Team Ico Lead: Ico and Shadow of the Colossus "Weren't Good Enough"
The man behind two of the most beloved games of all time thinks his masterpieces could have been better.
Most people who played Team Ico's last-generation titles Ico and Shadow of the Colossus fell in love with the two games. To many, these two games were the biggest arguments one could make that games were in fact art.
Unfortunately, the games - particularly Ico - didn't sell as well as some - particularly publisher Sony - might have hoped. Was that a result of subpar marketing campaigns, perhaps? Or was it that their quirky Japanese design didn't go over in the West?
No, says creator Fumito Ueda, the beloved games just weren't good enough to sell.
"I believe the issue is with the product," Ueda told Edge [http://www.next-gen.biz/features/fumito-ueda-on-the-last-guardian?page=0%2C2]. "The fact that Ico and SOTC didn't sell well is because they weren't good enough. They didn't have enough to appeal to users. The Last Guardian wants to learn from this. I'm making the game so that it's appealing, with the hope that many people will give it a try and love it."
I'm all for game designers learning from their mistakes, sure - it's how sequels improve on what came before - and I'm as excited for The Last Guardian as anybody, but saying that Ico and Colossus weren't good enough? You take that back, Fumito Ueda. You take that back right now.
The rest of the interview with Ueda - who judging by this is apparently the Japanese Peter Molyneux - is well worth a read for anyone interested in Team Ico's upcoming The Last Guardian, so check out the full thing at Edge [http://www.next-gen.biz/features/fumito-ueda-on-the-last-guardian?page=0%2C2].
Permalink
Most people who played Team Ico's last-generation titles Ico and Shadow of the Colossus fell in love with the two games. To many, these two games were the biggest arguments one could make that games were in fact art.
Unfortunately, the games - particularly Ico - didn't sell as well as some - particularly publisher Sony - might have hoped. Was that a result of subpar marketing campaigns, perhaps? Or was it that their quirky Japanese design didn't go over in the West?
No, says creator Fumito Ueda, the beloved games just weren't good enough to sell.
"I believe the issue is with the product," Ueda told Edge [http://www.next-gen.biz/features/fumito-ueda-on-the-last-guardian?page=0%2C2]. "The fact that Ico and SOTC didn't sell well is because they weren't good enough. They didn't have enough to appeal to users. The Last Guardian wants to learn from this. I'm making the game so that it's appealing, with the hope that many people will give it a try and love it."
I'm all for game designers learning from their mistakes, sure - it's how sequels improve on what came before - and I'm as excited for The Last Guardian as anybody, but saying that Ico and Colossus weren't good enough? You take that back, Fumito Ueda. You take that back right now.
The rest of the interview with Ueda - who judging by this is apparently the Japanese Peter Molyneux - is well worth a read for anyone interested in Team Ico's upcoming The Last Guardian, so check out the full thing at Edge [http://www.next-gen.biz/features/fumito-ueda-on-the-last-guardian?page=0%2C2].
Permalink
