Jet Set Radio 25th Anniversary Celebration

Jet Set Radio 25th Anniversary Celebration
Hosted by	Sega Brain Dead Studios NTS Radio
Located at	Los Angeles, California

The Jet Set Radio 25th Anniversary Celebration was an event that was held in Los Angeles, California, and was hosted by Brain Dead Studios, Sega, and NTS Radio. The event lasted for seven days in celebration for the 25th anniversary of the Jet Set Radio series. Although the event itself had more of a focus on Jet Set Radio over Jet Set Radio Future.

Overview

The event was held from June 13th to June 20th. Just before the event started, NTS Radio would provide a mix of Jet Set Radio Future's soundtrack on June 12th. On the first day of the event fans were treated to a mix of songs curated by D33J with select tracks picked by Ryuta Ueda and Masayoshi Kikuchi. On the second day, fans head another mix of songs curated by BAE BAE. During those two days fans were able to look at a bunch of JSR memorabilia, ranging from concept art, merchandise, and other physical items while being able to purchase items produced by Brain Dead Studios as well. Additionally on the first two days, screenings of The Blues Brothers and Wild Style were shown. A Q&A session featuring Ueda, Kikuchi, Brain Dead Studios co-founder Kyle Ng, and Them Skates founder Jon Julio was hosted on the first day as well. The first 100 people to arrive received an exclusive JSR item, which was a cap featuring "How Much is That Mutt in the Window" by SICK PUPPY.

Throughout the rest of the event other activities included a airbushing station hosted by Sob Story, a gaming lounge where people could play Jet Set Radio on the Dreamcast, the availability to buy merch, and a screening of a film each day. On the last day, another Q&A would be hosted featuring Prayer of the Rollerboys director Rick King and W. Peter Iliff. Nearly two months after the event was over, Sega would post a highlight video of the event on their YouTube channel.

Screenings

These were all the movies that were shown at the event.

• June 13: The Blues Brothers
• June 14: Wild Style
• June 15: Mid90s
• June 16: The Warriors
• June 17: Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro
• June 18: Trainspotting
• June 19: Vanishing Point
• June 20: Prayer of the Rollerboys

Q&A with Kikuchi & Ueda

Note: This is a transcript of the Q&A session at the event, provided by Noclip's video of the event. Somethings might not be entirely accurate or potentially misheard, read with caution.

Intro

Kyle Ng: To get this kicked off, two guys created this game, 25 years ago. I'm not sure if they knew how impactful it'd be when they were sketching it originally. I think we all have questions, and wanna know how this all came to be, so let's bring up Kikuchi-san and Ueda-san!

Question 1

Kyle Ng: What was the early origins of Jet Set Radio?

Kikuchi: The very beginning where this all started is, Ueda, I wanna say he was like 25, maybe 26 at the time, he drew up some sketches and brought them to my desk and said: "I wanna make a game out of this".

Question 2

Kyle Ng: What was your biggest inspirations?

Kikuchi: I think Tokyo at the time was a very unique "hub". It was like this intersection of a lot of different cultures from around the world would import street culture, music, from punk rock, ska, reggae, hip-hop. There was a lot of different cultures coming into Tokyo, and I think it was almost like this melting pot, if you will, (of) different cultures that you wouldn't even find in America or Europe, cause it's more unique over there. Because it was in Tokyo, I thought we had that specific vibe at that point in time. And there was lot of digital music, hip-hop scene, and a lot of remixes just happening, a lot of sampling. And I think when we heard that music, it just felt like the right fit for the game.

Question 3

Kyle Ng: This is probably one of the first cel-shaded games ever. So, what made you go with the cel-shaded aesthetic, or how did you even think about it?

Kikuchi: I think at the time a lot of the different game developers, and the whole console war was based on trying to pursue that photo-realistic type of visual expression. But looking at where (the) culture was, and you've got anime, comics, all this illustration, to me it felt like there was a different path, a different vector we could go on and create some kind of visual expression. So I believe that the team could somehow figure out a way to take this look and make it renderable in 3D.

Ueda: Manga dimension.

Kikuchi: The producer at the time, when he saw this he called it inside our company the "manga dimension".

Question 4

Kyle Ng: And Kikuchi-san, how was it translating this art into the game?

Kikuchi: So we weren't even sure what kind of game this was going to be when Ueda first brought these sketches to my desk...

Ueda: I don't begin with that.

Kikuchi: Initial discussions of these as a result, we decided, okay it's going to be an action game of some sort. And in these initial character designs, the characters were already wearing skates. So we knew we had to do something with skates, and action, but also the sort of concept art (is) really reminiscent of Tokyo, so it was Tokyo City, skates, and action. We kind of expanded the game from those three pillars. And back then in the game industry, everyone was trying to figure out how to use 3D. It was still a very new concept and idea to have 3D in your video game. So among all these studios experimenting with 3D, we thought, okay we'll take skating, 3D, action, and we'll get something new.

Question 5

Jon Julio: Why inline skating? Was there a uh not skateboarding, not BMX? Was there a spark that you saw in skating?

Kikuchi: When we landed on the idea of skating, it was about, we wanted a game where people could explore Tokyo, so that's all we had to start with. And we imagine people just climbing these buildings, grinding on powerlines, and just running around the city. And when it came down to it, okay, let's think about this. We could do it with a skateboard, well then you know your feet are kind of fixed together, or we could do it with a BMX, you're kind of like stuck with certain animations. So it didn't give freedom of your limbs, your hands, your feet, which was something we wanted to show in the action component of the game. That sense of freedom. And inline skates are the only form where you can dance while wearing them.

Question 6

Kyle Ng: When we talk about the music, you know again, was there a reason that you chose, you know, the music supervisor you did, or the music that was created?

Kikuchi: I think it was luck that we were able to meet Hideki Naganuma as well. Like it was a chance of fate. Yeah so we didn't really explain. We just showed them the pictures and said: "Make music that matches this".

Question 7

Kyle Ng: What was it like within the company at the time, when you guys are pitching this idea? Was it like a hard pitch?

Kikuchi: Within Sega at the time, and just to preface this, it was not an easy project to get through, and get greenlit. But because we are all salarymen, so to speak, we were on payroll, which means if your project doesn't go through, usually your team is kind of dissolved, and you're folded into other teams to work on other games, filling in different roles. But I'm very thankful for this. Our boss at the time said: "You know what? You guys keep polishing this idea until it's ready." And he gave us like one year, which at the time is unheard of. So, I asked my boss like, "This isn't normal. How can you give us like a whole year to work on this concept?" And he's like, "Well, I feel like you guys are going to do something crazy and start something." So, I'm doing my best to kind of hold the fort.

Ueda: That just reminded me when we pitched this to Sega the final time, I actually sprayed a little fragrance on our pitch deck, and then I walked in with a giant boombox and cassette tape, and I started jamming while Kikuchi presented it to the CEO.

Question 8

Kyle Ng: How that go over?

Kikcuhi: You know, the fact that we're sitting here speaks for itself, right?

Question 9

Fan: What do you love about creating games?

Kikuchi: If I had to pick a moment that really stands out to me, it's when you know made something fun when you're prototyping it, and it feels fun when you play it. I think that's when I get like the shivers.

Ueda: In my case, specifically to Jet Set Radio, when I was making this game, I was just went into thinking, you know what? I don't know if this is really gonna sell, or what the revenue is going to look like, or what the market wants, but I think this is cool, and I think people are going to understand it. So, that's how I approached it. I just wanted to make something that I thought was awesome and then people relating to it would follow. And if I got fired cause it didn't sell, then so be it.

Gallery

Event

Screenings that Brain Dead Studios posted to their socials and website.

Jet Set Radio - 25th Anniversary Celebration @ Brain Dead Studios

25th Anniversary Celebration video posted by Sega.

SEGA x THEM Skates Jet Set Radio 25th Anniversary Edition - Shot in Tokyo

Them Skates JSR collab advertisement that was showcased at the event first.

Masayoshi Kikuchi highlighted in the 25th anniversary video.

Ryuta Ueda highlighted in the 25th anniversary video.

Jon Julio highlighted in the 25th anniversary video.

Sob Story highlighted in the 25th anniversary video.

BAE BAE highlighted in the 25th anniversary video.

Jet Set Radio memorabilia on display.

BAE BAE performing.

Outside of the theater.

Brain Dead Studios merch.

Snippet of the concept art wall.

Ueda and Kikuchi with a fan with their Beat Tubbz Duck Figure.

Fans playing Jet Set Radio on the Dreamcast.

Fan showing off the Brain Dead Studios merch.

Ueda and Kikuchi with a fan who brought their Xbox with a Beat sticker of his JSRF design.

Jon Julio showcasing the Them Skates collab to Ueda and Kikuchi.

The Dreamcast at the event.

Fans showing off their signed Dreamcast.

Jet Set Radio DJ booth.

Jet Set Radio DJ booth which features the sign of the booth from Jet Set Radio Future.

"How Much is That Mutt in the Window" cap.

Kikuchi and Ueda signing a fan's copies of JSRF.

The Audience at the Q&A event.

Kikuchi, Ueda, Kyle Ng, and Julio along with a translator at the Q&A session.

Fans showing off their Brain Dead Studios merch.

Airbrushed poster by Sob Story.

Ueda next to concept art of Beat. Posted by Sega Community Manager Carlos Lopez.

Graffiti wall at the event.

Concept art wall

Concept art wall from the 25th anniversary event.

Concept art of Poison Jam featured at the 25th anniversary event.

Concept art of Mew/Bis featured at the 25th anniversary event.

Concept art of Garam featured at the 25th anniversary event.

Concept art of Yo-Yo featured at the 25th anniversary event.

Concept art of Gum featured at the 25th anniversary event.

Concept art of Captain Onishima and the police featured at the 25th anniversary event.

Concept art of Beat, Corn/Tab, Combo, and Cube featured at the 25th anniversary event.

Concept art of Beat featured at the 25th anniversary event.

Concept art of DK Professor K featured at the 25th anniversary event.

Concept art of Tokyo-to featured at the 25th anniversary event.

Concept art of Tokyo-to featured at the 25th anniversary event.

Concept art of the map of Tokyo-to featured at the 25th anniversary event.

Concept art of the skates featured at the 25th anniversary event.

Trivia

• Some of the films shown at the event, such as Vanishing Point and The Blues Brothers, were movies that served as influences for the JSR series.