Q&A: Inside Naruto’s Video Game Timewarp

Tomy’s titles based on the internationally popular anime series Naruto have sold well among fans, as many such spin-offs do, but perhaps surprisingly, they’re also known for solid quality.

Tomy’s latest title, Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution 2 for Wii, was now faced with an interesting challenge: how to bring North American players the next adventure when the TV series in Japan is as much as two years ahead of what’s airing in the West?

Clash of Ninja Revolution 2’s Tomy producer Nobi Matsuo decided to leverage the gap by filling it in with original characters and storylines made specifically for the game. But how does this work with a game licensed from a Japanese cartoon, developed for a U.S. audience, requiring permission from a Japanese IP-holder? It gets complicated, and Matsuo explains the process in an interview with Gamasutra.