Entrevista a Watermelon Games

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Realizada por la comunidad RetroVideoGamer. Se habla principalmente sobre la escena actual y los juegos programados por la compañía para Megadrive.

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zapiy

Tell us about how the company was formed?

WaterMelon

The company’s activities started in 2004 without an actual business office, when Pier Solar was under early development stages. Tulio Gonçalves and Gwénaël Godde both worked at WaterMelon as a second job for quite some time with Gwénaël eventually becoming full time in 2010, but after the success in Kickstarter, the office environment became necessary in 2012 with both partners becoming full time dedicated to WaterMelon. WM was established in 2009 by Tulio, the President, and Gwenael, co-founder and Art Director of our company. Their mutual interest in retro games and game development casually brought them together back in 2004 when they met at a retro game message board. Along with other Sega fans, the idea of creating a brand new game for Megadrive/ Sega Genesis was unavoidable and obviously exciting. Tulio has an extended background in software programing, he has worked for various multinational corporations in the past, and Gwenael has an outstanding curriculum in Graphical Arts, designs, and programing as well. Clients include: LVMH, Veolia, Bouygues, Sony Pictures.

zapiy

For those that may not know about you, can you list all the games you have released and those in the pipeline?

WaterMelon

We have released the 16-bit R.P.G. Pier Solar and the Great Architects for the Sega Genesis – and we will have the fourth batch of Reprints coming out this year; we are about to release Pier Solar and the Great Architects in HD (for modern platforms – Wii U, PS4, PS3, Dreamcast, PC, MAC, Linux, Xbox 360, OUYA, Android) this year, Project N (a brand new Action Adverture game for SNES); Project Y (a brand new Beat’em Up for Sega Genesis); and two more big secret projects to be announced soon (but we can guarantee you, they’re both incredibly exciting!).


Shadowrunner

You have three games that I know of in the works. The HD and Dreamcast versions of Pier Solar, Project Y and Project N. How is the development going and do you have any idea when they might be finished?

WaterMelon

We’re facing the final stages of development for Pier Solar HD. It’s been a great challenge for us as a team and as a company. We plan on release PSHD by April, which is really exciting. It’s been an awesome experience to be able to work with all of the huge companies such as Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft. We’ve been able to understand the game market from a completely new point of view, and we’re very proud of how far we’ve come. As for Projects N and Y, we’re still under development. The goal is to have both games ready to release this year.


When will Project Y and N be given real names?

WaterMelon

Actually, we do have a few ideas and we’re hopefully going to decide on the names before the release day. Ha!


TrekMD

Where did the idea for Pier Solar originate?

WaterMelon

It all started a long time ago at the online forum (message board) Tavern RPG, where Sega Genesis addicts (including Gwénael and I) used to get together and share their experiences and nostalgia about the classic 16-bit RPGs. Overtime we talked about our dream to make our very own RPG for the Genesis. Many gamers have that dream, but our group was driven to accomplish it. And that’s how it all started. Our first idea was to make an RPG where each character would be named after the Tavern members participating into the project. We’ve had the story and some drafts of concept characters made. Our goal was to produce enough cartridges for the Tavern members only. However, the story was spread, and suddenly more and more people started to ask about this potential “new Genesis RPG game”, and that’s when we decided to invest real time and money to make that game happen. Little by little the game story started to flow in different directions, and we came up with the first Pier Solar plot. The rest is history…


TrekMD

What would you say was the most challenging aspect of making Pier Solar for the Genesis/MD?

WaterMelon

It took us about one year of hit and miss to get a stable file load on Mega-CD, because there was no documentation and he didn't hack any existing code. But doing Mega Drive programming was much easier since the system is a strong and simple hardware. It is sure that releasing a full packaging with cartridge cost certainly more than 10 times the cost of a regular DVD release. However, it's part of the idea of releasing retro games, it has to be a full release in physical format! We had to develop all the manufacturing process from the ground up for Pier Solar, from the plastic parts down to the screws. Now we use the same process for our next releases so it's a bit of a relief!


TrekMD

Are there plans to re-release the OST?

WaterMelon

The OST is going to be available for sale along with the other Pier Solar and Pier Solar HD products, so yes, it’s only a matter of time.


TrekMD

You currently develop games for the SNES, Dreamcast, and Genesis/MD. Any plans for game development for other retro systems?

WaterMelon

Currently we do not have any plans to include other retro systems into our development.


Shadowrunner

There's an Easter Egg in Pier Solar that you can only find if the game is played with the Sega 32X adapter plugged in. Have you ever thought about doing a 32X game, or even an enhanced 32X version of one of your games?

WaterMelon

Yes, we’ve totally considered this. It was impossible to port Pier Solar to 32X because the original game cannot support the 32X as well in one cartridge, however, in terms of making a specific game for 32X yes. But there are so many technical difficulties that just like the Sega CD, we had to abandon that plan. At this moment there isn’t any plans for developing a game for the 32X.


The Laird

It clearly looks like Streets of Rage 2 was the inspiration for Project Y, is that the case?

WaterMelon

Yes! Streets of Rage II is one of our biggest inspirations for Project Y, almost a tribute to it.


The Laird

I would love to see you do something for the Lynx or Jaguar! Any chance?

WaterMelon

Honestly, it’s all possible in terms of development, but since we don’t have any programmers specialized in working with that. However, if there’s any one with a game interested in publishing through WaterMelon we can always study this possibility.


The Laird

What do find to be the best system to work on and why?

WaterMelon

In retro systems, the Sega Genesis is the most pleasant console to work with because of its 16bits structure, and also because it is a very powerful system; it always has something else to offer. Its processor architecture is very well designed and easy to work with. For the modern consoles, the most preferable during the adapting process are the PS3 and PS4, because of its similarities to the existing code standards of the original Pier Solar.


The Laird

Who are your own inspirations/heroes in video gaming?

WaterMelon

Yuji Naka, definitely because of his ability to create; Yu Suzuki, for the same reason; Yuzo Koshiro, because not only he’s a great composer, he’s an excellent programmer. Yasunori Mitsuda, also a great composer that made Chrono Trigger which I consider the best soundtrack of all times. And also Hideo Kojima, which is the creator of one of my favorite games, Snatcher.


The Laird

How did you come up with the name Watermelon?

WaterMelon

The dialogue was pretty much like this:
Gwénael: “ – WaterMelon. With the letters W and M capitalized.”
Tulio: “ – WaterMelon? Why WaterMelon?!”
Gwénael: “ – Yeah! Cause it’s juicy!”

I don’t think I can explain it to you any better than that…
Gracias por compartir, me parece muy interensate.

Aprovecho para preguntar: ¿El beat'm up Project Y tiene alguna relación con el capítulo Project Y de la novela Streets of Rage Saga de Matthew Drury?

Me refiero, ¿quien sacó antes ese nombre y cual es el origen?
1 respuesta
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