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@shmuplations.bsky.social
80s/90s/00s japanese gamedev interviews | patreon: http://patreon.com/shmuplations
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Chibi-Robo! – 2005 Developer Interview - shmuplations.com
This Chibi-Robo! interview originally appeared in the "Happy Book", a special booklet included in the September 2005 issue of Nintendo Dream.
shmuplations.com
We have some nice new translations to share this week! First up, a lengthy Chibi-Robo interview from 2005 with Skip Ltd director Kenichi Nishi and others. It contains a lot of nitty-gritty details about the design and lore. I'd call it a must-read for fans! shmuplations.com/chibirobo/
Reposted by shmuplations.com
i love this interview about NiGHTS where yuji naka talks about designing a no-touch ESP controller for the sega saturn
"We started researching dreams more, and everyone started getting obsessed with dreams. (laughs)"
shmuplations.com/nights/
"We started researching dreams more, and everyone started getting obsessed with dreams. (laughs)"
shmuplations.com/nights/
February 3, 2026 at 2:02 AM
i love this interview about NiGHTS where yuji naka talks about designing a no-touch ESP controller for the sega saturn
"We started researching dreams more, and everyone started getting obsessed with dreams. (laughs)"
shmuplations.com/nights/
"We started researching dreams more, and everyone started getting obsessed with dreams. (laughs)"
shmuplations.com/nights/
Reposted by shmuplations.com
They've upended my life once again and are making me prepare for a forced billing model switch. I was so happy last year when it was frozen. Fuck this so, so hard
I'm begging you not to use apple products. This shit is devastating to creators like me
January 28, 2026 at 7:28 PM
They've upended my life once again and are making me prepare for a forced billing model switch. I was so happy last year when it was frozen. Fuck this so, so hard
In other news, 2025 was very much a "treading water" year for shmuplations, since I had to juggle being the primary caregiver for my daughter, recovering my back, and ofc other work. Things have shifted around though and I now have the time/space to re-engage more meaningfully with shmuplations. 🙃
January 25, 2026 at 2:36 AM
In other news, 2025 was very much a "treading water" year for shmuplations, since I had to juggle being the primary caregiver for my daughter, recovering my back, and ofc other work. Things have shifted around though and I now have the time/space to re-engage more meaningfully with shmuplations. 🙃
And rounding things out, we translated a Disaster Report (Zettai Zetsumei Toshi) interview from 2002 with producer Kazuma Kujo. It's a quick read but manages to cover some nice ground on the game mechanics and character design. shmuplations.com/zettaizetsum...
Disaster Report – 2002 Developer Interview - shmuplations.com
This Disaster Report interview with Irem producer Kazuma Kujo discusses the pioneering survival game's central gameplay mechanics and character design.
shmuplations.com
January 25, 2026 at 2:26 AM
And rounding things out, we translated a Disaster Report (Zettai Zetsumei Toshi) interview from 2002 with producer Kazuma Kujo. It's a quick read but manages to cover some nice ground on the game mechanics and character design. shmuplations.com/zettaizetsum...
We were also commissioned in December to translate this neat Giftpia interview from 2003 with director Kenichi Nishi. There's some deep musings by Nishi on the game's inspiration that I think any fan of Skip Ltd would enjoy reading. shmuplations.com/giftpia/
Giftpia – 2003 Developer Interview - shmuplations.com
This informative Giftpia interview originally appeared in the April 2003 edition of Nintendo Online Monthly magazine and covers the game's origin and design.
shmuplations.com
January 25, 2026 at 2:25 AM
We were also commissioned in December to translate this neat Giftpia interview from 2003 with director Kenichi Nishi. There's some deep musings by Nishi on the game's inspiration that I think any fan of Skip Ltd would enjoy reading. shmuplations.com/giftpia/
As usual, I was remiss in updating the wider world about our December work, which I'd like to take a moment to do here. The big star was this in-depth Yuji Horii interview from 2000, which covers the early development of Dragon Quest and his PC and game journalism work. shmuplations.com/yujihorii/
Yuji Horii – 2000 Developer Interview - shmuplations.com
Conducted shortly after the release of Dragon Quest VII, this lengthy, in-depth Yuji Horii interview originally appeared in Game Maestro volume 1 in 2000.
shmuplations.com
January 25, 2026 at 2:23 AM
As usual, I was remiss in updating the wider world about our December work, which I'd like to take a moment to do here. The big star was this in-depth Yuji Horii interview from 2000, which covers the early development of Dragon Quest and his PC and game journalism work. shmuplations.com/yujihorii/
Finally, we translated this fun collection of Magic Sword developer commentary from 1990. The real star here is the enemy concept art, accompanied by lore that should deepen the enjoyment of your next playthrough or 1CC attempt. shmuplations.com/magicsword/
Magic Sword – 1990 Developer Commentary - shmuplations.com
This rare collection of Magic Sword developer commentary was originally featured in Gamest magazine in 1990 and features an annotated bestiary.
shmuplations.com
January 25, 2026 at 2:21 AM
Finally, we translated this fun collection of Magic Sword developer commentary from 1990. The real star here is the enemy concept art, accompanied by lore that should deepen the enjoyment of your next playthrough or 1CC attempt. shmuplations.com/magicsword/
Next up, a vintage interview with Square from 1985! A very youthful Hironobu Sakaguchi, Hiromichi Tanaka, and Kazuhiko Aoki expound on their new "anime game" orientation to PC development. Originally featured in LOGiN magazine, it's a rare look at pre-Final Fantasy Square. shmuplations.com/square/
Square – 1985 Developer Interview - shmuplations.com
This vintage interview from 1985 shows a very youthful Square struggling to distinguish themselves in a crowded PC games market.
shmuplations.com
January 25, 2026 at 2:20 AM
Next up, a vintage interview with Square from 1985! A very youthful Hironobu Sakaguchi, Hiromichi Tanaka, and Kazuhiko Aoki expound on their new "anime game" orientation to PC development. Originally featured in LOGiN magazine, it's a rare look at pre-Final Fantasy Square. shmuplations.com/square/
We have some nice new translations to share this week! First up, a lengthy Chibi-Robo interview from 2005 with Skip Ltd director Kenichi Nishi and others. It contains a lot of nitty-gritty details about the design and lore. I'd call it a must-read for fans! shmuplations.com/chibirobo/
Chibi-Robo! – 2005 Developer Interview - shmuplations.com
This Chibi-Robo! interview originally appeared in the "Happy Book", a special booklet included in the September 2005 issue of Nintendo Dream.
shmuplations.com
January 25, 2026 at 2:20 AM
We have some nice new translations to share this week! First up, a lengthy Chibi-Robo interview from 2005 with Skip Ltd director Kenichi Nishi and others. It contains a lot of nitty-gritty details about the design and lore. I'd call it a must-read for fans! shmuplations.com/chibirobo/
Reposted by shmuplations.com
another year, another 20+ translated Japanese game developer interviews published by @shmuplations.bsky.social at shmuplations.com —the final updates for the year just went up, so allow me to run down what's been translated over the course of 2025, from most to least recent: (thread)
shmuplations.com
shmuplations.com is a repository of Japanese game developer translations, covering primarily older arcade and console games from the 80s, 90s, and beyond.
shmuplations.com
December 30, 2025 at 5:04 AM
another year, another 20+ translated Japanese game developer interviews published by @shmuplations.bsky.social at shmuplations.com —the final updates for the year just went up, so allow me to run down what's been translated over the course of 2025, from most to least recent: (thread)
Reposted by shmuplations.com
I think a lot about Hitoshi Akamatsu describing Castlevania (NES) as "cinematic", a word that kind of gets overused when talking about modern games, but it's true here.
shmuplations.com/castlevania/
shmuplations.com/castlevania/
Castlevania – Developer Commentary (2018) - shmuplations.com
The development of the three Famicom Castlevania games has long been shrouded in mystery. Recently, a developer who was mentored by Castlevania director/creator/programmer Hitoshi Akamatsu in the 90s ...
shmuplations.com
December 7, 2025 at 5:18 PM
I think a lot about Hitoshi Akamatsu describing Castlevania (NES) as "cinematic", a word that kind of gets overused when talking about modern games, but it's true here.
shmuplations.com/castlevania/
shmuplations.com/castlevania/
Reposted by shmuplations.com
Some years ago I colored the Darius comic by Junji Yarita (and translated by @shmuplations.bsky.social )
download it here
cherryshare.at/f/V8EuIr
download it here
cherryshare.at/f/V8EuIr
November 23, 2025 at 8:06 PM
Some years ago I colored the Darius comic by Junji Yarita (and translated by @shmuplations.bsky.social )
download it here
cherryshare.at/f/V8EuIr
download it here
cherryshare.at/f/V8EuIr
Reposted by shmuplations.com
Prophetic exchange between Shinya Tsukamoto and Hideo Kojima back in 1999. Death Stranding 2 in particular has plenty of scenes that are exactly what Tsukamoto is describing.
shmuplations.com/kojimatsukam...
shmuplations.com/kojimatsukam...
November 19, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Prophetic exchange between Shinya Tsukamoto and Hideo Kojima back in 1999. Death Stranding 2 in particular has plenty of scenes that are exactly what Tsukamoto is describing.
shmuplations.com/kojimatsukam...
shmuplations.com/kojimatsukam...
Reposted by shmuplations.com
shmuplations.com/ghostinthesh... earliest historically attested "git gud"
November 6, 2025 at 8:30 AM
shmuplations.com/ghostinthesh... earliest historically attested "git gud"
Reposted by shmuplations.com
obviously the Ninja Gaiden interview shmuplations translated is super interesting but I also feel compelled to point out they dropped this absolute banger at the same time shmuplations.com/namcomusic/
Namco Arcade Composers – 2013 Roundtable Interview - shmuplations.com
This roundtable interview with four of Namco's early arcade composers was originally published in Shooting Gameside #6.
shmuplations.com
November 4, 2025 at 2:48 PM
obviously the Ninja Gaiden interview shmuplations translated is super interesting but I also feel compelled to point out they dropped this absolute banger at the same time shmuplations.com/namcomusic/
Reposted by shmuplations.com
Holy shit. @shmuplations.bsky.social translated a massive thread of old tweets from Hideo Yoshizawa that goes deep into the NES Ninja Gaiden's development, including finally confirming the Castlevania influence shmuplations.com/ninjagaiden/
Ninja Gaiden – Developer Commentary (2023) - shmuplations.com
Taken from a string of social media posts shared in 2023, these comments from director Hideo Yoshizawa recount the making of Tecmo's classic side-scrolling action game, Ninja Gaiden.
shmuplations.com
October 31, 2025 at 6:29 AM
Holy shit. @shmuplations.bsky.social translated a massive thread of old tweets from Hideo Yoshizawa that goes deep into the NES Ninja Gaiden's development, including finally confirming the Castlevania influence shmuplations.com/ninjagaiden/
Reposted by shmuplations.com
If you've never read these translated Breath of Fire III dev interviews by @shmuplations.bsky.social, you really owe it to yourself!
shmuplations.com/breathoffire...
shmuplations.com/breathoffire...
Breath of Fire III – 1997 Developer Interviews - shmuplations.com
These two Breath of Fire III interviews originally appeared in The PlayStation magazine just prior to the games release in September 1997. Although five members of the team are listed, the majority of...
shmuplations.com
October 23, 2025 at 1:17 PM
If you've never read these translated Breath of Fire III dev interviews by @shmuplations.bsky.social, you really owe it to yourself!
shmuplations.com/breathoffire...
shmuplations.com/breathoffire...
Reposted by shmuplations.com
a long form researched article WITH COMMISSIONED ART in collaboration with shmuplations???
inject it directly into my veins
inject it directly into my veins
For the Shadow of the Colossus story, we interviewed 14 people including project leads Fumito Ueda and Kenji Kaido, hired Gravity Rush concept artist Takeshi Oga to illustrate the cover, and put together a 10,000-word story with help from @milkman.bsky.social @shmuplations.bsky.social and others.
Shadow of the Colossus: An oral history
Celebrate the 20th anniversary of Team Ico’s masterpiece by looking back with 11 people who worked on it (and three who didn’t).
www.designroom.site
October 14, 2025 at 2:44 PM
a long form researched article WITH COMMISSIONED ART in collaboration with shmuplations???
inject it directly into my veins
inject it directly into my veins
Reposted by shmuplations.com
For the Shadow of the Colossus story, we interviewed 14 people including project leads Fumito Ueda and Kenji Kaido, hired Gravity Rush concept artist Takeshi Oga to illustrate the cover, and put together a 10,000-word story with help from @milkman.bsky.social @shmuplations.bsky.social and others.
Shadow of the Colossus: An oral history
Celebrate the 20th anniversary of Team Ico’s masterpiece by looking back with 11 people who worked on it (and three who didn’t).
www.designroom.site
October 14, 2025 at 2:03 PM
For the Shadow of the Colossus story, we interviewed 14 people including project leads Fumito Ueda and Kenji Kaido, hired Gravity Rush concept artist Takeshi Oga to illustrate the cover, and put together a 10,000-word story with help from @milkman.bsky.social @shmuplations.bsky.social and others.
Reposted by shmuplations.com
Jumping Flash! fans rejoice! Another interview has appeared! Taken from Game Maestro Vol. 4, there's a lot of cool info from Mr. Morikawa's early career that really hasn't been discussed much around the English web.
shmuplations.com/yukihitomori...
shmuplations.com/yukihitomori...
Yukihito Morikawa – 2000 Developer Interview - shmuplations.com
This lengthy interview with Yukihito Morikawa discusses his early background, his past work as a CG artist, and his pioneering work on Ganbare Morikawa-kun.
shmuplations.com
October 12, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Jumping Flash! fans rejoice! Another interview has appeared! Taken from Game Maestro Vol. 4, there's a lot of cool info from Mr. Morikawa's early career that really hasn't been discussed much around the English web.
shmuplations.com/yukihitomori...
shmuplations.com/yukihitomori...
Oh, and I almost forgot, but we also added an extra message from producer Takahiro Kaneko to the Legend of Legaia interview from last month! shmuplations.com/legaia/
Legend of Legaia – 1998 Developer Interview - shmuplations.com
This in-depth Legend of Legaia interview originally appeared in The Playstation magazine and covers the story, battle, character design, and music.
shmuplations.com
October 2, 2025 at 3:27 AM
Oh, and I almost forgot, but we also added an extra message from producer Takahiro Kaneko to the Legend of Legaia interview from last month! shmuplations.com/legaia/
Finally, we have a nice Final Fantasy III DS interview from the FFIII Official Complete Guidebook. The team discusses the revamped character designs, job system, and difficulty level, while also touching on aspects of the original Famicom development. shmuplations.com/ff3ds/
Final Fantasy III DS – 2006 Developer Interview - shmuplations.com
This lengthy Final Fantasy III roundtable interview originally appeared in the FFIII Official Complete Guidebook in 2006.
shmuplations.com
October 2, 2025 at 3:26 AM
Finally, we have a nice Final Fantasy III DS interview from the FFIII Official Complete Guidebook. The team discusses the revamped character designs, job system, and difficulty level, while also touching on aspects of the original Famicom development. shmuplations.com/ff3ds/
Next up, a long-running patron request, we have a Ghost in the Shell roundtable interview from 1997 with the Exact and SCE teams. This one focuses on the gameplay and origins of the project, which was actually initiated by Masamune Shirow himself! shmuplations.com/ghostinthesh...
Ghost in the Shell – 1997 Developer Interview - shmuplations.com
This Ghost in the Shell interview (actually a compilation of two interviews) originally appeared in The Playstation magazine in 1997.
shmuplations.com
October 2, 2025 at 3:23 AM
Next up, a long-running patron request, we have a Ghost in the Shell roundtable interview from 1997 with the Exact and SCE teams. This one focuses on the gameplay and origins of the project, which was actually initiated by Masamune Shirow himself! shmuplations.com/ghostinthesh...
We have some great new translations this month! First up, an interview with MuuMuu director Yukihito Morikawa from 2000, in which he talks about his background as a CG artist and the making of his pioneering AI game for the PS1, Ganbare Morikawa-kun (Pet in TV). shmuplations.com/yukihitomori...
Yukihito Morikawa – 2000 Developer Interview - shmuplations.com
This lengthy interview with Yukihito Morikawa discusses his early background, his past work as a CG artist, and his pioneering work on Ganbare Morikawa-kun.
shmuplations.com
October 2, 2025 at 3:22 AM
We have some great new translations this month! First up, an interview with MuuMuu director Yukihito Morikawa from 2000, in which he talks about his background as a CG artist and the making of his pioneering AI game for the PS1, Ganbare Morikawa-kun (Pet in TV). shmuplations.com/yukihitomori...
Reposted by shmuplations.com
Interesting to note that GnG's director, Tokuro Fujiwara, has said that he came up with Red Arremer before Arthur when conceptualizing the series:
shmuplations.com/makaimura/
So it would make sense to return to Firebrand, in a "full circle" kind of way!
shmuplations.com/makaimura/
So it would make sense to return to Firebrand, in a "full circle" kind of way!
September 25, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Interesting to note that GnG's director, Tokuro Fujiwara, has said that he came up with Red Arremer before Arthur when conceptualizing the series:
shmuplations.com/makaimura/
So it would make sense to return to Firebrand, in a "full circle" kind of way!
shmuplations.com/makaimura/
So it would make sense to return to Firebrand, in a "full circle" kind of way!