Why Fumito Ueda Thinks Game Development Is Like Writing Hip Hop Lyrics



Fumito Ueda, the creator of Ico and Shadow of the Colossus, doesn’t give many interviews, which is why 1up’s latest profile of Ueda is such an intriguing feature. Collating material from three different interviews, the piece attempts to drag interesting answers from the usually shy and retiring Ueda, and does a great job of doing so. Ueda even explains why he thinks game development is like writing Hip Hop lyrics!

“I chose hip-hop because you have to rhyme with a lot of constraints in how you choose words — not just the music, but the words,” he said. “There’s a lot of constraints, which is very similar to game design. You have to deal with a lot of restrictions, limitations, etc. In a novel you can go on and on, and the page count doesn’t matter. A book can be this thick [makes hand motion of a couple inches] and it doesn’t matter, and movies are sort of the same way, but a game has to fit into what the technology allows. In hip-hop it’s a three-minute track, maybe, with a lot of restrictions, but you’re still trying to convey a very powerful message to deliver to your audience. That’s how I see game development.”

It’s a nice interview that captures a voice we rarely get to hear much from. If you have any interest in Ueda and his upcoming project The Last Guardian, I fully recommend checking it out in full.

The Man Behind Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, and The Last Guardian [1up]