I'll present this in timeline snippets, but I really suggest the full article which has way more in it.
Summary:
-Mikami starts off the article (historically?) noting that he felt directors should be in their 30's as 40 year olds and older are out of touch and 20 year olds are too young.
-When Mikami started at Capcom he was paid so little and worked so hard he couldn't get married or even go home most of the time.
-When he became a producer at Capcom he focused on setting up a director driven approach to game making with less collaboration.
-He left Capcom when they started operating more like a big Western publisher such as EA where ideas had to get through concept approval and market research.
-People kept asking him to make horror action games and he felt this was silly because why would he leave Capcom if he was just going to make the same type of thing when he left.
-After directing Vanquish and working on Shadows of the Damned, the latter of which he wasn't thrilled with turning into an action game, he decided to start a new studio focused on fostering talent and working on games as a collaborative instead of director only approach, while also fostering new, younger directors. Think of it like a hybrid of his old ideals and modern approaches.
-Tango's first six months were about making a joke game about a cockroach who used a gun.
-They then made an open world sci-fi game called Noah, but that got canceled when "something happened" and they ran into huge financial issues (I assume their publisher backed out).
-ZeniMax came along and saved the studio with a buyout.
-Mikami feels ZeniMax is more like a Japanese publisher (presumably historically speaking given his other comments) in that they will publish riskier ideas.
-The Evil Within was originally called Zwei because it focused on two players either in co-op or singleplayer who were attached by a chain, and AI would control the other when in singleplayer with them following behind.
-Later it became a big AAA singleplayer only project because ZeniMax wanted them to do one project and make it an action horror game instead rather than multiple smaller projects.
-ZeniMax also wanted Mikami to keep directing games so he pretty much implies he will keep doing that.
-Mikami names three staff members he would potentially like to see direct games at some point.
-All three staff members seem confused about why he wants them to direct games when asked about why he picked them.
-Mikami tries to micromanage less so it will be possible to prepare people for directing games in the future and everyone taking more notable roles, though he'd presumably still be directing one of their multiple games. He still works on setting up a structure so the vision of the game isn't lost however.
-Mikami is aware of the irony here that he's 48 and still their primary director and will likely direct a lot of additional games.
-Mikami's goals for the studio's next ten years is to make sure it continues to be a fun place to work and fosters younger talent.
-Hiroki Kato, lead designer of Vanquish and God Hand, has retired and become a farmer. I made a separate thread about that one.
Source: http://www.polygon.com/features/2014/2/20/5425802/shinji-mikami-the-evil-within
Summary:
-Mikami starts off the article (historically?) noting that he felt directors should be in their 30's as 40 year olds and older are out of touch and 20 year olds are too young.
-When Mikami started at Capcom he was paid so little and worked so hard he couldn't get married or even go home most of the time.
-When he became a producer at Capcom he focused on setting up a director driven approach to game making with less collaboration.
-He left Capcom when they started operating more like a big Western publisher such as EA where ideas had to get through concept approval and market research.
-People kept asking him to make horror action games and he felt this was silly because why would he leave Capcom if he was just going to make the same type of thing when he left.
-After directing Vanquish and working on Shadows of the Damned, the latter of which he wasn't thrilled with turning into an action game, he decided to start a new studio focused on fostering talent and working on games as a collaborative instead of director only approach, while also fostering new, younger directors. Think of it like a hybrid of his old ideals and modern approaches.
-Tango's first six months were about making a joke game about a cockroach who used a gun.
-They then made an open world sci-fi game called Noah, but that got canceled when "something happened" and they ran into huge financial issues (I assume their publisher backed out).
-ZeniMax came along and saved the studio with a buyout.
-Mikami feels ZeniMax is more like a Japanese publisher (presumably historically speaking given his other comments) in that they will publish riskier ideas.
-The Evil Within was originally called Zwei because it focused on two players either in co-op or singleplayer who were attached by a chain, and AI would control the other when in singleplayer with them following behind.
-Later it became a big AAA singleplayer only project because ZeniMax wanted them to do one project and make it an action horror game instead rather than multiple smaller projects.
-ZeniMax also wanted Mikami to keep directing games so he pretty much implies he will keep doing that.
-Mikami names three staff members he would potentially like to see direct games at some point.
-All three staff members seem confused about why he wants them to direct games when asked about why he picked them.
-Mikami tries to micromanage less so it will be possible to prepare people for directing games in the future and everyone taking more notable roles, though he'd presumably still be directing one of their multiple games. He still works on setting up a structure so the vision of the game isn't lost however.
-Mikami is aware of the irony here that he's 48 and still their primary director and will likely direct a lot of additional games.
-Mikami's goals for the studio's next ten years is to make sure it continues to be a fun place to work and fosters younger talent.
-Hiroki Kato, lead designer of Vanquish and God Hand, has retired and become a farmer. I made a separate thread about that one.
Source: http://www.polygon.com/features/2014/2/20/5425802/shinji-mikami-the-evil-within
