Kosuke Yabuki

Producer, Mario Kart 8, Arms

Mario readers Kart have has played been every around entry,for yearsover almost– many a Edge quarter of onlya century.play Mario But Kart what’s don’t the knowone thing about peoplethe game who – somethingit yourself? that you’ll only realise if you’ve worked on Wethe program,remake the the game graphics from and scratchthe audio,with each you iterationname it! – Even if we’re creating similar features, since we’re starting from scratch and putting it all together again, they change a little bit each time. I think this steady build-up of small changes is very important for the

Mario Kart series.

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is the only exception. We used Mario Kart 8 as our base to work from and focused on creating varied battle rules and things that make use of Nintendo Switch’s key features. We also added support for players using one Joy-Con controller each and for local wireless. I think we’ve made it into a perfect game for Nintendo Switch. Similarly, what’s the hardest thing about making a

Mario Kart game? Is there a certain item or game system that is particularly difficult to implement? I suppose that’s the item system that lets people play together even if there’s some gap in their skill. A moment’s luck can help you win, or make you lose. And if you do lose? Well, in developing the game we aimed to balance it so that even when you lose, you still want to try once more. How does it feel to be asked to take a leadership role on such a famous – and important – series as Mario

Kart? Do you feel more personal pressure now than you did before, and if so, how do you deal with it? There’s always both fun and pressure when developing a new game. That’s regardless of what my role is, or whether it’s a famous series or not. Each day we work to develop the game as a team, and with our passion, we work to make a unique and fun game, with a vision of the fun the people who play it will have. Mr Miyamoto challenges Nintendo’s teams to make something new. How do you make something that feels new when you’re bound by the conventions of such a long-running series as Mario Kart? Mr Miyamoto often asks me how what I’m working on is different from other games, or from the previous game in the series. I’m always thinking about this so that I’d be able to answer that question. If I don’t keep thinking about it, then I can’t find the answer.

If we simply kept the key features of the Mario Kart series and just polished them more with each title, then we would struggle to release products that appeal to people. If we don’t include new experiences and surprises beyond what the people who play it are expecting, then I don’t think they’d consider it an appealing product. Rather than aiming to meet consumer expectations, I’m aiming to exceed them. How did Arms – not the game itself, but the idea to do something new – come about? Was it your idea to do something different, or did the decision come from above? Nintendo is always prototyping new game ideas. The origin of Arms was one such prototype. The prototype started with the ideas “Can we make a thirdpersonperspective fighting game?” and “What if we made it a game where you fight with extending arms?” And from that we created a game with never-before-seen strategies and techniques.

I also thought that the idea was a good fit for the JoyCon and Nintendo Switch, so I decided to form a team and start making Arms for real. I was also making Mario

Kart 8 Deluxe at the time, so I needed lots of people to help support me. I’m really grateful to them. Your performance at the Arms E3 Invitational was quite something. Are you a demon at Mario Kart, too? Do you have to be good at games to be able to make good games? Arms hadn’t been released when E3 was held, so I may have had a bit of an advantage because I’d had the chance to play it a lot during development! Once Arms was released, people improved so fast and now there are lots of people around the world I wouldn’t have a chance against! I’m very happy about that.

For both Arms and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, my skills are about somewhere in the middle of the range of the development team. Our team not only has skilled gamers, but also people who are not so good at games, and I was playtesting with them every day while developing the

“Once Arms was released, people improved so fast and now there are lots of people around the world I wouldn’t have a chance against”

game. In order to make a game that lots of people can enjoy regardless of their level of skill, it’s important that there are all types of people in the development team. You don’t necessarily need to be good at playing games. While it’s still early days, how satisfied are you with your work on Arms, and the public response to it? What ideas do you have for how it could be improved, or expanded, in the future?

Arms is a completely new fighting game. There are lots of strategies and techniques that are completely new in this game. I’m very glad that there are people who are enjoying it and how new this experience feels.

We will keep adjusting the game’s balance so as many people as possible can keep enjoying it for a long time. We also recently added control customisation, plan to include training options, and of course we are working on new fighters and stages too. I hope that Arms will continue to grow along with the players. The two games for which you are known best are playful riffs on established genres.

Mario Kart is a very different kind of racing game; Arms is a fighting game, but it also kind of isn’t. Were you fans of those two kinds of game before they made them? Are there any other genres of which you’re a particular fan? When I was a child I played

Super Mario Kart and Street Fighter 2 a lot with my brothers and friends, but I never thought I would actually be making anything like Mario Kart 8 or

Arms myself! You never know what’s going to happen in life.

I’m a gamer, so I play lots of different genres. I also love actual toys and sports. All of the Nintendo developers, and not just me, are always trying to create unique gameplay experiences. If I think I can create some unique experience like Mario Kart or Arms, then I want to try, regardless of the genre.