INSPIRED BY ICO
GAMING LEGENDS PAY TRIBUTE TO UEDA’S MASTERPIECE
■ Prince Of Persia, Another World and Flashback are among the games Fumito Ueda has credited in interviews as inspirations for Ico and his overall approach to game design. For Prince Of Persia creator Jordan Mechner, the influence is a circular one that helped shape the modern sequels to his original Apple II classic. “Ico was an important inspiration for the team and me on Prince Of Persia: Sands Of Time – both in the relationship between the prince and Farah, and the structure of the palace as a coherent, unified space where all the levels fit together,” Jordan tells us. “I loved the sense of atmosphere in Ico, the feeling of solitude and of exploring a dangerous space with one person for company. I’m a fan of Ueda’s work, so it makes me very happy to hear that the original Prince Of Persia was an inspiration for him as well.” Another notable fan is Raúl Rubio Munárriz, the CEO and cofounder at Tequila Works who was lead designer for the acclaimed puzzle game RIME. “Fumito Ueda combines art and design with grace,” Raúl tells us. “Not many designers can pull an environmental context like Ueda-san, and not many artists manage it to make so much sense for the player at the same time. The influence of Fumito Ueda over an entire generation of developers cannot be denied. And I am no exception.” On meeting Ueda in Barcelona, Raúl was pleased to discover there was mutual appreciation. “I’m a big fan of Ico and Shadow Of The Colossus, but I did not expect the master to be a fan of RIME! He had not just played it but had finished it, and he had so many questions about its animation and the role of Enu and Nana, our heroes. Of course, I explained that our inspiration had been the same as in his own work: not just Giorgio de Chirico and his surrealist architecture but how Ico and Yorda felt so fragile and helpless. How they seem incomplete when they are away from each other, yet unstoppable when they are together.” For Raúl, the influence is an ongoing one that will shine through in the next Tequila Works game. “That feeling of partnership and ‘two-in-one’ were a defining part of RIME, Song Of Nunu and our upcoming project,” he reveals.