Retronauts Celebrates the Recently Resurrected Career of Fumito Ueda

This week, USgamer's classic gaming podcast examines two of the PlayStation 2's finest: Ico and Shadow of the Colossus.

Article by Bob Mackey Contributor

Updated on Oct. 12, 2015

This article first appeared on USgamer, a partner publication of VG247. Some content, such as this article, has been migrated to VG247 for posterity after USgamer's closure - but it has not been edited or further vetted by the VG247 team.

The old parental adage of "life isn't fair" is probably the best way to sum up Fumito Ueda's career. He came out of nowhere, gave us two amazing games, then receded into the mists of development hell, only to emerge a decade later at this year's E3.

The silver lining to all this, of course, is that The Last Guardian will soon exist. But it's incredibly depressing to think of what Ueda could have brought us during the console generation that needed him most. Back in 2005, Shadow of the Colossus seemed to presage the wonderful new age of games we'd soon be playing on our shiny, new PS3s and 360s—experiences full of bold ambition and glorious new ideas. Little did we know, we'd have to suffer through years of poor design decisions brought on by the perils of HD development before seeing anything approaching the confidence of Ueda's work. It probably shouldn't surprise you that the director of similarly headstrong games like Dark Souls and Bloodborne essentially entered the industry because of Ico alone.

On this months-in-the-making episode, we take a look at Fumito Ueda's two games, Ico and Shadow of the Colossus, as well as the creator's rise to power from CGI artist to game director in just four short years. Joining us on this one is old friend and 1UP alum Nick Suttner, who's currently penning a book about Shadow of the Colossus, and returning guest Mikel Reparaz, who hosts the excellent podcast Vidjagame Apocalypse over on the Laser Time Network. We're just a week from the 10th anniversary of Shadow launching in the States, so join us for this celebration of Fumito Ueda's recently resurrected career—one that hopefully has a few decades left in it.

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