7th Entertainment Division Critiques

[Critique by work category] Game

We received over 80 applications in the Game section, most of which were from game companies. The screening process was rather tough, as we had to make fair evaluations on individual works among high quality games by these companies representing Japan. The Grand Prize FINAL FANTASY CRYSTAL CHRONICLES had excellent quality on every screening index of image, music, and interactivity, and is a well-balanced, good game that is "fun to touch."
The work Eye Toy: Play that won the Prize for Excellence contained a new attempt that a player can participate in the game by projecting his/her own picture taken with a camera into the game. On the other hand, SHIBAIMICHI specifically focused on how well one could act out a character in a drama using MIC device, which worked out successfully. Each and every one of the games that had made it to the final screening was so unique, and suggested the diversification of "play" in the future.

Though few in number, we received some works from students. While some of them had successfully created a unique atmosphere, it couldn't be helped that many of them looked somewhat inferior to those created by companies in terms of quality. However, as much as they were not commercial products, their ideas were unrestricted, and there were several very interesting works. We hope that more students and independent artists will submit more works with really unique ideas next year.

Profile
SUZUKI Yu
Game Producer
Born in Iwate, 1958. Af ter graduat ing f rom Okayama Universi ty of Science, the Facul ty of Engineer ing, the Department of Electrical Engineering, entered SEGA Enterprises (now SEGA Corp.). Two years later, introduced the world&rsquo's first sensory arcade game, HANG-ON. Has created several popular games such as the 3-D CG fighting game, VIRTUA FIGHTER (1993), and a family game, SHENMUE (1999). At present, the Creative Officer and the chief of the AM Plus R&D Division for the SEGA Corp.