Background: CHAD OKADA, FORMER GAMELORD OF SNK USA

(This interview was taken on January 2, 2003. Some data below may have changed since then, such as the rebirth of the home market for SNK NEO GEO USA/Playmore.)

TRIEU: I met you when you were known as the Game Lord at SNK USA when they were located in Torrance, which was 1992 I believe. For as long as I've known you, I've never asked how you first got involved with SNK. Can you tell us how you were lucky enough to score such a great position at SNK? and how long did were you employed at SNK Torrance and why did you decide to leave?

Okada: I was hired by SNK by pure luck. SNK Home Entertainment, Inc. (Sister company of SNK Corporation which was still in operation in Northern California) opened up an office in Torrance, CA and needed to hire someone to be a game counselor. They went to a local temp agency called Apple one in Torrance. They hadn't had any Game People in their arsenal, so they went to an arcade down the street called South Bay Bowl. At the time, I was the reigning champion of Cyberball 2072 (this was well before Street Fighter 2 came out and took over the arcades) and was considered the best gamer in the arcade. Apple One found me in this arcade. I was sent to SNK by Apple one to apply for the job. Working at SNK is one of my fondest memories in my life and I could never trade it for anything. I was employed by them for 5 years. Although there are many reasons why I left SNK, the main reason is that SNK had disolved their development group due to decreased sales and popularity of NeoGeo. I wanted to be part of developing Video Games and SNK would no longer offer that to me in the US.

TRIEU: There are companies that suffer through scandals, such as accounting (Enron, Arthur Andersen), but SNK is a little different, somewhat mysterious, in terms of accurate information. We hear so many rumors, yet very few people (even inside SNK) can confirm certain facts. Why do you think this is the case?

Okada: SNK was a very proud company that didn't want to show weakness. However, in reality, to make money, you need money. And it's easier to get more money or investors, if you have the appearance of being a very successful enterprise.

TRIEU: Many SNK fans as you know are not only interested in the titles that are rare and the new ones that are coming out, but also the elusive "protos" that some die hard fans seek the truth of. From what I remember, the only proto I've seen with my own eyes at SNK Torrance was Ghostlop when one of your technicians was testing it. What protos came across your desk that you can remember and why did some of them not make it to the market?

Okada: I have to apologize for being an old man. I remember many games coming across, but I can't remember all the details. As everyone knows, Fun Fun Brothers, Mystic Wand, Dunk Star, and the original Pulstar were some of the more easy for me to remember. I'm hoping to remember the rest at some time and pass the info to you. Most of the protos weren't released due to quality or expectations of sales. For instance, Mystic Wand was deemed as not suitable for the arcade market. Even though it was actually a good game, the arcade market seemed very picky about what it played, and at the time, only Street Fighter and rip-offs were making money. As many of you know, SNK made all/most of its money from arcade products and being successful in the arcade was the most important thing for a title to be released to the Neo.

TRIEU: Since the demise of SNK USA altogether, SNK hasn't been the COMPLETE SNK since. Reason being, the office today only concentrates on the MVS market, while the old SNK distributed both MVS and the home carts. Because of this, home cart prices have sky rocketed, due to the possible speculation of how rare a certain title is. As I've asked you a few times (please do not mention any names in your response for privacy purposes), is it accurate to say that there is an EX-SNK employee that would have some very accurate numbers of how many copies of each US title was made for the home cart market?

Okada: Yes, there are some employees who could give you accurate numbers in the US. Just about anyone in the warehouse could, but I'm not sure if they want to be approached for questioning. I've given out pretty accurate numbers in many previous statements and they still hold true.

TRIEU: Many rumored titles and systems surfaced during the life span of SNK USA. Are there any that come to your mind that you would like to clear up to the fans out there?

Okada: No Comment. Maybe in a later interview.

TRIEU: It's no surprise to many that Samurai Shodown put SNK on the map of 2-D stardom and pushed the envelope of future hits on the Neo Geo. In your opinion, what would you consider the best game in terms of overall gameplay and enjoyment that SNK has produced?

Okada: I, myself, have always been a fan of Samurai Shodown 2 and still believe it to be the best in overall gameplay and enjoyment. There are plenty of good games that came from NEO including Magician Lord, but there's too many to go over.

TRIEU: As much as many people dislike Chris and Dion for their anti-SNK campaigns with inserts and conversions, do you think their public appearances and marketing of Neo products helped or hurt SNK?

Okada: Here's a loaded question. I am going to get completely pummelled by the fans, but I'm going to call them like I see them. I am not a fan of Dion and I don't know Chris very well. I do, however, believe that without these goons making so much trouble, the Neo community would be very dead. Their marketing and appearances made no impact on the demise of SNK and with or with out their help. SNK needs to start from scratch and start making 3rd party games for PS2, GC, and Xbox and then use that money to fund a new NEOGEO that is bigger, badder, better than the NEO64.

TRIEU: There are many factors why SNK USA didn't really capture the U.S. market, whether it be for the home systems or the arcade market. In general, what would be the major factor, in your opinion, that led to the decline and shutdown of SNK USA?

Okada: SNK was unlucky in the fact that the arcade market died. They had pulled out of 3rd party development for Nintendo/Sega/etc and didn't have that revenue. They couldn't commit to making the home neogeo a success because of costs and the fact that when they released a game to the home system, arcade operators would see a drop in coin in the game when released to the home. So when Samurai Shodown X came out on the home systems, the arcade version of the same Samurai Shodown X lost all it's popularity. They couldn't bring the home system to a competitive price and when they finally attempted to bring out a CD ROM, technology had already passed them up in both the PSX and Saturn. Even when Aruze took over and tried to bring SNK back to profitability, they focused on the arcade market and the arcade market died. If the arcade market would have stayed strong, SNK would be one of the greatest companies around. But that wasn't the case, and even giants such as Namco's Arcade division filed bankruptcy due to the lack of arcade sales.

TRIEU: The majority of die hard Neo fans are aware of releases for both US and Japanese home and MVS carts. Honestly, until just a few years ago, I didn't know there were Korean versions. From what I've heard in the past, the Korean Neo market is pretty large. What do you know about Korea's relation to the Japanese market?

Okada: The Korean market had always been quiet to me. Except for the one fighting game that came out of Korea, I actually no nothing about that market.

TRIEU: Just to put some issues to rest, there was alot of talk about rumored titles, the two I was most anticipating most was Magician Lord 2 and Baseball Stars 3. All other sources tell me, there were no plans for either title, not even a written memo on considering the projects. Spill the beans for us...GameLord.

Okada: Well, it's going to kill me to say this now. There were no real plans to release Magician Lord 2. Magician Lord was a flop in the arcades and there was no chance that SNK would have released a sequel. Baseball Stars 3 was also never planned, but could have easily been for real. Japan actually fell in love with soccer and Baseball in Japan had lost it's luster. Hence the numerous soccer games released for NEO. In my own defense, one of my jobs was to be a PR spokesperson for the NEO and with the imminent death of NEO coming, I thought one of the only ways to keep NEO Fans with us was to convince them that these new (non-fighting) games were planned.

TRIEU: You're now with EA (Congratulations) and run your own website, www.gamelord.org. Can you tell us a little bit about what gamelord.org focuses on?

Okada: Gamelord.org is purely a goofy website and I'm looking for any contributors to this page.

TRIEU: Honestly, who was the King of Thrash Rally at SNK USA Torrance?

Okada: Hahah, Tony Gonzales, Tony Archuleta, or Tommy Lynn can definitely tell you.

TRIEU: Thank you so much for your time and in the minds of Neo Fans everywhere, there was only one true Game Lord, Chad Okada...when all else fails, the Gamelord prevails.