Rhythm Tengoku/Development: Difference between revisions

To help train their rhythm, [[wikipedia:Tsunku|Tsunku♂]] had asked the developers to take dance lessons<ref>Iwata: "I seem to remember that everyone on the development staff took dance lessons in order to obtain a shared awareness of rhythm."<br>Takeuchi: "That's right. While we were consulting with Tsunku-san, who supervised the game, about rhythm, he said the fastest way he could make us understand was to have us try dancing, so we all went to Tokyo." ~ [https://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/ds/rhythm-heaven/0/0/ Iwata Asks - Rhythm Heaven - Page 1]</ref>. They started with stretching exercises, followed by various dance lessons that lasted about two hours<ref>"じつは、つんく♂さんから「一度ダンスを経験してみてはいかがですか？」とお誘いを受けまして、『リズム天国』の開発スタッフ全員でダンスレッスンを受けることになったんです。ダンスレッスンは、最初、ストレッチ運動から始まったのですが、開発という仕事柄のため、けっこう運動不足な面もありまして、ストレッチが終わった時点で開発スタッフ全員が息を切らしている状態でした（笑）。その後、さまざまなダンスレッスンを受けたのですが、印象としてはストレッチが一番きつかったです（笑）。" (As a matter of fact, Tsunku♂ asked us, "Why don't you try dancing for once?" All the development staff of "Rhythm Tengoku" decided to take dance lessons together. The dance lessons started with stretching exercises, but we were all out of breath by the time the stretching was over, as we were all quite short of exercise due to our work as developers (laughs). After that, we took various dance lessons, My impression was that the stretching was the hardest part (laughs).) ~ [[w:nintendo:Masami Yone|Masami Yone]], [https://www.1101.com/nintendo/rythm_heaven2/06.html ほぼ日刊イトイ新聞 - 樹の上の秘密基地。] (Hobo Nikkan Itoi Shinbun - A secret base on a tree.)</ref><ref>"ちなみに、ダンスレッスンは時間にして２時間ほど行ったのですが、難しいものではなく、音楽に合わせて手を叩いたり、足踏みをしたり、といったちょっとがんばれば誰にでもできるような、リズムに合わせた体の動かしかたを教わったんです。最初はみんなバラバラな動きでしたけど、音楽に合わせて開発スタッフ全員の動きが揃ったときは、感動モノでしたね。" (By the way, the dance lesson lasted about two hours, but it wasn't difficult. I learned how to move my body. At first, everyone was doing different movements, but when all the development staff got together in time with the music, it was a moving experience.) ~ [[w:nintendo:Katsuya Yamano|Katsuya Yamano]], [https://www.1101.com/nintendo/rythm_heaven2/06.html ほぼ日刊イトイ新聞 - 樹の上の秘密基地。] (Hobo Nikkan Itoi Shinbun - A secret base on a tree.)</ref>. The music used during these lessons was repurposed for [[Remix 1 (GBA)|Remix 1]], [[Remix 2 (GBA)|Remix 2]], [[Remix 4 (GBA)|Remix 4]] and [[Remix 7 (GBA)|Remix 7]] in the final game<ref>[https://www.nintendo.co.jp/n08/brij/staff/index.html 開発スタッフのリズム特訓ムービー] (Development Staff Special Rhythm Training Movie) [flash elements defunct]<br>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnrc3BodZA8 Rhythm Tengoku Team At Dance Lessons (1/2)], [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZD2Nd8yQd8 Rhythm Tengoku Team At Dance Lessons (2/2)] [reuploads]</ref>.  

In 2005, the game [[wikipedia:Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day!|Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day!]] was released, and the developers tried basing the game selection on it, such as separating [[Rhythm Games]] by genre, and setting up a progression test. They decided this wouldn't be very fun, and after much discussion concluded they should use a similar style to the microgames in [[mariowiki:WarioWare|WarioWare]]<ref>"『リズム天国』の開発が行われていた最中に、『東北大学未来科学技術共同研究センター　川島隆太教授監修　脳を鍛える 大人のDSトレーニング』が発売されたのですが、おかげさまで非常に多くのユーザーに受け入れられました。で、その頃の『リズム天国』といえば、いろんなリズムゲームが徐々に出来始めているときで、それらをどういう風にまとめるか？という事を気にしていたときでもありました。実は、その１年くらい前の段階で、「リズムのIQ」というつんく♂さんからアウトプットされたキーワードでまとめていこう、というイメージがあったのですが、具体的には、まとまっていませんでした。そんなときに『脳トレ』がヒットしたことは、ちょっと、気になりました。「脳」の次は「リズム」みたいな雰囲気をどこからともなく感じながら自分達なりのまとめ方を模索しました。基礎編、応用編、トレーニングみたいなジャンルにリズムゲームを分けて、進級テストみたいなものを設ける方向は、どうか？・・・とかでも、実際それらを作ろうとしたら、例えば、トレーニングであれば、単調で退屈なことを長時間行うのが効果的っぽいが、それでは あまり楽しくなさそう・・・だとか、リズムゲームの楽しいテイストをそのまま生かして、いわゆる『メイド イン ワリオ』っぽく、まとめていくで、いいじゃないか？・・・とかいろいろ話し合った結果、“やっぱり楽しいものにしたい”ということで、今の形に落ち着きましたが、これはこれで、よかったなと思っています。" (While "Rhythm Tengoku" was being developed, "Brain Training: Adult DS Training supervised by Professor Ryuta Kawashima of Tohoku University's New Industry Creation Hatchery Center" was released, which was well received by many users. At that time, "Rhythm Tengoku" was in the midst of the development of various rhythm games, and we were concerned about how to put them all together. Actually, about a year before that, I had an image of putting them together with the keyword "Rhythm IQ", which was output by Tsunku♂, but I did not have a concrete idea of what I wanted to do. At that time, the fact that "Brain Training" became a hit was a bit, well, curious. We felt that "brain" was next to "rhythm," and we sought our own way to put it together. How about dividing the rhythm games into basic, application, and training genres, and setting up something like a progression test? But if we actually tried to make them, for example, in the case of training, it would be effective to do monotonous and boring things for a long time, but that would not be very fun...or we could just keep the fun flavor of the rhythm games and put them together in a so-called "Made in Wario" style. We discussed this and came to the conclusion that it would be a good idea to keep the fun flavor of the rhythm game. After much discussion, we decided that we wanted to make it fun, so we settled on the current form, which I am glad we did.) ~ [[w:nintendo:Katsuya Yamano|Katsuya Yamano]], [https://www.1101.com/nintendo/rythm_heaven2/08.html ほぼ日刊イトイ新聞 - 樹の上の秘密基地。] (Hobo Nikkan Itoi Shinbun - A secret base on a tree.)</ref>. Until the middle of development, the game was still titled {{Nihongo|R♂IQ (Rhythm IQ)|Ｒ♂ＩＱ（リズムアイキュー）|R♂IQ (Rizumu Aikyū)}}, but as this name was considered too confusing, the staff gathered for a meeting to decide on the title. During the meeting, one staff member suggested {{Nihongo|Rhythm Tengoku|リズム天国|Rhythm Heaven}}, which everyone agreed upon. It was learned later that the staff member fumbled their words and didn't actually intend on suggesting the name "Rhythm Tengoku". They don't remember what their suggestion was going to be<ref>"じつは開発途中までは、『Ｒ♂ＩＱ（リズムアイキュー）』という名前で呼んでいました。しかし、そのタイトルだと、ちょっとわかりにくいだろうということで、スタッフが集まり、タイトルを決める打ち合わせをすることになったんです。打ち合わせの最中、スタッフのひとりが、「『リズム天国』というタイトルは？」と言ったところ、「それ、ええやん、ええやん！」とみんなが賛同し、タイトルが決定したのですが‥‥。じつは、あとから聞いてみると、そのスタッフは『リズム天国』と言うつもりはなかったそうなんですよ。なにか、違うタイトルを言おうとして、こう、口が滑ったというか、舌がもつれたというか、「ほぼ日」的に言うと、「言いまつがって」、「‥‥『リズム天国』」とむにゃむにゃっと、言ってしまったそうなんです。そうしたら、それで決まってしまった（笑）。で、ほんとうはなんと言おうとしたのかは、憶えていないそうなので、いまだに謎なんです（笑）。" (Actually, we called it "R♂IQ (Rhythm IQ)" until we were in the middle of development. However, we thought that title would be a little confusing, so the staff gathered for a meeting to decide on a title. During the meeting, one of the staff members said, "How about 'Rhythm Tengoku'?" Everyone agreed, and the title was decided. But later, I learned that the staff had no intention of calling it "Rhythm Tengoku". They were going to say something different, but they slipped up, or got their tongues tangled, or in the "I'm about to say" way of speaking, they said "...'Rhythm Tengoku'" in a very muddled way. And that's how it was decided (laughs). But they don't remember what they were really going to say, so it is still a mystery to this day (laughs). ~ [[w:nintendo:Yoshio Sakamoto|Yoshio Sakamoto]], [https://www.1101.com/nintendo/rythm_heaven2/11.html ほぼ日刊イトイ新聞 - 樹の上の秘密基地。] (Hobo Nikkan Itoi Shinbun - A secret base on a tree.)</ref>. The original title was later referenced in [[Ringside]], where the TV station broadcasting the interview is known as "RIQ-TV" in most versions, or "KRIQ" in the English versions.