I am Yasuhiro Wada, Veteran Game Director and Designer! AMA!

今日はRedditに参加していただき、ありがとうございました！ 僕にとって初めての経験で少し緊張しましたが、とても楽しかったです。 これからも皆さんによ楽しい経験を届けられるようがんばりますので、応援をよろしくお願いします！！！

Thank you for joining us on Reddit today! It was a brand new experience for me and I was really nervous at first, but I had a lot of fun. I would like to continue to work hard to provide a fun experience for everyone, so I ask for your continued support!!!

Hi there Mr Wada, I'm really excited about your game and I've always have had a soft spot for the Harvest Moon series.

Anyway my question I would like to ask you is what are some of the elements that you took from Harvest Moon and applied it to Birthdays?

To answer your question, I didn't take any elements from Harvest Moon into Birthdays the Beginning. However, since both of the games are based off of my concept and game design ideas, players may feel that there are similarities between the two game when they are played side by side.

Hello. こんばんは。 Well first off, I want to give a huge thank you. Harvest Moon is, and always will be a series that I will hold in my heart.

I have almost every single Harvest Moon game that has been released, and when I first played Harvest Moon, it was a very vivid and memorable moment in my childhood, and I love the countless hours I've spent in each game.

I think my favorite Harvest Moon game is Harvest Moon: Animal Parade for the Wii, but my first Harvest Moon game I played is A Wonderful Life. I rented it at a video store, and not long after, I had played through A Wonderful Life, Another Wonderful Life, Friends of Mineral Town, and More Friends of Mineral town. It was an addiction and I couldn't stop! Afterwards, I would get every HM game on release! So I was very pleased to see you were doing an AMA today! Thank you so much for your hard work, and thank you for doing this AMA!

My question is probably silly, but I have to ask: Out of all the Harvest Moon Games you have worked on, which Bachelorette would you choose as your wife and why? Who will receive the blue feather?! (((o(ﾟ▽ﾟ)o)))

Also which was your favorite game to work on?

Thank you so much, your games have impacted me, and will continue to do so. ありがとうございます。

Thank you for playing Harvest Moon! Thank you for joining us today

Nami is my favorite Bachelorette!!! She's a really quiet and aloof girl and shes' very simple with her words. She's kind of tough at first and she slowly gets nicer opening up to you. And to me I feel like she has the truest personality.

Also which was your favorite game to work on?

First place is the first Harvest Moon! Second place is Harvest Moon 64. Third place is Wonderful Life and Animal Parade. (Tie!)

Thank you again for joining us today! I hope you'll enjoy Birthdays the Beginning too!

Any plans to release the game on Linux? :)

I would have to say no for now. I have basically no knowledge of Linux so at this point I don't even know whether it is possible or not.

Hello Mr. Wada, first of all thank you for all of the wonderful works that you have had a hand in creating. Also, thank you for taking the time to do this AMA. I have three questions that I would like to ask.

Over the past few years publishers have had a risk-adverse approach to funding game projects. The most interesting commercial games these days are either sequels or ishoku games. However, for much of your career it seems that you have focused on developing original and interesting titles. What is your personal approach to creating games and what type of unique experience do you hope that Birthdays The Beginning will offer the user?

I would also like to know if you feel that the role of producer has changed since your career began, and if so in what way?

The catch copy for Toybox Inc. mentions "Love, Peace and the Earth". I think that "love" is very important to game design. Could you please elaborate on the significance of this motto and in particular how the concept of love relates to the work that you do at Toybox Inc.

Thank you for joining us today, I was really looking forward to doing this.

The number one important thing for me is to provide users with a "new" experience. The game scene right now is lead by the super big AAA titles and indies games. In Japan, the domestic otaku market has become the center of game-developing attention. For the game industry I'm really concerned that those developers who aren't really indies but also not big are slowly disappearing. Which is why someone in the middle ground, like us, would like to show the world that games that aren't indie or AAA can still be fun. I think that the more people there are developing games the gaming industry well evolve into an industry enjoyed by more and more people.

what type of unique experience do you hope that Birthdays The Beginning will offer the user?

Simply put: the happiness of creating, discovering, completing. I really want people to have a brand new experience that is unique from anything before this game. What's really important to me is creating a chemistry where people can experience the three things I mentioned above with a brand new game mechanic.

As for your question about producers, I don't think it has changed much.

Here is how I break it down: 1. Have an idea, whether it's yours or another person. 2. Get funding for the game. 3. Completing a game to have as many players enjoy the game around the world. 4. Providing the game to the world and recouping the money from step 2.

This hasn't changed for me in the time I have been in the game industry.

"Love, Peace and the Earth" It's kind of hard to say but... We are always aiming our games to be played by everyone in the world. That being said, we feel that those who are closest to us are the most important. We like to start with our families and the people that we work directly with and slowly work our way to include everyone in the world.

Can someone be designer and game developer at the same time?

How much time is needed to create a game? (sample or hard one)

Yes, to your first question. The other day, I met Eric Barone (creator of Stardew Valley), and he told me that finished his game in 4.5 years all by himself. So yes, it is something that is very possible but will take much dedication.

What is your opinion on Natsume's Harvest Moon games, and Marvelous' Story of Seasons games?

Thank you for your question! I really want both of those to be really successful.

What do you take under consideration when you choose which platform you'll develop your game? Is there any possibility that we can see this game or some other of this series in the future in a handheld console? Thanks!

What do you take under consideration when you choose which platform you'll develop your game?

I don't really pinpoint the platform when developing a game. For example, I've never specifically developed a game for Nintendo or Sony or Microsoft.

Is there any possibility that we can see this game or some other of this series in the future in a handheld console?

For Birthdays, contrary to the "cute" nature of this game there is tons of calculations and graphical things going on so developing this game on something outside of the PS4 was basically impossible. So unfortunately, if we were to develop this game for a handheld console, it would be a slightly downgraded version of the game.

Thank you!

Hello! Very excited for Birthdays the Beginning!

What would you say inspired you to go from the relatively small scale of Harvest Moon to the large scale world creation of Birthdays the Beginning?

Also, if there's anyone from NIS America on hand, will this game be getting a special edition!?

Hello! Thank you for your excitement.

I would say that it would be inaccurate to say that we went from Harvest Moon to Birthdays the Beginning. For Birthdays, this is an idea that I've always had from a very young age. (I was inspired by a item called "Chikyuu Set" in the Doraemon manga. )

The two are very different games, but that being said, since the two games do share the same creator, I think users will find some similarities.

Hello! Big harvest moon fan here, thank you for the games you have developed, they were and still are great fun.

Do you think you achieved what you originally set out to do with the harvest moon franchise? Which game felt the most like the dream you set out to create?

Do you still follow the new games even though you do not work on them anymore?

Thank you!

For me... Harvest Moon 64 was the closest to the original idea I had for Harvest Moon. Harvest Moon 64 and Back to Nature is the evolved completed version of the first Harvest Moon.

For Wonderful Life, I took a different approach to that game. Animal Parade is the evolved completed version of Wonderful Life.

I haven't played the newer Harvest Moon games so I can't say I follow them, but I would love to see them succeed.

How much math is in game programming and what would you say to an aspiring programmer? How hard is it to be successful in the industry? Thanks!

I would highly recommend for a programmer to be good at math versus not being good at math. The fastest way to become a good programmer to do it, look at your results and fixing your mistakes. (and continue as many times as you need) Don't think, don't feel, just do it!!

Hello and thank you so much for doing this AMA, Mr. Wada! I've been a fan of your games since I was a little girl and they have heavily influenced me into becoming a game designer myself. I'm thrilled to play Birthdays the Beginning soon!

So, my question is: What is an advice you would have liked to receive when you were in the beginning of your career as a game developer?

I was never in an environment where we could get advice from people so it's hard to pinpoint an advice that I could've received early in my career.

To answer your question, this is more from a planning prospective but... Don't derive a game from another game. Make something different from what is already out there.

Hello Mr. Wada! I would like to know if you have any strategies for keeping a clear focus when designing games? Especially on smaller scale projects where tight design is a must.

The most important thing is to stay consistent for the first concept when designing a game. Increasing the amount of communication being done is a absolute requirement when working on a project, regardless of scale.

こんいちは、

I'm studying Game Design and was wondering the following:

1- What made you want to become a Game Designer? 2- What advice would you give to someone who's starting Game Design?

ありがとう誤差います。

Simply put, I've always like games. Also, the skills that I had correlated well with game designing.

The advice I would give is to spend time on understanding the mechanics of a given game. Imagine a game as a whole and understand that a whole game consists of many smaller parts.

Thank you!

I have always been wondering this, as game developer how much physics do you have to know to make decent games that involve them?

As a game designer it would be very helpful to have a basic knowledge of physics. As a programmer, it would be more advantageous to know as much about physics as possible. However, there are many middlewares that are out there such as, "Physics" that help with game development.

Are you aware of the competitive super smash bros. melee scene? If so what are your thoughts on it and who do you play as

I am not too in touch with the competitive super smash bros. melee. If I had to choose a character to play, I would say Link.

How large of a studio is Toybox? I remember reading that it was originally just you and someone else?

Your studio has worked on a few games for Vita, notably Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters. Was Birthdays ever planned for it?

How large of a studio is Toybox? I remember reading that it was originally just you and someone else?

It is still me and my partner. We have many partnerships with designers, engineers, writers, artists that we work with. For each game project we will create a development team.

What kind of impossible boundaries would you like to see broken to allow for more immersive and interactive games?

That's a hard question, whew...

If we were to remove "impossible boundaries" from Birthdays the Beginning, that would basically just be the world we live in, at that point can we even call that a "game"?

To me I think coming up with rules within the "boundaries" is the core of game development.

I'm a firefighter /paramedic preparing for an investing round for a simulator I've been developing.

My weakest area of knowledge is estimating the cost of development, since I've been independent thus far.

Can you recommend where I might learn more so that my business plan is accurate in regards to development costs? Thank you and good luck with the release!

First thing that popped up in my mind was through a crowd funding service, such as kickstarter. I think they work as a good way get an assessment on your game.

Depending on the country you are in there might be studies done or books written on development costs for projects.

Crowdfunding is a new concept and the world is constantly changing so there isn't a "right" way to do something.

Hello Mr. Wada,

I was curious if you could give some insight regarding the 4:44 glitch in Harvest Moon: More Friends of Mineral Town?: http://harvestmoon.wikia.com/wiki/4:44_(FoMT) if you could.

Was this an intentional glitch in the US version, or just an oversight when brought to the west?

Thanks again for the AMA!

This is not a glitch and is working as intended. Originally We wanted to incorporate a "horror" aspect to the game but removed it when we localized the game, due to it not translating well into English.