Interview with Tecmo Super Bowl creators

[ragu0012]

Enjoy, and let me know if you have any questions.

 

http://louraguse.com/2016/02/the-fathers-of-tecmo-super-bowl/

 

[DFM]

Their story is so wild. Cool article. We are working on a similar piece with these two. More Q&A style. It should be fun to compare notes!

 

[RetroNathan]

38 minutes ago, ragu0012 said:

Enjoy, and let me know if you have any questions.

 

http://louraguse.com/2016/02/the-fathers-of-tecmo-super-bowl/

 

 

Great article, fantastic insight to the creators and what drove them to make the game. Nice work.

[buck]

cool.  thanks for this.

[drake]

“Honestly, I was unaware that it was being played so much as to have a tournament for it. I am extremely happy to know that it has survived 25 years from the release and is still being loved by people. At the same time, I have nothing but gratitude to the fans of Tecmo Super Bowl and want to thank them from the bottom of my heart.”

 

I know life goes on and all...though it's strange that in such a connected world that he was oblivious to the game's cult following.

 

Great interview!

[Leonardite]

This is awesome, Lou.  Major props for tracking these guys down.

[segathonsov]

Quote

Reviewing their goals for Tecmo Super Bowl, I think it’s safe to say their most important one was to create replay value.

“We wanted to create a game that is playable for long amounts of time. At the time there were many games that were [no longer enjoyable] once completed, so we wanted to create a game that could be played over and over,” Shimoji said.

Great Job.

[ragu0012]

1 hour ago, davefmurray said:

Their story is so wild. Cool article. We are working on a similar piece with these two. More Q&A style. It should be fun to compare notes!

 

Dave give me a call when you have a chance.  I want to let you know the aspects I had trouble communicating with them so you can take a stab at it!

[ragu0012]

44 minutes ago, drake said:

“Honestly, I was unaware that it was being played so much as to have a tournament for it. I am extremely happy to know that it has survived 25 years from the release and is still being loved by people. At the same time, I have nothing but gratitude to the fans of Tecmo Super Bowl and want to thank them from the bottom of my heart.”

 

I know life goes on and all...though it's strange that in such a connected world that he was oblivious to the game's cult following.

 

Great interview!

 

I was shocked too... but it is strange how Google works.  If you search for Shimoji on google.com, hardly anything shows up. But if you search google.jp, using translation -- then you can find more. I assume the opposite is true too -- so in Japan they were not as directly linked to our pages as you might imagine.

[bruddog]

Awesome interview! Thanks!

[DFM]

33 minutes ago, ragu0012 said:

Dave give me a call when you have a chance.  I want to let you know the aspects I had trouble communicating with them so you can take a stab at it!

 

Will do, man. Thanks!

[bruddog]

This is one of the craziest parts of the story to me....

 

 

"Then, seven months later, this man wrote back to tell me he located the other Akihiko Shimoji, who was working for a phone app game development company in Okinawa.

Seriously. If a Japanese journalist was trying to hunt me down in America, do you think Bizarro Lou Raguse would care enough seven months later to still help him out? This gentleman provided me a link with an email address, and that’s how I finally reached the father of Tecmo Super Bowl."

[BO FB Offtackle Left]

"And the weather—depending on the season, if it rained, or snowed. And maybe if it was cold, showing the players’ breath becoming white,” Tomie said."

 

People on this site were developing a weather hack. Did that ever get completed?  

[ragu0012]

Both Shimoji and Tomie were very grateful for the interview and the interest it received. I just got a fun response from Tomie worth sharing. He checked out tecmomadison.com and watched the NFL films video. He was shocked to see Emmett Smith and Christian Okoye on there (and was a little confused because he thought it implied they were at the Madison tourney.) Here is the rest of his response. Does someone want to start a fund to get these guys to a tourney here in the U.S.????

 

 

"Thank you for the wonderful article. I do not understand English, so I read it by using a translation website. I may not have understood it correctly, but I understood in some way. I was also surprised to feel for the excitement of championship. I didn't understand what was said in the video, but I was very moved. At the same time, it brought back passionate feelings I had at the time of development of TSB. If there is a chance, I would love to come to the United States and watch games. I am really happy and grateful that you have kept loving Tecmo Super Bowl. I hope my feelings will reach fans. Thank you very much."

 

[palmcd]

Great article

Thanks for the research

[qbvikings]

Somebody should create a kick starter campaign to fund these guys creating a new improved TSB.

[segathonsov]

This sounds like a perfect opportunity for 1 more Madison Tourney.  Need to get @bruddog and these guys together.

[BO FB Offtackle Left]

1 hour ago, segathonsov said:

This sounds like a perfect opportunity for 1 more Madison Tourney.  Need to get @bruddog and these guys together.

 

Also cxrom and jstout if anyone knows how to reach those guys.

[DT.]

I got 50 bones on airfare for getting Shimoji or Tomie to Tecmo XIII or Tecmo Rebirth  I....

 

I feel like everyone would chip in at least 5, some heavy hitters could chip in a lot, and then they could cover the rest....

 

It seems like this can and should happen.

 

...yes and then get them to stick around and make a sequel.

Edited March 3, 2016 by DT.