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• In Defense of the QTE: Ninja Blade

  Now that the man’s winding down his career, let us honor Yu Suzuki for his most important contribution to game design: the QTE. Hey now. I can hear you rolling your eyes. We might be sick of pressing the X button every single time Crystal Dynamics wants Lara Croft to kick a tiger with style, but the quick time event provides us with some of videogames’ most satisfying thrills. They aren’t inherently bad. They’re just implemented very, very poorly. This week, you’ll be able to walk out into the world and pick up a copy of From Software’s Ninja Blade. Hell, you can go home right now and download a demo of Ninja Blade just to have a taste. One level is all you need to exemplify just how good quick time events can be in a game. Here’s why. Read More... Posted Apr 06 2009, 07:00 PM by John Constantine with | with no comments Filed under: john constantine, microsoft, xbox 360, madworld, sega, resident evil 4, god of war, yu suzuki, tomb raider, indigo prophecy, quantic dream, tomb raider legend, lara croft, yakuza, yakuza 2, yakuza 3, crystal dynamics, ninja blade, from software, leon s kennedy, qte, Fahrenheit

• Sega's Yu Suzuki Steps Down

  Yu Suzuki is perhaps one of Sega's biggest names; with titles like Out Run, Hang On, Virtua Fighter, and Shenmue under his belt, he's left his mark on the industry with some technically innovative and memorable video games. But since the Dreamcast failure/Sega-Sammy merger, he's been quiet in his role as the company's R&D creative officer--so quiet, in fact, that Sega of America CEO Simon Jeffrey once believed Suzuki was no longer employed by the company at all. He's since realized his mistake. Jeffries' comment may have been a bit misinformed at the time, but with Friday's announcement that Yu Suzuki is indeed stepping down from his position at Sega, the company's American CEO may want to consider starting his own Psychic Friends Network. According to GameSpot: [T]his week Sega parent company Sega Sammy announced that the designer has stepped down--the publisher used the word "retired"--from his position as a R&D creative officer with the company. However, he isn't departing Sega entirely. A Sega of America representative confirmed for GameSpot that Suzuki will stay on with the publisher in a diminished capacity, continuing on as manager of the R&D department for Sega's AM Plus division. To date, AM Plus has released a pair of Japanese arcade games, the touchscreen fighter Psy Phi, and the character-driven racer Sega Race TV. I'll admit that Suzuki's games never really appealed to me, but I've always felt some sort of sympathy towards him as Sega's own Gumpei Yokoi. Read More... Posted Apr 06 2009, 12:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with no comments Filed under: sega, virtua fighter, yu suzuki, shenmue, outrun, bob mackey, sammy

• Saving Shenmue With Toys

  Is it possible to save a beloved franchise with one dollar and an envelope? The Shenmue MySpace Campaign is betting yes. Between Thanksgiving day, which also happens to be the tenth anniversary of the Dreamcast, and December 29th (they claim this is Shenmue’s anniversary, but that’s not how I recall it) they want everyone who fondly reminisces about forklifts and sailors to send Sega a capsule toy and a little prayer. A prayer for Shenmue III. Now this campaign will probably be good for one or two Sega employees who’ve been struggling to complete their collection of little plastic Pokemon. And it’s great to see that people are still really passionate for what was an innovative and influential game—it’s one of my favorite series, too. But it’s highly unlikely there will ever be another one, no matter what the longtime fans do to encourage it. The Shenmue MySpace Campaign is comparing this effort to the one the got Jericho back on television, but there’s a couple of differences between that and this. Jericho did come back as a result of fan campaigning, but only as a seven episode mid-season replacement—it’s not like Sega could take that “toe in the water” approach with a game. Jericho did six million viewers on average, which is considered poor for network television but was probably enough to at least break even on the effort—so the network likely only lost an opportunity cost. Read More... Posted Nov 26 2008, 12:00 PM by Joe Keiser with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: dreamcast, yu suzuki, shenmue, joe keiser, myspace, letting go

• Where is Yu Suzuki?

  It’s no secret that Sega has changed. Since bowing out of the console business in late 2001, the one-time behemoth has become a prolific multi-console publisher but a shadow of their former selves, emphasizing a quantity of titles over quality. Who can blame them though? Creative game design may be Sega’s enduring legacy but it certainly didn’t line their pockets. They have abandoned their once eccentric impulses, favoring ancient franchises over new IP. This is no doubt thanks to their diminished in-house development and the exodus of some of their most talented auteurs, like Tetsuya Mizuguchi, Naoto Oshima, and Yuji Naka. Yu Suzuki, Sega’s most prolific and celebrated creator, remains with the publisher/developer to this day. Suzuki was responsible for many of Sega’s defining titles, Space Harrier and Out Run, as well as a pioneer of 3D gaming with his Virtua line of racing, shooting, and fighting games. But since the release Shenmue II, the second part of Suzuki’s wildly ambitious trilogy, he has all but disappeared as game maker. Read More... Posted Jun 19 2008, 11:00 AM by John Constantine with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: john constantine, where is, sega, virtua fighter, yu suzuki, shenmue