Quote on PS III:
Thomas Nickel: What can you tell us about the story behind the development of Phantasy Star 3 - why was it so different, why were different people working on it and what do you think about the game today?
Rieko Kodama: The person who did the game design for Phantasy Star 2 planned Phantasy Star 3. Because we wanted to go into a new direction with PS3, we formed a different team from the one that had created PS 1 and 2. For us, who laid the groundwork for the Phantasy Star series, it is an absolute pleasure that developers of SEGA will create and grow its new titles. In fact, we actually have developers who joined SEGA after they used to play Phantasy Star in their childhood. Those people are now in a position to develop its new titles. I am excited to think that people who played PSO or PSU will create the next generation Phantasy Star in the future.
On the Phantasy Star remakes:
Thomas Nickel: Were you in any way involved in the Sega 3D Ages-Remakes of the first two Phantasy Star Games? There were some changes in the remakes, did you approve them?
Rieko Kodama: I advised on a few things during the development phase. I feel that the creator of remakes should be able to create the game freely as long as they do not damage original version’s heritage…
Read the whole interview here:
http://www.g-wie-gorilla.de/content/view/161/18/
Interview by Thomas Nickel. Link thanks to Sinue.