1UP: We heard from [Street Fighter 4 producer] Ono-san that you enjoy women with large thighs. Would you apply this philosophy to all female characters, like Cammy or Sakura, if given the chance, and why do you think it's appealing?

DI: I'm actually not into that -- not personally. [Laughs.] All I'm doing is trying my best to maintain the design guidelines established by Akiman, the original Street Fighter character designer. Those guidelines are worth paying attention to and I do what I can to stay within them. That's all. Of course, this is a new title, so there will be a few minor alterations here and there, I guess. [Laughs.]

Chun-Li's thighs aren't a reflection of my personal tastes or fetishes so much as they are a product of the character's design. That's just who Chun-Li is. I certainly wouldn't dream of thickening up every female thigh in the game. I mean, characters who need big thighs will be graced with big thighs. Characters who require thinner legs will get a pair of legs that suits them.

That said, let me be clear on one point: These characters are fighters. They are tough. They do a lot of kicking and probably work out a lot. I wouldn't imagine that too many of them would have spindly little stick legs. That would be really strange. I'm certainly not consciously trying to emulate the design of Street Fighter III or anything, if that's what it looks like to you. I'm just examining the entire series and drawing the best parts of each generation of design into a cohesive whole.


1UP: Ono-san told us that he lost the battle between having Street Fighter 4's Chun-Li made thin or thick, but that if it came down to Cammy having either/or, that he'd win that battle to keep her legs thin. How do you feel about this leg-thickness rivalry, and what was your logic in your victory with Chun-Li?

DI: Like I said when we just spoke about Chun-Li, I have every intention of keeping my personal tastes out of the design. My sole obligation is to the characters themselves. I owe it to them to design them in a way that matches their unique personalities and traits. My personal tastes don't come into the equation.

Let's examine Chun-Li's history a bit, shall we? Back when she first appeared in Street Fighter II, she was the sole woman among a roster of powerful male characters. To overcome this perceived imbalance, she was devised as a character who had mastered Chinese Kenpo and really pushed her body to the limit so that she could compete with this cast of rather large and imposing men. Keeping that concept in mind, of course it makes perfect sense that her thighs would be large and powerful. It goes hand in hand with who she is as a character and where she fits into the overall universe.

On the other end of the spectrum, we have Cammy. She has been physiologically altered by Shadoloo to be much stronger than an ordinary human being of her size. We also have to remember that she's an assassin. Her small size suits a sneaky character whose primary objective is assassination, and the back story with Shadoloo explains quite elegantly why her smaller than average frame holds so much physical power.

Giving Cammy thicker legs would be illogical as it doesn't match the character's design and story. Should Cammy make an appearance in this game, her legs would most certainly not be any thicker than they have been for the past decade and a half. So, no matter what certain producers may have you think [Laughs], I wouldn't allow my personal tastes to ever interfere with the actual background and design of a given character. And you can take that to the bank!


1UP: Have you ever seen the work of American cult comic book artist Robert Crumb? You seem to have something in common with him.

DI: Sorry to disappoint you, but I actually haven't heard of him.