Fumito Ueda

On this occasion, a character will be presented who does not direct or direct the conception of his video games but also contributes closely to the creation process as an animator, character designer and video game designer . It’s about Fumito Ueda .

Biography of Fumito Ueda

Fumito Ueda was born in 1970 in Tatsuno, Japan . From a young age, Ueda showed an interest in animation and served as an excellent art student. After graduating from Osaka University of the Arts in 1993 , Ueda decided to pursue a career in the games industry.

This is how Ueda begins working as an animator on Enemy Zero for the Sega Saturn . After finishing his work on Enemy Zero, Ueda joins Sony Computer Entertainment’s Japan Studio and begins work on what would become ICO . From there, Ueda forms a small team, which would be known as Team ICO, together with which he conceived NICO that would later become Shadow of the Colossus .

After 2011, Fumito Ueda worked on his game The Last Guardian . However, the development of the game had several delays.

Fumito Ueda’s Style

All the games directed by Fumito Ueda have a very distinctive style . Indeed, Ueda himself defines his style as “design by subtraction . ” In his games we can observe an oversaturated lighting, dreamlike landscapes and minimalist lines that give his games a unique feeling . Thus, Ueda is characterized by having a visual aspect that distances itself from photorealism.

On the other hand, the creative has stressed that in his work he privileges the image over the text .

Featured video games

• The Last Guardian (2016): this video game by Fumito Ueda took about 10 years to develop since during the creation process, its launch was postponed several times. The Last Guardian shows the story of a young man and his enormous companion Trico, a beast in the shape of a dog, bird and rat. The story begins when the young man wakes up in a cave without knowing where he is exactly. At his side is Trico, who at first is unfriendly with the boy. But little by little, the latter gains their confidence and they work together on their journey.
• Shadow of the Colossus (2005):  the launch of this video game was carried out by Sony Computer Entertainment for the Playstation 2 console. It is one of Ueda’s most valued works in the field of video games . The play begins with the journey of a man, Wander, who goes to a distant land, at the end of the world, riding a horse and carrying the body of a dead woman. Man asks a divinity to bring her back to life. To obtain his wish, he must kill 16 creatures of various forms known as Colossi.
• Ico (2001):  This video game presents the story of a boy who tries to escape from an enchanted castle in ruins. In the castle, he finds a ghost girl dressed in a white outfit. Although the plot seems simple, the work manages to convey deep emotions to the player such as guilt or sadness. A distinctive aspect of this game is that there are not many rewards and not many kills. In the same way, the dialogue is scarce but the player manages to interpret that it is a love story.
• Enemy Zero (1996): In this video game designed by WARP, Laura Lewis, a crew member of the ship Aki, wakes up in the middle of an alien attack. The heroine must protect her life from invisible alien forms and try to establish contact with the other members of the crew. The game has powerful sound effects that allow the player to feel part of the plot.

Acknowledgments to Fumito Ueda

• BAFTA Video Game Award for Best Artistic Realization (2006).
• BAFTA Video Game Award for Best Action and Adventure Game (2006).

Curiosities

• The Last Guardian game was around 10 years in development and was involved in many troubles before its release. Even. Ueda came to think at some point that the video game would never see light .
• The film director, Guillermo del Toro, who has directed internationally renowned films such as “Pan’s Labyrinth” or “The Shape of Water” and has received numerous international awards, declared in 2008 in the British magazine Edge that they had only 2 games he considered masterpieces: Ico and Shadow of the Colossus by Fumito Ueda .