One of the formative figures of video games is Tomohiro Nishikado. Known for creating the arcade game smash hit Space Invaders, I caught up with him about his long and storied career.
“I was born in Osaka, in a place called Kishiwada, and I spent most of my young life there until I moved to Tokyo when I was 18, when I went to university. My father ran a business related to the making and maintenance of craftsmen's tools. So when I was growing up, I could always find spare materials and tools to make things.
“I used to make things like pinball machines, but of course, it didn't show your score. They were very simple, made of wood. I ended up making everything I could, including things like small vehicles and cars. I even made some ships too, with rubber bands underneath that, when you twisted them, made the propeller go around.
“As for other hobbies, I was crazy about model trains. My father also bought me a set of proper HO gauge trains. I loved playing with those a lot. At elementary school, because I enjoyed playing with model trains, I really wanted to be a train driver. That was my childhood dream, but that changed when I went to junior high school.
“This happened because by the time I was in junior high school, I started to enjoy drawing comics. These weren't kiddie comics, but quite dark in tone and focused on the era of wartime, mainly World War II. I was also strongly affected by one of my friends, who really loved militaristic things.
“When I went to high school, my hobbies changed again, and I was fascinated by making electronic devices. Simple ones, like radios or other audio devices using vacuum tubes. That hobby then made me decide to become an engineer, and I chose to major in electronics when I went to university in Tokyo.”
Leaving University And Joining Taito
“After graduating from university, my first job was at a company making audio equipment. However, after a year or so, I felt that maybe this wasn't the place for me, and I left without any idea where I might go next. Then one day, I met a friend from that previous audio company, and he was working for a subsidiary of Taito called Pacific Kogyo. With that coincidence, I joined Taito.
“My friend told me that they were making some toys, and I thought that meant toys for very young children, but after talking for a while, I found out that it wasn't a toy but more like games. Of course, these were not video games, as this was before that time. However, these were games that used mechanical-like features, sort of like early versions of physical arcade games like you would find at the top of a shopping mall. I thought all of this sounded very interesting.
“After I joined Pacific Kogyo, of course, they didn't want to put the new guy into the development team straight away. So I had to spend at least a year training and doing more and more menial housekeeping-type tasks. Luckily, after a year of that, I joined the development team.
“My first game I worked on was of the mechanical type from that era, and called Sky Fighter, which was a smash hit at the time. Although my major at university was electronics, my experience from childhood of physically making things really helped here.
“The biggest difference is that toys are something you enjoy at home, whereas games from this period were all arcade types. They were in a public space. The similarities are that both toys and games seek fun.
“When I started working on these early games, we were always in the shadow of American games. In that, the first thing my company did was to bring back some of these American mechanical arcade games and try to figure out how they worked, and then imitate them. Obviously, we would try to tweak or update things.
“Of course, the first wave of electronic video games also came from America, such as Pong from Atari. Due to my electronics background, I had a strong interest in these video games, so I brought a copy of Pong to the office, analyzed it, and tried to make something different from it. This was because I strongly believed in the potential of electronic video games for the future. Unfortunately, the sales team thought differently and didn't want to do any of these more modern electronic video games. Always saying that "these things will never sell." After figuring out how Pong worked, I made a soccer game.
“Due to the fact that there were so many copies of Pong, I wanted to differentiate my game from that. So instead, the soccer game had smaller goals at each end and two "players" per side; one forward and one goalkeeper.
“Following the soccer game, I did basketball. This had a basket at each end and added a more human-like character, rather than just a bar. I was later told that this was probably the first time in video game history that a human-shaped character had been used like that.
“There was no "programming" for these games; it was just electronics and various integrated circuits. It was all hardware, with various bits of electronics soldered together. This meant that each game had its own completely unique hardware.
During this 4-5 year period before Space Invaders, I made about 4-5 games, such as a driving game called Speed Race, and I also did another multiplayer driving game for four players, which was called Fisco 400. This used something like 300 integrated circuits for the whole thing. There was also Interceptor, which was a first-person shooter in a fighter jet. Then there was Western Gun, which was a side-view shooting game where you duelled.”
Moving From Hardware To Software
“For Space Invaders, that was the first one to use code, and I wrote that in assembly. There was a CPU called 8080, and that CPU came with its own assembler. I studied it by myself and then wrote the game. That said, I did learn about coding in assembly when I was at university, which obviously helped.
“I saw the very first software-programmed game in America, and I knew then that this would be the future of video games, and we need to catch up.
“Obviously, switching to a software approach over bespoke hardware meant you could swap out the software on the same hardware and have a new game to play. It saved a lot of money.
“As for how Space Invaders came about, the first reason was that the game Breakout by Atari, I was shocked by its simplicity. This was because back then, video games were all trying to look more authentic or realistic, but Breakout was very simple and abstract. That made me realize that the fun factor is the most important part of a game, and not necessarily its graphics.
“The sales team was also interested in Breakout, so all of Taito wanted to make something similar. So that was the starting point.
“I felt that if you switched the blocks in Breakout into a character, it might be more fun. The other idea was, why not change Breakout into a shooting game?
“The most satisfying element of Breakout was deleting all the blocks. That feeling was what I wanted to recreate. That meant the basic concept of Space Invaders was to similarly clear the screen of enemies.
“In terms of switching out the blocks to something else, I started with things like tanks, battleships, or airplanes. However, using these kinds of shapes didn't look fun. So I changed it to soldiers, and that meant I could animate them a bit and make them look like people. However, while this looked fun, there was, back then as well as today, a sense that it wasn't right to have a game where you shoot people with guns.
“Around this time, Star Wars was about to be released, and that meant space or sci-fi elements could be used. That made me think of aliens, and that it would be okay to shoot aliens. They're not human after all.
“As for why the aliens are based on sea creatures, it's to do with the novel by H.G. Wells called War of the Worlds. In that novel, the aliens are described as somewhat resembling an octopus. So in Japan, that became a common image that aliens or Martians look like an octopus. That's why I decided to make the aliens look like an octopus and other sea creatures. That's why you also have crabs and squids as aliens in the game.
“When the game came out and people started shooting through the shield blocks to get the aliens, I did expect that. However, things like the Nagoya Attack were entirely new to me.
“Another thing I added was a demo loop to show people how the game played. I am not sure whether Space Invaders was the first game or not but probably was one of those doing something like this first in the history.”
The Space Invaders Boom
“Of course, when Space Invaders was released, I heard about the craziness surrounding it in Japan, but I wasn't super happy about that. Obviously, I was relieved the game was doing well, but I wasn't overly encouraged by the boom. This was because I wanted to make games with computers, and I was not really interested in the aftermath of that. Normally, I felt limited by the performance of the hardware, so I couldn't do what I really wanted to do. So, looking back, I have more regrets like that than happy emotions.
“Due to the hardware limitations, I wanted to move the aliens faster. Something like what Galaxian eventually did. That's why, as an engineer, I feel regret.
“Looking back now, you are right, there were lots of copycat games of Space Invaders, but that was just like all the copycats we got for Pong. So I do feel proud to have contributed to the history of video games, but back in the 70s and 80s, I didn't feel that way.
“As an engineer, Galaxian was very impressive. I also really liked Xevious, as that was very different. As for more modern danmaku-type games, I don't really like these. However, they are probably an inevitable result of players becoming more skilled with these types of shooting games, and developers are forced to outdo them in some way. This is some kind of never-ending battle.
“Actually, the first prototype of Space Invaders was much easier, as I am not that good at games. However, I let my colleagues test the game, and they all said it was too easy. I was initially worried about making it too hard, but the final version shipped with that difficulty, and everyone seemed to think that was fine. Game balancing is always tricky, but the conflict between gamers and developers forces this kind of evolution. However, I do feel like danmaku is sort of a dead-end functionally.
“This is because it gets to a point where newer players cannot enter, and I think this is why modern shooting games have disappeared, as they got too difficult.
“That said, though I have never played myself, games like Radiant Silvergun and Ikaruga, which focus more on technical strategy rather than brute force difficulty, are a better approach. I feel that focusing purely on making a game difficult doesn't help the game bring in a broader audience. Games like Ikaruga are a smarter way to evolve the genre.”
Post-Space Invaders And Games Consoles
“After Space Invaders, I tried to do other things, but the hardware and performance bottleneck issue caused problems. It really limited me from making something new. I tried making games like Lunar Rescue and Balloon Bomber.
“When I first saw the Famicom, I knew this would be successful. It looked great and was using the then latest technology called "sprites". However, after making variants of Space Invaders with differing hardware, I was moved to a different division away from game development. Back then, Taito wanted to expand its business outside video games, so I moved to a new team that was looking for new business outside of games. Things like robots for amusement facilities. That said, I was also allowed to do my own things, so I made a prototype for a new games console, but that was not approved by the sales team as they were purely focused on arcade games.
“Later on, I was moved to another game group, but my position was senior and above the development team. I was more like a manager. That said, I was involved in the last days of Famicom and the early Super Famicom era. I also made Space Invaders for Super Famicom, which did well.
“During this period, there were ideas to pick up the aliens in Space Invaders as the player protagonists. So I thought of a new title where the player would be the Space Invaders. That also didn't go through the approval process. With games like Space Invaders 3D, that game was made by my company after I left Taito.
“As for other unrealized projects, one of my other hobbies is magic. Conjuring tricks, juggling, stuff like that. Back in high school, I was really interested in this kind of magic. So one of the things I really wanted to do was to figure out a way to merge magic with games, but it didn't work out. I even made mechanical prototypes for this. Maybe this mixture of toys and games is my personal preference, I don't know.
“As for games these days, they all have great graphics and look gorgeous. So I find it difficult to keep up. It's good that people are excited about these new games; it's good for the industry. Personally, I'm more interested in this mechanical type of game.
“I've been working in the games industry for a long time, and luckily, most of my work was moved into mass production once it was completed. I feel very lucky about that. My style of working was to think of a game on my own and make it on my own. There were no managers making changes or any top-down interference. So I think it's very important for creative people and developers to try and make something on their own, and then see if it's fun or not. The game development process in Taito eventually changed, and we, the game creators, were increasingly expected to listen to the sales team, which came up with new title concepts they thought it would sell. Then we started game development based on that. Personally, I don't think that is the correct approach. Creators should try to make a game on their own first, and then it should expand into a larger project. This is what I've felt throughout my whole career.
“Obviously, if the game idea is too big for one person, then a small team making a prototype first is also fine. The point is that it needs to be creatively led first, before the management gets involved. If you don't try to make something first, you will never know if it's fun or not.
“Younger people who want to make games should play really old games. They may not have good graphics, but there is something shining within them in a playable sense. There's definitely something to be learned from those games and also to inspire people to make something new. Forget about the graphics, focus on the core design. What makes it fun.”