While at E3 this year, Austin and I had the chance to interview the most “extreme” personality in the game industry, Tak Fujii. Known for his twenty years at Konami as a producer, manager, and sound designer (and for his iconic presentation at Konami’s E3 2010 press conference) Mr. Fujii is an easy man to recognize. Now promoting his Switch exclusive rhythm game Gal Metal, Mr. Fujii talked to us about rhythm, metal, and what it’s like to be a meme.
Spencer: Where did you draw inspiration from for Gal Metal? Were there any type of music, show, or movie that inspired you in some way, or was it entirely you?
For me personally, I’ve studied the piano since I was four years old. I got a college degree in music theory, so I accidentally got into the game industry [laughs]. My career is all about composing and design, so for me, music has always been in my soul. I’ve been in this industry for over 20 years, so with that experience I always wanted to make a music game myself. So this just naturally happened. There’s no reasons or anything that are not coming from me.
Spencer: That’s awesome to hear. So what was it about the Nintendo Switch that appealed to you enough to make Gal Metal exclusively for it?
The JoyCon controller.
Spencer: That makes sense (laughs).
We decided to make a drum rhythm game, so when the Switch was announced with SIXAXIS Joy Con controllers, we thought, “why not? It’s a drum.” Additionally, as you play there’s no information on the game screen. The game doesn’t tell you “here’s a note, hit now, pause now,” it’s up to you to decide. In that case, you don’t need to see the game screen. So what you can do is take the game to a barbeque, plug it in, make it louder, and you don’t need to see the small screen, so you can go like this [enthusiastically drums rapidly].
Spencer: [Laughs] And be the life of the party!
Yeah! So what I’m thinking about with the game is how the player will play.
Spencer: I did notice that a large theme in the game is freedom, as there are no specific button prompts or anything. I’m assuming that’s entirely intentional with the “spirit of metal”.
Right!
Spencer: So what do you hope players will take away from playing Gal Metal? What’s the goal?
To educate gamers to be the band man, or a metal lover! I mean, it’s still a game so you’ve got to have the essence or elements of a band, and of music. So the story mode itself is about being real.
(Mr. Fujii proceeded to show us a number of different types of beats in-game.)
So we could put out all these beats at the start, but players would just say “what?” So instead we have a big story mode where each level gives you two or three new rhythm patterns, which link to the new song. So this new trick might work for the new song, and you can try it, but you don’t have to. But once you finish the story, you unlock all the rhythms. So you can do other tricks, and other rhythms. So I’m teaching the element of the drum, how you build your rhythm, how you play your music. Then anyone who had fun with this game, when they have a band in school or college, they have a background. They’ll at least know this [plays simple beat], and say “Hey I know what to do.”
Spencer: So maybe one day, a musician will say “it all started with Gal Metal”.
That’s something I really want to hear, yeah!
Spencer: So this is an interesting question: you’re known online as the “extreme” or “one million troops” meme guy to a lot of people, which you seem to embrace. Does this reputation ever get tiring, or do you enjoy it?
Good question! I enjoy it. [Laughs]
Spencer: Awesome! That was easy.
I mean, there are two sides to it. Some people are laughing at me, some people are laughing with me. So if I quit, yeah I don’t hear any laughing, but I also lose my core fans in the game industry. So I don’t do funny things for those other people, they are not my troops. [Laughs]
Spencer: [Laughs]
To be honest, what I did in 2010 at the E3 conference, it’s funny because it’s me. Just imagine if some random guy in a suit did it, it would just be silly. Because it’s me, with dreadlocks, saying “yo what’s up man,” it makes sense. “Who the hell is this guy,” right?
And also, I assume you’ve met a lot of Asian developers and producers for interviews. If you meet them out in the hall, do you recognize each one? I’d assume not.
Spencer and Austin: Hmm, not always.
Right! It’s the same for me. If I see a guy from India or Turkey, I may have trouble recognizing them because my eyes are not used to that. But if you see me, dreadlocks on an Asian, “it must be him”, right?
Spencer: [Laughs] Definitely, that’s fair.
And it’s kind of marketing, something iconic. That’s the game industry, it’s fun. In a conference, it’s okay to have a big party or a big budget, because it’s a game, man.
Spencer: I like that, that’s a really good way to look at it.
Austin: So what kind of music are you listening to now?
All kinds of music! Metal, rock, punk, EDM, lots of stuff. The reason I mainly bring up metal right now is, well it’s hard to say, but there’s lots of music available with computers in the 21st century. I know how difficult learning an instrument can be, like a bass or drums. But not only that, a band is about communication. You’re speaking to your audience. It’s not only you and your computer, it’s a big difference.
I’m kind of scared at lots of young people losing their potential for playing music because they might think “oh the computer can do everything”, but no, really it’s you, the human! You play the guitar, you play the bass, you have a band, you make a huge wave. I’m from the 80’s and 90’s, which is the big golden era of rock and metal, so I want to give that music to a new audience.
Austin: So what music would you recommend to a younger audience?
Ooh that’s a good question, which I can not really answer because this game is supported by a lot of guitar companies who have a lot of bands. I know there’s one big metal band that is supported by ESB that starts with an “M,” though I don’t know if their drums are supported by Yamaha, or what is supported by who. [Laughs]
Spencer: Yeah, that makes sense [laughs]. So check out the whole genre then!
Yeah yeah, check out all the music! There are lots of people with talent out there, I’m not the judge. It doesn’t matter if ten people like your music, they’re your audience. In my game, I’m not talking about selling 8 or 9 million titles here, it’s a niche Japanese game. But if one thousand, five thousand, fifty thousand people check it out? That’s my audience. And I want to do my best for that audience.
Spencer: Do you have a message you want to give to this audience then?
Metal saves the world.
Spencer: That’s a good message.
Austin: So once you get this fanbase, are you open to coming out on stage to play your music for them?
Oh yeah! Why not? I just need a little more practice, because I’m getting old [Laughs]
(To close out the interview, Mr. Fujii showed us his custom bass guitar, made in the image of the bass guitar in Gal Metal, then played through the E3 demo of Gal Metal. It was, frankly, stunning.)
For more information on Gal Metal, check out our E3 preview of the game here.
