COLLECTED WORKS GILES GODDARD
STARGLIDER 2
Developer Argonaut Publisher Rainbird Software Format Mac Release 1989
STAR FOX
Developer Nintendo EAD, Argonaut Software Publisher Nintendo Format SNES Release 1993
STUNT RACE FX
Developer Nintendo EAD Publisher Nintendo Format SNES Release 1994
SUPER MARIO 64
Developer Nintendo EAD Publisher Nintendo Format N64 Release 1996
1080° SNOWBOARDING
Developer Nintendo EAD Publisher Nintendo Format N64 Release 1998
DOSHIN THE GIANT
Developer Param Publisher Nintendo Format GameCube Release 1999
STEEL DIVER
Developer Vitei, Nintendo EAD Publisher Nintendo Format 3DS Release 2011
TANK TROOPERS
Developer Vitei, Nintendo EAD Publisher Nintendo Format 3DS Release 2016
CARVE SNOWBOARDING
Developer/publisher Chuhai Labs Format Quest Release 2021
WHITEWATER WIPEOUT
Developer/publisher Vitei Format Playdate Release Q4 2021
Giles Goddard has always embraced the unknown. Perhaps best known for creating the interactive face that greets players when they boot up Super Mario 64, the veteran programmer’s softography incorporates everything from motion controls and stereoscopic 3D to VR and, thanks to Playdate, crank controls.
Goddard’s first leap of faith came when he was still a teenager, dropping out of school and landing a job with Argonaut Software. Having caught Nintendo’s eye with a 3D wireframe shooter prototype running on a hacked Game Boy, Argonaut struck a deal with Nintendo to work on the Super FX chip. This custom processor facilitated the creation of 3D games such as Star Fox on the SNES and sent Goddard, then a teenager unable to speak Japanese, travelling to Japan to work with Nintendo – his second leap.
“My dad was quite impressed because I’d finally got, not a proper job, but a job with a prestigious company – he was very supportive,” Goddard recalls. “My mum was always extremely supportive – she’d be behind me whatever I was to do. I think they all missed me, because I was away for six months of the year, so I used to phone up quite often.”
These risks paid off. Nowadays Goddard is CEO and founder of Kyotobased independent studio Vitei, which launched its new brand Chuhai Labs last year. The studio recently announced the upcoming Roguelike golf game previewed this issue (p48). Speaking from his island home in the south of Japan, Goddard takes us through
