With Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club being Nintendo’s big August release for this year, Nintendo has opted to make Emio – The Smiling Man their next covered game, as part of their “Ask the Developer” interview series. Across three chapters, many questions were asked of Producer, Yoshio Sakamoto and Assistant Producer, Kaori Miyachi.
When talking about working with MAGES on the Famicom Detective Club remakes, they had the following to say:
Emio Devs on Working with MAGES to Revive Famicom Detective Club:
Kaori Miyachi: The two remakes for Nintendo Switch were made possible thanks to MAGES., a game company that has produced a lot of adventure games. An employee from MAGES. pitched the idea to Nintendo with incredible passion.
Even during a different meeting between our point person for external developers and MAGES., they brought up the subject by saying, “By the way, we’ve updated the remakes proposal we talked about the other day!” and, “We’ve also updated the video materials. Here’s what we want to create!” and so on. I heard those suggestions continued for more than a year.
Seeing how serious they were, our staff started pitching their proposal and reference materials to internal teams, and that’s how it started.
Yoshio Sakamoto: When I read the documents, I could feel MAGES.’ enthusiasm, but I also wasn’t sure how serious they were. Then I had a look at the graphics they created for the demo, and that’s when I realised that they really were serious about it.
Kaori Miyachi: They actually recreated a scene from Famicom Detective Club: The Missing Heir and brought it along to show us how they were planning to remake it, didn’t they?
Yoshio Sakamoto: Yes, the graphics featured animated characters from Famicom Detective Club, and the story was fully voiced. When we were working on the Family Computer version, those things obviously weren’t possible, and this got me thinking, “Hey, this might be it – we could make a new Famicom Detective Club!”.
At first, I intended to join in a supervisory role. You know, just reviewing what MAGES. created. But MAGES. said to me “Sakamoto-san, let’s work on this together!”. So I was like, “Really? Can I join too?”. (Laughs)
As much as I like to get hands-on, I wasn’t sure how far I could stick my nose into the project or whether I could join in, since it was MAGES.’ idea. Then Miyachi-san said to me, “Just join in!”. (Laughs)
Kaori Miyachi: I’d say he was a bit reserved in the beginning. He’d say things like, “But I’m a supervisor, so I should just review it, right?” or, “Is it okay if I share my opinion?” so I gave him a push and told him, “Just say what’s on your mind!”. (Laughs)
Yoshio Sakamoto: So I actually joined in and didn’t hesitate to share my thoughts. By the end, I was so heavily involved that I wondered what had happened to my so-called “supervisor” role. I’m really grateful to MAGES. for accepting my opinions and giving them form.
I guess by working on the remakes, I could feel Famicom Detective Club’s potential to become what I really wanted to portray, and that I could achieve it. Also, I felt like I’d found the people I’d definitely want to work together with again, if there ever were a “next time”. Namely MAGES., to co-operate with development, and Miyachi-san! I already had them locked in. (Laughs)
Kaori Miyachi: For me, it was a great opportunity to get to know MAGES., but more than anything, being able to work side-by-side with Sakamoto-san, who’s created a lot of things at Nintendo, was really huge. I learned a lot about Nintendo’s unique way of creating products, its perspective and philosophy.
For the full interview, why not click here to check out Ask the Developer Vol. 12, Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club – Chapter 1.
Ask the Developer | Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club (Participating Developers)
- Yoshio Sakamoto | Producer
- Kaori Miyachi | Assistant Producer
