YU SUZUKI

Recently I was asked to choose someone in my prospective industry that I admire and value, and then compose a short blog presentation about him / her.

Yu Suzuki works for AM-2 (Sega Amusement Machine Research and Development Department 2) He first worked for Sega as a programmer and then quickly moved onto the role of a producer, working on such classic titles as Space Harrier (1985), Out Run (1986), After Burner II (1987) plus many more… In 1993 Suzuki directed his first game, Virtua Fighter, a 3D computer graphics fighting game, which became enormously popular and spawned a whole series of sequels.

My favourite game series that Suzuki has created is the infamous Shenmue (1999). Original planned to be set over 16 releases (we are currently on number 2 btw) it follows the story of Ryo Hazuki who is on a quest to find his father’s killer. In this frustrating world where “ever game must fit into a category” (FPS, RPG, RTS…etc) Shenmue mostly falls into the RPG genera, but it’s not just an RPG, it’s a world that transcends games. Suzuki describes his own concept denoted as "FREE" (Full Reactive Eyes Entertainment)

The majority of the game play mode is spent moving around the atmospheric, life-like eastern locations in a third-person 'chase cam' mode (talking to people, searching for things, solving puzzles, and so forth), it is interspersed with many 'mini-games', including forklift and motorcycle races, bar fights, chases down crowded alleys, full versions of old Sega arcade games such as 'Space Harrier' and 'Hang On' (both originally programmed by Yu Suzuki himself), dart games, and 'free fighting' sequences. Despite all of these user interactions and the fact that the whole project cost 70 million USD the game has a simple control interface, so even children can pick up and play.

My favourite aspect of the game is something called “QTE” (Quick Time Events). During QTE sequences, a button will flash on screen briefly and the player must press the relevant button or combination of buttons to trigger Ryo's actions. The story (thus also the game) can take on a different direction depending on the players success in QTE events. It made me wonder to myself when playing…“where would I be now if I had succeeded in that last QTE”… not unlike real life maybe?

If I ever accomplish a back catalogue of work like the mighty Yu Suzuki I will be a very happy man indeed.