Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Dai Gyakuten Saiban 2 Is Right In The Middle of Development! (2017)

Title: Dai Gyakuten Saiban 2 Is Right In The Middle of Development! A Direct Interview with Eshiro Motohide, Takumi Shū and Yamazaki Takeshi at the Gyakuten Saiban Fifteenth Anniversary Special Court! / 「『大逆転裁判2』は、絶賛制作佳境中です!」。『逆転裁判』15周年特別法廷で江城元秀氏、巧舟氏、山崎剛氏の3名に直撃インタビュー!
Source: Famitsū

Summary: The fifteenth anniversary of the Gyakuten Saiban (Ace Attorney) series was celebrated on January 22, 2017 at the Gyakuten Saiban Fifteenth Anniversary Special Court event. Famitsū interviewed series producer Eshiro Motohide and directors Takumi Shū and Yamazaki Takeshi about their thoughts on this joyous occasion and about Takumi's upcoming game Dai Gyakuten Saiban 2 (The Great Ace Attorney: Resolve), of which a demo and promotion video was shown at the event. This interview, published on January 31, 2017, is actually quite unique as it features both Takumi and Yamazaki appear: the two have not worked on a game together since Gyakuten Saiban 4 (Ace Attorney 4 - Apollo Justice) and therefore seldom appear side-by-side on "official" business.

Images are taken from the source article. Copyright belongs to their respective owners.

Saturday, January 28, 2017

Gyakuten Saiban 2 Blog Entry 12: Curtains (2002)

Title: Curtains / 「終幕」
Source: Gyakuten Saiban 2 official site (down) 

Summary: The twelfth column for the official website for the original GameBoy Advance version of Gyakuten Saiban 2 (Ace Attorney 2 - Justice For All) is also the last, so director Takumi looks back at the beginning of the project, and tells the reader about what he had in mind when he first started working on the game and how they are already getting feedback of the game (which was released several weeks before the publication of this column). Unlike other columns for this series, this column does not feature a 'backstage' segment.

Gyakuten Saiban 3 Blog Entry 7: Part 2: Greetings (2004)

Title: Part 2: Greetings / 「パート2: ごあいさつ」
Source: Gyakuten Saiban 3 official site (down)

Summary: The seventh column for the official Gyakuten Saiban 3 (Ace Attorney 3 - Trials & Tribulations) website is titled Part 2, as the previous six columns featured Naruhodō (Phoenix Wright) and Mayoi (Maya Fey) commenting on Takumi's development diaries. Starting with this column however, Takumi uses his own voice to talk about how development went on this game. Here he looks back at the last three years of working on the series.

Thursday, January 26, 2017

Gyakuten Saiban 2 Blog Entry 8: The Lost Turnabout (2002)

Title: The Lost Turnabout /  「失われた逆転」
Source: Gyakuten Saiban 2 official site (down)

Summary: In the eight column on the official website for the original GameBoy Advance version of Gyakuten Saiban 2 (Ace Attorney 2 - Justice For All), director and writer Takumi talks about how he came up with the plot and ideas for the first episode in the game: The Lost Turnabout. As always, the 'normal' column is followed by a backstage column, where Naruhodō (Phoenix Wright) and Mayoi (Maya Fey) comment on Takumi's column, revealing for example the hardships artist Iwamoto had to suffer throughout this case or how Takumi came up with the iconic opening scene of this episode.

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Gyakuten Saiban 3 Blog Entry 14: The Magnificent Turnabout Pt. 2 (2004)

Title: The Magnificent Turnabout - Part 2 / 「華麗なる逆転・後編」
Source: Gyakuten Saiban 3 official site (down) 

Summary: In the fourteenth column for the official Gyakuten Saiban 3 (Ace Attorney 3 - Trials & Tribulations) website, Takumi explains how he managed to solve a fatal problem in the original script for the final episode of the game, The Magnificent Turnabout  (Bridge to the Turnabout). After three years, Takumi decided to take the advice he had written so often in the games and use it himself, and that led to a surprising result.

Gyakuten Saiban 3 Blog Entry 13: The Magnificent Turnabout Pt. 1 (2004)

Title: The Magnificent Turnabout - Part 1 / 「華麗なる逆転・前編」
Source: Gyakuten Saiban 3 official site (down)

Summary: In the thirteenth column for the official Gyakuten Saiban 3 (Ace Attorney 3 - Trials & Tribulations) website, director Takumi starts his two-part series on the final episode in the game: The Magnificent Turnabout (Bridge to the Turnabout). As seen in previous columns, the last episode of each game usually proves to be the most difficult, and this was no exception. Even though he already had a rough outline finished for the first part of the game, that version had actually been abandoned earlier because it contained a fatal flaw he didn't manage to fix. But with little time left, Takumi was forced to use that version anyway, and hope he'd come up with a solution to his problem anyway.

Sunday, December 18, 2016

Gyakuten Saiban 2 Blog Entry 5: Psyche Locks (2002)

Title: Psyche Locks / 「サイコ・ロック」
Source: Gyakuten Saiban 2 official site (down)

Summary: In the fifth column posted on the official Gyakuten Saiban 2 (Ace Attorney 2 - Justice for All) website, director Takumi talks about the new mechanic introduced in this game, the Psyche Locks. He explains why they were added, how he came up with them and the difficulties they had actually creating the system. As usual with the columns of this game, Naruhodō (Phoenix Wright) and Mayoi (Maya Fey) have fun 'backstage', looking back at Takumi's column and commenting on that.

Friday, December 16, 2016

Gyakuten Saiban 3 Blog Entry 16: Finale (2004)

Title: Finale / 「大団円」
Source: Gyakuten Saiban 3 official site (down)

Summary: In the final column written for the Gyakuten Saiban 3 (Ace Attorney 3 - Trials & Tribulations) website, Takumi looks back at the release of the game, as well as the whole series. At the time, this was supposed to be the last game in the series, so Takumi takes the time to look back at all that has happened inside the courtroom, and says farewell to his characters and the players who have supported the series these three years.

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Gyakuten Saiban Blog Entry 15: Advertising Campaign (2001)

Title: Advertising Campaign / 「宣伝活動」
Source: Gyakuten Saiban official site (down)

Summary: In the fifteenth column for the official website of the Game Boy Advance version of Gyakuten Saiban (Ace Attorney GBA), director Takumi talks about another 'contradiction' in his project. To sell the game, he needs people to know about it. But as it's a mystery game, he doesn't want people to know about it, so they can be genuinely surprised by what the game has to offer. The pros and cons of the advertising campaign is always a problem for this series, as many years later, the director and producer for Gyakuten Saiban 6 (Ace Attorney 6 - Spirit of Justice) would also have frequent fights about what they could say and could not say as part of the marketing.

Gyakuten Saiban Blog Entry 14: Excursion (2001)

Title: Excursion / 「えんそく」
Source: Gyakuten Saiban official site (down)

Summary: Many fans of the Gyakuten Saiban (Ace Attorney) series like the games because of their writing, but obviously, plotting and writing a story is not a simple job. In the fourteenth column for the official website of the Game Boy Advance version of Gyakuten Saiban, Takumi explains about all the moods he goes through during the writing process.