We had a chance to sit down with Yu Suzuki and talk about the upcoming multiplatform titles currently in the works by the various teams at Sega developer AM2. Since AM2's critically acclaimed release of Virtua Fighter 4 for the PlayStation 2, Suzuki and his teams have broadened the number of consoles they develop for. At present Suzuki's teams are working on a conversion of AM2's titles to the GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox.
The first topic of conversation was Beach Spikers, the upcoming GameCube version of the developer's arcade title. Suzuki's decision to bring the game to the GameCube stemmed from his desire to provide content to all three consoles. While decisions regarding AM2's titles for PS2 and Xbox had been made, there had been no specific plans for a GameCube title. Rather than try doing an original title, which Suzuki felt was risky, he settled on Beach Spikers, which was a known title. Converting the arcade game (developed on Sega's Naomi 2 arcade hardware) to the GameCube posed little problem for the development team, a mix of members of the arcade Beach Spikers team as well as new members. The team added extra modes to add replay value to the title. When asked how he felt about the conversion, Suzuki stated he was quite pleased with the way the conversion is turning out.
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