In recognition of his extensive Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games YouTube channel, Super Smash Bros. and Kirby creator Masahiro Sakurai was recently awarded the Art Encouragement Prize from the Japanese government’s Agency for Cultural Affairs. On March 11, he attended the awards ceremony and gave an exclusive interview to Entax, in which he shared personal views about the future of Japan’s game industry.
When asked what he thinks the domestic game industry should be doing to keep growing (to keep pace with the booming success seen in countries like China), Sakurai comments, “It’s not really my own idea, but as an industry trend, I think Japanese people should keep pursuing the things that Japanese people like.”
He goes on to explain that the success of various Japanese games in the US kicked off a trend of “making Americanized works.” Or, Sakurai notes, “you could say that there was a culture of following de facto standards.” By de facto standards, he is referring to practices that get adopted as widespread norms by the industry as an outcome of market competition.
However, Sakurai feels that people overseas who love Japanese games aren’t looking for this kind of filtered experience, “but rather, I think that they seek the uniqueness and fun of Japanese games” – hence the opinion that there’s no need for Japanese developers to consciously adapt their work for audiences in the US or elsewhere.
He concludes on a general note, commenting, “In other words, I think that the ideal would be to make games the way you like, as those who agree with you will enjoy them.” Sakurai adds that it is vital for people in the industry to “do things freely,” without letting others’ ideas be forced on them. He emphasizes, however, that his opinion is just one way of thinking about the topic.
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