Interviews// SPOnG Interview: Tetsuya Mizuguchi

SPOnG: There was some research done recently about puzzle games – which mentioned Lumines and Tetris – claiming that women were better at these games than men. Are you aware of this?

Tetsuya Mizuguchi: Yes, I’ve heard of this. I think the male and the female… everybody has part male-brain and part female-brain… The ratio is always moving, so some male players still love the puzzle games…But many female players love to play puzzle games. The male player loves to fight each other – it’s basic DNA!

SPOnG: The games industry, certainly in the UK, has a fixation with this idea of ‘casual’ and ‘hardcore’ gamers – as if they are two distinct groups. Is this a useful distinction or just a meaningless marketing term?

Tetsuya Mizuguchi: I don’t know if it’s right or not, but to me I’m always thinking about my audience. If I have some idea, that I want to make this or that, then I am always thinking about the kind of people, like me, who would want to play it. So then I think of what would be the best stage (platform) to make the game on, so as a result there may be a ‘casual’ or a ‘hardcore’ gamer. But I don’t care about that. It’s mostly marketing terminology.

SPOnG: Playing Lumines II on the bus on the way to work this morning two things struck me. The first thing is that you really have to think hard to play well – it’s a pretty demanding game. The second thing is that it creates quite a lot of feelings of stress and anxiety, in order to clear a level. Followed by a massive sense of relief and satisfaction when you do. So some of your games are criticised for having learning curves that are too difficult. Are games getting easier? Are gamers getting lazier?

Tetsuya Mizuguchi: Hmmm, depends on the game! Like with Lumines or Rez, music-based games… I’m always thinking about… my two aspects are enjoying the play through ‘the stress design’ of thinking quickly and logically ‘what should I do next! What should I do next!.' Then, on the other hand I want to enjoy the music, so if I can play well I can listen to the music. But if I feel too stressed through playing I can’t listen to the music, I can’t enjoy the music.

So the key is not to concentrate ‘too hard’ and if you play the game well, suddenly you get into the groove and then you can enjoy the music or watch the videos in the background and have this feeling of ‘expanding’ your world. Your senses have the feeling of expanding from a focus on like a very small hole to a big screen – ‘Wow! This is great music or that’s a great video’ – this kind of process I really love.

SPOnG: Is that process your understanding of Synesthesia?

Tetsuya Mizuguchi: Mmmm. Yep. Yes… Those kinds of effects – the visual effects and the sound effects gives you the ability to open up some senses. The good game, each and every effect has a role in the game. The bad game, perhaps has too many effects at one time so that it’s kind of … flat. You cannot understand what is happening. It’s too much stimulation. You cannot digest it. This is bad game design.

In good game design – if you watch or feel something via your ear, eyes or touch – and you understand and you think and your brain issues an ‘I should do this’ command and your fingers move in a certain way… this kind of process is good. And then getting faster, that is okay. You are learning to respond quicker at the correct frequency of your brain… it’s a kind of fight with yourself.