Today’s episode takes us back to the golden age of the arcade, courtesy of one of the true giants of the industry: TAITO. We are celebrating the launch of a new game collection of four classics, which have been re-released and upgraded for fans old and new. The collection includes stone-cold classic Operation Wolf, and it’s sequel Operation Thunderbolt; plus two games less familiar to Western gamers - Night Striker and Space Gun.

To tell us more, we're joined by Yuichi Toyama, producer at TAITO, along with Embracer Freemode's James Wragg, who provides interpretation through the interview. For flow, we have only provided brief excerpts of Yuichi, and homed in on James' interpreting, so apologies to our Japanese-speaking listeners! 

This is a fascinating insight into the development of arcade games from inside the HQ of Taito, giving a brief glimpse into the decision making process around the games, and what they mean in Japan.

Thanks to Overload PR and Clear River Games for setting up and fascilitating the interview. 

 

🔗 Links

Operation Night Strikers on Steam 

Operation Night Strikers on Nintendo

Operation Night Strikers on Clear River Games

 

🎵 Music 

Neon Gaming and Space Technology, by Dope Stuff

Ray Force, Penetration - by Tamayo Kawamoto