American DS owners in 2005. How did the game perform in Japan? Were you aware of how much we loved the title outside Japan?

Yan: It's always cool to know that certain things are just universally independent of language. We were surprised to see just how many people outside of Japan actually "got it."


N-Sider: When Ouendan owners heard the rumor back in February that Ouendan might be localized for English-speaking audiences, we wondered (and perhaps were even concerned about) what shape it would take, considering the Japanese soundtrack and some of the culturally-oriented sequences. I think most of us were pleased when we finally got a taste of the music choices and the new story sequences in the demo at E3. Can you speak a bit to the process of deciding how to effectively make a new game for audiences outside Japan?

Yan: Well, I think that whenever we create a game, the experience needs to be something that people can relate to so you know what to expect. I'm a big fan of the Blues Brothers myself and the concept of men in suits crashing in on some situation and resolving it with music was always something that just seemed 'fun.' Ouendan just happened to be that concept and it seemed natural that it would work...

N-Sider: In relation to that, I loved the new sequences in the Elite Beat Agents demo; I felt they were a good fit for American culture and still true to the humorous spirit of Ouendan. I also liked the new multiple endings. Is iNiS doing the new sequences entirely in-house, or do you have some of Nintendo's Treehouse writers helping out? (We're big fans of Treehouse at N-Sider.)

Yan: The storylines and the creation of the sequences is entirely done in-house.

N-Sider: Moving on to the gameplay, I was pleased to see that the demo had the same tried-and-true formula as Ouendan. I think what a lot of us like about the game is that it is a very unique take on the rhythm genre that even rhythm game veterans could be challenged by. Did you consider making any changes to the gameplay for Elite Beat Agents?

Yan: I can't speak at the moment about the gameplay other than what was shown at E3 but expect to see some cool stuff!

N-Sider: Though the demo didn't have difficulty levels with different squad leaders, is it safe to assume that the final game will have a similar setup? Do you have a unique group planned for the last level, like the cheerleaders from Ouendan's?

Yan: Can't talk about this either, but again, stay tuned!

N-Sider: Last one. I know you probably won't be able to go into detail at this time, but I certainly hope the last song has us and the agents dancing to save the world from utter destruction. Please tell me this is the case; you'll quite frankly make my day.

Yan: The ending will be great, I promise! That's all I can tell you.

N-Sider: Thanks for your time, and best wishes on the game's success!

Yan: Thank you!