other genres. In a later interview, Mukaiyama said two pitches were created for Orta, one a rail shooter and the other a strategy game with online elements. Kawagoe picked the rail shooter pitch, feeling it best communicated the story and world. The team aimed to create a game accessible to both newcomers and fans, expanding upon the Panzer Dragoon universe rather than reimagining it. Smilebit had been working with the Xbox hardware for their 2002 games Jet Set Radio Future and Gunvalkyrie, and it compared favorably with PC hardware of the time. They also had experience with DirectX through their work on PC ports of Sega games, so they quickly understood the hardware. Yoshida had hoped for characters to fly into clouds, similar to scenes from the 1986 film Castle in the Sky, but as they were instructed in the console by the programmers they found this was not possible. While expressing interest in Xbox Live, Microsoft's online gaming service, Mukaiyama wanted the team to focus on making a polished single-player experience. During the planning phase, the team looked at the first two Panzer Dragoon games with a view to expand on them, but, according to Mukaiyama, they were hesitant to simply repeat what had been done before. One developer, Masayoshi Kikuchi, played both games extensively and offered feedback so the designers could refine Orta design. The team wanted to combine gameplay elements from all three previous Panzer Dragoon games. The real-time dragon morphing mechanic had been cut from Saga due to the Saturn's technical limitations, but the Xbox allowed its inclusion in combat. Movement around a 360-degree axis while shooting was included to distinguish Orta from other rail shooters. Mukaiyama has said that this caused friction within the team, as the programming staff felt free movement was wrong for a rail shooter. Dragon morphing was included to create variety and tactical depth for players, but it required extensive trial and error to feel natural. Mukaiyama derived the morphing system from the character swapping mechanic of Magic Knight Rayearth (1995). The system required two different interacting morphing systems for the dragon's internal bone structure and its external appearance; this was complicated by the additional need to alter texture mapping. The morphing animations were initially much longer, but they were shortened after feedback. Sega of America requested more content, against the team's expectations for the rail shooter genre. Mukaiyama decided to