Yuji Naka Calls for More Originality from Video Game Industry

It seems that Yuji Naka did not have a very interesting E3 this year. In a newly-published interview with Japanese magazine Dengeki, the Sonic Team head said he was "really tired" of the video game industry's apparent obsession with sequels, and how many of the games at the US trade show appeared quite similar to one another. 

When asked about his thoughts of E3, Naka said (via machine translation), "Hmm, I looked at a lot of the games being exhibited, and they were all sequels. It's just '2' and '3', and I'm really tired of that. I've been interviewed by people from overseas media, and when I talked about Sonic Heroes, they asked me, 'Why didn't you make it into Sonic Adventure 3?' However, we think that users are getting tired of only using '2' and '3'.

"After all, when it comes to games, what's important is how the play evolves, and we need to keep creating new games."

In many press interviews for Sonic Heroes, Naka and director Takashi Iizuka often explained that Sonic Team was trying something new with tried-and-tested Sonic the Hedgehog gameplay, which is why the game is not a continuation of any particular series (like 'Sonic Adventure'). In this interview, Naka also mentions Phantasy Star Online in a similar way.

"That's why PSO has been created from a completely different perspective as a card game, and we're trying to bring out fresh surprises like that. If you don't do that, the game will become chronic and boring. In that respect, I think we were able to announce something relatively new this time."

Naka continued, discussing the broader game industry, "the game industry itself has continued to make sequels, either because it's focused on profit or because the users want it. I think the game industry is heading in a strange direction. Under such circumstances, we still want to pursue originality. I want to do fantasy while everyone else is going for the real route.

"If you look at the current situation in America, the only games that are popular are FPS (first person shooter). And people from overseas media asked me, 'Why doesn't he make an FPS?' But I think, 'What am I going to do if I make that?''... In the past, it was all about shooting games, at one point it was all about fighting games, and now it's all about FPS, but we don't really want to play those kinds of things. It would be boring to imitate and create something similar.

"As a creator, I'm glad I didn't get swept away. We want to continue making things that we love that both children and adults can enjoy."

You can read the rest of the interview (in Japanese) by clicking here.