Week 8 Apply and Reflect

 This week we discussed authorship and its role in how people interpret authors work. One of my favorite "authors" is Fumito Ueda. While he is a video game developer, his roles in development range from director to lead animator. What makes him so interesting in the world of authorship, is how little is known about his life and how he hides his influences. As stated in a interview with The Guardian in 2016, "From my perspective, I just say, here, go ahead, play it – then at the end, the player can come to their own conclusion about what the game is trying to tell them. I don’t like to force feed themes.”(Stuart, 2016) This is perfectly clear in his games as there is almost never a user interface or the user interface that is available, is kept to an absolute minimum. Two examples are within ICO, where the player is placed into an open area and expected to press buttons to figure out how to play. On the more direct side of things, Shadow of the Colossus has instructions at the bottom of the screen directing the player to what buttons do what, and a user interface that appears to show how much strength and health the player has left. Even the story is kept as simple as possible "In some movies the story is so complete, there isn't any ending you can guess because it's already done. That type of movie doesn't leave a long-lasting impression." (Batchelor, 2017) Even when an interface is added, there are no bells and whistles and mechanics are kept simple. This minimalist style allows the player to fully immerse themselves in the world and atmosphere. People have analyzed and delved into his games for years, still discovering neglected areas hidden away in the depths of the 2005 versions of his work. Yet what is known about the person who directed and is the "author" of the pieces? It doesn't matter. The art itself is what matters and while people have noted similarities between his work and games such as Another World, Uedas work is intended to stand on its own. 

 

Sony. (2005). Shadow of the Colossus [Video game]. Fumito Ueda.

 

 

Batchelor, J. (2017, May 18). Fumito Ueda: “For me, it’s not important to tell the details of the story” | GamesIndustry.biz. GamesIndustry.Biz. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2017-05-18-fumito-ueda-for-me-its-not-important-to-tell-the-details-of-the-story

Stuart, K. (2016, June 28). The Last Guardian creator: “I can’t face playing my own game” | Games | The Guardian. The Guardian; https://www.facebook.com/theguardian. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jun/28/the-last-guardian-fumito-ueda-interview