Cubed3 Exclusive Interview | Square Enix Talks Chocobo on Nintendo DS, Wii

Yuki Yokoyama, Producer of Chocobo Tales: I'm Yuki Yokoyama, and I served as producer on Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales. I will also be the producer for Chocobo's Dungeon: Toki-Wasure no Meikyu, which was announced in May for the Nintendo Wii.

AR: How large was the team that worked on Chocobo Tales and how long was it in development for?

YY: The team consisted of about 25 members, and it took us a year to develop the title.

AR: What was the decision behind mixing different styles of gameplay together?

YY: We mixed different gameplay styles together to cater to the diverse demographics of Nintendo DS users. This includes casual gamers, younger players, and of course Final Fantasy series fans.

We thought the minigames and microgames would appeal to casual gamers, and the RPG elements to our Final Fantasy fans. The pop-up duels were designed to appeal to younger players who are interested in card games.
AR: And how come Chocobo was chosen as a lead character?

YY: We thought a chocobo would be the most suitable considering the wide range of players described above. I mean, who doesn't like chocobos?!

AR: Is there any particular aspect of the game you would have liked to have developed further if you had more time?

YY: We struggled to implement multiplayer functionality for the minigames using one Game Card. Even though we worked on this feature right up until master submission, we were sadly forced to give up on the idea.

AR: What are your thoughts on the game's sales in Japan so far? Did you think that the European audience would be likely to accept the game more?

YY: The game has been well received beyond our expectations in Japan. As for European gamers, I believe they will enjoy Chocobo Tales even more than players in Japan. The reason lies in the fables that appear throughout the game. Many of these are based on stories that originated in the West. We had our sights set on a European release from the early stages of development, so we were sure to include themes that would appeal to players across the globe.

AR: What were some of the biggest obstacles during the development process? And what are your thoughts on the DS hardware overall?

YY: Incorporating wireless play and Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection was more difficult than we could have ever imagined! Creating the framework wasn't too tricky a hurdle, but debugging and passing Nintendo's standards were enormous tasks. But we have no regrets. At this very moment, players across the world are battling each other in pop-up duels. That feeling of satisfaction makes it all worthwhile.

As I alluded to above, the Nintendo DS allows players from all over to interact with one another via Wi-Fi. The handheld system provides this in a small package that is far more accessible than other formats. The stylus functionality provides many new types of interaction as well. It's a fantastic piece of hardware.

AR: Could you please tell our readers the multiplayer aspects of Final Fantasy Fables?

YY: Chocobo Tales has 16 minigames that can be played by up to four players at once. You can also use the cards that you collect in story mode in pop-up duels against other players.
AR: Were there any restrictions involved in getting the online Wi-Fi service to work smoothly?

YY: We made efforts to ensure that the amount of data being transferred would stay low since not every player's connection is stable.

AR: Are we likely to see more 'Final Fantasy Fables' in the future