Q&A with Hotline Miami’s Jonatan ‘Cactus’ Söderström
Jonatan ‘Cactus’ Söderström is a prolific indie developer and one half of the Dennaton team that made Hotline Miami, one of the year’s most stylish and unnerving PC titles.
In this brief Q&A exchange, Söderström talks about the purity of a full chicken mask playthrough, indicates that a level editor for the game is a possibility in the future, and patiently puts up with my inane queries about visiting Miami.
You can read my 9/10 review of Hotline Miami elsewhere on the site. The following Q&A contains minor spoilers.
IncGamers: Do you like hurting other people?
Jonatan Söderström: No.
IG: What’s the most efficient way to kill three people in a small room?
JS: There’s a lot of ways to do it.
IG: Is that biker guy alive, dead, or both at the same time?
JS: You tell me.
IG: Any chance of people being able to dream up their own ‘hits’ with some kind of level editor?
JS: Possibly.
IG: What’s the deal with those Gamemaker error boxes that keep popping up for some people when they play?
JS: Those are bugs, sorry!
IG: You’re given the choice of just one animal mask to wear for a full play-through; whom do you choose?
JS: Chicken, of course. I don’t cheat!
IG: How did you locate and secure the artists for the game’s soundtrack?
JS: A mix of Bandcamp, the music collection on my harddrive and friends!
IG: Have you ever been to Miami?
JS: No.
IG: Have you ever been to Miami in the 1980s?
JS: No.
IG: Have you ever been to Miami in the 1980s and found yourself gouging out someone’s eyes with your bare hands?
JS: No.
IG: Have you ev … ok, no, enough of that.
JS: Cool.
IG: Did Dennaton get a good deal out of Devolver Digital with this game, or are they wringing you for every penny they can while you do all the hard work?
JS: It’s not bad!
IG: What’s your favourite shade of neon?
JS: Pink.
IG: In retrospect, was a pure stealth level (‘Trauma’) such a great idea?
JS: Yes, it makes it feel all the better to return to the action afterwards. Won’t do it again though…
IG: What’s the best message left on the real Hotline Miami (+1 (786) 519-3708) to date?
JS: I have no idea, Devolver has only shared a couple with us.
IG: If an ambitious serial killer starts murdering people while dressed as the protagonist of your game, will you be horrified or flattered?
JS: Horrified and sad.
IG: What’s next for Hotline Miami?
JS: A ‘sequel’ and maybe a level editor.
