Interview: Steven Lashower

[Melf]

Sega Interactive was a big part of Sega's arsenal during the mid '90s, and many gamers underestimate the group's contribution the Genesis line up. With hits like Eternal Champions, Star Wars Arcade, among others, it had a knack for churning out the hits. We recently got to sit down for some Q&A with Steven Lashower, one of SI's former programmers, and he shared some great insight into some of its biggest games. Read the full interview (http://www.sega-16.com/2007/08/interview-steven-lashower/) for the scoop!

[Joe Redifer]

John Brandstetter was the producer and kept us provided with pizza, lasagna and soda for the majority of the project.
I bet his friend Tony was annoying, having all those weird dreams about John and Bomberman and whatnot. Anyway, Star Wars Arcade doesn't even compare. I bet the project would have been a lot smoother if John didn't keep having to run out and convince the world that the TurboDuo was better than the Sega CD so often.

[Genesis Knight]

I guess Lunatic Gunstar is Gunstar Heroes? If so, that's a pretty funny story. I can see the look on their faces now.

Good interview, BTW! Wasn't expecting to get to read about the Activator.

[Melf]

I bet his friend Tony was annoying, having all those weird dreams about John and Bomberman and whatnot. Anyway, Star Wars Arcade doesn't even compare. I bet the project would have been a lot smoother if John didn't keep having to run out and convince the world that the TurboDuo was better than the Sega CD so often.

Oh snap! Brandstetter was Johnny Turbo, right?

[108 Stars]

I guess Lunatic Gunstar is Gunstar Heroes?

I´m pretty sure Gunstar Heroes has the same name in Japan as in EU and the USA.

[Genesis Knight]

I meant like maybe a beta or something. But it raises a question - if it's not Gunstar Heroes, WTF is it? I've never heard that title in my life.

[Joe Redifer]

Oh snap! Brandstetter was Johnny Turbo, right?
Indeedy-do! Of course that makes owning Star Wars Arcade 100% necessary.

[Aarzak]

Man, "Star Wars Arcade" was all Sega had to stand up against "Donkey Kong Country" that Christmas season? I thought for sure that they had made a killing with "Sonic & Knuckles" and sold it like hotcakes *snickers*. In all seriousness, I believe for the month of November or December 1994 it was the #2 best-selling game............behind Donkey Kong Country. Did people NOT get the connection between S3 & S&K or did Sega fail at promoting it and running damage control for not having released the game in one cart in the first place?

In retrospect, the lead that the Genesis and Sonic enjoyed over the SNES and it's offerings seemed........shaky. Like it was temporary and prone to collapse at any time. How much did Sonic Spinball, Sonic 3 & Sonic & Knuckles each sell? Probably not as much as Sonic 2 did which puzzles me. Oops, here I am going off on a tangent again........

Anyways, great article.

[j_factor]

This made me laugh:


Sega-16: Mike Latham supposedly hated the game. What exactly was it about it that he hated?

Steven Lashower: Have you ever played Dinosaurs for Hire?

[Genesis Knight]

Yeah. Good line.

[j_factor]

Lunatic Gunstar was, indeed, the original title of Gunstar Heroes.

Interview (http://www.gamengai.com/bn_inf.php?type=translation&id=1424) with Masato Maekawa, CEO of Treasure:


Incidentally, the title during planning was "Lunatic Gunstar". However, "lunatic" has a bad connotation to it so it was inevitable that we would change the title. Someone suggested "Blade Gunner", taken from the movie "Blade Runner", but we decided against this as well.

It was confirmed that the game would go on sale in North America as well, so Sega of America suggested to us something with the word "heroes, since it's cool". Thus, in the end we decided on Gunstar Heroes. It's a nice, easy to remember title, but whether or not "heroes" is cool or not is still up for debate (laughs).

[Genesis Knight]

I actually think Lunatic Gunstar is a pretty good name.