Interview:Tsunetomo Sugawara
Tsunetomo Sugawara (aka B.T.S) is a former employee of Hertz.
The following answers were translated from Japanese.
GDRI: What was Hertz?
TS: Hertz was the game division of Hertz Engineering, which was involved with acoustic engineering. Psycho World for the MSX2 was our debut work, followed by Hydefos and Lenam as our three original works. I worked on character and graphic design. After this, we worked on porting games to consumer hardware and a few years later, the company was dissolved.
GDRI: Is there a reason Hertz stopped making original games?
TS: After releasing three original titles, the company wasn't doing so well. Management decided it was in our best interest to take contract work on ports.
GDRI: Do you know why Hertz closed?
TS: We didn't make enough money to recoup our development costs. I can't speak more about this, but that was one of the reasons.
GDRI: Do you know what years Hertz was started and closed?
TS: Hertz was established in 1987 and closed in 1993.
GDRI: Did only Hertz close, or did all of Hertz Engineering close?
TS: COMING SOON!
GDRI: Did Hertz have a relationship with Sanritsu/SIMS?
TS: SIMS was a third-party to Sega during the Mega Drive era. One of the programmers at SIMS was a big fan of Psycho World and wanted to see the game ported to the Master System and Game Gear. There was meaning lost from the title when it was released elsewhere as "Psychic World."
GDRI: SIMS used to have Dynamite Duke and Out Run pictured on its website. [1] Even if Hertz's contract was with Sega, was SIMS in charge of production of those titles?
TS: COMING SOON!
GDRI: MSX Psycho World credits "Tsuneyoshi Sugawara" and "Tsunetomo Sugawara." Are these the same person?
TS: We were brothers working on the same projects. My brother mostly worked on stories, storyboards, and graphics while I worked on character and monster designs as well as level design. I am Tsunetomo Sugawara.
GDRI: What is your opinion of the SMS/GG versions of Psycho World (Psychic World)?
TS: I think that the changes to the stage designs made the game too much of a maze.
In the original version, you could move forward as quickly as you liked, but the limited view meant that there were parts where you had to stop. Unfortunately, due to the capacity constraints, stages had to be removed from the game, which affected the story.
The climactic scene, the final showdown with Knavik, was changed from a 2-on-1 to a 1-on-1 fight for some reason, which made the whole scene feel lonely.
GDRI: Do you have any opinions on the cover art for the SMS and GG versions of Psycho World?
TS: COMING SOON!
GDRI: Did Hertz staff ever meet with SIMS staff regarding the SMS and GG ports of Psychic World?
TS: COMING SOON!
GDRI: Was there anything that inspired your character designs on Psycho World or your art style in general?
TS: COMING SOON!
GDRI: I believe you posted elsewhere about the order in which the different versions of Lenam were done. Could you talk about that?
TS: COMING SOON!
GDRI: What is "C.P.U?" [2]
TS: COMING SOON!
GDRI: How did Hertz end up doing both the X68000 and Mega Drive versions of Dynamite Duke?
TS: When management decided we were going to start doing port work, they were already in talks with Sega about working on the Mega Drive. Dynamite Duke ended up being the first project we took. After we completed the Mega Drive version of the game, we quickly put together an X68000 version as well because it was the main platform for arcade ports at the time. Dynamite Duke wasn't a particularly significant title, so we on the development side weren't expecting much in the way of sales, and that's what ended up happening.
GDRI: Were you responsible for the Hertz sign in MD Out Run?
TS: COMING SOON!
GDRI: Was T's Music (MD Out Run) contracted to Hertz?
TS: COMING SOON!
GDRI: As far as program code is concerned, do you know if Out Run 2019 was based on MD Outrun?
TS: COMING SOON!
GDRI: Can you confirm that Out Run 2019 for the Mega Drive was originally going to be Cyber Road for the Mega CD?
TS: It was. Another working title for the game was Junker's High, but there were unfortunate connotations to this name elsewhere, so we were leaning more towards Cyber Road. It was SIMS that decided to change the name to Out Run 2019.
GDRI: Even though it was not originally going to be called Out Run 2019, obviously Out Run was the inspiration, was it not?
TS: COMING SOON!
GDRI: You are credited as "Visual Director" and "Director of Photography" on Out Run 2019. Does that just mean you were in charge of graphics?
TS: COMING SOON!
GDRI: "Hertz Corp." is mentioned in the credits of the beta version of Junker's High, but not in the final version of Out Run 2019 (though it is still in the ROM). Did someone ask that be taken out?
TS: COMING SOON!
GDRI: Have you ever seen this? [3]
TS: COMING SOON!
GDRI: Did only Hertz work on Vay? I see people I have not seen on other games (but that might just be me).
TS: COMING SOON!
GDRI: So did you have anything to do with the US localization of Vay, or was the company closed by then?
TS: COMING SOON!
GDRI: Have you seen Vay for the iPhone? [4]
I had heard Vay appeared on the iPhone. I'm pretty sure it was the last game by Hertz that was published. After that, a lot of the people working there left and went to another company, and the company was dissolved as upper management had oppositions to our involvement in game development. A lot of people there, including myself, were pretty angry about the decision.
GDRI: Do you know the name of that company those former Hertz employees started or what they did?
TS: COMING SOON!
GDRI: Was there any difference between developing for computers and developing for consoles?
For Psycho World in particular, because of the hardware limitations of the Master System, the number of stages and story visuals in the game had to be reduced. Five of the eight stages from the original version of the game were used.
Between computers and consoles, there is a significant difference in capacity. At the time, when you were working with a computer, it was possible to compress the main code, or to increase the number of disks. But when you were working on a console, you might be limited to just one megabit, and you had to make all your program would fit in such a small space. You had to work with the CG team to make sure the amount of data was kept down where it needed to be.
I guess today, with the huge capacity of CDs, it's not really a problem on either side.
GDRI: Was there an actual preference at Hertz towards the MSX over the other home computers around at that time?
TS: COMING SOON!
GDRI: Can I assume Hertz had no internal sound staff?
TS: COMING SOON!
GDRI: Do you remember any specific tools or software you used in development?
TS: COMING SOON!
GDRI: Did you have access to the original source code for Out Run, Dynamite Duke, or Tecmo World Cup?
TS: COMING SOON!
GDRI: Do you know who owns the rights to the Hertz games?
TS: COMING SOON!
GDRI: Any games we're missing? [5]
TS: There was a version of Out Run for the X68000 in development that was never announced.
GDRI: Would the X68000 version of Out Run have been self-published had it been released?
TS: COMING SOON!
GDRI: Is Hertz the only game company for which you worked?
TS: Yes. After I left Hertz, I became a lecturer on game design at an art school.
GDRI: What does "B.T.S" mean?
TS: "B.T.S" was a pen name I used in my student days. The "B" stands for "Black," and the rest is my initials. I used the name in the staff roll of every game I worked on from Hydefos onward.
GDRI: Did you work on any unpublished games?
TS: I worked on the development of a golf game, but it never ended up seeing release.
GDRI: Was that golf game "Polygon Golf?" [6]
TS: Yes, I believe that is the game. The company closed while it was in development.
GDRI: How far along in development was that golf game?
TS: Sorry, I was only involved at the start of that project, so I don't know the particulars.
GDRI: That golf game wasn't Dynamic Country Club, was it? [7]
TS: Like I said, I left the project partway through, but I don't believe it's the same game.
GDRI: Would you say Psycho World was the favorite game you did?
TS: COMING SOON!
GDRI: Do you have any favorite games (non-Hertz)?
TS: COMING SOON!
GDRI: Do you play modern games? What ones?
TS: COMING SOON!
GDRI: Was development work grueling? Were you working on multiple games at once?
TS: COMING SOON!
GDRI: Did you prefer doing original games or ports?
TS: COMING SOON!
GDRI: Would you ever return to the game industry?
TS: COMING SOON!
Thanks to Sugawara-san for his time.
Interview conducted via private message by CRV in December 2008-February 2009. English translation by Dimitri and CRV.
BONUS: Psycho World character design sketches, posted with Sugawara-san's permission for non-commercial use only!
