Sega's Yosuke Okunari & Konami's Jun Yoshimuro discuss the conception and production of their company's respective mini consoles, the Mega Drive & PC Engine Mini famitsu.com/news/201912/27…🇯🇵
the two Minis had similar origins, with the success of the FC Mini spurring them into action
in Konami's case, it was especially difficult bc this was their first project of this type—in the end, Hori ended up handling the hardware, M2 the software & Amazon the distribution
in Konami's case, it was especially difficult bc this was their first project of this type—in the end, Hori ended up handling the hardware, M2 the software & Amazon the distribution
Sega's lucky to have a lot of old hardware designers around; Konami isn't so fortunate, so the PCE Mini console was designed by manually measuring the original hardware & making 3D-printed mockups; Yoshimura wanted to include the HuCard slot but build issues made it a no-go
the form factor of both Minis—85% for PCE, 55% for MD—was basically picked due to wanting a "palm size"; in MD Mini's case, they were matching the same form factor as SFC Mini, and in PCE Mini's case the internals limit how small they could go, plus any smaller would be unwieldy
another concern was making sure the Minis have enough girth to stay where they're placed; Okunari wanted to add longer controller cables to the MD Mini pads until someone pointed out that longer cables make it easier it is for players to accidentally whip the Mini around
there's some talk about the MD Tower Mini and how Okunari wants Konami to make a CD-ROM2 Mini; Yoshimura personally wants an AC adapter fashioned after the Ten no Koe Bank & tells hardware makers to get in touch, but they're not planning any such accessories themselves atm
they also talk about the PCB drawings hidden inside the MD Tower Mini; Okunari says everyone was excited to pitch in & how making hardware fostered a different sort of motivation; Yoshimuro says the PCE Mini is about satisfying core fans & reflecting their mindset is essential
on the PCE Mini's game lineup: Yoshimura started with the signature games—R-Type & The Kung-Fu for early killer apps, Dungeon Explorer & Bomberman '94 for multiplayer, Ys I&II & Tengai Makyou II for CD—& then consulted within the company to assemble a rounded core-oriented lineup
consultation was made with both the Japanese & overseas office, and the decision to include Japanese ROMs on the TG16/Coregrafx Mini was made based on the overseas office telling them that overseas TG16 owners tended to play & import a lot of Japanese games back in the day
on the MD Mini lineup, Okunari and partner Miyazaki basically picked the 🇯🇵 lineup themselves (& Okunari says he probably picked 90% of the games)
Sega of America picked games for the Genesis Mini that were relevant overseas, and their suggestions vs. his didn't always align
Sega of America picked games for the Genesis Mini that were relevant overseas, and their suggestions vs. his didn't always align
for example, he talks about how Japanese players probably wouldn't care for Altered Beast, and how he'd suggest games for the overseas version that he thought would be impactful (like Zero Wing) only to get sandbagged by the US staffers
Okunari also says he approached Konami early on about including Mega Bomberman on the MD Mini, but it didn't make the final cut because it seemed lopsided to throw in one overseas-only game; he didn't feel too bad about cutting it because he figured the PCE Mini had to be coming
on why both Minis include Ghouls'n'Ghosts: for the PCE Mini, it's the representative game for the Supergrafx, and for the MD Mini it was not only one of the first big hits but an example of the MD's ability to reproduce arcade, as well as an early Yuji Naka project
GnG PCE came out two years later & with a bigger ROM than the MD version, so in some respects it's more arcade-accurate, but the MD version has its own perks like diagonal inputs; in this day and age, appreciating the circumstances behind the conversions is the interesting part
Darius is the opposite—PCE's Super Darius was a genuine PCE game made with the intend of adapting the three-screen arcade game for one screen, whereas MD Mini Darius came decades later with fewer constraints & the ability to use other ports including Super Darius as a reference
in that respect, MD Mini Darius was able to pick and choose elements and incorporate modern features, and the general philosophy was to better recreate the arcade version where possible, so the comparison isn't just in terms of hardware but contrasting porting approaches
on the two Konami games that made it to the MD Mini, Castlevaia Bloodlines & Contra Hard Corps: Okunari laboured over which ones to include, and when he narrowed it down to those two, Konami replied with "fine with us, but both those games are about to come to consoles, okay?"
as it happened, M2 was the one handling those ports for Konami, so implementing the game on the MD Mini was relatively straightforward
on a personal level, Okunari just wanted to make amends for not being able to release Konami games on Wii Virtual Console, but wrt to MD mini(>)
on a personal level, Okunari just wanted to make amends for not being able to release Konami games on Wii Virtual Console, but wrt to MD mini(>)
...including a big third-party game like Castlevania among the initial software announcement had a much bigger impact than anticipated, with the fan response being "Sega's really taking this seriously!", so he's grateful for the impact it had on building hype from the jump
on Yoshimuro's part, he was just happy to be able to put those games out again as even he hadn't played them back in the day, plus he works with people who made those games so he was proud to see those guys getting as excited about the lineup as the general public
Yoshimuro also talks about how being involved with the MD Mini in that small way and being able to observe how they, particularly Okuari, promoted the system, rolled out announcements, etc was instructive when it came to the announcements & promotion of the PCE Mini
Sega & Hudson were rivals in one sense, but they were also quite friendly in their day—they both distributed old games on Dreamcast via Dream Library, Hudson made a lot of online games for Dreamcast including the DC's first online RPG, and they were both big players on Wii VC
Yoshimuro also talks about how the audiences for the MD & PCE were fairly demarcated, with the MD primarily pursuing 16-bit cart games vs. the PCE's early focus on CDROM, so they weren't necessarily in direct competion, plus games like Lords of Thunder & Snatcher were on both
the first time Okunari met Yoshimuro, he straight up asked about how they were censoring Snatcher, seeing as the Sega CD & PS/Saturn ports were censored back in the day, & he was impressed to hear how much was left uncut; they upped the PCE Mini rating to CERO D to compensate
from Yoshimuro's perspective, he feels we're at the point where the creators of the PCE hardware & software are reaching retirement, so there's a time limit to how long projects like these can be made with their direct involvement, plus he's personally happy to hear their stories
in closing, Okunari encourages ppl to check out Space Harrier (first-ever reissue) & Fantasy Zone (last reissued on Dream Library) on PCE Mini
re: MD Mini, he's glad that MD Mini's Party Quiz Mega Q, the lowest-rated game in Famitsu's pre-release survey, blew up on twitter
re: MD Mini, he's glad that MD Mini's Party Quiz Mega Q, the lowest-rated game in Famitsu's pre-release survey, blew up on twitter
on Yoshimuro's side, he's plans to slowly chip away at all the MD Mini games before the PCE Mini drops; the MD Mini's 42 + the PCE Mini's 58 add up to 100, but that's coincidental
he wants the PCE Mini to sell so they can maybe make a second product (Okunari wants PCE Duo Mini)
he wants the PCE Mini to sell so they can maybe make a second product (Okunari wants PCE Duo Mini)
...and that's it, I skipped over a few things here and there for the sake of your timelines. video games are Cool
