Yoshio Sakamoto

[AMetroidGuy]

, eh? According to Wikipedia: Regarding his professional relationship with Shigeru Miyamoto, he believes his own mission is not to compete with but to "always come up with something very different from what Mr. Miyamoto is likely to do".

[Remnants]

At least what he thinks Mr. Miyamoto is likely to do. Although by now he might have an understanding after working with him for over 25 years now.

After Other M I can't help but question him as a writer. There's been a lot of speculation for Metroid 5 like Metroid Conspiracy Theory but I wouldn't get my hopes up. I do keep in mind that Fusion was well-executed so the most I can hope for is that he learns the lesson and refine himself from there. My two cents.

[Infinity's End]

It all boils back to Other M in the end, right?

I think 's "downfall" was his inability to take the Metroid saga seriously, but then tried to create "artificial" examples of that so-called seriousness by making strange changes like turning the Gravity Suit into a purple glow. What I'm trying to say is that he used a double-standard. There are times where the game is very clear that it's nothing more than that - a game. But then that's opposed by the overarching storyline trying to tie everything together.

Even though the very first game in the series was basically founded by technology limitation, blundered or half-assed attempts by the devs, time and money constraints, and fathoms of disorganization (much like probably 99% of all the games made back in those days), it has grown into something extremely more renown and powerful than that. He did a disservice to the series (and subsequently, its fans) by undermining this power and not realizing its full potential. Other M's writing, as mediocre as it was, is not its only flaw, in my opinion, the game's overall flow, the forced "search around" parts, the slow, boring, over-the-shoulder parts which serve no purpose beyond annoying the player, and the characters that have absolutely no purpose whatsoever (K.G., Maurice, and Lyle) stand out way more strongly. (this paragraph also heavily reminds me of another certain filmmaker... )

It shows that even though the game may have been developed in a way that was profoundly better in tech, devs, money, and organization, the game's direction was seriously flawed. And I hate to say it, but we really only have one person to blame for that.

[MaiAriSquee]

Amen.

Well, at least now he has a good reason to make a new game. To correct his mistakes.

[FacelessGriffin]

Wait, what was the point of this again?

[Infinity's End]

griffin I don't see what you're getting at. I think the subject of this thread is quite clear. if you come here to sarcastically belittle people because their opinions clash with yours, I think it's about time you move on.

[ddddd]

"always come up with something very different from what Mr. Miyamoto is likely to do"

I dont know much about the Zeldas, but I think that Miyamoto likes simple stories on his games. And he always comes up with some kind of new gameplay mechanic to implement somewhere.

Metroids seem to always be mostly the same (if made in japan), and the latest seem to be incorporating story whenever posible.

[Naner]

always come up with something very different from what Mr. Miyamoto is likely to do

That's a strange position. I hope it doesn't mean he makes his decisions based on what Miyamoto wouldn't do.

[Trishbot]

I've been quick to dismiss Sakamoto as a storywriter and give him strong credit as a game designer, but I agree with Infinity's End that I felt the gameplay of Other M was supremely lacking as well.

Focusing on Sakamoto's quote, "always come up with something very different from what Mr. Miyamoto is likely to do", that's commendable in the desire to diversify and be different, but at the same time there's a reason Miyamoto is considered basically the Walt Disney of video games. His creativity, his passion, and most importantly his understanding of games, has lead to hit after hit, classic after classic, icon after icon, from Mario to Zelda to even Pikmin.

But there's one VERY important difference between Miyamoto and Sakamoto that I found to be telling of their ways of creating games.

I read interviews with Miyamoto and company about the process of making Zelda: Ocarina of Time (my favorite game of all time), and while Miyamoto was a HUGE influence on the entire project, I found it shocking how humble he was and how quick he was to concede that others in his team might have better ideas. He shares stories about how they talked him out of making Ocarina of Time a first-person adventure game and not making the entire game set in Ganon's Tower with portal hubs (a'la Mario 64). He confesses that he didn't want a fishing mini-game included until someone on the team went ahead and coded it on their spare time and he realized how much fun it was. Throughout the interview, he's shown as a man in charge, but a man willing to compromise, let his "vision" merge with the visions of others, and to let others in the team speak up, be heard, and have the best ideas added to the experience.

Then I read interviews with Sakamoto and Team Ninja on Other M. It was a much different sort of environment. Like Miyamoto, Sakamoto was overseeing everything and directing the game. Unlike Miyamoto, however, I noticed a repeating trend of Team Ninja saying they were all following Sakamoto's singular vision and him disallowing outside ideas that were not his own. I read about Sakamoto shooting down ideas teammates had (such as giving players the option of using the nunchuck) and being very specific about how he wanted Samus to look, act, and even sound like. Sakamoto's influence is felt in everything done in the game, and while Ocarina of Time feels like a collaboration of the ideas of many people, Other M is the vision of one man overruling the ideas of others.

Maybe he sees himself as the yin to Miyamoto's yang, but there's a reason Miyamoto is so successful, so beloved, and so talented. He just flat-out makes great games, games in their most pure, fun, and functional forms. He prides himself on drawing gamers into the games and getting rid of every barrier that might prevent players from enjoying themselves. Every idea he's ever had amounts to immersing players in the game world. There's a reason Zelda's hero is called "Link", there's a reason the Wii adopted motion-controls to directly correlate to player's movements, there's a reason Mario's story boils down to "save the princess" and leaves the rest of the game to gameplay.

Maybe it's the absence of Gunpei Yokoi, or just the fact that Team Ninja was an outside studio, but just like George Lucas, I just didn't get the impression that anyone at Team Ninja stood up for their ideas or confront Sakamoto about his. I would have loved to have seen Team Ninja tackle the game with Itagaki still on board, a man notorious for being a blunt, outspoken, driven visionary of his own. I imagine he wouldn't have just been a good minion and followed his orders; he was the type that challenged authority, pushed for better ideas, and, ultimately... got pushed out of Team Ninja for having a very difficult attitude.

We've yet to really hear any feedback, in almost a year, from Nintendo or Sakamoto following Other M's reception and sales. When faced with this situation, one either gets indignant and bitter, and then continues doing that their "vision" tells them to, or they are humbled and thoughtful, and then take care to rethink their work and why it was so effective in the past.

And I'll be honest; Sakamoto has always asked for feedback. He's outright begged for people to speak up and let him know what they think of Other M. He was excited about the game, but he confessed it was very experimental, very different, and he wasn't sure just how it would be received. That's a very GOOD sign that he's quite a bit more humble than people think he is, and I'm sure he has been thinking very hard about the entire past year of praise, critique, and criticism.

That's one trait EVERY developer should share with Miyamoto: humility and modesty. Games aren't made by individuals; they are made by teams of talented people, and a smart leader uses every member of the team, and the best ideas they have, to make the best game possible.

[Infinity's End]

I imagine he wouldn't have just been a good minion and followed his orders; he was the type that challenged authority, pushed for better ideas, and, ultimately... got pushed out of Team Ninja for having a very difficult attitude.

Not to go too far off topic, but Itagaki didn't get "pushed out of Team Ninja," He quit and sued Tecmo because they didn't give him his promised bonus. Itagaki has always been know to be a very blunt, opinionated person, but in no way did Tecmo "push him out."

[AuroraUnitComplex]

That's a very GOOD sign that he's quite a bit more humble than people think he is, and I'm sure he has been thinking very hard about the entire past year of praise, critique, and criticism.

That's one trait EVERY developer should share with Miyamoto: humility and modesty. Games aren't made by individuals; they are made by teams of talented people, and a smart leader uses every member of the team, and the best ideas they have, to make the best game possible.

Sakamoto has spoken quite strongly about this too, and about what makes a healthy work environment.

Now, when we first brought him [Hayashi-san] on, I didn't just hand him a pile of documents and say, "Here you go. Please make this game." Rather, we talked about what was essential and what was good in the Metroid series and tried to figure out how best to use his arts background and know-how to really push those goals forward.

One thing that I really appreciate about him is he can really say some unexpected things every once in awhile that seem to come out of left field, but, since I know that we have the same end-goal in mind, even if we occasionally disagree or are surprised by each other's means or routes of getting there, we know we're going to end up in a good place. It's the right kind of conflict, and our individuality comes out in the best way possible.

... As an end note to all of this, I'd have to say that, if you wanted to maintain some sort of unilateral, top-down control over every aspect of the project, that's probably easier to do in the long run, but that's not something that I've ever wanted. I don't feel like that's something that yields the best results.

These sentiments were also reflected in Iwata's Q&A session with the members of Team Ninja, who said that they were initially worried at first, but came to feel that that they had the ability to speak freely with Nintendo and were equals during the project. Anyway, if you guys haven't already, I would recommend reading that full Gamasutra interview with Sakamoto on "The Elegance of Metroid."

Also AMG, instead of referring to Wikipedia, you could of easily...you know, linked to the original interview so that we didn't have to guess who this mysterious man is, and what he was trying to say. If we're going to have a thread dedicated to the guy, let's try to understand him as best we can. Here is the quote:

CVG: What's your professional relationship with Mr. Miyamoto like?

Sakamoto: Mr. Miyamoto, as I said, was actually the person who made me involved in videogame design. Before that I was never involved in any process, whereas afterwards I was working closely with him in the same game development.

All in all I respect him very much and I think he's a wonderful creator. But I think my initial goal was to come up with ideas that Mr. Miyamoto would not dare to challenge. So I'm not going to compete with Mr. Miyamoto on the same ground - I think my mission is to always come up with something very different from what Mr Miyamoto is likely to do.

As much as I appreciate Miyamoto's approach, I'm glad that all of the lead producers/directors at Nintendo have their own individuality, and people like Yoshiaki Koizumi will have different design sensibilities even when credited right alongside Miyamoto. (I get the feeling that Koizumi is going to be the successor to guide the Mario series whenever Miyamoto retires from Nintendo.)

[Trishbot]

That's a very GOOD sign that he's quite a bit more humble than people think he is, and I'm sure he has been thinking very hard about the entire past year of praise, critique, and criticism.

That's one trait EVERY developer should share with Miyamoto: humility and modesty. Games aren't made by individuals; they are made by teams of talented people, and a smart leader uses every member of the team, and the best ideas they have, to make the best game possible.

Sakamoto has spoken quite strongly about this too, and about what makes a healthy work environment.

Now, when we first brought him [Hayashi-san] on, I didn't just hand him a pile of documents and say, "Here you go. Please make this game." Rather, we talked about what was essential and what was good in the Metroid series and tried to figure out how best to use his arts background and know-how to really push those goals forward.

One thing that I really appreciate about him is he can really say some unexpected things every once in awhile that seem to come out of left field, but, since I know that we have the same end-goal in mind, even if we occasionally disagree or are surprised by each other's means or routes of getting there, we know we're going to end up in a good place. It's the right kind of conflict, and our individuality comes out in the best way possible.

... As an end note to all of this, I'd have to say that, if you wanted to maintain some sort of unilateral, top-down control over every aspect of the project, that's probably easier to do in the long run, but that's not something that I've ever wanted. I don't feel like that's something that yields the best results.

These sentiments were also reflected in Iwata's Q&A session with the members of Team Ninja, who said that they were initially worried at first, but came to feel that that they had the ability to speak freely with Nintendo and were equals during the project. Anyway, if you guys haven't already, I would recommend reading that full Gamasutra interview with Sakamoto on "The Elegance of Metroid."

Hadn't read that before. Thanks for the info and link! Most appreciative AND informative!

[Naner]

As much as I appreciate Miyamoto's approach, I'm glad that all of the lead producers/directors at Nintendo have their own individuality, and people like Yoshiaki Koizumi will have different design sensibilities even when credited right alongside Miyamoto. (I get the feeling that Koizumi is going to be the successor to guide the Mario series whenever Miyamoto retires from Nintendo.)

In a similar position, we have Eiji Aonuma for Zelda. You could say Sakamoto was in that situation with Gumpei Yokoi... He did direct the last Metroid game before Yokoi died and continued the series when he felt he should.

Interestingly, Super, Fusion and Zero Mission are all great, critically acclaimed, Metroid games. Why doesn't Other M fit in this? Did he make Fusion and Zero Mission based on what Metroid already was, and Other M based on what he wants Metroid to be?

[okey]

Maybe it's the absence of Gunpei Yokoi, or just the fact that Team Ninja was an outside studio, but just like George Lucas, I just didn't get the impression that anyone at Team Ninja stood up for their ideas or confront Sakamoto about his. I would have loved to have seen Team Ninja tackle the game with Itagaki still on board, a man notorious for being a blunt, outspoken, driven visionary of his own. I imagine he wouldn't have just been a good minion and followed his orders; he was the type that challenged authority, pushed for better ideas, and, ultimately... got pushed out of Team Ninja for having a very difficult attitude.

Holy moly, you think Sakamoto is bad about sticking to stupid ideas? Be careful what you're wishing for here! Am I the only one who remembers the interviews for Dead or Alive 4, where Itagaki explains how stuff like character balance and functional sidestepping don't fit into his vision for the series? Or how the whole series is filled with really dumb things like guard breaks that don't give frame advantage?

Other M really needed for someone to take a step back and go 'hey wait a second, this cutscene/gameplay feature doesn't make any sense', but Itagaki wasn't going to be that guy. He would have just replaced Sakamoto's dumb ideas with his own dumb ideas.

[FacelessGriffin]

griffin I don't see what you're getting at. I think the subject of this thread is quite clear.

I don't really see why we should make a topic about how Sakamoto does things diffrenetly than Miyamoto anyway, but then again nothing seems to be going out hand for me to say anything, so whatver.

And I still don't understand why in the mother of god should we even consider comparing Yoshio Sakamoto to George Lucas.
For pete's sake, they aren't even nearly dealing on the same level, let alone share similiar background, history and context.