GamePro Q&A: Clay Talks DBZ: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 (Wii)
- November 28, 2006 09:36 AM PST
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We recently sat down with Donny Clay, associate producer of Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 for the PS2 and Wii for a little Q&A session. Here's what he had to say.
GamePro: What is different between Budokai Tenkaichi and Budokai Tenkaichi 2?
Donny Clay, associate producer of DBZ: Budokai Tenkaichi 2
Donny Clay: The fighting system has been changed up. The combo system is deeper, and we've tried to differentiate between the different characters in Tenkaichi 2. In the first game, if you were good with one character, you were pretty much good with all of the characters. That's all changed. Some characters are faster than others, while fighters are more powerful. The adventure mode has also been changed. The way we had it in the previous game, you selected the mission from a menu, and in this one you'll actually be flying over the planet and land on the mission you want to play. Tag battling is another new cool addition. You can actually get pretty crazy in that mode, even doing 5 on 1 matches if you wanted to. The characters are customizable, so you'll be able to pit a super strong character against 5 level 10 characters. New characters from some of the movies will appear in Budokai Tenkaichi 2 too. The in-game transformations are another big which have changed, something the fans really wanted. Overall, the game has been changed quite a bit from the original.
GP: How difficult was it to program the user controller interface for the Wii? While the traditional button configurations are pretty standard and everybody has picked up the way to do it, did the new Wii motion interface present any unique challenges?
DC: It was definitely a unique challenge and we've gone through a few different control iterations just to find out what was most comfortable and what was the most fun. Obviously, it was a little bit difficult, but it's just a matter of finding what feels right rather than having to decide exactly where each button function is going to go. When you have a regular controller you know how many actions you are going to have, but with the Wii controller you have more "play" with how you can work with the controller and how you can use it. I think we were successful in finding the configuration that was the most comfortable and interesting.
GP: Did you decide to go for an over exaggerated or minimalist feel for character movements?
DC: If you want to go for the super exaggerated Kamehameha Goku, you can. You can also scale it back if you want to. So we're pretty relaxed on how you do the actual movements.
GP: Will DBZ use the same Wii speaker system that Zelda does?
DC: No, we're not going to be using the speaker inside the Wii controller, but we haven't decided on all functionality features yet. So far this isn't planned for the game.
GP: Do you think this feature could appear in a further iteration?
DC: We would have to decide the best way to use it in the first place. It would have to work seamlessly with gameplay. But I would love to take advantage of everything the Wii has to offer, and we do take advantage of the pointer system, the rocking cradle system on the left hand controller. So most of the controller is utilized, just not the speaker function.
GP: Any thoughts on post-release downloadable content?
DC: In this version there won't be downloadable content, although we have incorporated a password system in the game that generates a character that you can then post online.
GP: What is in the future for Dragon Ball Z games?
DC: The Dragon Ball Z license lends itself really well to just about every genre I can think of. I'm always thinking of different ways to work on the game. We are working on next-gen games as we speak. I've seen some truly exciting things in the PlayStation 3 tech demo of the title we are currently developing. My jaw dropped. We're definitely working on new stuff, and at the same time we keeping the fans in mind when making these games. Dragon Ball Z is about fighting, but a lot of our fans are asking for some niche titles, myself include. I'd like to do some actual turn-based role-playing games. I have no idea if this is going to happen of course, but these are wishes that I have. We've considered a card strategy game and all sorts of other ideas. It all depends of how fun it turns out to be. If it's not good enough, we just trash it. I've been through a few titles that have never seen the light of day.
GP: A ton of fans on our forums are asking if there any plans for a DBZ game for the Xbox 360. The last game available for the Xbox was Dragon Ball Z: Sagas.
DC: I would love to get something out on the Xbox 360 because of the amount of power we'd be able to work with. Personally, I really like the Xbox 360 controller. We did branch over to the Xbox with Dragon Ball Z: Sagas, so we're not a stranger to the system. We make decisions based on how we can reach the most fans. Normally this means that the games come out on the PS2 and GameCube due to the age bracket. With the Xbox 360, gamers are a bit older, but I completely understand wanting an Xbox 360 game, being an older DBZ fan myself. I am definitely working on that happening. We do have a PS3 game in the works though.
