NowGamer talks to NanaOn-Sha's Masaya Matsuura, creator of Parappa The Rapper and arguably the entire rhythm action genre

Can you explain how NanaOn-Sha got started, and why you set out to combine music and video games?

I originally established NanaOn-Sha around 15 years ago as a means to support my musical activities, although at the time I never envisaged that it would end up as the company you know today. Although I would say that it was only with the advent of games development that NanaOn-Sha finally started to become a proper enterprise!

When I made my record début as a musician in the mid 80's, the way we experienced music was undergoing a turbulent change thanks to the arrival of CD's and MTV. Whilst I was a product of that era, I wouldn't be lying if I said that I was uncomfortable with it all back then.

For example, whilst I say that I was engaged as a musician, I was never comfortable when asked to perform in front of cameras - more like an actor than a musician. And as for CD's, I truly feel that it is only recently - more than 10 years after their mainstream adoption - that we have been able to get a satisfying quality of sound from them. I think that we have merely gotten used to CD sound. Even now I am unable to fully shake off these feelings of unease.

Amongst these circumstances, bundled with my fascination with computer-based music creation, I started to believe that in order to realise the sounds I aspired to, I would have to choose and develop the media myself.

The biggest advantage of expressing music through computers is that you can shape your sound  by gathering, comparing and editing multiple sounds with relative ease.

Thanks to these strengths we saw a rapid growth in the area, to the extent that audio editing tools are nowadays fairly standardised. Whilst this is undoubtedly a good thing, it also brings by a paradox wherein the deeper we dig in this direction, the range of our musical expressions eventually become narrower.

Looking back now, I think that what drew me to the concept of interactive media is the notion that the player can experience a sense of joint ownership by taking part in the musical expression, which I believe breaks the paradox.

What sort of music do you listen to? And what kind of music do you find inspiring?

As always, I continue to listen to 70's music. I'm sure that I will continue to be inspired by it in the future, in as much as it's a style of music that fits well with my ideals.

Do you ever think about returning to making music records, or are you happy working with video games?

I still make music, albeit at a very relaxed rate. Occasionally, I'll make a compilation of tracks, burn them to CD-R, design a hand-made jacket and distribute them to close musical friends - but they have exceedingly discerning tastes, so whether they enjoy them or not is a different matter!

As you know the Japanese video game sector is experiencing some decline. How is NanaOn-Sha doing at the moment in this environment? Do you think your company could be an attractive prospect for bigger developers looking to expand?

NanaOn-Sha has mostly confined itself to making products in the music game genre, and we have never really harbored ambitions to expand in the ways of the major enterprises.

It is certainly true that the industry as a whole is experiencing some tough times due to external factors. As for us, people have come to expect from us a certain level of originality, and we are only concerned with creating works that respond to these expectations. I don't think that these goals are heavily influenced by such external factors. As such it's down to us to continue to push ourselves as best we can to create innovative and appealing contents.

On top of this, in recent years our development style has seen a shift in focus so that nowadays we concentrate much more on the early stages and architecture of the project. By adopting this style, we are able to spread the risk with outside collaborators.

In addition, we have revised our corporate business style in order to respond flexibly to the needs of a global market.

A lot of people in the industry are worried about Japan falling behind the west in terms of game technology. What do you think about this issue? Do you think it's a serious problem for Japanese developers?

Sure, it's a reality. It's showing a similar pattern to the rapid expansion of CG technology in the 90's, although I would perhaps suggest that it's just a case that Japanese aren't as excited by such things!

I think that this domestic technology slowdown is a serious problem, and for this reason wisdom, ideas and the seeking out of new paradigms becomes all the more important.

For example, as I mentioned earlier, thanks to our recent shift towards the planning side of development, we have become much more liberated from technological constraints. Things are much more comfortable here now that we can develop for any platform that we choose and simply focus on the planning phase.

What is your opinion of the current state of the rhythm action genre? Are you happy with the direction the genre has taken with the likes of Guitar Hero and Rock Band?

It pleases me from the bottom of my heart to see the current success enjoyed by titles like GH and RB. The dream I envisaged 15 years ago, of music games gaining mass appeal, has to a degree become a reality. Also, we have managed to avoid the moniker of simply being labeled as the creators of bizarre games!

It seems that outside of Guitar Hero and Rock Band, we're seeing little impact from other rhythm action games these days.

Why did you decide to go with marching band music for Major Minor's Majestic March? And what has been like working with Rodney Alan Greenblat again (the artist who worked on Parappa the Rapper)?

As with PaRappa, the process of turning a simple concept into a concrete product is very difficult to explain.

One influence is the brass bands of New Orleans and American Colleges, another the new opportunities presented by the Wii. There truly are countless reasons. As for Rodney, well, his designs have a unique quality wherein just by seeing them they turn your body's happy switch to "ON". Whether it's PaRapper or Major Minor, I'm thankful to have such a rare quality evident in my games.

What do you think the future of rhythm action games will look like? Do you think the genre has reached its peak, or are there other avenues that developers have yet to explore?

As I mentioned, to me "Rhythm Action" can be viewed as nothing more than a gateway to the endless possibilities that music games hold. We truly hope that our fellow developers can help to unlock the potential of this blooming genre.