Once Again Asking the Father of Space Invaders About its Creation

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We ask developer Tomohiro Nishikado everything from the standard questions to urban legends about Space Invaders. Space Invaders was a game that was also a social phenomenon, and you could argue that the history of Japanese games began with it. Why is it that developer Tomohiro Nishikado joined Taito and made games? Why did Space Invaders have a vertical monitor? Why did it use a joystick? And what was the company structure like at Taito back then? We interviewed Mr. Nishikado to ask him these kinds of questions. If you read these alongside the other four interviews in this book, you'll certainly deepen your understanding of the Space Invaders legacy. Tomohiro Nishikado - Taito Advisor Born in Osaka Prefecture's Kishiwada City in 1944. He joined Pacific Industrial, a development subsidiary of Taito, in 1968. There he worked electro-mechanical games such as Sky Fighter, and a Pong clone called Soccer. And in 1978, the previously mentioned huge hit known as Space Invaders was released. Continue Reading

Retro Gamer’s Room: Room 5 – MCU

For this issue we have a very popular musician that serves as an MC for Kick The Can Crew, MCU! We've infiltrated his game room, which feels more like a secret base, that he maintains despite moving frequently. Interview/Photo/Text: Kaze no Iona In collaboration with Retro Consumer Aikoukai [caption id="attachment_4513" align="aligncenter" width="625"]

The retro items and games that are on display here. MCU is both a musician and lover of retro games and items, and is also publicly known as a retro game fan.[/caption] Continue Reading

Rensuke Oshikiri PC Engine mini Interview

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Manga Creator and Hi Score Girl Author Rensuke Oshikiri Clears Splatterhouse and Talks About His Love For the PC Engine!

Rensuke Oshikiri is well known for being a passionate PC Engine fan, having professed his love for it in the third chapter of his autobiographical manga Pico Pico Shounen. Today we had him try out the PC Engine mini and talk with us about his impressions of it, as well as past memories. ...But what we didn't plan on was the amount of nostalgia and expert play he'd show us as soon as he started playing Splatterhouse! It may be the first time this has happened during an interview in Famitsu history (?), so bear witness to his great love for the PC Engine! Continue Reading

Aka to Blue Type Revolution – Soushi Hosoi and Ikeda Minorock Interview

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Stories From Aka to Blue Type Revolution With Soushi Hosoi and Ikeda Minorock! We Talk to Them About Taking Inheriting the Arcade Sound Just Before Their Live Performance!

The arcade shooting game Aka to Blue Type Revolution was officially released on 11/27/2019. Having been awhile since a new shooting game was released in arcades, this long-awaited title acts as the debut game to utilize the new exA-Arcadia board. Today we bring you a special in-depth conversation about arcade sound with Sonic Wings series composer Soushi Hosoi and Game Center Mikado owner Ikeda Minorock. They were preparing for their live performance at a rock event called "Game to Techno ga Suki!" (officially titled "We Love Video Game & Techno!") (taking place on 02/16/2020), and talked to us quite a bit about the idea of inheriting the arcade sound. Soushi Hosoi - Formerly the composer for the Sonic Wings series from developer Video System. These days he produces various musical artists, performs live himself, and is also involved in streaming. Ikeda Minorock - The Representative Director of INH. Not only is he responsible for the planning and business operations of Game Center Mikado arcades as the owner, but he's also a musician that serves as the lead guitarist for band Heavy Metal Raiden. Continue Reading

Darius Cozmic Collection – Darius Interview

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Interview - Darius: Until We Make A Giant Battleship

Seiji Kato - A Taito employee in the hardware section of the Technological Development department, he's involved in arcade cabinet design. He's worked on a lot of big games released from Taito and Square Enix in recent years. Yukiharu Sanbe - Joined Taito in 1979, and was involved in a lot of their 80s games, starting with Darius. After that he went on to help establish their karaoke and mobile games division, and currently serves as a technology adviser for Taito. Zenji Ishii (Guest) - Former Editor-In-Chief of Gamest magazine. He's the guest interviewer. Continue Reading