Sonic creator wishes the game industry was more like the movie industry
Yuliya Geikhman September 21, 2012 - 12:39 amNews: Sonic creator Yuji Naka hopes that the game industry can take a cue from the movie industry and create a wider variety of games.
Yuji Naka created an icon when he programmed for the original Sonic the Hedgehog. Since then he’s moved on to other things, and he’s glad that he did. Quoted on The Verge, Naka reveals that breaking from Sonic was freeing, and that he hopes others will follow his example.
Naka left Sega about 6 years ago to start his own game studio, Prope. “One of the reasons I left Sega was, if I stayed there, I would have had to just make Sonic games,” says Naka. “Right now I don’t have to make Sonic anymore, so I’m enjoying that freedom a lot.”
Many game developers get stuck making games in the same brand over and over, according to Naka. “Like with Nintendo: Miyamoto has been making Mario games. He’s under that too. He has to keep on making Mario games. Aonuma has to keep making Zelda games. Kojima has to make Metal Gear games.” Naka argues that this isn’t healthy for the game industry. “I wish he could take that off of everyone’s shoulders so they could create other stuff,” says Naka…. Movie directors create all sorts of movies, and the movie industry is healthy. I wish the game industry was like that as well.”
Some might argue that the movie industry is seeing its fair share of repetition. Still, is it really time to say goodbye to our favorite childhood game icons?
Comments (2)
Its time to let go of the old icons when the new stuff you do with them is crap. Yes, you can recover from one bad game (or one that wasn’t well received), but when you’re just making games that have the same character(s) in it, it’s probably time to give it a rest. Will the likes of Mario, Sonic, Link, Mega Man, Samus, the Belmont extended family and others ever go away for good? Probably not anytime soon. But there’s nothing wrong with making new characters, new games, new settings instead of cranking out the same stuff every couple years or so.
If you can’t come up with anything totally new, why not give some others a chance beyond the occasional bone thrown in the form of cameos in others’ games? Kid Icarus finally got another shot a few years ago. Am I the only one that’d like to see Bonk return to consoles in a new game (IIRC, there was one in development, but canceled last years)? Alex Kidd, Ecco, Rastan? Star Fox?
Definitely agreed! I’d love to see them give Alex Kidd another try. Also, Starfy! No one remembers him but me, it seems..