Hayashi: Gamers grow into "decent adults"

Team Ninja head Yosuke Hayashi has said he's a living argument against an old prejudice against gaming as a kid.

Hayashi first discovered video games in his second year of primary school, and feels his rapid path to a senior development role is proof that gamers can be successful.

"Back then, people said that children who played video games would grow up 'wrong'," he said in the latest episode of Iwata Asks. "I’ve been playing games forever, and now I’m 31.

"I would be happy if I could serve as proof that you can turn out to be a decent adult even if you play video games!"

Although Hayashi said he that he never "hesitated along the way" to his current career, which saw him leading a project at just 27, as a young gamer he wasn't particularly aware of the people behind games.

"At first, I thought video games just fell from the sky," he said.

"Back then, I couldn’t see the developers, but now I can see the human hand at work in video games - the developers’ feelings, so to speak.

"Ever since I noticed that, they’re quite precious to me. During development, the developers live with that one game. But I would like everyone who plays those games to simply enjoy the resultant games, without minding too much about us," he added, generously.

Team Ninja's latest game is Dead or Alive: Dimensions. Hit the link above to read the full feature, which also sports some interesting back and froth between Nintendo president Satoru Iwata and Hayashi on the subject of seniority and age.

Thanks, GoNintendo.