Secrets of Sonic X-treme: New 10 hour interview with SEGA producer Mike Wallis

Sega Retro interviewer Ashley Rojas has published a 10-hour, four-part interview with Mike Wallis, the Sega Technical Institute producer behind Comix Zone, The Ooze, Sonic X-treme, and Sonic 3D Blast. The interview follows Wallis from his start as a high school hints hotline operator at Electronic Arts in 1987, through his time at The 3DO Company, to his arrival at STI in November 1994. Wallis gives a rare first-hand look at STI’s day-to-day culture and structure, weighs in on the long-running debate over whether the X-treme team received the NiGHTS development tools, recounts the presentation to Shoichiro Irimajiri that ended Point of View’s involvement, and explains how he produced Sonic 3D Blast across three continents in about five months. The interview goes on to cover STI’s transition into Sega of America Product Development, his work on Decathlete and NBA Action ‘98, and his departure from Sega in 1998, before following his later career on EVE Online, The Lord of the Rings Online, Blizzard’s Battle.net, PlayStation Studios, and Epic Games.

Read the interview on Sega Retro

I guess burnout wasn’t a thing for me back then. Every once in a while you get really extended, and we can talk about Sonic 3D Blast, because that was a project that was crazy for me. I would maybe take a day here or there, maybe go on a vacation, and that was enough to recharge me. Look, people always say, do what you love, and it’s not a job. I was making games and I loved it, and I was a huge gamer, so this was part of living for me. I didn’t do it for the money. I didn’t do it for the fame. I would just do it because I loved it. If you’re doing something you love, I’m not going to get burned out. I love it.