GS: What games have you worked on previously?

HI: The PS2 Gundam series. Basically all of those. I was also involved with the anime Eureka Seven.

GS: [Crossfire] looks really fast in the videos, but when I play it, it’s really slow. Is there a lot more to go in terms of development?

HI: This version is way faster than the previous version, so it’s getting better, but of course we’re just showing certain parts for TGS – the game isn’t even close to being finished. There should be some speed improvements.

GS: Have you thought about using the gyroscopic controller at all?

HI: Yeah…we’ve thought about it a lot. The thing we’re considering now is when you zoom in to snipe an enemy, maybe you could control the scope with the movement of the controller. Just one idea we thought of, not decided yet.

Mobile Suit Ops: The One Year War for the Xbox 360 is an externally-developed Gundam game

GS: What do you think of the Xbox 360 Gundam game?

HI: [laughs] Well…they’re trying something new with that, with things you’ve not seen before in Gundam. They’re not bound by the Gundam universe, really, so they can try new things. It could be interesting if they do it well.

GS: If you see something you don’t like in the game, will you tell them?

HI: Of course sometimes I advise them on certain things, and they do the same for me, so it’s not like a rivalry or anything. We’re both trying to improve each others’ products.

GS: Do you have much interaction with and reactions from Gundam fans in Japan regarding these games?

HI: In Japan we have questionnaires with each Gundam game, and people do send in suggestions and things like that. We actually take them really seriously when working on new titles, as they’re our market after all. We look at the market reactions when we have a new design document on the table as well, as it’s simple market research.

GS: What’s more important, your ideas or the consumers’ ideas?

HI: (laughs) Mine! Mine, of course!