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Earlier
this week saw the release of the Wii-exclusive rhythm game Major
Minor's Majestic March, developed by NanaOn-Sha and published by Majesco
Entertainment.
What makes this game so special is how it marks the reuniting of
the duo -- designer/musician Masaya Matsuura and artist Rodney Greenblat -- that brought the world PaRappa
the Rapper, as well as the return to video games for Greenblat.
Greenblat's
last game, the direct sequel to PaRappa,
was published in 2001. When Gamasutra first caught up with the celebrated
character illustrator four years ago at his New York City studio, Greenblat explained why he had left the
world of video game behind to return to the world of fine arts.
But eight years
after his last foray into gaming, he has finally returned. But what lead to
this change of heart?
Once
again, we caught up with Greenblat in his studio in SoHo as he was putting the
final touches on the game a few weeks go to discuss his return to the medium,
issues almost every American must face when working in Japan, some additional
behind the scenes look at his PaRappa
work, his creative process, as well as possibilities for the future...
Okay, let's get right to it. What
exactly have you been up in the last four years when we last spoke?
Rodney
Greenblat: In the last four years? [laughs] Well you know, I took a break from
the game business in about 2004 and just went back into the studio. And started
working on paintings and sculptures. Made a lot of paintings, had a couple
shows, it was really great. And I was expecting to keeping going in that
direction.
But
[Masaya] Matsuura... Actually, it was more meeting Majesco. They had this idea
to kind of reunite the PaRappa team,
to make a new game. So when I heard about that, I became all of sudden
interested in going back to video games.

Majesco/NanaOn-Sha's Major Minor's Majestic March
When was this?
RG:I
guess it must be a couple years now. Because I've been working solid on this
since December of '07, so I'd say six or so months before that was when they
first starting talking about doing this.
Obviously at this point, the Wii
was around, so it was always for that platform to begin with?
RG:
Yes. And they wanted a music game.
Given how the music genre was
starting to really take off, did they want another title similar to PaRappa or something more like Guitar Hero?
RG:
Well I think they had a couple things in mind, but they were really hoping that
Matsuura would come up with something so totally different. Which he did!
[laughs] Much to their surprise!
Was it one of those things where
when they finally saw it, they went "Okay... Well, so how in the hell are
we going to market this?"
RG:
I really can't tell you what they thought, but they were surprised, that's for
sure. Marching wasn't on their radar as what a music game would be, I have to
guess. [laugh]
Last we spoke, I recall you be
pretty burnt out with video games, and not really wanting anything to do with
them anymore. What was the one thing that sold you on coming back? The chance
to work with an old friend? A brand new platform?
RG:
I think actually it was Majesco. I liked the guys who were running the project,
I liked them immediately. They seemed really open. A lot of my troubles from
the past just came from the same sort of culture clash that happens in Japan to everyone who goes to work there.
Mostly
the strange ways decisions get made in Japan; its not like they're that much stranger than
here, its just we know our own culture, we know why our people do things, or at
least can try to understand. While in Japan, it was always a little
disconcerting because, it's not like I want a lot of control, but I kind of
want to know generally where I'm going and what I should be doing. And it was
hard to find out sometimes in Japan, at least at Sony.
And
it was also this huge collaboration, and I was really hoping to get back into
the studio and just get back to being by myself. So I was a little tired of the
whole set-up... I had been doing it for a while.
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It's nice to see Greenblat's return to gaming. I was never a big fan of Guitar Hero or Rock Band, but occasionally will pop in Parappa for another spin. It just had this certain charm to it that the other Rhythm games lacked. I'll have to check out this DS title. Haven't heard of it until I read this. Take care..