Dear Reader:

You are viewing a story from GN Version 4.0. Time may not have been kind to formatting, integrity of links, images, information, etc.

ONM looks at the history/closing of Cing...and the Trace Memory adventure that never happened

by rawmeatcowboy
02 October 2013
GN Version 4.0
- It has been three years since Cing has closed down, March 5th 2010
- In her own words, Suzuki was "Vice President at Cing. It was mainly creative work, and I was in charge of game planning and scenarios."
- She started up a company called Bellwood, which makes smartphone and web apps.
- Bellwood also includes some personnel from Cing and Riverhillsoft she worked with.
- "The reason [Cing went bankrupt] is that a game went into prolonged development and the costs went up, so we ran into cashflow problems"
- The plotline to Last Window: The Secret of Cape West was thought to be similar to Cing's financial difficulties when fans played it. Suzuki explains: "That was just a coincidence." "A very sad coincidence"
- When they were in a pinch, they had many discussion with Nintendo but in the end Cing filed for bankruptcy.
- Nintendo relationship is remembered the most fondly due to Nintendo embracing narrative driven gaming.
- Originally proposed a GBA game, someone at Nintendo had played a game she made at Riverhillsoft and asked her to propse a DS game, that game was Another Code/Trace Memory.
- Asked if Nintendo and Cing's relationship had some tension. She says they shared the same concept of using touch screen and attracting new gamers except Nintendo was not too interested in games that can only be enjoyed once, that was the tension.
- Had Cing continued developing games she admits Ashley's story would have continued: "Ashley's story continues to unfold inside me". She would have written a story starring a 19-year old Ashley that would "include an episode which Ashley was reunited with Matthew".
- May have also a crossover story between Kyle Hyde and Ashley.
- To make Kyle Hyde's personality and history realistic they chose to use Los Angeles as the backdrop. Whilst Another Code was set on the West Coast of America but fictional lakeside town and city, was to reflect Ashley's unstable mental state; thus strange settings"
- When asked if Cing survived would their worlds eventually collide: "That's right. The story of Kyle Hyde as an old man meeting Ashley would be extremely interesting I think."
- She lists off some of her ideas for game stories she had at Cing.
- Interview ends with her hoping the new hardware will bring new types of adventure games.
- "There is potential for the right games to be accepted in the west. If there is s constant stream of high-quality titles for smartphones and tablets, surely the fun will catch on."
- Concluding remarks: "If Cing had not closed down, I think I would be planning an online mobile game that explores new kinds of mystery-solving."

Link