Yuji Naka Discusses Billy Hatcher

Everything you wanted to know about Sonic Team's latest. We weren't afraid to ask.

Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg, Sonic Team's first original title for the GameCube (and also their first original console title in years), will make its playable debut next week at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles. To help alleviate some of the confusion surrounding Billy and his odd quest, Sonic Team's Yuji Naka answered questions from the gaming press yesterday via a conference call helpfully organized by Nintendo of America.

Read on to find out more than you ever dreamed of knowing about Naka's newest game?and don't forget to visit us later for the hands-on preview. You'll be glad you did.

Yuji Naka, Sonic Team: This is Yuji Naka of Sonic Team; I'm glad to meet all of you. Basically, Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg begins one day when night comes to the world, and morning fails to come afterwards. To deal with this, the people have called upon this character named Billy Hatcher to embark on an adventure in order to bring morning back to the world. Basically Billy is able to embark on this adventure because, thanks to the chicken-suit-like outfit he's wearing, he has the ability to control these large eggs he finds along the way.
The game originally began development as a multiplayer title, so you have the ability to perform a large amount of actions with these eggs; you can grab them, jump on them, and throw them at other things. You proceed through the game by raising and hatching the creatures inside these eggs, and then using their abilities to finish missions, solve puzzles and unlock new sections. The player's free to go around the 3D map, finding missions and discovering new eggs, so the player has to think carefully to advance. It's a bit of a different direction from what the Sonic series has done so far. That's the basic outline of the game, so I'd be happy to answer your questions now.

Q: How many levels are there in the game?
Naka: Well, we're still working on fine-tuning the game world and the assorted missions, so I'm afraid I can't give you a solid number quite yet. We're preparing three worlds and one boss fight for the E3 demo, so hopefully you'll be able to play that and see for yourself what kind of game it really is.

Billy may dress like a Halloween-pageant reject, but his game is among this fall's hottest GameCube releases. Just keep him away from giant frying pans. They freak him out for some reason.
Q: What sort of creatures can you hatch during Billy's quest?
Naka: There are several types of creatures; some of them are more powerful in light, some are more powerful in water, and some you're even able to ride on. I think part of the fun here is the anticipation of what kind of creature will hatch from the egg you've been raising.

Q: It sounds like there will be a lot of creatures to collect in the game. Will there be some kind of replay value involving that?
Naka: Well, some of the creatures are hidden in the world, so I think part of the fun will be in searching for these hidden elements. Many of the devices and missions can be completed in different ways, too, depending on what creature you use, and that in turn helps expand the range of the 3D field. So that sort of replay value is in there.

Q: Does Billy Hatcher use a new graphics engine, or are you reusing the engine from Sonic or another game?
Naka: We're using the basic engine developed by Sonic Team and used in Sonic Adventure 2 Battle. It's advanced since then, though, so it's not like we're using the exact same engine. I think this engine allows us to put in graphical effects that make the most of the GameCube's abilities. If you look at the E3 version, you'll see some great water effects and some neat parts in the boss stage.

Q: Could you tell us about the controls; how you manipulate the eggs and creatures?
Naka: The basics won't be much different from a standard action game. You'll move with the directional stick, there'll be a jump button, and you'll use the C-stick to change the direction of the camera. In addition to that you'll use the other buttons, like X and so forth, to issue commands to the creatures at your call.

Q: I was wondering why you chose eggs as the focus of this game. What sort of properties of eggs will you bring into the game?the shape, their cracking, things like that?
Naka: As for why I concentrated on eggs... Most normal action games involve a single player character moving around this large world, but the eggs in this game result in some truly different situations?the way you're handicapped while carrying an egg, or the happiness of finally hatching one. We actually did the shape of the eggs first; they used to be egg-shaped [i.e. ovular] but they didn't really roll right, so now they're basically round. The reason we chose eggs for this game was because of the excitement they bring out?you never know exactly what's inside until they hatch, so you spend time thinking and guessing about each egg's contents.

Q: Caring for eggs sounds a lot like caring for Chao in Sonic Adventure. How does the process differ in this game?
Naka: The Chao in Sonic Adventure were more an example of artificial life; you can think of the eggs in this game as an entirely different process. The animals you hatch here will actually join you in your adventure, helping you solve puzzles and deal with the obstacles you encounter.

Q: Once a creature has hatched, do you have control of it, or does it move independently of Billy himself?
Naka: Basically they have the ability to move by themselves, but you can give basic commands to them, telling them to stay close by or to stay within some certain range. If you're near an obstacle, you can command them to deal with it, in other words.

Q: Can you tell us about the multiplayer modes?
Naka: Right now we're concentrating on tightening up the single-player mode, but multiplayer has been built up to a certain base level. We have a four-player mode up and running, and I think that with the eggs and the ideas behind raising them, multiplayer will seem very new and fresh to players. You'll be running around and attacking, of course, but you'll also have to worry about the egg?and the creature?your opponent might be raising, and form some kind of strategy to deal with each possibility.

Q: Billy Hatcher is your first 100-percent original GameCube production. How has it been dealing with the hardware? Have you noticed a considerable difference between making an original title and porting games? Will there be progressive-scan or Dolby Prologic II support?
Naka: Well, making a game is difficult work no matter what platform you choose to make it on. And what's more, Billy Hatcher has taken much longer than I expected to complete. I actually wanted to release this near the GameCube's launch. It's been a tough process, but I think you'll see that it's a game we've taken good care of at every point in development. I'd like to have support for progressive-scan and Prologic. We did both for Phantasy Star Online, so...

Q: Will there be any Game Boy Advance connectivity?
Naka: As of right now, no. If we have the time there are some things I'd like to do, but from a schedule standpoint it could be pretty difficult.

Q: You mentioned that the game began as a multiplayer title; will there be any support for the LAN gaming Nintendo just announced?
Naka: There aren't any plans for LAN support right now. Right now we're planning for split-screen multiplayer, with two to four players at once.

Q: Do you think this is a game idea that could move to the GBA in the future?
Naka: Well, a lot of that depends on how well this game sells first, but... (laughs) This is the first completely new action game I've been involved with in a long time, so depending on how well it's received by all of you, I'd like to think about things like that in the future.

Q: Why did you decide to develop this exclusively for the GameCube? Do you plan to port it to other consoles in the future?
Naka: Well, as for why I created this for the GameCube, that's simply because I really like the GameCube itself. We have no plans at all to release it on other platforms. For an action game like this, I think it really fits in with Nintendo's business strategy for the GameCube; we're aiming for a wide range of audiences, so I think it's a great match.

Q: Will there be any cameos by characters from other Sonic games?
Naka: Probably not. (laughs) If we have enough requests for one it's possible, but with the time we have... right now we're trying to use all the processing power of the GameCube. Besides, this is pretty different from the world of Sonic, so he probably won't appear. (laughs)

Q: Is this a standalone game, or do you think it could be the first game in a series?
Naka: Hmm... I'm not sure. I've been involved in a lot of games up to now, but I've never created one while thinking about whether there'll be a "two" or "three" later on. I devote all my energy to the current game, and if it sells then we start saying "Now what?" to each other. (laughs) But I like to make all of my games a complete work unto themselves.

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