LOL makes a lot more sense now
This Gamasutra interview with Q? Entertainment's Reo Yonaga is interesting not just for the talk about the history of Tetsuya Mizuguchi's company (and the Sega UGA studio that preceded it), but also for little-known insights about Japanese gaming culture. For example, did you know that there were expansive, gaming bulletin boards populated entirely by women and children? "Because kids are so blunt, for WiFi games that involve rescue missions - you know what I'm talking about - crazy verbal battles break out. "
The most interesting bit of the interview has absolutely nothing to do with Q. Yonaga describes the creation of Route-24's Archime-DS, known here as LOL. "I don't know how many months it took them, but the staff created that game by getting together every Saturday like you would for any extracurricular activity."
LOL seems a bit less ridiculous as a side project that just ended up getting published than as a product created for a market. A multiplayer-only game with no premade content almost seems anti-commercial. But, as a "product of indie activity initiated by existing industry members," it seems very cool.
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