SAN FRANCISCO — It wasn't the first time the creator of "Ninja Gaiden" tripped me up in an interview by mentioning gambling. But when I was interviewing Tomonobu Itagaki a few weeks ago, he did it again. And I wasn't prepared.
I wasn't ready because I was asking him and other top game developers I saw at the Game Developers Conference about what advice they would give young developers. What do gaming's greats want hungry kids to know?
"I think people should gamble more," Itagaki said from behind opaque sunglasses and decked out in an all-black outfit. "Or [they should] play something like backgammon, a game that's not a video game but more of an analog traditional game."
He didn't mean "gamble" like a figure of speech. He meant it like rolling dice or playing cards. Not that we at MTV News advocate people throwing their money into craps or the slots, but Itagaki clearly does. I know this because, two years ago, when I interviewed him in his office in Tokyo, he stopped the interview to ask me, through his translator, if I was a gambler. I expressed some confusion and he explained that it was because I had the eyes of a gambler. (For a great Itagaki comment about roulette, check out an older GameFile.)
So Itagaki wants young developers to gamble. And to play board games or backgammon: "It really teaches you the core of game design," he said. "Games began with a pencil, a piece of paper and dice. ... I think playing those types of games gives you the foundation." Side benefit of gambling? It helps game developers speak from the heart and say what needs to be said, instead of just being polite. "I learned how to do that by gambling, because when you're gambling, you can't afford to have a chip on your shoulder. You have to make the right decision based on what the cards are in front of you. So you're constantly changing up your attitude and your position."
OK, but maybe some young game developers are too young to gamble. What other advice is there? Peter Molyneux, another industry heavyweight, was happy to share some more all-ages advice. The acclaimed developer, who has been making games for more than two decades, is overseeing Xbox 360's major fall role-playing game "Fable 2." He's known for presenting grand ideas, occasionally overpromising and getting himself in trouble, but always getting gamers excited. He named two key tips for aspiring game developers.
"The first piece of advice is, don't re-create something that's already been created and is good. You want to have an idea. Think of a different idea. Don't think of someone else's idea. Don't say, 'I'm gonna remake "Space Invaders" and there's going to be 10 times the number of aliens.' That's pointless.
"The second [point] is, don't try and make the biggest game of all time when you're making your first game. Just make a tiny little mechanic. Rather than make a game with 100 levels, make a game that has 10 minutes of gameplay."
Molyneux, again, is more than accustomed to overpromising. "Peter Molyneux telling people not to overreach?" I asked him, jokingly.
"This is just ridiculous," he acknowledged, laughing. Then he added something to his advice: "Once you've done 10 minutes, then you can do 100 hours."
Molyneux said that he is excited by arrangements that allow amateur game-makers to create games, like the Xbox Live Community Games initiative announced at GDC last month. "You can actually go and build something and prove that you are creative or that you're a good programmer or a good artist," he said of the service, which for $99 will give amateur developers access to the XNA coding language and a chance to have their games made available on Xbox Live. "For me, as someone who tries to bring cool people in ... to see somebody create something from nothing is incredibly impressive." (It should be noted that Molyneux's development studio, Lionhead, is owned by Microsoft, which runs the Xbox Live Community Games service.)
I spoke to one other developer last month who had some words about the game-development community: Masahiro Sakurai, creator of "Super Smash Bros. Brawl," the Wii fighting game that has sold more than 1.4 million copies in its just-concluded first week of release, Nintendo just announced Monday. When Sakurai and I spoke, his new game was not yet a blockbuster. He could expect it to be, but he was still just happily soaking in the atmosphere at GDC. "A lot of people here work really hard to bring their product out and work really hard to bring out things people will enjoy," he said. "For me, just the opportunity to meet those people, even if we're not able to communicate on a language basis, I still think the positive vibe really comes through." Staying positive and staying energized is essential, he said.
For young game developers (old enough to gamble), all of this GDC advice is well worth taking into account. It's what the top people recommend. What could your path be?
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