Early Spring, 1995. Relative newcomer Sony had just launched the PlayStation the previous December in Japan and intensified the 32-bit video game platform battle. The eagerly-anticipated finale to the MACROSS PLUS video series awaits the following June, with the Movie Edition later in the year.
Amidst all this heightened interest and anticipation generated for the PlayStation and MACROSS, Bandai Visual announces MACROSS DIGITAL MISSION VF-X for the Playstation, a multi-talented foray which will combine these two elements and promises to be "a fully-transformable 3-D shooting game with the feel of a combat simulator." Among the star power lined up for this game is Victory Zone's UNiT Inc. and MACROSS' Kawamori Shouji and Itano Ichiroh. For the first time, MACROSS story creator and mecha designer Kawamori will be directly involved in the creation of a MACROSS game. For the first time, director Itano will oversee a MACROSS game's animation with the characteristic weaving missile plumes known in anime industry circles as the "Itano Circus." Later more veterans sign on, from MACROSS ship designer Miyatake Kazutaka to character designer Mikimoto Haruhiko. Even Iijima Mari, the voice and co-songwriter for Lynn Minmay, agrees to write and compose for the soundtrack of this highly-anticipated game. Expected Release Date: December 1995.
It is now 1997. Much can happen during two years in this nascent industry, and much has. Two colossal game franchises (FINAL FANTASY and SUPER ROBOT WARS) are currently making their transition to Playstation and their hype has eclipsed nearly all other Playstation games, VF-X included. "Realistic" 3-D shooter and tactical simulator games have never been the most popular genres in Japan, but the latest role-playing games, fighting games, and simulations of the non-combat sort now overshadow these two genres even more than before. If the long-delayed VF-X is to survive and thrive with these raised expectations and divided attention spans, the development staff will have to draw on its strengths from both the anime and gaming worlds to ignite interest in both kinds of enthusiasts.

Fortunately, the game designer UNiT Inc. and its CEO Ueda Hiroshi are no strangers to the anime industry -- or anime fandom. Indeed, before founding UNiT, Ueda was a member of the fan-turned-pro wonderworks Gainax and traveled in its contingent to Anime Con in 1991. He's been a MACROSS fan since the beginning, and his enthusiasm for both MACROSS overall and this pet project is infectious.
EX caught up with Ueda last month in Tokyo and gave him a chance to answer the questions foremost on would-be players' minds. He hints on plans to release VF-X beyond the shores of Japan. He speaks his mind on the Playstation/Saturn developmental issues and his love for MACROSS. Finally, he provides tantalizing hints of projects of come. The following are translated excerpts from three hours of interviews spanning two December afternoons. (continued)