Team ICO Working on Something "Really Good"

[Logan Frederick]

Team ICO Working on Something "Really Good"

PlayStation's global development president has made some flattering yet vague remarks about Team Ico's history and its next project.

During an interview for the latest issue of Official PlayStation Magazine, Shuhei Yoshida, President of Sony Computer Entertainment's Worldwide Studios, spoke briefly about Ico's lead designer Fumito Ueda and his group's latest project they started hiring [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/81069] for in January.

"They are working on a title. I started the Ico project," explained Yoshida. "Ueda-san joined my team in Japan as a cinematic animator, but he created a short movie and presented it to me and said, 'I want to make this game.'

"I said, 'Yes, let's do it, but you have never made a game. We have to have experienced people do it,' so it took a while, recruiting one person at a time. And because Fumito Ueda doesn't compromise, we had to move the development from PSone to PlayStation 2. Then I couldn't complete the game because I moved to the United States."

Although the studio's first outing, Ico, was not a commercial blockbuster, its pseudo-sequel Shadows of the Colossus commandeered Japanese sales charts, giving Ueda time to complete a third title. In the meantime, Yoshida wants to reassure antsy gamers that the project will be released for the PlayStation 3 in due time.

"It took four years and the second game took four years too. So I started calling them the 'Olympic Team.' They haven't released a PS3 title yet - of course not - they'll take four years! But they have something really, really good on the way."

Source: NeoGAF [http://neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=329791] via Videogaming247 [http://www.videogaming247.com/2008/08/03/team-icos-next-game-is-really-really-good-yoshida/]

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[Lvl 64 Klutz]

This and the rumor of a new .Hack series are two excellent reasons to be psyched about this year's TGS

 

[Logan Frederick]

This and the rumor of a new .Hack series are two excellent reasons to be psyched about this year's TGS

Did you actually play through .Hack? I was curious, but with three or four PS2 games, it sounded like too much of a time investment.

As for ICO 3, I hope it's also got its own unique gameplay much like how SotC varied from ICO so much, but kept the same artistic feel and bizarre storylines. I suspect they will follow through quite well.

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

I'm sure that whatever Team ICO comes up with will be brilliant, they haven't let us down yet and make me feel better about my PS3 whim purchase.

 

[Rolling Thunder]

Well, I agree on the ICO devlopers- ICO and shadow of the colossous were some of the finest, and most hauntingly beautiful games I've ever played (to anyone who played Shadow of the Colossus- the expansive emptiness is achingly lonely, no?).

As for .HACK- I was under the impression the HACK series had started at 'godawful' and basically deterioated from thereon

 

[Lvl 64 Klutz]

This and the rumor of a new .Hack series are two excellent reasons to be psyched about this year's TGS

Did you actually play through .Hack? I was curious, but with three or four PS2 games, it sounded like too much of a time investment.

As for ICO 3, I hope it's also got its own unique gameplay much like how SotC varied from ICO so much, but kept the same artistic feel and bizarre storylines. I suspect they will follow through quite well.

The original series was god awful, the only reason I managed to trudge through the awful and repetitive gameplay was because the story got me hooked. The GU series still had slightly repetitive gameplay, but the combat was much more enjoyable and there was more to distract you from the grinding. Really, though, I suppose if a good story isn't that important to you, you might not enjoy it.

 

[Jumplion]

Isn't the ICO team working on the new Prince of Persia?

That's Ubisoft?

Oh boy! I can't wait to see what they have in store for us! I loved SotC, it was brilliant and unique and I certainly hope that the new game will be great to.