Interviews// Yasuhiro Wada, creator of Harvest Moon

At the moment I’m involved in a Wii project...

Posted 12 Apr 2007 18:30 by
SPOnG: When I say slow-paced game, I mean in terms of a comparison with most other videogames.

Yasuhiro Wada: Ok, I see, yes.


SPOnG: Could you say more about your own personal background, where you grew up and why that was so influential?

Yasuhiro Wada: [laughs] I was born and brought up in a city right at the southern tip of Japan, where time went very slowly in comparison with Tokyo and urban-areas where life is lived by the minute or even by the second! Where I grew up there were only three times of the day morning, daytime and evening you didnt need to think in terms of seconds, minutes or hours just simply in those terms of what part of the day it was. The pace of life was totally different to urban living. So, I wanted to reflect that kind of timescale in a game.

Also, where I grew up, there werent many sources of information or media about. Where you have a limited number of information sources around you, you find you have less need to think or deal or react quickly to things, you just take your time, little by little.


SPOnG: OK. At the opposite extreme of this, are you a fan of any particularly fast, violent videogames yourself?

Yasuhiro Wada: I dont like violent games per se. But I do like Grand Theft Auto, purely for the level of freedom the game offers the player. Also, at the moment Im involved in a Wii project called No More Heroes which is actually a very violent game!

[note: No More Heroes comes from Goichi Sudas A.K.A. SUDA51, (the creator of Killer 7) Grasshopper Manufacture studio.]

SPOnG: Its often said that there are too many games with violent content being made purely for the sake of having violent content do you agree with this?

Yasuhiro Wada: One reason there are so many violent games, is because violence is one of the easiest ways of stimulating or generating arousal in somebody. I dont deny or dislike violence per se in games, but I dont like the use of violence merely to bring about this sense of heightened, excited emotional state in humans. That I dont like.

If the violence is used to make the player realise that violence is a destructive and often negative force, if it is used in a balanced way, then I dont mind violent content in games. So I wouldnt say I was anti violence, I just want to bring so many other elements into games in terms of proper pacing and a better variety of emotional responses which I think leads to a much healthier gaming scene.
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Comments

Brittany 13 Apr 2007 19:58
1/7
I love Harvest Moon. I'm new to the games, as I started playing Magical Melody about 2 years ago. I started with Animal Crossing, saw HM.. and immediately fell in love. I'm excited that its expanding on many different systems. I don't have a PSP myself, but I imagine Innocent Life will be great.. and might consider buying one for just that game. I already own the one on the DS and love it. (Harvest Moon on the go!)

Harvest Moon is my favorite game series and will continue to be. I can't wait till Harvest Moon Wii come out.

~Brittany R.
DoctorDee 14 Apr 2007 08:37
2/7
Brittany wrote:
I don't have a PSP myself, but I imagine Innocent Life will be great.. and might consider buying one for just that game.

I imagine Sony is hoping a lot of people will feel exactly that way.

I haven't played Harvet Moon myself, but I've been around people who are playing ii, and they all seem to love it - I'll give it a go soon!

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Rosa 17 Jan 2009 01:23
3/7
omg i am a big fan of harvesat moon it took me a whole year to get ALL of the games i love Harvest moon ds cute the most! I past almost all of them my moom says that if i keep playin i will get fat and gain 90 pounds(i will be 170)ewwww.
Rosa 17 Jan 2009 01:23
4/7
omg i am a big fan of harvesat moon it took me a whole year to get ALL of the games i love Harvest moon ds cute the most! I past almost all of them my moom says that if i keep playin i will get fat and gain 90 pounds(i will be 170)ewwww.
Akarie 17 Jan 2009 01:31
5/7
i have a stupid jappanese name.:( becouse my mom(belive it or not)is addicted to Manga sense she went to japan.and the good thing she buys alot of games Like HARVST MOON DS CUTE!!=OO=
Me 21 Jan 2009 01:30
6/7
Harvest Moon have a lot of success... now, I understand why it's based in the rural life...
And, with this interview, we can see that Yasuhiro-san is really a kind man...
Bye!
Wolf Hikari 25 Apr 2011 05:57
7/7
Thanks for the great game called Harvest Moon, I really like that game and now I am open to a farming life. :)
But still.. I hear that Wada-san has step down? Or it is just a rumor? Anyway, HM really grab me into it. Until I would like to make a HM game too. XD
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