First, can you introduce yourselves?
Konishi:
Hello, I’m Yoshinori Konishi, the director for Drag x Drive. Previously, I was involved in the Mario Kart series (1) and Wii Fit Plus (2) as a programmer and programming director. As both the director and programming director for Drag x Drive, I was involved in development from a feature and technical point of view.
Hamaue:
Hello, I’m Hiroki Hamaue, one of the programmers who worked on Drag x Drive. I programmed the player character’s movements, Joy-Con 2 controller mouse controls, and HD rumble 2. I was a programmer on past titles such as Ring Fit Adventure (3) and Nintendo Switch Sports (4). I love both developing and playing games that get your body moving. (Laughs)
Ikejiri:
Hello, I’m Takahisa Ikejiri, one of the designers who worked on the game. I was previously involved in the character design for the Splatoon series (5) and Super Mario Bros. Wonder (6). For Drag x Drive, I was responsible for the art direction and character design.
Yoshida:
Hello, I’m Isami Yoshida, the sound designer. I’ve previously worked on the sound effects for games such as the Splatoon 3: Expansion Pass – Wave 2: Side Order DLC (7) and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (8). While working on the sound effects for Drag x Drive, I also discussed the background music direction with the composers and how each sound plays in the game world.
So you thought it had potential after seeing the team’s reaction. Could you elaborate a bit on this "single-axis movement"?
Hamaue:
To explore the possibilities of mouse controls, we played prototypes of various games that used, for example, one mouse in each hand, or combined mouse actions with control stick movements and button presses. During this process, we realised it was too demanding to move freely in any direction with both hands while simultaneously using the control stick and buttons. So, we pruned back the difficult actions, leaving only the satisfying ones, and we were left with the single-axis movement of sliding the mouse back and forth. Combining everything, including control stick and button controls, would have expanded the gameplay possibilities, but some team members remarked that humans aren't quite there yet, as a species. (Laughs)
Everyone:
(Laughs)
Hamaue:
We also experimented with combining mouse controls and HD rumble 2. We discovered that by adding a rattling vibration in sync with mouse movements, it felt like you were actually turning a wheel. We tried pairing this with sliding the mice back and forth with both hands, just to see what would happen. That's when we realised, “Hey, this feels a bit like manoeuvring a wheelchair”. I'd experienced riding a wheelchair for a research project back when I was a student, and it reminded me of that. So I created a gameplay mechanic where you control the wheels of a wheelchair, like this.
Now I understand how this project came about. I suppose the next step was to finally shape this idea into a sports game, right? The game seems to have been inspired by wheelchair basketball. How did you get to that point?
Hamaue:
The producers were saying, “It might be interesting to theme it around basketball". I was previously involved in the development of Nintendo Switch Sports, so I wondered if I could combine shaking the Joy-Con 2 controllers with mouse controls. The theme caught my imagination, since wheelchair movement meant sliding the Joy-Con 2 controllers like mice, while the basketball element meant flicking the controller to throw the ball, both of which involve hand movements.
Konishi:
If we went with basketball, all you'd have to do is move under the basket and flick the Joy-Con 2 controller forward to shoot. I thought we could strike a good balance, where moving requires a bit of practice, but shooting isn’t all that difficult. However, given how the wheelchair was controlling at the time, I didn't think it was ready to be turned into a sports game just yet. So, we iterated on it together for about two months. I’d write the specs, and Hamaue-san would implement them.
Tackling in wheelchair basketball?
Hamaue:
When we tested out racing with traffic cones placed around the game's course, we got more enjoyment and satisfaction out of crashing into the cones than avoiding them. So we tried creating a movement where the player heads right for the opponent, like in a rugby tackle. Then, the designers created a sumo wrestling ring for the action to take place in, and gameplay based on tackling the opponent and pushing them out the ring was born.
Konishi:
Of course, tackling isn't allowed in actual wheelchair basketball, but having the characters dribble while manoeuvring the wheelchair would have made it too easy for other players to steal the ball. So, we decided to test and implement a wheelchair rugby-like mechanic where the player loses the ball when tackled. We kept the movements simple: no dribbling, tackle to steal the ball, and once you’re under the basket, flick your wrist forward to shoot. This made it much easier to play, as you can focus on the main action, which is manoeuvring the vehicle with mouse controls.
So you narrowed your focus to intuitive mouse controls. Speaking of which, apart from Hamaue-san's experience you mentioned earlier, did anyone on the development team have first-hand experience using a wheelchair?
Konishi:
No one on the team had used a wheelchair on a daily basis, so we began by gathering up reading materials so we could learn more about it. From an encyclopaedia of wheelchairs to videos and essays by wheelchair athletes and even manga about basketball or wheelchairs, we pulled together as much reference material as we could lay our hands on and studied it together. Also, in order to gain hands-on experience, we bought an everyday wheelchair and a sports wheelchair for the office so we could develop and drive at the same time. We compared the two wheelchairs and realised that the sports wheelchair has angled wheels, allowing for stable turning. However, since it was being developed for Nintendo Switch 2, which wasn’t announced at the time, it was a highly confidential project. So, we were restricted to the small space inside the office and could only let loose down the hallway once everyone else had gone home for the day. (Laughs) Besides that, we also joined a wheelchair basketball experience event as a team.
Oh, did you get the chance to try out wheelchair basketball for yourselves?
Konishi:
We did indeed. A wheelchair basketball game was held in Osaka around the same time, and we had the opportunity to take part in a trial session after the match.
Ikejiri:
I wasn't prepared for how difficult it was to shoot the ball. In wheelchair basketball, the hoop is placed at the same height as in standard basketball. But since you take the shot sitting down, my shot didn't reach the basket at all.
Hamaue:
Manoeuvring a wheelchair is difficult unless you get the hang of when to apply and release force. You can't just propel yourself along smoothly in a single stroke. But it cemented for me how deep the controls are, as you propel both wheels at full speed or put force into just one wheel to make a sharp turn. I thought that if we could authentically recreate the feeling of propelling a wheelchair and pursue a sense of realism, it would make for an interesting motion-based game.
Ikejiri:
We wanted players simply to enjoy the intuitive controls, so to make manoeuvring the vehicle feel responsive, we emphasised the arms and wheels in the designs. We kept everything else as simple as possible without cramming in too many elements.
By the way, besides the development team getting to experience wheelchair basketball, I heard that real-life wheelchair basketball players also got the chance to try out the prototype.
Konishi:
That's right. We were partway through development when we received this golden opportunity. Because the players use wheelchairs in their daily lives, they were all really good at turning and moving backwards in the game. Of course, we learned a lot about the controls, but we gained even more insights watching them think about what to do on the court as they played. It differs from wheelchair basketball in lots of respects: there's a half-pipe below the goal, no dribbling, and players tackle their opponent to steal the ball. Nevertheless, they seemed to accept those differences naturally and enjoyed playing the game.
Hamaue:
Seeing actual wheelchair basketball players get the hang of the game and its controls so quickly confirmed to us that it could work well as an intuitive control scheme. Above all, seeing everyone genuinely enjoying the game gave us confidence as developers that we were headed in the right direction.
Konishi:
We were also thankful for how delighted they all were that such a game was being developed, saying that it has the potential to shine a spotlight on wheelchair basketball. I was really happy to hear that.
Chiedi allo sviluppatore, parte 20: Drag x Drive – Capitolo 1