Nintendo World Report Forums

NWR Interactive => TalkBack => Topic started by: Badukan Yoshinoya on July 20, 2003, 10:57:44 PM

Title: Okamoto Leaves Capcom
Post by: Badukan Yoshinoya on July 20, 2003, 10:57:44 PM

Famitsu speaks with the famous producer about his departure from Capcom and future plans.

Yoshiki Okamoto, who oversaw the production of games such as Final Fight, Street Fighter 2, and the recent handheld Zelda titles, left Capcom last month to take role of principal at Human Academy Game College in Japan.  In the latest issue of Famitsu, Okamoto-san speaks out about plans for his future game development studio.

Famitsu: What are the plans of your new company? Okamoto-san: The new company is not ready at all.  There isn’t even a building.  (laughs)  Beginning with one person, I am still in the preparation stages.  However, even with a not very well designed homepage, I receive about 160 applications everyday.  I do not know when it will be ready, but once the preparations are done, it will start game development. The company will specialize in game development, and will not distribute and sell games.  Instead of me leading the pack, I would like the company to operate democratically.

 Famitsu: What will the company be like? Okamoto-san: I want to make an environment where games are developed by not looking at the faces of shareholders, but instead at the faces of the gamers.  As a result, the company will not be public, nor will it have any sponsors.  So there is not much money… I have pushed myself to the edge, and I am really starting from zero.  But I have confidence that it will be successful.  What I am planning to do is still at the larva stage.  It is going to become a pupa, and go on to become a full-grown insect.  So for all the gamers out there, please look after us.

Okamoto-san’s homepage can be found at http://okatuku.ciao.jp.  Human Academy Game College’s homepage is http://www.athuman.com/game/.

Title: Okamoto Leaves Capcom
Post by: Michael8983 on July 21, 2003, 12:59:29 AM

I'm all for developers taking steps to fight the sad direction gaming has gone in and try and restore it to what it once but that sounds a little extreme. Couldn't he of just followed Mikami and convinced Capcom to let him open his own game studio with presumably complete freedom of development? If Capcom wouldn't have allowed it, I'm sure Nintendo would have taken him.
Nintendo obviously doesn't look at the "faces of shareholders" when designing its game.
I'm sure his school will have a very positive effect on the gaming industry in the long-term but it's really a shame such a talented developer won't have any more games on the market.

Title: RE: Okamoto Leaves Capcom
Post by: Grey Ninja on July 21, 2003, 05:23:00 AM

Nintendo might not have wanted to give such a man an entire development studio you know.  Nintendo doesn't follow the Sega philosophy of "more is better" concerning development teams.

Regardless of what happens, I fully support the man, and think that he has made a very honorable and very intelligent move.  He cares about the gamers, and he cares about the industry.  It pleases me very much to see people like Denis Dyack, Seamus Blackley, and Yoshiki Okamoto in the industry.  Even though Seamus' name is very tarnished, he meant well.

Title: RE: Okamoto Leaves Capcom
Post by: BlkPaladin on July 21, 2003, 10:22:20 AM

Unfotunatly the chance of us seeing any of the games here in the US is astonomical. But who knows maybe we will get lucky.