Yasuhiro Wada Interview

Harvest Moon needs little introduction. The chance to grow crops, raise livestock and even get married has kept gamers entertained for over a decade on everything from the SNES to the latest incarnation on both the DS and PSP. Tiscali Games catches up with series creator and general industry legend Yasuhiro Wada to talk through everything from Microsoft handhelds to his preference between the DS and PSP.

Tiscali Games: A videogame about being a farmer -really, what's that all about?

Yasuhiro Wada: Two factors really, as a boy I grew up in the countryside so as a creative person I'm naturally inspired by my environment and experiences - but also, there was no-one doing this type of game back then - it was something new and fresh, and that also attracted me.

Tiscali Games: You've developed now on both the DS and PSP, which handheld do you think offers the most functionality and potential?

Yasuhiro Wada: PSP certainly offers more immediate potential due to its hardware capability but there is still plenty of groundbreaking work to do in the development process to take full advantage of the system. Cartridge is the most suitable format for Harvest Moon. There is a charm the lies within the cartridge, it's less about the graphics and more about the ease and accessibility.

Tiscali Games: Which platform is easier to develop for - PSP or DS?

Yasuhiro Wada: DS without a doubt. Nintendo fully supports the development community through making the very best tools and middleware available to us.

Tiscali Games: If you had to choose one platform, which handheld would you support for future Harvest Moon titles?

Yasuhiro Wada: Nintendo DS

Tiscali Games: Have you heard any whispers on the development grapevine about a handheld from Microsoft?

Yasuhiro Wada: I am certain that Microsoft is spending time developing a platform but as I say, whether it reaches the market or not is another thing.

Tiscali Games: So when is the next visit to Harvest Moon planned?

Yasuhiro Wada: It'll be about a year from now - in Japan at least.

Tiscali Games: What would you like to tackle in the next series of Harvest Moon games?

Yasuhiro Wada: To enlarge the freedom of playability, to really open this world we've built to a wider audience. For example, the character you create at the beginning, he can go through the game enjoying quite a solitary experience and meeting maybe only a handful of other characters. Alternatively, he could meet 100 people, it really depends how you play it and that's the kind of freedom I want to offer gamers.

Tiscali Games: Looking at the gaming industry as whole, what opportunities do you see for the handheld gaming sector - and what pitfalls?

Yasuhiro Wada: I think as far as consoles are concerned only Nintendo will remain in the market. Sony and Microsoft are heading towards the world of the PC with higher specs and more features that are outside of just games. As for Nintendo, it will remain as a console hardware company because Nintendo views the whole development process in a different way to the other two (Sony and Microsoft). Nintendo sees the console as a toy, something to be played with rather than a computer. This will prove to be a bigger and bigger difference as time goes on. As for the handheld market specifically, it's just going to get bigger and bigger, because more and more people are playing and enjoying them.

Tiscali Games: What are your favourite handheld games - apart from your own, obviously?

Yasuhiro Wada: The Legend of Zelda and Sim City games. I can play them for hours.

Tiscali Games: Harvest Moon has been on consoles and handhelds for decades now. Can you explain the continued appeal of HM games to such a broad age range of gamers?

Yasuhiro Wada: Generally, I find that people have always wanted to communicate and create relationships with the in-game characters, which is a timeless attraction. There's also an awful lot of things that players can do and they can do it at their own pace - offering a large degree of in-game freedom.

Tiscali Games: If Harvest Moon and Forget Me Not Valley was anywhere on Earth, where would you like it to be?

Yasuhiro Wada: Certainly in Europe, possibly Switzerland but with the Mediterranean climate!