Moment. Don’t start right away Sega to deal with hate mail. First, listen to what the man has to say.
Toshihiro Nagoshithe top man of the Yakuza Series, gave a special lecture at Otemae University in Japan in 2011. During a subsequent question and answer session, a student asked him what he thought of the Call of Duty Series holds. Nagoshi replied: “I like it a lot. It’s very well made.” After a short pause he continued:
“Of course, there are a lot of different tendencies in games. I once publicly stated that I hate Grand Theft Auto and got a lot of backlash from the internet. I still hate it. And if I were asked if I thought it’s a good game, I would say it’s an excellent game.”
So why does he hate it if he thinks it’s an excellent game? It all has to do with the values that the game conveys. “I simply can’t bring myself to promote the emotion that killing is fun and committing crimes is fun,” said Nagoshi. You’d think this would be a little hypocritical coming from a man responsible for a video game series about Japanese gangsters that features a combat system where big, strong men roam the streets with fists and all falls into their hands, beat each other up.
But to be fair, it must be noted that the number of deaths in the Yakuza Series, if you dig deeper, is surprisingly low given the subject matter. In principle, characters die in cinematic sequences, almost always as part of the larger story arc. Most protagonists may be gangsters, but they have a strong moral code and the violence they commit is often in self-defense or to protect interests, things or people. When the player is in control, violence and crime are almost always reactions rather than actions.
Nagoshi explained that he is of course aware that different video game creators have different preferences and some share his views while others hold the opposite opinion. “I think that’s a good thing. I’m simply saying this is my opinion. But creating things requires resolution – for better or for worse – and sometimes that can cause misunderstandings. I just hope that you all won’t be swayed if such things happen and continue to pursue what you believe in.”
Although the lecture was held in 2011, it only recently became one 2ch, Japan’s largest web forum, on a hotly debated topic. Of course I had Nagoshi at this time GTAV haven’t seen it yet, but it’s unlikely that this game would have changed your mind about anarchy in a free game world.
But there in the Yakuza Playing hostess clubs popping up all the time, it’s safe to assume he at least enjoys the strip club moments.
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