VGA ZINE QUESTION ZONE: Derrick Fields a.k.a. Waking Oni
Derrick Fields aka Waking Oni is a Game Designer and Illustrator creating works at the intersection of African American and Japanese culture. Waking Oni is currently the lead content developer for Onsen Master.
How would you describe your work and approach to making video game art if you knew the party you were talking to was never going to buy, play, or promote your games, but was still voraciously interested in what they mean?
My work and approach to making video game art always comes down to the same mission—exploring the intersections of African American and Japanese culture. As a Black individual, I've continued to take inventory of my relationship to anime and Japanese media and recognize a much larger historical exchange between cultures. Like, why do samurai and hip-hop go together just so well? Digging into these questions not only cement my identity but help uncover a history that dates back much farther than my own interests.
How does history inform what you do as a maker of games? What specific histories do you draw on?
History is almost front and center as a driving component when choosing to create a game and I often tap into personal experiences that are very nostalgic for me. Growing up in the 90's meant bumping into anime on a strange 3-digit channel late at night and discovering your local mall-bound Suncoast or FYE (For Your Entertainment) was a VHS haven for overpriced videos of Sailor Scouts and Super Saiyans. Creating a game for me means first drawing upon those awe-striking moments that I had as a young kid.
An early passion for anime eventually led me even further back to their origins in Japanese woodblock prints, or ukiyo-e. I remember once again being taken aback by their stories and simply blown away by their complexity. I wanted to know more about the heroes and villains they depicted, diving deeper into historical events, performance art, and mythology.
How do you situate your work in relation to the term "contemporary art"?
That one's a bit hard to answer. I don't often think about my work as contemporary art at first and so when challenged to do so I guess I can best relate to the term in much more of a general sense. While my games certainly come with the prioritization of aesthetics first, I would say video games as a whole could be viewed as a contemporary art form. When we consider the story, the visuals, and the experience we give the player in its entirety, we can view it as a piece of artwork. Obviously some games are much more obvious indications of this than others but art as a form has seen constant progress and evolution over many years; jumping from the easel to the television seems like another paralleled step in that progression.
What is an environment that video games are not normally in that you would find fun if they were?
Coffee shops? Ha. Video games come in many forms and there are certainly some that could fit a calm collected setting like a coffee shop. Although the other side of me argues that many of our interactions “gamified” in order to create entertainment or engage an audience and we could use some separation from game mechanics and systems. Go camping!
How much do you think one's region/physical location becomes imprinted in the games they make?
Where you are raised or live absolutely becomes imprinted on the games you create in one way or another. As an example, JRPG's appearing as though an anime is certainly an indication of how much of the medium is embedded into Japan. As for the US, it's not hard to miss the myriad of First-Person Shooters that recreate devastating war periods. There are certainly exceptions to this and we're seeing newer titles that cross these boundaries more often which help redefine popular stylizations within a genre. Additionally, we're seeing newer developers from around the world create experiences derived from their culture and giving a new lens to games.
What is a non-video game piece of media that has deeply influenced the way you produce games?
Television and film as a whole force me to think about how the viewer will see and take in the content they are interacting with. I certainly won't call myself an expert but I often consider how can the cinematic experience be brought into an interactive medium. In a recent project, named Oni Fighter Yasuke, I wanted to achieve getting the game to appear as though a black and white anime from the late 60's. It's still a work in progress but I find myself revisiting cartoon shows from that era and exploring how I can apply their old, very non-HD look, into a current medium.
What specific elements of video game production speak mostly directly to you when you are playing the work of others?
I can't help but marvel at how a game looks before taking in any of its other facets. If allowed, I'm prone to sit and wander a game's environment for hours before ever engaging with the story. Then I begin to ask myself how that team achieved a certain look or style and begin digging around the internet to understand it even more. A great example of this would be Sucker Punch's Ghost of Tsushima. Most of my play sessions with this title general dissolve to arranging another picturesque moment with the built-in photo mode, or just sitting and staring at the environment before me.
What games have directly inspired your current work?
For Onsen Master, I'd have to turn to other casual titles like Overcooked 1 & 2 or Diner Dash. Much like these games Onsen Master involves managing customers and ingredients so turning to them helped answer a lot of difficult hurdles when designing player experiences. For my most recent project Oni Fighter Yasuke, I look to games like Hollow Knight, Muramasa: The Demon Blade, and Cuphead for their style, world-building, and level design.
What games do you deeply enjoy but have no discernible relationship with your current work?
I deeply enjoy a lot of JRPG's, namely titles like Persona 5 or the Yakuza series. I'm always amazing at the many systems they will layer in these titles, from fighting a monster to going on a date and building relationships with other characters.