| nintendog 2005-05-11, 8:31 pm |
| http://www.gamasutra.com/features/2...awkins_01.shtml ( registration
required, but its all here below)
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"Go To Synesthesia. Jake Kazdal's Journey Through The Heart Of Rez
To the uninitiated, the Dreamcast and PlayStation game Rez, published by
Sega and developed by its UGA (United Game Artists) division in 2001, is
near-impossible to describe. The title, which had a very limited release and
relatively small sales, has since become a distinctly cult classic.
Some of those who noticed the game on its release and gave it a spin felt
that it was just a simple on-rails shooter with music game elements. But a
small and dedicated fanbase has argued that the first group doesn't "get
it", and believes the title defies simple classification, even to the point
of transcending the idea of what a video game can be.
Whatever the reality, it seems that the finer details behind Rez, much like
the game itself, are quite enigmatic. Most know that it's the brainchild of
Tetsuya Mizuguchi, yet another subdued, but inspired game designer from the
East with an eclectic catalogue of games, from a classic cross-terrain
racing title (Sega Rally) to a rhythm title starring a spunky intergalactic
news reporter (Space Channel 5).
Mizuguchi has explained his rationale behind Rez's development a number of
times, and provides the compelling viewpoint on its construction, as the
game's primary creator. But a little-known fact is that, despite its
Japanese origination, there was at least one Westerner working on Rez, and
his story is a fascinating one. Jake Kazdal was the only American to work
directly on the game as an animator and designer, and he spoke to Gamasutra
about his game development background, as well as his time working on Rez
and his experiences as a foreigner working at Sega Japan.
Kazdal's Progress
First, a little background: Jake Kazdal started working in the world of
gaming at the age of 16, as a game counselor for Nintendo during the heyday
of the NES. Not too longer after, Jake realized that his talent for art
could be used towards the creation of games, so went on to study art in
Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia . Immediately after graduating in
1996, Jake got his first professional gig at noted Sega Saturn developers
Lobotomy Software, and then migrated to Boss Game Studios.
In 1998, an Alias representative who was on-hand to demonstrate the latest
version of the company's software noticed the abundant amount of
Sega-related toys on Jake's desk, and asked him if he was a fan of the
company. A rather enthusiastic response led the rep to reveal his past
working relationship with Sega, and offered to introduce Kazdal to Mizuguchi
(the representative was the person who performed the voice acting for the
game Sega Rally, such as "Right Turn. Maybe.").
Soon thereafter, Kazdal and Mizuguchi met, and Kazdal was then asked to come
to Japan, where he hung out in Tokyo for a week (it was Jake's first
introduction to psy-trance at "some crazy rave way out in the forest" -
Mizuguchi's affinity for the club scene has often preceded him). Kazdal soon
discovered that Mizuguchi was starting a new Sega development division for
the company's new system, the Dreamcast, which was a few months from launch,
and was looking for some fresh outside talent. Jake was then formally asked
to join United Game Artists.
In a few months, Kazdal arrived in the thick of things, though the
transition was not completely smooth. In addition to his inability to speak
Japanese, Jake explained: "As far as I know, I was the only gaijin
[literally "outside person", a Japanese term for non-Japanese people] artist
at Sega ever. I know a handful of other programmers and other personnel at
AM2 doing motion capture, but no other artists." But despite the language
barrier, and the significant cultural barriers, Kazdal gradually acclimated
himself. It's possible that it helped that UGA was not like the other Sega
development groups; whereas Sega's other teams were all located in Haneda,
which is the industrial suburbs, Tetsuya's small team was smack in the
middle of downtown Shibuya, the hip urban center of Tokyo. UGA's location,
where the art and culture of music and fashion meet, was a strong reflection
of the team itself.
Kazdal and Mizuguchi had already talked about doing a game that was inspired
and influenced by music and art, and by the time Jake arrived, a few tests
had been done, going under the name of K-Project. So Jake started out doing
character design and animation for music action game Space Channel 5
instead. After Space Channel 5's completion, K-Project began finally taking
shape, so Jake then joined up with its team. He explains: "I did character
design and animation, and wrote all the English text in the game. I was the
one who showed Mizuguchi-san the Winamp plug-ins [that were a partial
inspiration] and got the ball rolling in that direction."
The Rezvolution Of Rez
Kazdal's published Rez concept art.
The early versions of Rez took many strange forms, according to Kazdal:
"Hip-hop dudes riding these huge speaker chariots, Space Harrier type
characters running and jumping, super abstract shapes and characters... when
we showed it, no one could understand it, it was really abstract, but man,
was it ever cool? After that it started becoming more traditional with
'enemies' and a player 'character', but for a while, it was way out there."
But what exactly led the move from abstraction to more identifiable game
aspects? Was it a conscious decision, perhaps due to outside people's
reactions, or did it just happen naturally? "Well, internally we were really
into its abstractness, but people from the outside playing it had a hard
time knowing what to do, or indeed just what the hell was going on. You know
how it is when you are too close to a project: a painting, a music track, a
game, anything. You [yourself] understand it, but maybe others won't. So I
guess it was both a conscious decision that happened naturally." However,
the game does go back to its roots to an extent with the TranceMission mode,
which is just bold colors and shapes, with no identifiable player or enemy
character on-screen.
Despite the small size of the Rez team, it had some intriguing characters
from the world of Sega. "For being so small, it had an insane ratio of
killer designers and artists", Kazdal comments. The staff included Katsumi
Yokota, who served as the art director and lead artist, and was previously
the lead artist of Panzer Dragoon Saga: "That guy is a total trip, way into
hardcore sci-fi novels and zen existence. He's hard to understand and harder
to please, but man, that game wouldn't have been the same without him."
Yokota is currently part of Mizuguchi's new production company, Q
Entertainment.
In addition to game designers, Kazdal notes that graphic designers comprised
key members of the team, including Noboru Hotta, who is also currently at Q
and has just completed Meteos, and Yasu Matsuzaki, who now works for
Nintendo. Again, Mizuguchi had surrounded himself with an eclectic mix of
talent, including designers, VJs, and "mimes." You rarely hear of so many
artists working on a single title, though as one might expect, it was never
easy sailing: "There were disagreements, it wasn't always smooth... at all,
actually." What exactly was in constant debate? Aesthetics. "The lead artist
had his style, and everyone else had theirs, and we went through so many
versions of things, although I do have to admit it could have been much
worse - things did all get settled in the end."
Another element must be discussed with talking about Rez is the sound
design. "A guy named Ebizoo-san, a Tokyo DJ, kind of led the evolution of
things and was the main guy early on. Later we got another guy on loan from
Wave Master." [Wave Master is the internal Sega's studio dedicated to sound
and music production.]
"Ebizoo-san spent time in Africa researching tribal music, the call and
response theory that made it into the game." What exactly is call and
response theory? "African tribal music often has a guy sing a word, or tone,
and the audience calls something back. It's like interactive music... hard
to explain, but it became a real part of our theory. You call out, and earn
a response from it." This concept is rather inherent to video gaming itself,
a fact that was not lost on the team.
But the game's signature sounds were in a constant state of flux it would
seem: "We used Underworld for our demo, and [even] talked to them... in the
end they passed on the project, not wanting to be part of a 'violent' game,
because we were shooting stuff." Two other notable names from the world of
electronica, Fatboy Slim and Aphex Twin, were also involved, but Sega also
couldn't reach an agreement with them for various reasons. However, the
changing of the music did not dramatically alter each level, oddly enough.
In the case of the first level: "The Underworld track worked so well with
the first stage, although the guy from Wave Master who was responsible for
the final version [ Keiichi Sugiyama] that's in the game did a really
excellent job." Along with Sugiyama on the final soundtrack are other, more
recognizable names, such as Adam Freeland, Joujouka, and Ken Ishii.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the mechanics of Rez, here's how
the graphics and the sound worked for any given level: things begin barren
and quiet. As you shoot enemies and objects, noises are formed. As you pass
checkpoints, the sounds become more complex and the backgrounds begin to
form. Kazdal comments: "That was always part of the theme, to go from
nothing up and evolve into something very different. I don't know if this
has ever been talked about, but I guess it's pretty obvious that we used
ancient cultures as a design inspiration for each level." The last level is
different from the rest, with no particular human culture being empathized,
but simply the creation of all known life itself.
"The last stage was Yokota-san's personal trip out level, also my favorite."
Each transition between each subsection has a vague narrative that Kazdal
translated. What was the intended message behind the words and the last
level itself? Jake simply relays: "You'd have to ask [Yokota] yourself."
As for the primary goal behind the creation of the game: "Synesthesia - the
combination of visuals and audio to form something new, the merging of two
senses to overpower you." Mizuguchi was most influenced by the artwork of
Wassily Kandinsky, hence the name K-project - Kandinsky is regarded as one
of the founders of abstract art.
Even though the game's concepts was hard to wrap around one's head, and the
various aspects were constantly changing, the level of enthusiasm managed to
stay consistent, even when the upper management at Sega initially didn't
know what to make of it. Kazdal comments: "I never went to any of the upper
level presentations, I was just a pixel peon. But there was some doubt, I
think, it was in pre-production for such a long time, people I think really
wondered whether it was a good idea or not... But Mizuguchi-san just kept
fighting; he really wanted it to happen. It was his baby."
Kazdal continues: "The atmosphere at Sega when the game started, which was
during the height of Dreamcast development, was much different by the time
the game actually came out, when the DC was floundering, and thus the
decision was made to go multi-platform. I remember the only time I saw
Mizuguchi-san really bummed out and feeling defeated was the day the
PlayStation 2 specs came out. Everyone was oohing and awwing, the tension
was in the air!! Even if the PlayStation 2 didn't ever deliver on all of
those early promises, it was enough to fatally puncture the Dreamcast's
heart."
Sega's choice to go multi-platform was not only a blow to Mizuguchi, but to
the whole team as well, including Kazdal. "We were all summoned to the
meeting room and he dropped the bomb. I distinctly remember a bunch of the
old timers jaws just dropping. It was the end of an era... Sega hardware had
just been so beaten down by Sony... everyone knew it was an uphill battle,
but how could you not root for the underdog? Especially when you worked for
the underdog."
So with Sega's new strategy, and with Rez suddenly becoming an opening salvo
on non-Sega platforms, there was a whole new level of pressure to perform,
as well as the already-looming problem of the public "not getting it."
Despite its uniquely abstract qualities, the team felt there was still hope
for sales success. Kazdal comments: "Well, it felt different... so much what
was coming out of Japan at the time was the same formulas, the same things.
This game was [different]. I thought it would be the next Wipeout."
Unfortunately, Kazdal considers the U.S. ad campaign for Rez underwhelming
at best, basically amounting, in his view, to a vinyl single, and some basic
print advertisements. This, combines with the abstract nature of the game,
meant that on almost every front, the game received extremely disappointing
sales. The situation was made worse by the game's lack of licensing
potential, which is where Sega had made good money in the past: "We had all
kinds of licensing deals with Space Channel 5 for toys, music, and so on.
But Rez collectables never really made it, besides the T-shirts and some
record singles."
After Rez, Kazdal moved onto a GameCube project, which lasted over a year.
Meanwhile, a sequel to Rez was actually being developed for a while - Kazdal
comments: "Man, it looked cool, but never made it". But the GameCube project
was eventually cancelled, so Jake moved onto the PlayStation 2 Astro Boy
game right before leaving UGA, which was shortly before it was merged into
Sonic Team and Mizuguchi himself parted ways with Sega.
Kazdal was not the only one who was concerned over the merge with Sonic
Team: "It was depressing. People started leaving, the spark was dying out -
it was rough. UGA was really tight; for a long time, everyone was friends.
we had a lot of good times together. [And] when everyone started leaving it
was like, whoa, party over."
A number of other factors played into the UGA exodus, Kazdal contends: the
death of the GameCube title which killed morale, the lack of interest in the
Astro Boy project, the belief that Mizuguchi and the head of Sonic Team,
Yuji Naka would not be able to work together effectively. Some members of
the UGA team went to Microsoft and Nintendo. "A handful of other guys just
wanted to move on to something different. Some even left games." However,
the rather bleak situation did help Kazdal come to terms with his desire to
move back to America . "I had learned so much about design theory and been
doing a lot more digital painting, I was really itching to get away from 3D
production work."
He continues: "I was almost 30 years old and living month to month, no
savings whatsoever, married, and I felt maybe I should plan out my next
steps, to really follow what I had found to love doing, conceptual design,
and digital painting. This meant no more 3D. I wanted to get a good
education in design by this point: the flame had been awakened in me,
largely by those few members of the Rez team I keep talking about. School in
Tokyo was out of the question and I was starting to get cranky with all the
cigarette smoke, crowded trains, and limited paychecks. So, over Christmas
2002, I spent some time in Los Angeles looking at the top schools, and once
I found exactly what I was looking for, I told Mizuguchi-san in January 2003
that I would be leaving in a few months time. He was supportive, and said he
looks forward to working me with again in the future... and I really plan to
make that a reality as well."
Today, Jake is on sabbatical studying concept design at the Art Center in
Pasadena. But to this day, he's quite proud of his contributions to one of
the most consistently talked about games in the past four years, which over
those years, did manage to find its audience after all. Kazdal comments:
"Well, people who like that game love it. People still come up to me all the
time and freak out when they hear I worked on it... a total cult following.
I doubt I will ever work on anything cooler, which is actually depressing in
some ways. But it's my goal to work on something as memorable as Rez again
someday."
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