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Seaman: History of the appearance of fish with the face of a Japanese game designer

At the sunset of the 90s, an exhibition organized by one of the popular Boulevard newspapers was opened in Tokyo in Tokyo. The general public presented shocking finds found in the waters of the Nile. The biological expedition found a mysterious creature, the study of which could open the veil of the secrets of the past. Talking fish with a human face, named Habibi de Kimo.

The sensational discovery unexpectedly caused an unimaginable panic among the descendants of the samurai. The Japanese, with pleasure tasting stories about a gigantic, renovated lizard, were terribly scared of man and carp. It was in such a strange, terrifying way to the SEGA company that the new project of the game designer Utaka Saito (斉藤 由多加) called Seaman.

All fiery hello, in touch with Cheezzy Violet beard, and let’s dive deeper into a digital aquarium. After all, at the very bottom, sea monkeys invented by American traders are waiting for us, partisan fun of the Japanese gamemarator, and hatred of Pokemon.

Advertising of the game Seaman. YouTube channel: IDKG – I Donat Know Games. The name of the video: Seaman Japanese Adverts – シーマン 日本 日本

Success at the peak of a skyscraper

People who are familiar with the game about the Human Royba, saying Seaman, implies, first of all, the geima -designer of Utatak Saito. After all, it was he who gave the world such a crazy project for European society. A virtual aquarium in which a selfish impudent and straightforward creature lives.

Therefore, to ignore the person of the gameplay, to bypass it – means to discard the huge layer of history. Moreover, not just part of the story about a strange, eccentric game, which once received fame among the Hijis thanks to the review of James Rolf, and stories about the whole, as many media outlets were expressed, social phenomenon.

A few decades ago, a very young Sito, who had just said with high school, enters the University of Vasded at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering. An educational institution, in which it was lucky to hold its student years to the future game designer, is rightfully considered one of the most prestigious throughout Japan. Among his graduates are many politicians, athletes, and creative personalities. The most famous for a European person is perhaps a talented writer Haruki Murakami.

Anthem of the University of Vasdead. YouTube channel: 早稲田大学グリークラブ. The name of the video: 早稲田大学第一応援歌「紺碧の空」【歌詞字幕付き】 早稲田大学グリークラブ

Utaka Sito diligently gnaws at the granite stone of architectural disciplines. In the breaks between training and student roasting, the future game designer plays into a urban planning simulator Simcity On the computer Macintosh. The construction and development of the virtual city not only deeply sinks into his soul, but also determines the further vector of life. Although at that time the student did not even suspect about this.

Having received an education, Utaka Saito heads over in a pool of labor relations. The employer has nothing to do with the games one of the days sets the task for the young employee to develop a building model as part of the media project. And here, as various sources say, the game designer was overwhelmed. Bruttered.

A creative impulse that suddenly burst into everyday life, whose importunity was aggravated by a frantic love for Simcity, found its reflection in the task. Utaka Sito creates for the employer not just a model of the necessary structure, but a whole simulator. Many authors in Golosin repeat that this particular project became the debut of the Japanese Igrodel. However, there are versions on the Internet, as it seems to us, and more correctly.

Enchanted by the work of Utaka Saito creates a very raw version of the tower simulator. For a full -fledged game, a project, well, is not good, but the customer is quite suitable. Moreover, so fits into his commercial activity that he proposes to continue cooperation. A contract with one business company loomed on the horizon. But Sito refuses the offer, firmly deciding to leave for free bread.

Having received freedom from labor shackles, our hero is enlisted by the support of the freelancer-programmist Takumi Abe and organizes his own game studio. A company whose mission is the embodiment of the original ideas of Yutak Saito.

Because, as I mentioned earlier, I like complex simulators. The more complicated the topic, the more in it what no other creator did, the more she interested me.

Utaka Saito (translation – Yandex translator)

The full ambition of Utaka Saitaka takes as a basis for a debut game his raw project, written by the former customer. Thriteral work begins to create an unusual skyscraper simulator.

The young inexperienced game designer in creative heat was so full that, longing for realism in the virtual world, contacted one of the elevator companies. Playl without any evil intent wanted to know about the nuances of the lifting system. How the elevators work, how arranged, how their maintenance goes and so on. However, from the side, such curiosity from some passerby looked at least strange. Therefore, it is not surprising that the company still politely refused.

Be that as it may, Utaka Saito, in the process of development, expanding the number of employees of the company, issues a debut project. Game under the laconic name The Tower (ザ・タワ) for Windows and Macintosh computers.

Gamers were proposed, in the manner of city -building simulators, to build the highest skyscraper. A tower, which, in fact, will become a state in a miniature. With its transport infrastructure, embodied in most of the elevators. The economy represented by entrepreneurs, with whom it is necessary to support. As well as local residents consuming existing benefits.

The skyscraper simulator in the blink of an eye conquered the hearts of many Japanese gamers. Stunning success was enshrined in one of the largest media corporations in the country that awarded The Tower Prize of the best young developer of the year. But on this the effect of a happy ticket of the pulled Utak Sito did not end.

Having found about the popular gaming novelty, the Haizins hastened to attach their own wallet to a commercially profitable project. The American company Maxis contacted Saito and agreed on the implementation of its simulator outside Japan. Having received consent, the descendants of Uncle Sam renamed The Tower V Simtower, Thus connected the game with the popular line of virtual city building. Sales immediately took off to heaven.

The debut project of Utaka Saitaka brought its creator not only money, bonuses, but also respect in the eyes of many world -class. And this, for a minute, is much more important, because, unlike awards and dirty pieces of paper, it opens much more opportunities.

On the verge of foul

With Seaman, the main idea was that if my pet could speak. What would he say?

Utaka Saito (translation – Yandex translator)

The company Utaka Saito, having received good money, expanding on the state, led several projects at once. One of them was a logical continuation of the sensational game about the construction of a skyscraper. True, running forward, we note that she no longer brought world success.

Yes, at home The Tower II Gamers appreciated how an acceptable product of their time. But outside the country of the rising sun, a project, called Yoot Tower, I didn’t quite like. There are several reasons for this. As a change of publisher, apparently led to the disappearance of SIM postscript, and completely insignificant differences from the first part. In addition, updates and the version supplied to the world market did not receive, which can not be said about the original.

By the way, while they plowed the Internet space in search of the necessary information a couple of times a couple of times, Alya reviews, in which the authors are completely seriously called Yoot Tower, In fact, a pirate converted clone Simtower. Quite fascinating reading, however.

Another project that Utaka Saito’s company worked on was a simulator, or software on Macintosh, was either a simulator. In it, users had to grow tropical fish in the aquarium. For what? Why? History is modestly silent. Although some media suggest that this is most likely a series of simulators Aquazone (アクアゾーン), the truth of the exact evidence of this theory, unfortunately, is not. But there are detailed evidence that the head of the company, who was striving for realism, set a real aquarium with living fish in the studio, so that employees could calmly observe their behavior. So.

Once, at the dinner of Utak, Saito talked at ease with his subordinates. It was about the designed project about tropical fish. A joke for a joke, and now the head of the studio, who was deceased by the conversation, carelessly throws the phrase, they say we would saw this program for ourselves, then I definitely did something wild in it. Crazy. In response, of course, the subordinates, surprised, asked: “What exactly, boss?»A pause hung.

You know, probably, in the life of each of us, similar situations took place. When you sit the most relaxed in the company of acquaintances, there, friends, colleagues and decided to give up a ma-a-alia right. Embellish a little story told, put up to expose yourself in a glanced light. But there is some particularly gifted attentive listener who is not, no, but he will ask a question that instantly puts you at a dead end. At the same time, turning from an interesting interlocutor into a meme.

Something similar happened from Utak Saito. Buying excess, he began to urgently grab all thoughts in his head. Frantically looking for the most crazy among ideas, the game designer remembered a certain popular comedian whose chip was an appeal to viewers. During the performance, he turned to the operator, the video camera ran in, and he pronounced his joke. The way out was found.

Hard of his ingenuity, Utaka Saito put forward the idea, they say, what if we directed the camera to the fish floating in the aquarium and allowed the user to talk to it? What would the pet say about? The advanced concept seemed to subordinate, at least, strange. But Utak Saito, who was twisted from the awkward situation, was no longer stopped. He hastily invented disgrace with talking fish, he suggested calling Seaman (sailor, naval man), since Sea-monkeys still did not fit, and indeed was busy.

Well, here we are simply forced to move away https://gamesnotongamstop.co.uk/review/betfoxx/ from the game designer for a short time with his stormy imagination, but to turn our eyes on the marketing monkeys advanced by marketerists. On Sea-Monkeys. For the advertisers turned the noble to the scam.

Sea monkeys bringing gold

Planktonic crustaceans inhabiting sea shallow water and salty lakes, called Artemia, were discovered for a long time. Humanity, having studied miserable creatures along and across, very quickly found their use in the form of nutritious food for aquarium fish. However, it was worth it on the horizon to loom the traders, as everything changed.

American sold Harold von Brownhut I saw in planktonian creatures the potential, which allowed the population to easily take away funds. In principle, knowing that he calmly packed the children with x -ray glasses, with which you can supposedly look through clothes, you are not particularly surprised at its peculiar commercial vein.

Torgash, having secured the support of a marine biologist, develops a mixture in 1957, which turns ordinary tap water into a suitable habitat for small artemia. After which he begins an advertising company for the sale of instant life (Instant Life). It was under this name that he realized at first of these crustaceans.

But, apparently, the trade was not very good, therefore, in 1962, plankton beings receive a new name-sea monkeys (Sea-Monkeys). The change of name was motivated by the fact that Aremia had a tail similar to monkey. As they say, we willingly believe.

One rebranding, of course, was not limited to. Harold von Brownhut decided to hit all the guns by purchasing tons of advertising. From the beginning of 1960 to 1970, sea monkeys are actively promoting children from the pages of dozens of popular comics. Moreover, crustacean creatures are depicted in the form of a happy family of humanoid aliens.

Later, television was replaced by printing products, which also did not stand aside. After all, everyone wanted to touch the endless source of wealth. And so, from 70 to 80 years, children’s programs present planktonic creatures to their small spectators under the sauce of cool home experiments.

Utaka Sito, born at the end of 1962, found the peak of the popularity of sea monkeys. In this connection, it is not surprising that the idea of ​​growing in the aquarium of a speaker was associated, first of all, with Sea-Monkeys. Crustacean organisms sold everywhere, in fact, prompted the Japanese gagodel to the name Seaman.

In fact, the story with impudent strangling children under the guise of unusual creatures of plankton is not only more deeper, but also continues. Now, despite the fact that more than 50 years have passed since the development of the mixture, you can safely find whole colonies of naval monkeys on online adigns, wrapped in motley, bright packages. As if buy, grow, rejoice. But there was a not robbed diamond in this marketing trap and there remains a game of the PS1 console – The Amazing Virtual Sea-Monkeys. However, this is a slightly different story, which, perhaps, we will tell the next time.

A little gameplay The Amazing Virtual Sea-Monkeys. YouTube channel: Gaming Exhibit. The name of the video: Amazing Virtual Sea -Monkeys – PlayStation [Longplay]

Between the hammer and the anvil

Having talked with subordinates and chuckled from the heart, laughing at the idea of ​​a speaking fish, Utaka Saito returned home. Then no one could even think that the joke would disperse into something more. For they laughed, but forgot. There are nothing to talk about the usual conversations during the working day.

However, the idea of ​​a virtual pet refused to leave the gear of the game designer. She literally required attention. In this connection, Sito not only shared the idea of ​​a project with his wife, but also painted a small concept. The wife, having heard her husband, issued her verdict – this is a very strange and vulgar thing that necessarily needs to be embodied.

Thus, the company Utaka Sito began to develop a project under the code name for Macintosh computers Seaman. True, it is a little incomprehensible what exactly the studio officers were corrupted? In some interviews, it is immediately announced about the prototype of the game, but in others – about the program for instant messaging. Well, roughly speaking, for understanding, about a peculiar version of Mail agent. Moreover, the second assumption seems more believable, because, almost immediately after the release, the studio set to create this program.

Initially, Utaka Sito of special hopes for Seaman Not laid. Like another project that your studio is working on. Although impulsively born. Nothing, in short, unusual. Especially when things are happening around a world scale around.

Catching good luck by the tail of Saito, negotiating with the Nintendo company about creating a game for their platform. But something fathers of the mustachioed plumber Mario were slowly hesitated, because of which they were quite sharply bypassed in a bend.

The Japanese game designer, composer and marketer from God jumped Kenji Iino (飯野 賢治), who offered our hero to see one interesting man. The intrigued Utaka Saito, of course, agreed, in connection with which a fateful meeting with the SEGA vice president took place- Sheitiro Irimadziri (入交 昭一郎).

The result of this meeting was an agreement on the further cooperation of companies. Sheitiro Irimadziri, who recently left the post of President Honda in the United States, traveled around the world in search of unusual projects. He believed that SEGA should focus on original games for the final victory over competitors. And the concept Seaman Ideally suited for his idea.

Having agreed to release the speaking fish on a new console called Katana, now known as DreamCast, the subordinates of Utatak Sito began to adapt the prototype. Transferring developments from the Macintosh computer to the SEGA platform invented by a secretly platform.

The obligations that have arisen to the parents of high -speed blue hedgehog did not interfere with the communication of Utak Saito with their direct competitors. The cunning game designer was quietly continued with a dialogue with Nintendo. Moreover, he is during the creation Seaman completely fearlessly shared some achievements. Mario followers in the person Sigar Miyamoto (宮本 茂) and Takashi Tadzuka (手塚 卓志), having familiarized themselves with the prototypes, they even gave advice to their inexperienced colleague in the workshop. In general, Sito guerrillas in full.

According to his memories, practically on the day of release Seaman At the Dreamcast console, Siger Miyamoto was shown in one of the magazines in a personalized T -shirt of the project about talking fish. Which is undoubtedly surprising, given the direct competition of companies. But even more surprising is the events that occurred after.

When Seaman, Appearing in the market, stormed the hearts of gamers, Sito unexpectedly contacted Utaka Satoror Ivat (岩田 聡), who at that time at that time as an employee of the Nintendo presidential office. During a personal meeting, he offered the hemdester cooperation, since, attention, their organization was looking for new types of games.

Yes, only think. Mario fathers, by incredible coincidence, acted exactly as their competitors. We walked along a beaten sega track, looking for original projects. Be that as it may, Utaka Saito, not for a second without hesitation, agreed to the proposal. However, let’s rewind the time ago, because Seaman There is still something to surprise us.

No Pokemon!

Despite the fact that initially Seaman was one of several projects that the Utaka Sito team worked on. Despite the fact that according to the first, the concept of the game itself began to cause a gamemerator discomfort. Nevertheless, a virtual aquarium with a talking fish spilled over a result in a very personal work. The reason for this is a non -standard, one might say, hidden approach to development.

The game, like once flat ground, is based on three unshakable pillars. On the three principles laid down by the Utak Sito and his loved ones of his life philosophy.

Firstly, the game designer decided to immediately abandon a cute, pretty pet. No fluffy lovely creatures, looking like just launched Pokemon. Either on the black and white tamagochi enjoyable to the eye. No, the gamer must experience hatred, anger for aquarium fish. One type of pet must cause disgust, figuratively – to turn a person inside out. Vibrant emotion. For, according to Utak Sito, love, sympathy, the opposite is not the hatred, but exclusively indifference.

In those long -past years, the world of entertainment was already choked in cute, mimic animals, which was extremely difficult to distinguish from each other. But the vile, disgusting creatures, which should be careed in the virtual space was not particularly observed.

The second principle of the game resulted, in fact, from the passion of Utak Sito to complex simulators. Seaman, According to his idea, he was obliged to enter into the framework of realism. Moreover, this requirement applied to both the environment and the elements of the interaction of a gamer with a virtual pet. That is, no fantasy, fabulous assumptions.

Yes, in reality, there is no speaking fish with a human face, but evolution could well create something similar. And the stages of the development of the pet, albeit poisoningly frightening, but are not alien to nature. For there are cases of reproduction, and growing up of individual individuals of animals is much worse.

As for the elements of interaction, Yutaka Sito tried, if possible, to throw out the menu window from the project and any extra text. Indeed, in reality, if someone wants to look at the fish, then it is simple, elementarily approached the aquarium. At the same time, there will be no inscriptions, or a scoreboard in a pocket in front of him. And the most interesting thing – no matter how you want, no matter how you want, the pet will not grow faster from this. Everything has its time.

The last point laid down in the granite foundation of the project was to change roles. Gamer should feel that it is not he playing in Seaman, but vice versa. A speaking pancreas living in the bowels of the console occasionally entertains with a person who appears by the screen. Observes a creature that mistakenly considers himself a crown of nature.

Hence the unwillingness of the fish to communicate, and the demonstrative floating into the distance, and the selfish, bad character. However, on the nature of the pet, it was the technological progress that made a much more imprint precisely.

Wow, talking fish!

One of the most important, important chips Seaman There was an incredible opportunity for those years to talk with fish floating in the graphonist aquarium. But, for the sake of justice, honesty, let’s not pull the blanket of genius into the project of Utak Saito. For incredible, far from the exceptional.

A little earlier in 1996, computers with the Windows operating system were released FIN ON TEO the Magic Planet. A game that offers users to make friendship with a very strange creature born of the Dolphin and Bird Union. Gamer had already several ways to interact with a pet. With the help of a keyboard, microphone and even cameras, which was by those standards a huge rarity. In general, we will not be at all surprised if the story remembers similar entertainment projects and older.

And although the example of contact of a gamer with a fictional creature was already in the gaming arena, the creation of a talking fish did not facilitate at all. In our century, when artificial intelligence is every now and then threatens to take the last bread from the humanities, the voice interaction of a person with the program does not seem to be something incredible. Accidentally drop the “Alice”, for example, or “Siri” – instantly you will hear a helpful virtual assistant. However, in the late 90s, the Utak Saitak team had only the SEGA, a special microphone for the DreamCast console, connected to the controller, the speech recognition engine from the Belgian craftsmen, and an endless imagination.

DreamCast console microphone

DreamCast console microphone

According to the game designer, according to whose ovals the pug of the speaker was cast, he completely took over the wearing of humanity humanization. Most of the thoughts, the sayings of the virtual pet are based on daily observations of Utak Sito. In fact, communicating with the strange inhabitant of the aquarium, Gamer talks directly with the Japanese Gagraste himself, which has been said more than once in various interviews.

Starting to work on dialogues, Saito initially thought out the nature of the fish. Yes, the user must experience a strong, vivid, preferably, negative emotion to the essence. However, with all this, the player should in no case be offended by sharp words of arrogant carp.

For the simplicity of composing dialogs, choosing the necessary quotes, the game designer determined the image that helped him not cross the forbidden line. A kind of filter correcting phrases. As it turned out, in a fish body Seaman The thoughts of Utak Sito, missed through the prism of consciousness of the old gloomy lady, are hidden. For the game designer wrote dialogs exclusively under the image of an elderly wise woman.

Of course, a virtual pet invented by Japanese gagodels was very far from artificial intelligence. In fact, the digital code that embodied the console of a rational sandcar only distinguished the words of Gamer, not understanding their meaning.

The illusion of the conversation was achieved by a huge, just the most huge base of prepared phrases. The indefatigable Utaka Sito managed to write several tens of thousands of replicas, while, most importantly, systematizing them.

Working on the text, the game designer tried to predict how exactly he would react, the user would answer the question of the fish, but what he himself would ask for himself. Then, roughly speaking, he formed a chain from the resulting phrases, according to which a resident of a game aquarium was already conducting a conversation.

One of the problems that appeared, stumbling blocks was the sudden realization that it turns out that people communicate far from each other in the literary language. Moreover, many put already with the parting of the literacy of speech, which is why the virtual sand carary was lost, unsuccessfully trying to find the right remark in his library. The moment of emergency amendment has come.

The benefit of voicing the speaking carp volunteered Yutaka Saito himself. Therefore, faced with a dilemma, he simply sighed heavily, headed to his office. Ahead of him was expected by many hours of audience with a comrade microphone.

As for the English version of the game distributed outside the territory of Japan, the transfer of the gamemerator entrusted the SEGA company. For in his modest opinion, only a native speaker of the language, whom business partners promised to find to find, be certainly obliged to voice the character. During the translation, Sito, of course, helped if possible. I outlined the character of the character, there, the meaning of some especially emotional phrases, but it was not climbing into the wilds of someone else’s language.

The only thing is Utaka Sito asked SEGA employees to contact an American actor Leonard Nimoy, Yes, offer him the role of the narrator. History is silent about what talkative managers large uncles from high offices were sent to the artist, but Spock, as a result, decided to get into this adventure.

However, the problems with the implementation of a reasonable fish did not end there. Another dilemma surfaced at the time of the PR action of the game.

War of Worlds: Coursework from the other world

Utaka Sito, almost from the very beginning, understood that in the usual ways Seaman do not advance to the masses. What, of course, was immediately said to the guys from Sega. Still, such an original game required a more reverent approach, if the usual marketing tricks. The decision was the action that frightened the descendants of the samurai, which we talked about at the very beginning. The incident, by the way, reminded us of one bike with the radio feeding of the science fiction novel by Herbert Wells “War of Worlds”. True, then American listeners who accepted the lines from the work for the real invasion of the aliens were worried.

As you might assume, one action did not end with one action. Utaka Sito, together with their partners, created a whole frightening legend compared by a gamed -designer in terms of the scale of mystification only with the film “Witch from Blair: Coursework from the other world “.

To understand, this low -budget horror was promoted as a documentary work telling about the last days of the life of students who went to look for a sorceress. Like, the actors who participated in the film either died or missed. And already what the Style Ala, an amateur shooting, gave an inexperienced viewer the confidence in the alleged truth of the words said in the advertisement of the words.

So. Utaka of the site wrote a huge story about how the French expedition discovered a mysterious creature in the waters of the Nile. As well as about those who followed the persecution, and the misadventures of the scientist who dug up talking fish. Indeed, as it should be of any little theory of conspiracies, grandiose discoveries are necessarily accompanied by prohibitions and attempts of villains to step on the throat of Pravda. The company Sega, in turn, helped to spell a whole site for truthfulness, telling about these events on serious shchais. A little later, the writers’ efforts of the Japanese Igrodel migrated to the manual to the game, taking a decent number of pages in it.

The site telling about the ill -fated expedition

The site telling about the ill -fated expedition

The promotion of the game was successful, as it was, of course, possible. The project was already approaching the release, when an unexpected. People at the event were proposed to chat through a microphone with virtual fish. And everything would be nothing, but only a person is such a creature, periodically irrational. Some are silent in a stressful situation, while others are chattering incessantly, blurting out long phrases. Just the last citizens put an intelligent puke in a dead end.

Trying to figure out dozens of words spoken by man, Karp hung. Apparently realized the futility of being. Then he asked to repeat what was said again. And so time after time, which undoubtedly frustrated the audience who came. It was urgent to do something about it.

It was not possible to radically change the project. Seaman I had to go out. So there could be no speech about any serious interventions in the game. A non -standard approach was needed.

Having grimaced his forehead for several days, the game designer decided to slightly correct the library of the speaker. The request to repeat the phrase immediately went to the trash of history, freeing up more selfish replicas. Now, the virtual pet has repeated something like: “If you do not formulate this easier, then I will not talk to you”. And in the case of ignoring the carp words by the gamer, he exponentially sailed into the distant part of the aquarium. Such behavior fit very well into the declared nature of the fish, while deciding the emerging dilemma.

Leaving the bosom of the development, Seaman Modestly entered the market. Without unnecessary noise, and excitement. And only with the course of time she acquired, according to the media, the status of one of the most popular games on the DreamCast console. However, the project is famous for far from sales. Oh no.

Talking fish that seem to us, Huizins, some kind of wildness, indecent, in her homeland was literally surrounded by love. On radio and television, like mushrooms after rain, a show with the participation of a selfish capricious pet began to appear one after another. Popular comedians in their performances now and then tried on a costume costume. And what happened on the official website ..

People did the hawk for Carp for advice. For example, a pregnant woman, now worries that she was discharged from the hospital. Or the girl shares her experiences before the upcoming wedding. Perhaps, of course, that dozens of such discussions created about 20 years ago, just jokes. Only to us, who made the forums of those years, but the topics are raised there, so for some reason does not seem.

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