Lemming_JRS
Member
I don't agree with everything this guy says, but he makes some valid points. The mere fact the game inspires this kind of spirited debate and criticism makes it that much more of a landmark.
http://www.gamecareerguide.com/features/407/rock_in_his_pocket_reading_shadow_.php?page=1
http://www.gamecareerguide.com/features/407/rock_in_his_pocket_reading_shadow_.php?page=1
As a dreamer, his ideas are too organic, too personal to fit the clichés that most of us consider the building blocks of game design. Ueda sidesteps convention where it gets in his way, yet not necessarily where it might get in the player's way. Thus we get deliberate and cleverly designed games, meaningful and painfully gorgeous games, that are nevertheless a nuisance to actually play, leaving Ueda's statements, in all their profundity, accessible only to the most devoted.
Paired with a more down-to-earth design team to translate his ideas (someone with a Valve mentality, perhaps) Ueda could change the world of games. But so far, he's been the master of the golden arrow. His ideas are so poignant yet so tediously executed that they create a certain cognitive dissonance in the player, inspiring not so much awe as transcendence, a deep need to puzzle over what went wrong and how to better it.