Fumito ueda biography of christopher

Fumito Ueda first came into the spotlight back in when Ico was released on the PlayStation 2 to almost universal aclaim. He followed this up with Shadow of the Colossus in , again for the PS2. His third title, The Last Guardian , was originally set for release on the PlayStation 3 but ultimately arrived for the PlayStation 4 in It would be no exaggeration to state that these games are often cited by others within the videogame industry as profoundly influential to their own work.

So we were extremely fortunate when Ueda-san agreed to answer some questions put forward by both members of the Cane and Rinse team and our wider community. Your games always stand out to me as being very philosophically-driven.

Ico gameplay

Are there any specific works of literature or thinkers that you could name as some of your primary inspirations? For example, I feel like Shadow of the Colossus is deeply influenced by Taoist values about respecting the beauty and inherent balance of nature, as well as serving as a cautionary tale of the dangers of man overstepping his boundaries.

Are these the kind of themes you considered during the writing process? This is because I feel that clinging onto a theme is far too inefficient when making a videogame. If you could collaborate on a game project with another person — alive or dead — from any other medium, be it a writer, film director, painter or musician who would it be?

Fumito Ueda: Although there are many film directors, writers and creators I look up to, it is hard to think of anyone I could collaborate with on a game project in particular. Do you ever have ideas for stories in media other than videogames, like books, or a graphic novel, or something else? Fumito Ueda: I rarely get conceptions on the basis of a story when making videogames, but I always have a conscious desire to have a story that is appropriate particularly for a videogame.

This is because it is difficult to represent stories with too complex a structure in a game, so the stories in videogames tend to become rather straightforward, and they mostly feel too simple to be applied to anything else outside of videogames. I was so impressed and inspired to hear that you had an art background but soon became the leader of your own, original game IP.

Do you feel that the professional AAA scene in Japan is more open, or mature, than in the west when it comes to creating original games?