• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Iwata Asks: Game & Watch

Bentendo

Member
[UPDATE]: GO DOWN A BIT TO SEE A TRANSLATION. THANKS ZOC

Oh, how it kills me that this hasn't been translated:

Iwata Asks: Game & Watch

Perhaps the most promising Iwata Asks yet, and absolutely no one seems to care, including Nintendo of America and Nintendo of Europe. So, for those wanting to at least see some interesting design documents, go over and see it. But, to those knowing Japanese, I ask you this: PLEASE post anything noteworthy from the interview.

A design document of my favorite G&W game, Chef:

photo22.jpg


Some other images:

photo21.jpg


photo20.jpg


photo19.jpg
 

sfried

Member
No tranlsation of this yet?

Design documents make me giddy. It's like model sheets of old animation. It really shows you that they sort of planned this stuff.
 

Bentendo

Member
sfried said:
No tranlsation of this yet?

No. I don't think there will be either, since it's been a few months since Nintendo posted this on their site (according to the date).

that's why I think Japan-GAF should at least give us the interesting stuff! Pretty please? :D
 

Zoc

Member
First section:

1. The Era When Developers Could Do Anything

Iwata: Hello.

All: Hello.

Iwata: This time, in a first for me on "Iwata Asks," everyone in the group I'll be talking to has more experience than I do, both in life and at Nintendo. The gentlemen I've asked here today led the design of Nintendo's first portable gaming system, the Game and Watch, which was the ancestor of both the Game Boy and the Nintendo DS. Thank you for kindly agreeing to the request, everyone.

All: Thank you for the invitation.

Iwata: To begin, I'd like to ask you all to talk about what were your roles were in the company during the development of the Game and Watch. Let's begin with Mr. Kano.

Kano: It was such a long time ago, some of my memories are a little fuzzy. Nintendo in that period had very few people that were responsible for design...

Iwata: As a matter of fact, I believe that when Nintendo began recruiting specialists in design, you were one of the first hired.

Kano: That's right. When development on the Game & Watch began, I was assigned to a new department of the company called the "Creative Section."

Iwata: That section had Mr. Miyamoto as a member as well, didn't it? How many members were there, altogether?

Kano: Five, including myself. When it was decided to develop the Game & Watch, there was no one in place we could call a lead designer. Because of that, everyone had a hand in everything, from the design of the gameplay, to the design of the device, its colour, the packaging, etc. My role was to oversee all these aspects.

Iwata: So from the design of the "Mr Game & Watch" character himself, right down to the box the system came in, you were involved in all aspects of creating the Game & Watch.

6o2529.jpg


Kano. Right. You could call me a "jack of all trades." But it wasn't just me, every employee had to be a jack of all trades back then.

Iwata: What were your responsibilities, Mr. Izushi?

Izushi: My area of responsibility was to develop the basic software that made the game run. I shared that job with Mr. Yamamoto.

Yamamoto: Mr. Izushi and I took turns developing the software. And as Mr. Izushi said, each of us was a "jack of all trades," and so I also participated in meetings to think of new ideas for games. Everybody threw in their own ideas, and things were worked with lots of friendly back-and-forth.

Iwata: And in those days, the roles of software programming, planning, and hardware engineering weren't as clearly differentiated as they are now.

Izushi: That's right.

Iwata: So even people who were hired as hardware engineers also wrote software, contributed ideas, and sometimes even contributed art. (laughs)

Yamamoto: Yes. we did everything from make art to oversee the arrangements for mass production.

Izushi: Finally, we even went to see the shooting of the commercial.

Yamamoto: That's right, the commercial. Once when I visited the set, all the staff said "good morning" to me, even though it was the afternoon. I thought it was a little strange.

Iwata: (laughs)

Izushi: As part of behind-the-scenes work on the commercial, we hid under a big box and played the game.

Iwata: You played the game hidden under a box? (laughs)

Izushi. That's right. We placed the game, which was connected by a cable, under a big box. The sides of the box were brightly illuminated. We placed a Game & Watch inside, and took pictures of a friend posing as if he were playing the game. I remember spending so long under that box that the light blinded me when I finally came out.

Iwata: Aha, ha, ha! (laughs)

Izushi: Still, it was all a valuable experience.

Yamamoto: A truly valuable experience.

Iwata: I'll never forget the ad for the "Multiscreen" system.

Izushi & Yamamoto (singing in unison) "Multi, la la la, multi."

Iwata. That's right, that's right! (laughs)

Izushi. I remember the tune because I spent so much time listening to it, sitting in that box.

All: (laugh)

Iwata: Next question. What year did you all join the company?

Kano: I joined the company earliest, in 1972. Nintendo at that time only had one section dedicated to product development, and soon after I joined, I was assigned to the so-called "Development Department."

Iwata: At that time, how many people, in total, were in development?

Kano: I think it was about 20...? The department was in charge of board games and mini-games.

Iwata: Back in 1972, the design of board games was definitely not high-tech, was it? Mr. Izushi, when did you join the company?

Izushi. I joined in 1975. I was also initially assigned to the Development Department, where I made targets for the "Custom Light Gun." The targets were shaped like figures, and if you hit them, they would fall down. Mr. Kano was the one who designed the figures.

Kano: Those were the "Gunman" and "Lion" figures.

2v3orkl.jpg


Izushi: I did all the work designing the mechanical movement, the chassis, and the packaging. I also gave a few ideas on how to make the whole thing more fun. I really did anything back then. After that, we started to make games for television sets, the type that didn't have interchangeable software.

Iwata: "TV game 6" and "TV game 15," right?

Izushi: Yes. I also planned and built the "Racing 112" and "Block Breaker" games that were launched later.

2vi4huh.jpg

dqhhnc.jpg

2mmy9hi.jpg


Iwata: How many years after Mr Izushi did you join the company, Mr. Yamamoto?

Yamamoto: I joined in 1978, so three years after Mr. Izushi. After joining and finishing the new hire training, I was assigned to the manufacturing section at the factory in Uji. There, I helped in the manufacture of arcade games, and the next year, I was assigned to the second section of the Development Department.

Iwata: When you joined, development had been split into two sections.

Yamamoto: That's right. When I was assigned there, development of "Block Breaker" had ended and the talk had turned to what we should do next. I made protoypes for new games. We were on the verge of introducing the LSI, and I produced the necessary mask patterns by hand.

Iwata: At that time, game consoles didn't use computers, and didn't have programs written for them. Instead, you played with the hardware itself.

Yamamoto: Because computers weren't common back, then, no.

Izushi: At that time the games were made by the hardware makers.

Iwata: New hardware was made for each game.

Izushi: So if the hardware maker wanted to make an adjustment, say make the game faster, he brought over a soldering iron and made changes to the wiring. That was something everyone had fun doing together, saying "hmm... maybe a little faster" and so on, making little adjustments, changing them again, and finally everyone said "this is it!" and we started mass production.
 

Dennis

Banned
Bentendo said:
Paul, is that you?

Actually, I got that Octopus Game and Watch game as a kid.

I forget the name and pretty much all else abouth the game but I recognize that Otcopus.
 

Vic

Please help me with my bad english
Yeah, thanks Zoc. Very interesting discussion, can't wait for the next part!
 

The Technomancer

card-carrying scientician
You know, I have to honestly wonder how much enthusiasm we would have and how much interest in the history some of us would have if Mr. Game and Watch hadn't been included in Melee. It really brought some attention to him, for people of my generation at least. (I feel)
 
Thannk you so much Zoc!

For those wondering. This Iwata Asks was released in response to the JPN Club Nintendo re-release of G&W Ball. So unless NOA or NOE bring it their catalogue, this will never get an official translation.

Please do the other parts!!!
 

thetrin

Hail, peons, for I have come as ambassador from the great and bountiful Blueberry Butt Explosion
This is probably the best GAF thread in a very long time.
 

Zoc

Member
Second section:

An Unmodified Calculator CPU

Iwata: So, you were all involved with the job of making the first Game & Watch, "Ball," which launched in 1980.

1z6ds2s.jpg


Kano: Yes.

Iwata:Without changing the subject too much, HAL Laboratories was also founded in 1980.

Yamamoto: That makes exactly thirty years ago, then.

Iwata: Right. We have to face that the year is 2010, which means it was thirty years ago.

Yamamoto: We were all in our twenties back then.

Iwata: I was still in university. (laughs)

Izushi: Oh, yeah! (laughs)

Iwata: Yes. As a matter of fact, 1978, the year Mr. Yamamoto joined the company, was the year I entered university, and the year "Space Invaders" was such a huge hit.

Yamamoto. Is that right?

Iwata: And the year Mr. Izushi joined the company, 1975, is the year I entered high school. 1972, the year Mr. Kano joined, was the year of the Sapporo Olympics. I was in grade school at the time, living in Sapporo.

Kano: Oh! That's really something. (laughs)

Iwata: As I sit here among the ranks of such great men as yourselves, I feel that some mysterious force must have compelled you to join together and make a product called "Game & Watch."

By the way, this is something I heard second-hand, but apparently the birth of the idea that became the Game & Watch came when Mr. Yokoi (Gunpei Yokoi) was riding the bullet train and, by chance, saw a man playing around with his calculator. Did you ever hear anything from Mr. Yokoi about how he came up with the idea for Game & Watch?

Kano: No, unfortunately I don't know that many details about it. When I was transferred from the Creative Section to the Development Section, development of the first Game & Watch title, "Ball," was already underway. At that point, Mr. Yokoi and Mr. Okada (Satoshi Okada) had already built the prototype...

Iwata: You joined halfway through, so you aren't acquainted with all the details?

Kano. No. But I have heard Mr Yokoi took his inspiration from pocket calculators.

Izushi: Don't forget that the chip used in the Game & Watch was the same chip used in those pocket calculators. Originally, each number on the display of a calculator had seven segments...

Iwata: The numbers from 0 to 9 were displayed using a structure segmented into seven pieces.

Izushi: That's right. Therefore, a calculator capable of calculating to eight places had eight rows of seven segments, for a total of 56 segments. Also, there were a few extra segments for mathematical symbols like the minus sign (-). The chip we used to make "Ball" could control a total of 72 segments.

Iwata: So in short, rather than use those 72 segments, which could each be turned on and off, to display numbers, you used them to display pictures, and used those to create a game.

Izushi: That's exactly right.

Kano: Don't forget that Ball's screen has a counter in the upper right corner used to display the score or the time. That by itself used four columns of seven segments, or 28 segments.

Iwata: So out of a total of 72 segments, that left you 44.

Kano. Yes. The images of the character and the balls were created out of those remaining segments.

Iwata: I see. I've also heard that the idea to use the four-column point counter to also display the time came late in development.

Kano. As I joined development part way through, I don't know the details of how the clock function was added, but considering that digital clocks usually have a colon in between the hours and the minutes, which the Game & Watch is missing, I can believe that the clock was an afterthought.

Izushi: A quartz crystal is an easy thing to add late in development, too.

Kano: Remember that adding a colon would have used up one of the segments. I'm sure they wanted to save that segment.

Iwata. It would have been a shame to use it up on something not game-related.

Kano: Yes, what a waste! (laughs) To address that, the second game, "Flagman," could only display the digit "1" in the thousands column, and only by the sixth game, "Manhole," was there a display for "AM" and "PM."

50iiqx.jpg

n2iujn.jpg


Iwata: Why could it only display the digit "1"?

Kano: Well, for example, to display "10:00 PM," you need display "AM" and "PM," as well as four rows, which use 28 segments.

Iwata: Right.

Kano: If you make it so the thousands column can only display the digit "1"...

Iwata: I see. "AM," PM," and "1" together make three segments, but to display a full digit, you need seven segments, so that way you can save four segments. (laughs)

Kano. It's a significant savings. We wanted to even just four extra segments for gameplay, if we could get them. It did mean that the highest possible score was 1999, though.

Iwata: Aha ha ha! (laughs)

Izushi: With tricks like that we could reduce the number of segments used, and use them elsewhere.

Kano: Not even a single segment was wasted.

Izushi: And to fit within those restrictions, we had to think up all kinds of ideas. It was very fun to think of ways of making games with just a few available building blocks.

Kano: Exactly, that was the most interesting part.

Izushi: Yes, when you work within those kinds of constraints, you come up with all kinds of ideas.

Kano: Yeah, the ideas just spring up.

Iwata: When you're making something new and there are no limits, I can't really say it's completely a good thing. Sometimes when there are clearly defined limits, ideas come more easily.

By the way, over a period of six years, there were 59 Game & Watch titles released, including those sold abroad. How did you come up with ideas for all of them?

Izushi: Regardless of whether they were hardware engineers, planners, or designers, everyone contributed ideas. Since so many of the games were based on everyday things, anyone could contribute good ideas.

Yamamoto: Everyone brainstormed ideas together and wrote them on a whiteboard...

Izushi: A whiteboard?

Izushi: Was it a blackboard? (laughs)

Iwata: I don't think they had whiteboards back then. (laughs)

All (laugh)

Yamamoto: Speaking of which... (pulling out an old notebook) This is a notebook from one of those brainstorming sessions.

2s8g2ae.jpg

15qrvk2.jpg


Iwata: Amazing! This is a precious document... This is "Chef," isn't it?

Izushi: You're making fun of me! This is just an old, tattered notebook.

50iiqx.jpg


Yamamoto: I can do without such treasures. (laughs)

Iwata: Isn't this your notebook, Mr. Yamamoto?

Yamamoto: It is. I wrote down the ideas we had during those brainstorming sessions. Everyone gave their opinion at those meetings. In the end, though, after everyone had spoken, it was Mr. Yokoi that made the final decisions. (laughs)

Kano: Everyone would give their opinions, we would get wrapped up in minor details, and our ideas would gradually get too complicated. At that point, Mr. Yokoi would look at what we had, point out the elements that were unnecessary, find the nucleus of what made an idea fun, and figure out how to present that core idea as an attractive, sellable product. He threw out many ideas that way.

Izushi: I hate to admit it, but that's the truth of how it was. (laughs)
 

Lord Error

Insane For Sony
DennisK4 said:
Paul, is that you?

Actually, I got that Octopus Game and Watch game as a kid.

I forget the name and pretty much all else abouth the game but I recognize that Otcopus.
It was called Octopus. friend of mine had it, loved that game, we played it for high score so much.
2zzj8rq.jpg


I had a Green House dual screen. Loved it too, until I spilled some water on it that destroyed it :\
2r431cl.jpg
 

oracrest

Member
I love Mr. Game and Watch. I just got in the new collection for my DS. Hopefully this gets translated soon! err, didn't see the translation.thanks!

aae49eea.jpg


84023fa6.jpg
 

STG!

Member
Thanks for posting up the translation Zoc, very interesting! I really want to go play my old G&W games now.
 

Bentendo

Member
My God Zoc, you are amazing. I was expecting maybe a few tidbits from the interview but a FULL BLOWN TRANSLATION? You sir, are a king among men. Why NoA/NoE wasn't able to do this I have no clue! :lol
 

The Technomancer

card-carrying scientician
Izushi: Don't forget that the chip used in the Game & Watch was the same chip used in those pocket calculators. Originally, each number on the display of a calculator had seven segments...

Iwata: The numbers from 0 to 9 were displayed using a structure segmented into seven pieces.

Izushi: That's right. Therefore, a calculator capable of calculating to eight places had eight rows of seven segments, for a total of 56 segments. Also, there were a few extra segments for mathematical symbols like the minus sign (-). The chip we used to make "Ball" could control a total of 72 segments.

Iwata: So in short, rather than use those 72 segments, which could each be turned on and off, to display numbers, you used them to display pictures, and used those to create a game.

Izushi: That's exactly right.

Okay.....that's really really cool
 

faridmon

Member
Even Iwata knows that Paul is just a second coming of prophecy and he just oredrd Nintendo HQ to serve him appropietly.

Paul *salutes*
 

Bentendo

Member
The_Technomancer said:
You know, I have to honestly wonder how much enthusiasm we would have and how much interest in the history some of us would have if Mr. Game and Watch hadn't been included in Melee. It really brought some attention to him, for people of my generation at least. (I feel)

The reason I initially became interested in the series was because of these miniature keychain Game & Watch units that were released in, I think, 1998 or 1999. I remember I got a Mario Bros. one where you just had to keep on moving right. After that when I got my first Game Boy, the first game I purchased was Game & Watch Gallery 2. I loved it SO.FREAKING.MUCH. Since then I've become really interested in Game & Watch.
 

The Technomancer

card-carrying scientician
Bentendo said:
The reason I initially became interested in the series was because of these miniature keychain Game & Watch units that were released in, I think, 1998 or 1999. I remember I got a Mario Bros. one where you just had to keep on moving right. After that when I got my first Game Boy, the first game I purchased was Game & Watch Gallery 2. I loved it SO.FREAKING.MUCH. Since then I've become really interested in Game & Watch.
Ah! Yeah, I remember now, I had one of those keychains as well, the one where you have to pull levers in a concrete factory. Wow, I wonder if I still have that...
 

Bentendo

Member
The_Technomancer said:
Ah! Yeah, I remember now, I had one of those keychains as well, the one where you have to pull levers in a concrete factory. Wow, I wonder if I still have that...

I've looked for mine, but I think it got lost when we moved. I'm glad someone else remembers them. I wonder if I can find an image

*checks Google image*

Here it is!

blurb_gameandwatchkeyrings_20090814.jpg


I had the one in the middle. I remember getting it at Walgreens.
 

The Technomancer

card-carrying scientician
Bentendo said:
I've looked for mine, but I think it got lost when we moved. I'm glad someone else remembers them. I wonder if I can find an image

*checks Google image*

Here it is!

blurb_gameandwatchkeyrings_20090814.jpg


I had the one in the middle. I remember getting it at Walgreens.
Yup, and I had the one on the right. I got it as a stocking stuffer one Christmas, and it was mad fun. Back in the days before I had a Gameboy, hehe
 

898

Member
Does anyone know what happened with the plans to collect all of these in some book-like pdf. I remember a discussion in a previous thread with someone mentioning they were working on it. If not I think might spend some time collecting them myself just in case any of them go missing.

Thank you Zoc!
 

Bentendo

Member
898 said:
Does anyone know what happened with the plans to collect all of these in some book-like pdf. I remember a discussion in a previous thread with someone mentioning they were working on it. If not I think might spend some time collecting them myself just in case any of them go missing.

Thank you Zoc!

I've saved every English translation (including this work in progress one). I have a feeling that when the next generation starts, all of the Iwata Asks of this gen will be deleted. If that ever happens, then I'm sure a few people will have them available on request. If they're ever deleted I'll probably just add them to the Nintendo Wikia.
I don't think Nintendo would mind...
 

Trurl

Banned
Thanks, Zoc.

If someone as busy as Iwata thought doing this was worth his time, you would think that NoA could get around to having someone translate it.
 
D

Deleted member 20415

Unconfirmed Member
For those with DSis, you should really be getting the Game and Watches they've released. For $2 each, you essentially get an as perfect as you can get replica of the original G&W games.

I've been in heaven.
 

SirSwirl

Neo Member
Wow, thanks a ton Zoc, you are amazing! :D As is this Iwata Asks.

Never played a G&W game myself though the games always interested me and I am considering buying some on DSi.
 

Raistlin

Post Count: 9999
Well this brings back memories.

I actually have this:

photo20.jpg


My sister-in-law gave me hers when I was young.
 

scitek

Member
When did Iwata start doing these? Do other Presidents of companies take the time to sit and interview members of their staff like this? I mean, it seems like he has a relationship with his workers that isn't like anything I've seen elsewhere. Maybe that's what separates him from his peers in my eyes.
 

nli10

Member
Lion is lost at my parents somewhere but I have G&W Gallery Advance which is actually sitting on my desk right now as it's still essential gaming.

Love that there are 200 point versions in the DSi store, hate that a big compilation never came out this gen.
 

GCX

Member
scitek said:
When did Iwata start doing these? Do other Presidents of companies take the time to sit and interview members of their staff like this? I mean, it seems like he has a relationship with his workers that isn't like anything I've seen elsewhere. Maybe that's what separates him from his peers in my eyes.
Iwata Asks started with the Wii series (development of the hardware and launch line-up) in 2006. I think it was just meant to introduce Wii to consumers but it got so popular Iwata decided to continue doing these.

If anything, these interviews give a great insight of what's been going on at Nintendo for the past 40 years. I love this stuff.
 

The Technomancer

card-carrying scientician
scitek said:
When did Iwata start doing these? Do other Presidents of companies take the time to sit and interview members of their staff like this? I mean, it seems like he has a relationship with his workers that isn't like anything I've seen elsewhere. Maybe that's what separates him from his peers in my eyes.
One of many things that separates him as well. Dude is also an incredibly talented programmer (he completely reworked and ported the entire Pokemon battle code to the N64 in under a week)
 

scitek

Member
GCX said:
Iwata Asks started with the Wii series (development of the hardware and launch line-up) in 2006. I think it was just meant to introduce Wii to consumers but it got so popular Iwata decided to continue doing these.

If anything, these interviews give a great insight of what's been going on at Nintendo for the past 40 years. I love this stuff.
Yeah, it's definitely appreciated. I think Iwata probably learns as much as we do in some of these.
 

vixlar

Member
The_Technomancer said:
One of many things that separates him as well. Dude is also an incredibly talented programmer (he completely reworked and ported the entire Pokemon battle code to the N64 in under a week)

Amazing!
 

mclem

Member
The_Technomancer said:
Yup, and I had the one on the right. I got it as a stocking stuffer one Christmas, and it was mad fun. Back in the days before I had a Gameboy, hehe

That one's Mario's Cement Factory. I've occasionally mused on whether it's possible to implement that in LBP.

It's just about mechanically interesting enough to be a fun challenge.
 

Pimpbaa

Member
I remember trading my shitty tiger electronics double dragon for a Game & Watch SafeBuster with my friend. I think I got the better end of the deal :lol
 

Bentendo

Member
The_Technomancer said:
One of many things that separates him as well. Dude is also an incredibly talented programmer (he completely reworked and ported the entire Pokemon battle code to the N64 in under a week)

He's also responsible for the fluid flying in Balloon Fight. He and his team were responsible for the arcade version while Miyamoto and his team were working on the Famicom version. The Famicom version wasn't nearly as good as the arcade version, so Miyamoto sent some of his team over to Iwata so he could explain to them what they were doing wrong. Because of him we have the fluid swimming in Super Mario Bros.
 
Top Bottom