A teenager can find lots of games, but that's not necessarily true for adults over 30. As you get older, you desire more intellectual, emotional experiences. If you look at film, there's many different genres. No matter how old you are, you can find the type of movie you like. That's a sign of a mature medium.
— Jenova Chen
'Journey' is a way for us to explore the crossing, the intersection of our lives between each other.
I grew up with games. It changed my life. It changed my social relationships with my friends. It defined my childhood. It's something I really cherished.
'Flower' is about the sublime.
At TGC, we are firm believers in the value of making games that respect our players.
We founded thatgamecompany to push the boundary of video games as an interactive medium.
I feel, as a game maker, we are responsible to make content that stretch the ruling structure and emotions so that everyone can enjoy.
My dream is to make everyone love video games.
The focus of 'Flower' is emotion and to make you feel peaceful.
For adults to enjoy something, they need to have intellectual stimulation, something that's related to real life.
'Cloud' and 'Flower' are very much egocentric about my own expression. 'Flow' is more utilitarian, and 'Journey' is more about collaboration between various creative voices in the team.
There are many sides of the urban life that I dislike, but there are many sides I am deeply in love with and attached to.
I studied Computer Science when I was in my undergrad and minored in Digital Art & Design.
When I was a teenager, I felt my life was constrained by rules, school, my parents. I wanted to feel like I was empowered and different; that's why superheroes, comics, manga, and video games filled my needs. When I got older, I realized power is not free; it comes with responsibility.
Humans are lazy but not stupid.
If you can imagine the delight of visiting a theme park where lasting memories are made, we envision 'Sky' will sometimes feel like that.
I think that our language, culture, age, fortune, property, and our fame is all a facade. In the end, we're all the same.
We tried to just convince big publishers like EA or other people to make games like 'Cloud'... It's just almost impossible.
Language is very deceiving. In certain languages, there is certain vocabulary that doesn't exist in other languages. It totally changes how people feel about things.
A great painter can paint something really complex, but they can crystallize it into something really simple.
I like technology, but the blockbuster games use it for the same thing over and over again.
We are all born alone and die alone. The loneliness is definitely part of the journey of life.
I feel like that nature has this great power.
We try really hard to avoid those conventional experiences, these adrenaline rush, anger, competition, violence. We intentionally avoid that. We try to create a game that's serene and tranquil and filled with love.
I always played games with my friends, but as I got older, my friends stopped playing.
What I find the most interesting about games is the feeling of accomplishment. I think this is an emotion that cinema can't do and books can't do. You feel like you've personally accomplished something. You feel you get better at something.
Every artist wants his or her work to connect with someone. I think that's why people make art.
Our goal is always to make games that can move people, that are designed for everybody so the whole family should be able to play it together, and that bring people together and really move them in a way.
I was not grown up in the U.S., nor in Japan. In order to create a video game that people around the globe can enjoy and relate to, I can't draw things deeply rooted in the local culture that I'm not familiar with. That's why we are not doing games about football or samurai.
Even in film, books, and music, there's always action - there's always rock and roll. Young people appreciate that kind of experience.
I don't believe in a particular god, but I believe in the unknown. I believe that there's something bigger than us.
'Journey' was very much inspired by Joseph Campbell's work for 'The Hero's Journey,' but, from among his works, I like 'The Power of Myth' best.
With 'Journey,' we created an emotional arc for two different scenarios. So, if you play alone, it's a good game. You have what we think is a complete emotional arc. You will feel, I guess, a sense of transformation in the single-player. Because it's a hero's journey.
When we approach games, we're always emotional-focused, so if a free-to-play business model works against the emotion, we won't use it. If it actually works well with the emotion, or if we can come up with a new way to do monetization that's different and that's unique for the game, I would go for that.
When I designed 'Flower' I was thinking about making it a positive, almost like a self-healing experience. It's like therapy.
Seeing games become more of a young person thing, I feel like a toy I grew up with has been left behind. I don't want to. I want this thing to be respected by adults. I want this thing to be growing with me. It's important to have games that could be more nuanced and reflective of the real world and relevant to adults.
Creativity is not talent but attitude.
Designing a game can be like a Japanese garden. It's not what you put in but how much you take away.
Each game we make, we like to introduce an emotion that is rarely experienced by gamers in the console game industry.
I grew up in Shanghai, a big urban city.
Look at the genres women like: a romantic comedy game doesn't exist. Few examples of a documentary game exist. What is the equivalent of a real drama game? They don't exist. Emotion with that complexity for a more mature, older audience are necessary to make medium-like video games healthy so it can be highly respected like the film industry.
Video games have always been a part of my life.
Games have to be relevant intellectually.
A lot of people asked us why 'Journey' didn't let them play with friends or family, and obviously we had a reason - because that would have defeated the purpose of the game. But for a game to be truly be accessible to both children and adults and to men and women, it has to allow people to play with the ones they love.
I'm a game designer, so I care about the whole experience.
Any established media, such as literature, music, or film, offers a wide variety of experiences touching emotions from the very primal to the deeply complex. No matter who the audience are or what kind of mood they are in, there will always be something right for them. Video games, as a fast-growing new medium, is on its way to catching up.
A lot of the greatest artists, their work is always about life and the world. I think there needs to be that for video games.
I really like 'ICO' and 'Shadow of the Colossus.'
I was very impressed with the scope and scale and impact that came from originally one person making 'Minecraft.' It's inspiring for me to think how our team can do more with less.
I always thought if I was born 2000 years earlier, I would be a monk, probably carving a monastery or some giant pantheon buildings.
