Devil May Cry 4 interview - the men behind the mayhem

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We travel to Japan to speak to two of the masterminds behind the latest in next-generation action-adventure

GR: Since this series originally came out, one series that's come out and gotten a lot of popularity is the God of War series. Have you played it? Do you have any thoughts on the series?

HK: Yes, I've played it and I think it's a very interesting game. I've even met the director, David Jaffe. He seems to be a fan of Capcom games. He likes Devil May Cry and Onimusha.

GR: That's kind of interesting, because if you look at western games and Japanese games, there's a different philosophy in development, but if you look that game in many ways it's closer to Japanese games. Have you tried to incorporate these different elements in your game development? Look at Dead Rising, which was very successful in America - which was influenced by the GTA-style sandbox action game. Do you think that any type of western elements could come into DMC?

HK: There's not really a drawing of both ways to make a game - there are just some things you can't implement into DMC. Though I appreciate them and like them - for example, the gameplay of Heavenly Sword. That's a separate genre.

GR: What's your favorite game, period - that you've ever played?

HK: My favorite, favorite game is Super Mario Bros. If I have to say a recent title, then maybe Metal Gear Solid. I'm playing Portable Ops on the PSP.

GR:Capcom has more westerners working at the company than other Japanese developers - some even making games. Does that help you make games that appeal to western audiences?

HK: I think it's beneficial to have western points of view when making a game marketed towards the west - like what level of violence we can include in the game, which will differ from Japan, and language issues. So of course having foreigners in a Japanese company is beneficial.

GR: Do you find that things outside of gaming influence you, in terms of maybe music or films or anything that help influence the direction you take your games?

HK: I'm a fan of Hollywood movies and blockbusters - especially action movies, so I'd say that has some influence. Japanese animation, of course, I draw from that too. When DMC first game out, that was also the same time that movies like The Matrix and Blade came out, so we drew a lot of our inspiration from those types of movies.

GR: Certainly it seems that Capcom does have a reputation for creating Hollywood style presentation in games - can you talk about the challenges in that, especially using talent from a different country? How has that worked?

HK: So we try to make a game that is better than a movie. We're always looking for the next form of entertainment. You have games and you have movies, and then you have something better. We're always looking for something that's leveled up. I actually went to a filming location where they film movies and one of the staff, who actually does movies, gave me a great compliment - [he] said that he loves the games. To hear that from someone in the movie business is a great compliment because we're making something that's even more.