Ichiro Hazama, producer of Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy, spoke with Satoru Iwata about his first Final Fantasy experience. Since game consoles weren’t allowed in his house, Hazama played video games when he went to a friend’s house. When he was living on his own, Hazama saved up money to buy a Super Famicom and Final Fantasy VI. He was amazed by the opening scene of Magitek Armor walking through a video. Hazama likened it to something out of a movie.
Hazama would later work on a Final Fantasy movie. He was on the Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children staff and while working with Tetsuya Nomura, Hazama came up with the idea for Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy. He thought about creating the game for the Nintendo DS, but the project was shelved due to technical limitations of the DS.
When he saw the Nintendo 3DS, Hazama thought now is the time and asked developer indieszero to finalize the plan. With the design ready, Hazama brought the plan to Nomura who gave it a greenlight on the same day.
While Theatrhyhtm: Final Fantasy was developed in secret, fans made an impact on the game’s song list via Square Enix Members questionnaires that asked fans what their favorite Final Fantasy song was. Hazama wouldn’t tell Iwata exactly how many songs are in Theatrhythm, but said there are over 70.
