Yuji Naka Talks PSO Gamecube Four-Player Mode

Yuji Naka has talked some more about Phantasy Star Online for the Nintendo Gamecube. In particular, he’s revealed how the version’s four-player mode came about – and would you believe it, it’s all because the development team had single machines lined up next to each other.

“At the beginning of the year, our R&D people spent two months just studying the capabilities of the Gamecube,” Naka-san said in a recent interview. “When we began actual development, we wanted to have something ready for E3. So we began porting Phantasy Star Online, but we wanted to add new features.

“During this time, our staff had several machines lined up side by side, so we could discuss things while we played. We enjoyed it so much, we decided to include the four-player split-screen mode. We’re still trying to decide the best way to split up the screen and make the multiplayer mode work.”

Naka-san also revealed that Sonic Team is working on several other new features for PSO Gamecube, but stopped short of saying exactly what those features would be.

The Sonic Stadium may link to retailers and earn a small commission on purchases made from users who click those links. These links will only appear in articles related to the product, in an unobtrusive manner, and do not influence our editorial decisions in any way.

Published by

Dreadknux

Founder of The Sonic Stadium and creator/co-organiser of the Summer of Sonic convention. Loves talking about Sonic the Hedgehog in his spare time. Likes Sonic Colours a little too much for his own good, apparently.