Rejoining the Circle
And so we come full circle, all the way back around to the
starting point: there was a classmate of mine that used to be part of my manga
club back in university, and he had managed to get hired by a video game
company in Tokyo, named Taito.
And Taito was notorious for being very rigid, top-down; that it was a company
that didn't let people creatively pursue the projects that they wanted to
pursue.
There was a movement within that company, within one of the
creative departments, to branch out independently, and form their own branch of
their own company -- and the central person involved in that movement was my
friend. And so, one day, I got a call to Osaka, saying,
"Let's do this!" -- from my friend who was working for Taito in Tokyo.
At that time I hadn't decided that I wanted to settle working for
the video game industry while I was still working for this concrete company,
and I was at that time mulling over the possibilities of working for a video
game company, working for an anime company, working for a manga company,
working for a movie company... I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. But this
invitation came from this friend of mine, and so I didn't want to let that go
to waste.
At this point, Matsuyama used his free time to understand the
video game medium -- doing research in libraries to learn about its history,
and realizing that his perspective as a gamer growing up in small-town Japan
hadn't prepared him for the role he was about to take on.
It is at that time that I realized, you know what, I could battle
my way through life with this type of medium; that I could create things in
this medium and succeed. It was at this time that I decided, "Alright! I'm
going to get into this video game industry."
So I moved from Osaka back to Fukuoka, along with my
friend who was working for Taito, and nine other people. So I moved from Osaka, and then nine
from Tokyo, and we all gathered in Fukuoka, and we
started a company called CyberConnect.
And so, I was an illustrator -- because I used to be part of this
manga club -- and within the video game industry there are four things that are
necessary: there is planning, there is graphics, there's sound, and then
programming. These four things become the cornerstones of a video game.
And I figured that with my background, the fastest way forward
would be to study graphics, as well as things unique to the video game industry
-- the industry as a whole. So I focused on those two elements of the industry,
and began to learn about the video game industry, and started the company with
that in mind.
At that time, the nine people who had come from Taito had worked
previously on Psychic Force and another title called RayStorm --
action type games. And so from those people, I learned what it is to make a
console video game -- what is involved with the creation of a video game -- as
well as how to operate a computer.
Up until that point I had never laid hands, really, on a personal
computer, because I had worked for a concrete company, so there was no need for
that. So I had no experience on working with personal computers, and it was at
that time that I learned how to do that, along with what I had been learning
from the video game industry.
Atlus/CyberConnect2's Tail Concerto
I feel like I understand something now, just because Psychic
Force and RayStorm were two of the best Taito games for the
PlayStation, and I can see the roots going toward Silent Bomber, almost.
HM: Yes, yes, yes, yes!
And so, while learning a lot of things from these nine people
together, the ten of us worked on the Tail Concerto title and Silent
Bomber. You could say that I had learned while I was working in this
environment -- learning as I went, with these nine other people from Taito.
But
these nine other people from Taito had made, you know, RayStorm, and Psychic
Force, and so they were already at a professional level, whereas I started
as a complete amateur, having absolutely no idea of what is all involved.
And so, I had to work three times harder than the rest of the
other guys, because no matter how much I worked, there was just no way that my
work could achieve the same level of the work that was being done by these pros
who had been in the industry for a while. So I was at work basically 24/7. All
the time, I was at work.
|
Printer-Friendly Version
"The reality is that the consumer is going to end up buying what they like, and at the point where the company is making excuses for itself, saying, "Well, for 10 people, this video game is pretty good..." -- at that point, the company is making excuses for itself. There is something wrong with that. "
And I'm gonna add, it's not just companies making excuses for that. It's reviewers, and game media in general, and even some "core gamers". There's quite a few downloadable games (that shall not be named) in the last couple of years that would never have gotten the scores they got, if it wasn't for the fact that they were made by 1, 2 or 5 guys instead of a big team.
Kudos to HM for his no-nonsense thinking!
Looking at this from a different angle, we cannot say that something is excellent simply because it is popular and sells well with consumers. McDonald's is popular and sells well, but it certainly is not excellent food (nor is it excellent settings, etc). The pet rock was popular at one time.
In addition, I don't think it's a good idea to simply follow whatever sells because that undermines innovation and creativity. In fact, historically speaking, the people and products that become popular and set trends tend to be the stuff that goes against whatever is popular at any particular time, even if the person or product is controversial when it first appears.
I'm a perfectionist and workaholic so my problem is going home. Not good when the boss phones you and says he's sick of the security company phoning him. "Go home, I don't to have another call from them, okay".
I see work in this environment as a three fold process;
Firstly you need a group (2 or more) that can bounce ideas and get workflow happening.
Two, people dedicated to seeing the production through the grind and making sure that all that needs to be done, gets done.
Thirdly, being flexible in the fact that you can make better use of your time by applying yourself when and where needed. ie. If you have no work, find someone that could use the help and learn something from it while you both get it done.
@ Dave: I agree that you shouldn't follow a subject or product because everyone else is making one. Yet I disagree with the assumption that there are fewer options/avenues today. I'd say there are way more oportunities now than ever before!
Eveyone follows the same patterns until you break those molds, try something new. Hence why I believe there is no such thing as a bad idea because eventually you'll stumble onto one that everyone says, "Now why didn't I think of that?"
Trial and error is the only things not seen enough in the industry and holding things back. Just like hollywood, how many remakes are coming out at the moment? I tend to only go and watch a movie when I can, so rocking up and having only blockbuster hits available is a turn off, just as it is when I look for a new game.
Everyone tries to tell me what is really good to play and I should join in. Once in a while someone asks me what I'm playing and it's nice to see from time to time someone come back with. I would never have guessed that was a fun game, I usually don't play that type of game. I just grin sheepishly back.
Secondly, Japan is all about bureaucracy and paperwork. It would be really hard to do the endless meetings if you can't read/write/speak Japanese. If you are perceived as a hotshot, you might get to live "outside the law", but the problem is that then it might be hard for you to effect anything meaningfully because you're not part of the in-group. Office politics are pretty brutal in Japan.