GoNintendo Exclusive: Miami Law Developer (DS) Q&A

Hey everyone, cortjezter here with a mid-day treat. Our friends over at Hudson have given us an exclusive Q&A with their Japanese dev team (who I had the pleasure of meeting last fall) for their recently released (US) graphic action/adventure title for the DS, Miami Law. Check it out!

You’ve already seen some “behind the scenes” awesomeness in our latest feature about Miami Law, but we wanted to delve deeper! Check out what the Hudson Japan development team, Yosuke Toyoshima (Lead Designer), Makoto Kawaguchi (Manager), and Susumu Kuribayashi (Chief Designer) had to say!

How did you come up with the concept of the game? What was its inspiration?

We’re big fans of CSI and 24, and having watched so many episodes of those shows, we got to thinking about making a game that shows how much we enjoy them. Originally, we thought it’d be cool to have two different characters and each displayed on the top or bottom screen depending on which character you choose to play. That concept evolved into what you see in Miami Law today.

Why did you pick Miami as the location for the game? Why not another city such as New York or LA?

We wanted a beautiful city with tropical resort-style feel, yet with an edgy and sometimes dangerous side that many people don’t see. Miami simply fit the bill. NY doesn’t have resort vibe and LA doesn’t seem to have as many close connections with the Latin American feel, which we felt would be a great backdrop and feel for this game.

How long did it take to fully develop and localize the game?

By the time all is said and done, it will have taken about 2 years to complete development and release the game worldwide.

Which part of development took the most work?

Since there’s two characters to play, the volume of the story ended up being almost twice as big. This means we had to do pretty much everything twice to create this game. It was also challenging to replicate Miami feel graphically on DS, since it’s such a vibrant city, but thanks to our research trip to Miami with Victor Ireland of Gaijinworks, we feel we got pretty close.

Which part did you enjoy the most?

The research trip, no doubt, was very exciting. Some of the highlights include firing guns and visiting Miami PD, which are still fresh in our minds. People were so friendly and very helpful where we visited for our research. Also, the taste of a Mojito in the Miami heat at night is unforgettable!

Why did you decide to make the game for the DS and not for another system?

We’d planned on this being a DS game from the very start. The dual screens and the use of stylus were most suitable for the concept we had.

There are two characters you can switch off between. Why did you make the two differing personalities and gameplay?

We were inspired by how 24, the TV show, tells the story from different characters’ point of view. In this game, the two characters are working on the same case but their approaches are different which ends up giving you various angles to play and replayability.

What is an incredible feature that gamers can look forward to in Miami Law?

Breathtaking adventure & powerful action. These elements spice up the story and take the DS adventure game to the next level.

Anything else you would like to add about your contribution to Miami Law?

We put great deal of effort into recreating the actual locations and items, and hope gamers enjoy playing this game as much as we enjoyed researching and making it.

Again, thanks to Hudson for giving us the chance to give you the heads up on this first! —cortjezter