[PART ONE!! PART ONE IS HERE!! HERE WHERE THE LINK IS!!!]

Way back in January, I interviewed Kenichi Nishi and two of his colleagues about Archime-DS and whatever else we felt like talking about. I posted part one of that interview in March, when no-one was reading Eegra so it was a TOTAL WASTE. Now, in December, we have an audience, so I’m posting the second half! Yep, that’s the reason it took so long; definitely not because I’m shit at my job or anything.

Anyway, it seems appropriate to bookend 2008 with two halves of a Kenichi Nishi interview; it has been a good year for fans of the designer, and of his former company Skip. Since I conducted this interview, Archime-DS has been released in the west, as L.O.L. in the US and Bakushow in Europe; Kenichi’s personal company Route 24, in collaboration with cuddly badass Kenji Eno, created not one but two Newtonica games for the iPhone; and Skip’s magnificent and doomed Captain Rainbow – originally conceived by Kenichi – was released in Japan for the Wii. Skip also developed the three ‘Art Style’ games released on WiiWare this year -- ‘Art Style’ being the successor to the company’s ‘bit Generations’ series.

Once again, our interviewees are:

Kenichi Nishi – creator of worlds; poisoner of natives.

Fumihiro Kanaya – programmer of Archime-DSes; wearer of spectacles.

Miki Tashiro – manager of Skips; buyer of ‘business dinners’.

As before, what you are about to read is a combination of transcription, interpretation and editing.

* * *

Patrick: Where were we? Animal story – about Harrods...?

Miki: In Harrods department store... You know Vuitton, Cartier, Chanel...?

Patrick: I know Louis Vuitton, because every woman in Japan has this ugly brown bag...

Miki: Such high-status brands seldom go ‘on sale’. An entire department store might have a sale, but usually the high-status shops won’t participate, because it would damage their image.

Patrick: Right, because they’re expensive for the sake of being expensive.

Miki: But in the case of Harrods, Harrods has an even higher status than these brands. So if Harrods says, “Let’s have a sale,” Chanel, Vuitton – even they have to participate. But, even so, there is one thing in Harrods that never goes on sale: animals.

Patrick: They sell pets in Harrods?

Miki: Yes, but they never go on sale.

Kenichi: In Japan, so many pet shops have sales; ‘bargain seasons’. “Fifty percent off.”

Miki: But an animal has a life, so... it’s very bad to put a discount on a life. If Harrods decides to have a sale, everything goes on sale – even Louis Vuitton. But not animals.

Patrick: Oh, I see. A pet shop could sell a cat for five dollars or fifty dollars; the price doesn’t matter. What matters is the idea of ‘on sale’. So Harrods is making a statement: This is not an object.

Miki: Yes, yes.

Patrick: This is not something you impulse buy. “Oh, it’s on sale!”

Kenichi: Harrods’ idea is very good.

Patrick: People should be encouraged to plan to have a pet; it’s not something you do suddenly. In Australia, America and so on, some people do impulse buy pets. But less and less, because there’s education, saying “Don’t do that.” There’s an old ad campaign...

Kenichi: About animals’ lives?

Patrick: Many people buy pets as a surprise present. And the ads say, “Don’t do that,” because, you buy someone a puppy, they have to take care of it for fifteen years. Maybe they don’t want it; maybe they’ll neglect it or dump it. So the ads say, about pets, “It’s not just for Christmas, it’s for life.”

Kenichi/Miki/Fumihiro: Ahhh.

Patrick: Anyway, I didn’t know that about Harrods. That’s quite respectable.

Kenichi: [in Japanese; Miki translates for him] But basically, it’s bad that pet shops exist. Buying pets is bad.

Patrick: I think it’s not necessary. You can find a homeless animal, take it to the vet, and look after it. People buy from pet shops because they want a breed.

Kenichi: Yes, yes.

Patrick: But with breeds, again, the idea is, the animal as an object.

Kenichi: Yes, yes.

Patrick: Not “This is my dog; this is my friend,” but “This is my shiba; this is my poodle.” Put it on the shelf.

Kenichi: Yes, yes. Like an object. My dog Tao is a mix.

Patrick: A mongrel?

Kenichi: A mutt.

Patrick: Mutts are more healthy.

Kenichi: I think so.

Patrick: Breeds have health problems.

Kenichi: I know; many problems.

Page 1 2 3 4 >>