Iwata Asks Talks Up Style Savvy: Trendsetters as a Game For Everyone

Style Savvy: Trendsetters is now available in North American stores and on the 3DS eShop, which may not be news to excite a large number of gamers. That said, we awarded this 8/10 in our review, suggesting that perhaps the theme shouldn't completely distract us from the quality of the gaming experience. We shouldn't forget that stylish men also have the option of working with men's fashion in this game, and that perhaps it isn't just teenage girls that enjoy following trends and attending fashion shows on their handhelds.

In a recent Iwata Asks on the game, this idea of a broader experience and target audience took centre stage. In this following exchange, Hitoshi Yamagami (Software Planning and Development) even equates the main objective of the game with some unlikely genres, to the dismay of his colleague Yurie Hattori.

Yamagami: The way I personally enjoy it is to think of the customers who come to the shop in the game as enemies in RPGs and simulation games.
Iwata: The customers are…enemies? (laughs)
Yamagami: Yeah. And their requests regarding budget and clothes are like attacks that, as the salesperson, I have to find a way to deal with.
Iwata: That's like a fighting game! (laughs)
Yamagami: Against the attack of a customer's budget being 20,000 yen, I have to use the weapons I have on hand to satisfy that demand. So I'll look over my fashion items, and luckily there's no time limit, so I'll think awhile, turn over all sorts of possibilities, and then suggest something at the very end—as if shouting "Fire weapons!"
Iwata: You don't sell, but rather shoot. (laughs)
Everyone: (laughs)
Yamagami: And if the customer says they'll buy it, I'm like (pumping fist), "Yes! I won!"
Iwata: You defeat your customers?
Yamagami: Then money comes in—chaching!—and my score goes up! I play it like that.
Iwata: Hattori-san, what do you think about that from a woman's perspective?
Hattori: (dejectedly slumps her shoulders)
Everyone: (laughs)

As always, we recommend that you check out the full article at the link below, as the group talk about consulting with fashion experts, ensuring that the game is fun for a variety of gamers and making major improvements over the original title. If Yamagami-san can get that excited about selling a pair of shoes, maybe we all need to give this one another thought.