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Mizuguchi On Why Japan's Designers Are Going Indie

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the land-of-the-indie-sun dept.

simoniker writes "Q Entertainment's Tetsuya Mizuguchi, creator of Rez and Lumines, has been discussing why he set up his own company as part of a wider Gamasutra interview, interesting because many major Japanese creators (such as Yuji Naka and Hironobu Sakaguchi) are leaving the big companies to form their own independent outfits. He explained: 'I don't know about everyone, but from just my case, I felt like I didn't have freedom. I was in Sega. At the time, I don't know now, but at the time, that was a big client for me, and I had a studio called UGA, United Game Artists. And I had seventy people. I had many visions, like to make casual games. Not big stuff, but small games. Not Lumines, but many other ideas. If I made a presentation to Sega executives about this kind of thing, and if they said no, that's over. That's it.'"

2 of 21 comments (clear)

  1. We wouldn't have Katimari... by GundamFan · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If little querky games didn't make there way to market we wouldn't have some of the most fun games I have ever played. Keep that in mind.

    Big production games with stories are fun too, but in a diffrent way, sometimes you need a game that can make you smile without much time invested.

    --
    I don't give a damn for a man that can only spell a word one way.
    Mark Twain
    1. Re:We wouldn't have Katimari... by Necreia · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I'd imagine that companies can't stay small due to various reasons. Sometimes they get 'swept up' in having to grow under whipcrack of a publisher to make a current title 'better', or they bring in people to manage the business that slowly allow it to grow.

      In counternote to this though, I rather preferr the current system of grow / split / grow / split, as it allows the newer companies to be remixed with new people and new identity.

      If a single company continues to go forward, they just simply churn out the same game with a sequel tag, new version, expansion, etc. The brand identity overshadows the love and desire of the people making the games eventually (usually, not always).