Ueda Takes Aim at Grand Theft Auto IV & Mario Galaxy

fumito-uedaMiyamoto and the Houser brothers better be hiding under the desk, Fumito Ueda is coming for them and their games.

The Team ICO head gave a scathing attack in an interview with Swedish magazine LEVEL, translated by GAF, saying “he expected more” as far as Super Mario Galaxy went.

Yes I have played it, it was hard to not to since it was rumored that Miyamoto-san was inspired by me. But I had expected more, that segment, was like the rest of the game not so fun as it could had been. I think the fans made a big deal out of nothing when they said Miyamoto had stolen from me.

And for course, there was Sam and Dan Houser’s masterpiece, GTA IV.

The biggest problem with the game is the lack of innovative things in the game. The graphic style impresses, but not the base premise, which is exactly the same as the predecessors.

We wouldnt dare disagree with Ueda, even though Galaxy and GTA IV are great games, considering that he has made two simply spellbinding games for the PlayStation 2, ICO and Shadow of the Colossus. Team ICO have The Last Guardian in development right now for the PLAYSTATION 3, due sometime next year

23 Responses to “Ueda Takes Aim at Grand Theft Auto IV & Mario Galaxy”

  1. Norman D Says:

    He’s completely right though, it’s not like he’s saying they’re bad games, it’s more just that they could have been much much better with more effort and time put into them, GTA IV has practically nothing in the way of innovation and the only improvements are really animations, story and graphics. There’s no real substance to the gameplay anymore though, it’s become bland and basically just does things that’ve already been done. It was also unnecessarily dramatic in a forced, artificial kind of way but that’s just imho

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  2. Kyle Barrett Says:

    This is sensationalism at it’s worst.

    Fix this, because it’s disgusting, even for a blog.

    Reply
  3. CrimsonFox13 Says:

    Ueda seems a bit full of himself, but he still makes some of my favorite games and I agree with his thoughts on GTA4. Can’t talk about Galaxy, never played it.

    Can’t wait to see him outdo those two games with his new one!

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  4. I agree with him, reviews wise mario galaxy and gta4 are really overated the same can be said about bioshock and gears of war 3 or halo 3 if you ask me, of all of them are just generic shooters with more of the same, how in the hell they got such high scores is beyond me.

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    • uh you are just another disgusting filth of a fanboy stinky skunk please just die with your xbot !!! the world will live peacefully without fanboys ya know xbox F.A.G !!

  5. Chinguan Says:

    This is disgusting! Kyle Barrett is correct. He’s not shit talking, he’s not taking aim, he’s just offering a perfectly reasonable opinion. You don’t even have to agree with it to acknowledge that someone can think that way.

    Please, please, PLEASE fix this. This is *exactly* the sort of thing that holds back this medium. Fanboys and shit-stirring to get hits for your site.

    If it’s worth anything, I think Ueda is probably the greatest person to ever grace this shithole of a medium, so I don’t come from an anti-Ico perspective.

    Here’s the actual interview, properly translated. Look around in the future and don’t just steal the first slapjob you find on Neogaf next time
    http://teamicogamers.blogspot.com/2009/07/dreams-about-reality-fumito-uedas.html

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  6. I think that he is right that there was no real improvements beyond the graphics of GTA IV, but i do believe that Mario galaxy is deserving of praise for its revival of platforming through polished level design and impressive physics. I do however believe that its co-op feature could have been a little more fleshed out, a la new super mario bros wii

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  7. another stupid japan game developer. Japan game creators ara FAR BEHIND WEST

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    • thats the stupidest thing i’ve ever heard! why are you catagorizing an entire nation!? you simply must be racist!

    • I would delete that comment, just for blatent racisim, but there is a point I wanna make to that, and it wouldnt make sense if I deleted this comment.

      I can think of alot of Japanese game developers that outweigh that of the West.

      East:

      Hideo Kojima
      Fumito Ueda (obv)
      Hironobu Sakaguchi
      Tetsuya Nomura
      Yoshinori Kitase
      Suda-51
      Shigeru Miyamoto
      Shinji Mikami

      West:

      Dan & Sam Houser
      Cliff Bletzinski
      Jade Raymond
      Patrice Desilets

      And thats who I remember off the top of my head. I’m sure there are alot more great Western developers who I cant think of, but my point is that Japanese developers are the cream of the crop.

    • Kyle Barrett Says:

      Johnny, you added this terrible article to N4G anyway.

      As for luminaries, yeah, throw in a load of shitty no name Japanese devs, and forget about incredible Western devs like Will Wright and Tim Schafer. Just name pretty producers…

      Jesus christ.

      East:

      Shigeru Miyamoto
      Fumito Ueda
      Hideo Kojima
      Suda-51

      West:

      Will Wright
      Tim Schafer
      John Carmack
      Houser Bros.

      To be honest they are about even, when you don’t mention those who are famed for one chronologically relevant game, and those who are timelesssly relevant.

  8. when i think of the best game designers i think of Kojima, Ueda, Miyamoto, Yamauchi etc…

    who do you think of? Cliffy B??? GTFO!

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  9. ‘ ‘ who do you think of? Cliffy B??? GTFO! ‘ ‘

    NO!no! it’s Jade Raymond hu hu!!!!!

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  10. redskin92 Says:

    You know what. I have to completely agree with the GTA statement, I mean, I don’t know if I like considering it a GTA..Yeah yeah they improved in graphics and the engine was awesome, but they stripped away all of the good from GTA:SA and even vice city… I mean for real, San Andreas is one of the best games I have ever played, why would they dramatically change the style..

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  11. Antihero20 Says:

    COMPLETELY agree with GTAIV, exactly the same as past gta’s only better graphics, nothing new

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  12. I think GTA IV was AWESOME… But it was my first GTA I played. And when I talk to friends who’ve played them all, I hear the same things as Ueda says. So I’m inclined to agree with him :)
    But I don’t agree for one bit on his Galaxy-judgement. Galaxy was teh best Mario since Super Mario World and it was truly wonderfull from the first second to the last…

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  13. GTAIV sucked ass for a GTA game, if it was called Niko in Liberty or some shit it probably would have been GOTY but because it was called GTA it was such a disappointment! And as for Mario, fuck that shite!! Fucking stupid nostalgic BS!! And this is not about who are the better devs, not at all!! It’s about games as a whole, look at San Andreas. Shitty graphix but one of the greatest games EVER made. Ueda is right, he expected more and so did I!! R* north are gonna need to step it up for the next GTA, we wont accept another shitty one like GTAIV. But I have faith in my two fav game makers, that they will once again come up trumps!

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  14. FinalOmegaS Says:

    A lot of hate on here, guys need to stay on topic.

    GTA IV was nothing really special, ok fine he can talk it down. But taking on SMG, hmm that wasn’t the smartest thing. Miyamoto-san and Mario are gaming icons and for sure at one point in time as a dev plays through a game crafted by a master, there will always be one that say some negative thing. Honestly what do you think if an other dev played his game, they can say the game was great BUT that part felt weak etc. They can talk the talk but the Magic that holds Mario right up there isn’t some cheap cash in. When Zelda and Mario are made they are made with the test of time. Must be able to play easy for non-casual players and hard even for the most hardcore that would want to master it.

    I believe he used the 2 games because they are so popular.

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  15. He used the TWO games beacuse yes they are so popular and are also so crap! They are the perfect example for what he is trying to say, ANYTHING team ICO say will get them attention, thts not the reason behind him bringing this up. I dont matter how popular Mario and Zelda are, if the games are crap and repetitive BS then they deserve to be slagged off! I’m sorry but I prefer quality as opposed to some nostalgic BS that is still using the same concept from 20 bloody years ago. I pray for the day when mario dies!! Nintendo is taking the piss if you ask me and that is exactly what Ueda is saying.

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    • If none of these games are good.
      Say some games you think are good and has 100% innovation!

      GTA IV i can understand good game but essentially the same game as GTA SA.

      Mario Galacy on the other hand have LOADS of innovative levels.

  16. @slazor no game has 100% innovation, but there are some that are outstanding games and not the same BS we’ve seen for 20 years a la Mario. Here’s yr list – GOW (all)!!! OKAMI!! GTA (all of them PC and PS)!! MGS (all of them) The Warriors! Canis Canem Edit (u may kno it as Bully)!! To name just a few games mate…

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    • So you are saying that GTA games are innovative?

      AFAIK only the first 3 games where innovative.

      The MGS games lost the “innovation” after Snake Eater. Great games but not really innovative.

      But i agree with you on Okami, Bully and GOW.

  17. Grand Theft Auto is by far my favorite game!!

    Reply