From the stylized comic book world of Viewtiful Joe to the living painting style of Okami, Atsushi Inaba of Clover Studio is taking the reins as a producer once more for the original action title God Hand. This modern take on the beat 'em up features customizable moves and a main character named Gene who's a bad enough dude to punch out the devil himself. Inaba answers some questions to give us some insight into the unique (and apparently incredibly challenging) nature of the game.

GameSpy: Despite being a fairly new studio, Clover is already earning a reputation for making artistic, high quality games. What is Clover's basic philosophy for creating a new project?
Inaba: One of our main philosophies is that we are ultimately making games, not works of art. It has to be interesting to watch and fun when you pick up the controller to play. It's a simple philosophy, but it is at the core of what we strive for. It's not about "new is good," but rather "new and fun." That's what we find the most value in. We hope to continue offering gamers fun play experiences.
GameSpy: To start off, could you tell us a bit about the staff members working on the game and their past projects? Is Hideki Kamiya (Devil May Cry) involved in any capacity?

Inaba: The director is Shinji Mikami and the core of development was done by the team that made Resident Evil 4. I apologize, but Hideki Kamiya is not working on this game.
GameSpy: Let's talk about inspiration. While watching the God Hand trailer, I was reminded of older manga and '80s anime like Fist of the North Star and MD Geist. Maybe a little bit of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure in terms of character designs. Is this something the team was consciously going for?
Inaba: There wasn't any inspiration from any specific anime. Basically the concept is all about physical combat with a huge variety of moves. We've gotten rid of the guns and swords, stripped it down so to speak, and made the gameplay very stoic. Then we added a bunch of comical touches to liven it up. Perhaps all of that means it shares that same style as '80s action anime.
GameSpy Who is doing the character design for the title?
Inaba: One of our development team members is doing the character design.
GameSpy: A lot of gamers feel like there has never been a 3D beat 'em up like Double Dragon or Final Fight that's as good as classic 2D titles. Do you think God Hand could succeed here, or do you see it as a different type of game?
Inaba: I am confident that God Hand will deliver a worthwhile gaming experience. It differs from the famous games of years past in that there is no guarantee you'll beat the game. You can't just follow a path through the game and beat it. I guess that is what separates it from the older games. But it makes me very happy to have this game compared to Final Fight. I guess it is up to the players who pick up the game to decide whether or not it is worthy of that comparison.