Taito blows bubbles
You couldn’t walk into a chip shop in the ’80s without seeing a Taito coin-op sitting blipping away in the corner of the room. The Japanese developer’s name was once uttered with the same reverence as those of other great arcade game manufactures like Konami, Capcom, and Namco. From Space Invaders to Rainbow Islands, Taito owned the arcades. On PS4 the company has been silent. Until now.
The shy developer rarely does an interview outside of Japan, but this issue we sit down with Tsuyoshi Tozaki, the director of Bubble Bobble 4 Friends (a remake of the classic ’80s coin-op), to discover why now is the time bubbles are blowing up.
On PS4 Taito is looking at releasing a collector’s edition featuring rare art and insights from the series’ history, among other goodies. And what of PS5? “We’ll consider it,” is the answer.
OPM: Is there a pressure of expectation when updating one of the company’s classic games?
Of course, I felt a lot of pressure, because Bubble Bobble is one of the big iconic titles. Because it was my first title as a director
