Backed up from a local Blogger export (113995383132101541/113995383132101541.html) on 2026-01-01.

Two of the best games ever created for PS2 are discussed by Ueda. I find his focus on emotion, theme and technology inspiring. In both games a small cinematic was created that clearly showed the theme and types of characters that would take place. This cinematic also establishes the setting and general aesthetic. This is especially critical to accomplish before you dump tons of time into building/improving your game engine. The final thing that I feel is important about these games is that they are technically amazing which adds to the unique experience of each. In the talk Ueda said:

“Each time I created a game, my objective was to challenge myself and the team to one new technical challenge,” said Ueda. “We wanted to attempt something that was technically difficult, but at the same time, it had to be up to a certain quality level before we could churn that out and ship it into the marketplace.”

It is important to push yourself to be technically innovative. This keeps things interesting, giving you extra drive to succeed and sets your work apart. Focusing that innovation on one key thing will help from overwhelming a project.