G4TV

To kick off X-Play's unprecedented coverage of the 2008 Penny Arcade Expo, we've asked each of the PAX 10, the Expo's top ten highest rated indie games of the last year, to answer some questions for us.

Casey Muratori of Sushi Bar Samurai answered our questions and gave us a glimpse into the life of an independant game developer and one of the PAX 10.

G4: How long was the game in development?

CM: Three years so far. It will probably be four by the time it ships.

G4: Where did you get the idea/inspiration for the game?

CM: Sushi Bar Samurai was very much an evolved game. The original inspirations for the game were there in the first prototype, but over time the game has changed so significantly that they are no longer really represented. As it stands, the game is inspired in large part by linguistics, and how people learn language and become fluent in reading and conversation. But that's not something I had initially started out trying to explore, it's just where the game design went as I refined it.

G4: What's your all-time favorite game?

CM: Dance Dance Revolution!

G4: If you could have dinner with any one developer, who would it be and what would you eat?

CM: I've been fortunate enough to meet just about everyone I wanted to meet in the game industry during my tenure. My favorite meal was probably with Doug Sharp, the creator of King of Chicago. I can't say that the food was very good, since it was at the Microsoft cafeteria. I think I had some salad and a stale croissant :) But Doug is brilliant and being able to talk about King of Chicago and how the code worked was a mind-opening experience. I don't think people realize what a landmark achievement in game development it was. Right now we don't really do interactive stories in games. When we finally break through that barrier, I think a game historian will look back and say "wow, this thing was so far ahead of its time, it's scary".

G4: With unlimited resources, what kind of game would you make?

CM: I haven't really felt like resources were my limitation on this project. I think my next projects will all be the same regardless of resources.

G4: Which existing franchise would you like to work on?

CM: Indiana Jones. Mainly just because they f***ed up that franchise so severely, both in the movies and in the games, it'd be great to go back and try to recapture what I love about the original fiction. Hmm... can I say "f***ed up" in this interview?

G4: Where do you see indie gaming going in the future?

CM: I think Jonathan Blow's Braid, which just came out, was a big deal for indies. It was a very pure indie game, with no pandering and no significant compromises towards marketability, yet it received unanimous critical acclaim and saw great sales numbers on XBLA. I hope it was a harbinger for similar indie titles, and we'll start seeing more games like that. I don't know whether that's where indie gaming will go, but that's where I want it to go!

G4: What piece of advice would you give to someone looking to develop their own indie game?

CM: Since my game hasn't shipped yet, I think it's too early for me to be giving any advice. Ask me again when Sushi has been out for a few months and I've had time to reflect!

G4: What was the biggest lesson learned from your development process?

CM: That I wasn't a very good game designer! I needed a lot of practice. Over half the development time on this project could have been eliminated if I was a better designer. It's a big problem, because when you make a design mistake, you end up wasting lots of time on other development tasks that end up being invalidated only after they've been completed. I don't like that, especially since I'm the art department, I'm the programming team, I'm the sound designer... all those other parts of me get very angry at the stupid designer-me who makes bad decisions that waste work. I'm pretty happy with the design for Sushi that I ended up with, but the amount of experimentation it took to get there was far too expensive. I'm looking forward to my next project, to see if I can take what I've learned and not make so many costly design mistakes.

G4: Besides the obvious—making games—what are some of your hobbies?

CM: I don't really have much in the way of hobbies that aren't game related. I like to play the piano and draw and so on, but those are all things that end up being game development skills, so they're not really hobbies anymore. I like to read non-fiction, but then that becomes research. I think that's why I love game development: it's just a collection of all the things I like to do!

G4: Favorite movie, food, sports team, video game character, and actor/actress?

CM: Movie: Shakespeare in Love ; Food: Sushi ; Sports team: None ; Video game character: I can't pick just one! Aerith Gainsborough (Final Fantasy VII), HK-47 (Knights of the Old Republic), Yorda (Ico), Alley (Photopia) ; Actor/actress: Heath Ledger