Rise of Nightmares has launched in North America, and will be available in Europe soon! Hear straight from Ito-san (Producer) and Ueda-san (Director) themselves on why they developed this game for the Kinect, why there are no firearms in the game, and if they are afraid of the dark after working on the game.

Many titles for the Kinect are family friendly offerings, why did you decide to create a Kinect game for the mature audience?

Ito: When I first saw Kinect, I immediately thought it would match up well with horror games, because it doesn’t require a controller when playing in front of the TV screen which gives players a sense of insecurity. So, I never thought it would be the first mature title for Kinect.

Ueda: Also, this title is not solely targeting for core gamers. We believe that casual gamers who watch horror movies on weekends could very well enjoy the game as well.

Rise of Nightmares is being created by the team behind House of the Dead, what similarities can we expect?

Ito: Actually, I’m the only one in the Rise of Nightmares team who used to be a member of the House of the Dead team, and I worked for the first original House of the Dead title. As for “similarities” with House of the Dead, there are lots they have in common; such as: having the player stand while gameplay, first-person view, and life-size zombies are coming closer, but the major similarity is that developing a Kinect title is much alike with developing an arcade game (AC), which is one of SEGA ‘s greatest talent. When developing a new title for AC, we usually think about what to carry (or to ride on), where to place the buttons, and how to play the game. At the first phase of House of the Dead development, we have tested various things like implementing a mechanic where the player can kick by pedaling. House of the Dead has ultimately turned out to be a simple game, but we have made use of those trial-and-error experiences for this title.

Are you afraid of the dark? If yes: has this changed a lot since you started working on Rise of Nightmares?

Ueda: No. Not much has changed since working on this project, except that I became interested in alchemy, tarots, and histories of supernatural science, as a result of all the researches we’ve done for the game.

Ito: I’m OK with the dark too, but I’m not a very big fan of haunted houses. I especially can’t stand the ones with actual people walking around acting as ghosts, because you never know what they’re up to. But I came up with the idea to reproduce this insecurity by allowing players to freely explore the Rise of Nightmares map. But even after developing Rise of Nightmares, I still have difficulties enjoying haunted houses.

 What is the main purpose of the game : to scare players or to take them into a full live adventure action story?

Ito: The purpose of this game is “experience.” The protagonist of this game is an ordinary man, who becomes embroiled in an incident knowing nothing, forced to move forward in a situation where a mystery is followed by another. Our purpose is to have the players “experience” this bizarre and terrifying adventure.

Why did you decide not to include firearms?

Ito: Like I mentioned earlier, the story is about an ordinary people, and by our senses, firing around a gun is not very common. Guns don’t simply grow on trees, and we’re sure it requires lots of work to obtain one in an unfamiliar foreign country.

Ueda: And we can say that it’s more “challenging” and “terrifying” to directly fight with bare hands or using weapons rather than playing by firearms equipped. You might start off by thinking “Wish I had a gun…,” but there’s a chance you can end up obtaining something much better as you proceed through.

What’s your favorite horror movie? And why that particular one?

Ueda: I have way too many favorites to answer this question. Well, if I must choose, I’ll go with the classic ones like ‘Night of the Living Dead’ and ‘Dawn of the Dead.’ The film isn’t simply about the monsters being scary, but it also depicts the human drama and culture.

Ito: I’m not a horror movie fan very much, but I do love zombie films. The ordinary life suddenly comes to an end, and the zombies keep multiplying, having your family turning into zombies one by one, and at the end, you join them…I just get thrilled with this inescapable despair.

What’s part of RoN are you especially proud of? Why’s that?

Ito: There’s quite a lot, but I’d say “immersion.” This game requires no controllers while allowing players to explore the level freely, which should be a whole new experience that players find uncomfortable for the first few minutes. But I’m sure they will start walking around the world soon enough. Another aspect we’re proud of is that the game will gradually pull you into the world of ‘Rise of Nightmares’ by playing in the dark all alone.

How long does it take to develop a game like Rise of Nightmares?

Ueda: As of Rise of Nightmares, it took about a year and a half to two years. It’s always better to have longer development period, of course. But in practice, it varies depending on the team organization, skills, and engines, so it’s hard to give a specific number for this.

Ito: Much of the first phase of the development will be spent struggling with Kinect. It’d be excellent if I could lose weight while I keep playing this game.

How important is the audio / soundtrack for a game like Rise of Nightmares? Tell us something about creating/composing the score and the sound effects. Did you break real arms?

Ueda: We give substantial weight to it. Audio factors are great significance when it comes to horror. If you play the game on mute, there’s not much to be scared about. For this title, we had Ron Fish compose the game music. We had to communicate with the overseas co-workers, and I remember struggling to get across the image when the visual arts were incomplete, and retaking the scenes over and over, which was quite tough. But when the music perfectly fits with the game, the overall quality undoubtedly improves, and this is the part where our efforts are rewarded. I’m sure Ron had a tough time too, but he was always working positively, and we greatly appreciate him for that.

Ito: Plus, the game is set in Eastern Europe, so the essence of the Eastern European music is an exquisite accent. The characters of this title consist of various races such as German, Romanian, and Russian. The recording session was sure tough, but was also fun.

What’s the best thing about designing a game that’s dedicated for Kinect?

Ito: The idea of “How will we involve people to play Kinect?” is an subject shared globally, and we are now standing on the starting line. This is something very special for us, developers.

Is there something you wouldn’t want to do in terms of violence in your game, any line you don’t want to cross?

Ueda: “A line we don’t want to cross” can be something sensory, and it can also vary depending on the theme and/or story. We’re not very conscious about the matter. Though, attacking or killing citizens indiscriminately without any reason is unenjoyable for me.

Do you see Rise of Nightmares as the first of many adult experiences on Kinect?

Ito: Sure do. The characters are each burdened with their own problems, and they become complicated by intertwining with one another. This is definitely an adult issue children are incapable to work out, and such factors are contained everywhere in the story. We have designed the game so that players can discover a new aspect every time they play. Because this is a first mature SEGA title, we were especially particular on this issue.

Tweeting about Rise of Nightmares? Use the hashtag #riseofnightmares!