Any IREM frans ? An AA member is meeting up with a prior IREM employee in Japan...

andykmv

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Any IREM frans ? An AA member is meeting up with a prior IREM employee in Japan...

Aussie Arcade member Hollo is meeting up with a prior IREM employee to talk to him about his irem days etc.

if anyone would like to put forward any questions of interest that Hollo can ask, please post them here!

you will have to be quick though, this process started about 4 weeks ago, and meetings are being arranged......

please refer to the excerpt below from the AA thread for more info (a quick/dirty "save as text")...
======================================
(Hollo)
Well, had an interesting meeting yesterday at work....
Turns out a PhD candidate in one of my classes (early 50s, but back at grad
school for the aim of starting his own business) was an employee at Irem
during Japan's game heyday!
I mentioned that there is a growing home arcade scene in Aus., and also that
Barcades seem to be making a comeback with the old-school games being the
focus. He was pretty interested to hear about that.
I will be meeting up with him again in the coming weeks, and I have already
expressed an eagerness to speak with any of the guys from Irem involved in
any of the big titles, to which he seemed keen to help with (could be just
Japanese politeness though).
Man, did my jaw hit the ground when he said "have you ever heard of Irem -
that's where I was working". Very cool stuff.
I am hoping that I might have a good connection in to at the very least get
some promo material with this guy. I did mention that friends of mine back
home (and me) are very interesting in obtaining a few of the early item from
Irem even now. I could see the pride and surprise in him.

QN:
Ask him about the IPM days please. Would like some more info
on the name change from IPM to IREM, if indeed the rumours are true.
QN:
Hey mate, I have a question i'd like to ask him if
possible.
It refers to the relationship between Irem and Broderbund a US company.
Irem converted some of their games for arcade & console such as Lode Runner.

How did this relationship come about? and when they did the conversions -
did they use the original code or did they reconstruct it?

QN:
Hey SPL, I have been contacted by Mr Staypuft
regarding his writing of an article based on interviews from the guy I know,
plus others if I can source them - he has had interest from Retro-Gamer
already I hear.
I am hoping to line-up a visit to Irem, but I am not sure of how possible
this will be yet. The guy I am in contact with seems pretty keen though, so
if that all goes ahead then hopefully many questions will be answered.
StayPuft will be getting the questions together, so hopefully he's keeping a
close eye on this thread. Spoke with my contact yesterday, and he mentioned
that he plans to put me in touch with person who was head of development on
a few titles - not sure which titles yet. This guy still works there by the
sounds of it.
It's all happening! The only thing is that holidays are coming up next week,
so there is no chance of me getting to see anyone for a few weeks or so.
Looking good though. Quick Reply Reply With Quote

Yes, as Hollo mentioned, there is potentially (no guarantee)
some interest from RG mag in this subject. Depends on many factors, of
course. Either way, I'd be sharing the information with the AA members in
some form.
But let's not rush... better to take this one step at a time and find some
good information, rather than just rush. It's so very, very hard to talk to
the old Japanese arcade devs, so let's make the most of it.
Thanks again to Hollo for opening up this wonderful opportunity for the
Aussie Arcade community. Great stuff.
Short update....
Got a chance to speak to the guy in more detail today (first time in a fair
while) and things are looking damn good.
Turns out a person I will be introduced to soon was a lead project director
working in Irem - latest titles being R-Type Final (PS2) and R-Type Tactics
(PSP), and this particular guy has left Irem to start his own production
house. This guy is looking for some coverage and after he was told there
might be a chance of an article he is keen to meet me.
Also we got on to the topic of how some of the big names in Japanese
production have left - Capcom guys ring bells here. Turns out he has had
contact with many of the industry leaders - including big names behind
titles like Street Fighter II.
Anyway, I should be seeing him next Friday (schedule permitting this is) so
hopefully I can get some things moving - just a pity I have real work to do
as well...
Short update....
Got a chance to speak to the guy in more detail today (first time in a fair
while) and things are looking damn good.
Turns out a person I will be introduced to soon was a lead project director
working in Irem - latest titles being R-Type Final (PS2) and R-Type Tactics
(PSP), and this particular guy has left Irem to start his own production
house. This guy is looking for some coverage and after he was told there
might be a chance of an article he is keen to meet me.
Also we got on to the topic of how some of the big names in Japanese
production have left - Capcom guys ring bells here. Turns out he has had
contact with many of the industry leaders - including big names behind
titles like Street Fighter II.
Anyway, I should be seeing him next Friday (schedule permitting this is) so
hopefully I can get some things moving - just a pity I have real work to do
as well...
Sounds darn exciting. Looking forward to whatever eventuates.

If all questions could be posted in the thread here it will help. I will
then ask Staypuft to put them all together in one file as he will be the guy
writing the thing up. Hopefully this isn't getting bigger than you can
handle though StayPuft - this guy I will be introduced to means business.
I'd like to have something to show them that you've done, so could you send
me something you've had published in the past.
I am getting pretty excited about meeting this guy I have to say. Also some
of the people in his software house have some interesting backgrounds too
apparently.
 
QN: I'd like to know a bit more history about MOON PATROL, specially the stories of the design, initial details about the game that may or may not have made it, the relationship between IREM and Williams. Were there other arcade games at IREM during the 80s in prototype or early design stage that never make it to full production? If so, what were the titles.... were any rom images, artwork, produced for these games?

Is this IREM contact in AU or in the states?
 
Great.

Since he's in Japan... I would be curious if the IREM guy would happen to know anyone that worked at Data East (DECO) back during that same time frame of the early-mid 80s.

Was IREM ever interested in producing any laser game titles during the short-lived window of laser arcade games (1983-84)?
 
Please let me know if there is any information on Spelunker, I have been trying to build one for 7 years but have found nothing but the PCB board. I played the game growing up in Maine, USA and have not seen it since. I'm curious if it was a Japan only release.
 
Unrelated but I wish there was a database of japanese cabinets. It seems that in Japan since the candy revolution they stopped making custom cabinets, which fine, but there were some awesome cabinet designs in the 70's and 80's
 
Ah the shame! I thought this was a new thread! I was going to ask him to comment how it felt as a developper to be stuck behind the 'anonymous curtain' that '80 game companies imposed on their employees. If you guys remember game credits and ending sequence of the time, they would never list the real names of the coders and artists, as game companies were afraid of getting their talent recruited!
 
here is hollo's reponse today, so timely you posted your question now just before a meeting! i'll post your question to Hollo and on the thread too.
>> Originally Posted by andykmv
any morsels to offer yet hollo ? klov guys are keen to hear news!
smile.gif


>>HOLLO:

Not yet Andy, but it's strange you bring it up as I am meeting the guy who is introducing me tomorrow and we are setting a date. The plan is to have the Irem guys come to my office for a chat and they will also be meeting one researcher doing interface design as well, from there a possible plan is to head out for drinks and dinner.

I think due to the wait I am a bit nervous about meeting them now, but I am so looking forward to it as well. You guys will know anything as soon as I do.
Tigerstyle - Question posted on thread and PM'd to Hollo! he was still online when i did so should hopefully get your question in time too!
 
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Unrelated but I wish there was a database of japanese cabinets. It seems that in Japan since the candy revolution they stopped making custom cabinets, which fine, but there were some awesome cabinet designs in the 70's and 80's

Question posted on thread and pm'd to hollo! he's still onliine and u got in just in time i hope!
 
quote_icon.png
Originally Posted by Hollo
The first meeting I am not planning to drill them with questions anyway - it's better if I just get to know them first. These guys are insanely busy since starting their new software company in April and the last thing they will probably want to talk about is Irem and the old days.

Anyway, tomorrow (fingers crossed) I should have a solid date. Just hope our schedules finally mesh.
smile.gif

 
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quote_icon.png
Originally Posted by Hollo

Well, met the guy who will be introducing me an hour or so ago, and it looks like I will finally meet these guys in the first or second week of August. Still undecided if they will come and see me here, or I will go to them - either way it's not far off now. :cool:
 
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Update - for those itching for Irem news...

quote_icon.png
Originally Posted by Hollo
Well...... Where to start....
I finally had the chance to visit Granzella (the company started by some of the former talent from Irem) and my first impressions are that these guys are so damn busy! They are working into the early hours everyday and being that they are a fresh company with only a dozen or so members (and a contract with Sony - one of the smallest companies to do so I was told) they have to fight hard to keep up.

As I mentioned before, the initial meeting was really just to touch base and see if I could make good contacts. Long story short is that I've been invited back, not only to ask more detailed questions and help get them out more publicly, but also to just play the games they are developing! We didn't talk much about Irem as a company (we did talk about a few classics though - MoonPatrol, KungFuMaster, R-Type), but we did talk about the current state of the games industry in Japan and where they are heading as a company. One thing that surprised me was that they were completely unaware that people outside of Japan were even talking about Granzella, but they do plan to have an international presence.

Kujo Kazuma (a key guy behind R-Type Final and Disaster Report) was a really friendly guy - he was the guy who invited me to play their games. I had a photo taken with him and it was cool as he wouldn't do it without his trademark sunnies. Really humble, but really energetic guy.

They are keen for a proper interview with more detailed questions, but of course they would like to talk about their company as much as possible.

Some other news.... The topic of arcade machines came up, so I asked if anyone there still has contacts that could help sourcing gameboards and the good news is they do! I was told to give them a few names and they would see what they could do.

Well, that's about it for this first meeting. It went pretty well, and it looks like the ball is well and truly rolling!
smile.gif


more to come soon guys...
 
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