[Infernal Mass]

i'll be updating this thread as i find more info. feel free to do so also.

Here's a good read about the future of Namco's Monolith soft.

30-MAY-03
Although Namco and Monolith Soft have finally admitted up to Xenosaga Episode II existing, they still aren't being fully upfront about what's no with the game. In an effort to shed light on these matters, the editors of Famitsu sat down with director Tetsuya Takahashi and producer Hirohide Sugiura to talk about the series and where it could be headed in the future. Could an anime be that far in the future? Episode I has enough cutscenes to make an entire anime season, after all...



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Q: In Xenosaga Episode I, Sugiura served as producer while Takahashi handled direction and writing duties. I’d like to ask you about the direction the Xenosaga series will take in the future.
Hirohide Sugiura: Well, first off, our roles will be very different from before. To be more exact, I’ll be stepping down from the producer role, Takahashi will drop the heavy-sounding job of executive vice president [of Monolith Soft], and another person will handle the direction this time.
Q: So both of you are leaving the front lines of development?
HS: This transition has everything to do with both Monolith’s structure and where we want to take the Xenosaga series in the future. I’ve begun to feel recently that game creators are getting older and there aren’t many younger ones coming out. You see developers in their mid-thirties to early forties in magazines all the time, even in the case of brand-new products. If this keeps up, we’ll never see a shift to a new generation, which I don’t think is very healthy from an industry standpoint. So I decided that I should change this structure starting with Monolith Soft, my own company. I wanted to free Takahashi of his old position and let him work more freely as a creator, so he’ll be acting as the supervisor and provider of the original story.
Q: So Mr. Takahashi will still play a central role in the series.
HS: You could compare this to producing an anime show for TV. Even if a series goes on for 26 episodes, it’s not like the same person directs every episode. There’s a general director, and then a different director builds the story in each episode.
Tetsuya Takahashi: When you deal too long with a single project, I feel like it becomes harder to chase after new possibilities. I don’t want to limit the Xenosaga series to its current state; instead I’d like to explore other genres and other possibilities.

Q: How long do you think Xenosaga is as a series?
TT: If you want to make a single game, that basically means you need to spend two or three years of your life completing it. However, with the world we’re trying to display here, that’s really nowhere near enough time. With Episode I, we’ve only managed to show about 20 percent of the complete scene.... and, of course, I always come up with new things I want to present in the middle of development, so it’d probably take me decades to finish everything if it keeps going like this.
That’s why I’m in the position I am now—I can work on presenting the world of Xenosaga in all sorts of different ways, unfettered by company management or anything else that doesn’t have to do with creation.
Q: Is it possible we could see a non-RPG Xenosaga game, then?
HS: It’s a very distinct possibility. At one point we had a product document for a simulation RPG, although it never became a reality.
TT: We are thinking about developing the series in all sorts of completely different genres, not necessarily involving games. For example, I’d love to try creating a novel or anime series. In my mind, there are still lots of Xenosaga characters that nobody else in the company knows about. There really isn’t enough time in the world to present all of them.

Q: Now I’d like to turn the topic over to your newest work, Xenosaga Episode II, the game your fans are probably looking forward to the most.
HS: I guess the first thing Takahashi and I should do is thank them all for waiting so long. (laughs) I know a lot of them were worried sick that it wasn’t going to come out at all, but don’t worry—we are making the game.
Q: Is the story related to Episode I?
TT: You could call it a basic continuation; it starts right where Episode I ends. As a result, most of the cast is borrowed from the first game. Jin, Shion’s brother and the guy that appeared in Episode I’s ending, will also make an appearance.
In Episode II I’d like to reveal some of the interpersonal relationships in the story, especially those involving Jr.—how he’s connected to Gainan, what is between him and Albedo, and so forth. We’ll be painting out his past and show why he feels so much attachment to Momo.
Q: Will some of the riddles left unanswered in Episode I be answered here?
TT: I think they will gradually be made clear. However, Xenosaga is still packed with riddles: the Zohars, the struggles surrounding them, how they’re connected to KOS-MOS, the true form of chaos [the Xenosaga character], and so on. Episode II will feature some new riddles of its own, too, but as far as the RPG Xenosaga goes, the story is mainly about KOS-MOS and the Zohars. However, we likely won’t be dealing with the exact same KOS-MOS for the whole story... We’ll also probably explore the inner emotions of Shion as well.

Q: Is there anything new with the game system?
TT: Wow, you’re fast. (laughs) We haven’t even shown the game yet and you’re already asking about that. I can’t really go into any specifics right now, but it’s a marked improvement, right down to the little details. We’ve used our experience and regrets from the last game to improve the gameplay.
Q: Were there a lot of regrets or things you couldn’t do with the first episode?
TT: There were a lot, but I think most of them stemmed from the fact that we didn’t have a real grasp of the capacity we had. Monolith Soft had just been founded at the time, and we hadn’t established a firm knowledge of how to make a game on the PlayStation 2 hardware. The whole project, including the business end, was a feeling-out process, so we did have to cut out some things in the end. This time, though, we’re starting production with a firm grasp of all these issues, so I imagine that this will be an even better polished game than the previous one. Our programming and visual skills have improved, too.

Q: Finally, do you have any message for Xenosaga fans?
HS: We couldn’t have begun work on a Xenosaga sequel without the fervent support our fans have given us. Our plan is to continue with Episode III and IV later on, so please visit us during our public gathering in July.
TT: The future is always filled with uncertainties, but I’d love to present Xenosaga in other forms besides Episode II. I think we’ll be able to show a different type of Xenosaga around next year. I hope you’re all looking forward to Episode II, too!

digimortal
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