Jasons List 2: Most Influential Developers
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Takashi Tezuka
Tezuka knows what makes a good game. His track record is incredibly impressive, even if you dont see him in the spotlight nearly as often as Shigeru Miyamoto. What a lot of people dont know is that Takashi is Miyamotos right-hand man and is effectively the second in command at EAD. With such an impressive position at Nintendo, its surprising that this man doesnt get nearly as much attention. Especially considering all the amazing games he had a hand in producing this generation. My pick for greatest EAD game of the generation, Pikmin 2, was produced by Tezuka and he had a really big hand in making Animal Crossing as well. These are just the tip of the iceberg for him, and looking at his profile in our database might give a clearer indication as to why this man deserves to be singled out for great achievement.
Exactly which parts of the games he had a hand in is not quite known specifically, but we do know that he oversees a lot of projects and pushes unique ideas regularly. It would not be stretching to say that Tezuka-san will be seen as a pillar of EAD wisdom some day.
Michel Ancel and his team at Ubisoft France
Michel Ancel once said that if you could see the way he and his team work at Ubisoft France work, you would see people starting with pencil and paper creating ideas with little regard to current trends. This much has been at least somewhat validated by Michels title Beyond Good and Evil.
While the game didnt necessarily look to reach outside of the box in terms of logical design, it instead went for a different path; creating a simple yet emotional tie to an entirely fictional world. The final product really shows that Michel himself is one heck of a director. The world he created is seamless, with creatures and even star constellations that all come together to create a truly unique world.
Had just the scenario design been well thought out it would have left the audience hanging. Thankfully Michel also sought to entertain the player in unique ways. The most interesting of which was the variety of gameplay styles that unfold naturally as you progress through the story. One minute youre taking photos of a bug, the next youre blazing through a course in a hover-craft race.
N-Sider has not found out what Michel is up to next, but you can take our word for it weve got our ears to the ground anxiously waiting to hear what his crew is working on next.
Retro Studios
Retro Studios is the success story of the generation. Its absolutely unbelievable how a development house that was billed as a disaster turned around to become one of the most incredible groups in the entire world.
How do you argue with a game that not only delivers in the visuals and sound, but also in the core game design and overall polish? Its simple, really you cant. Many people underplay just how challenging it is to nail a cohesive and logical game design just right. Its a difficult task that takes a great deal of creativity and even more sweat to actually pull it off properly.
The word polish has been an often used buzz word for concepts done properly in a game, but Metroid really showed how many different brands of this polish you could have in a single title. Samus didnt just look around mechanically like other games on the market. She moved around smoothly. She didnt just roll around in her morph ball as if it were made of paper. She rolled in a fashion that really made it feel as though a giant metal marble was finding its way around an alien world.
The team at Retro Studios makes for one of the greatest comeback stories in a long time. They showed just how incredible a game can be if you leave no stone unturned and not a single particle out of place.
Shigeru Miyamoto
Surprise, surprise. Whats funny is that I had given some thought to the idea that you can almost never enter a conversation about figureheads without a token Miyamoto response. I soon realized, though, that the recognition is completely fitting. Miyamoto re-defined how to think outside the box and then crushed said box with a baby toe. Game cameras and lock on targeting, for instance, are just some of the concepts that Miyamoto pioneered that are now used throughout the entire industry.
The man is responsible for Nintendos amazing new franchise, Pikmin, among others. As I mentioned earlier, Pikmin 2 is my choice as best EAD game this generation thus far, and the title would have gone nowhere if it werent for his amazing creativity and vision. It showed first hand how you can take such a simple idea and turn it into a very moving and exhilarating experience.
What is really exciting is that he seems to have set his sights on something with an enormous amount of potential the Nintendo DS. What I played at E3 was enough to solidify the fact that Nintendos designers truly are some of the greatest in the world. And those were only early demonstration versions for upcoming titles. Miyamoto admitted to being hard at work on DS games at EAD, and from what weve seen there is a great deal to look forward to from both his hands and the entire studio at large.
As I said earlier, this is not a comprehensive list. These are my current picks for amazing developers this generation. And as Im sure you will agree, there is plenty to look forward to in the near future and beyond. With the DS almost on our doorstep, new projects coming out of Fumito Uedas SCEJ group, and old developers showing new concepts, there is a great deal to be excited about. I think its safe to say that once this generation comes to a close, we will have so many classics to look back on that it will make our heads spin.