泥中蟠龍's Game愛歌
[A love song for games of the dragon waiting for an opportunity]
A legend of mecha design talks about pets
It has already been one year since I have written this column. Looking back the past year, a topic related to the article, which I wrote by this time last year, came into my mind. It was about a new challenge.
I'm a venture capitalist who specializes in video game investment. But the game is not the only one I invest in. Today I want to talk about other content.
Recently the domestic gaming industry thrives on stereotyped themes of games. The materials are like you've heard of them somewhere: fantasy, monster, magic, knight, evocation, auto-battle, etc. If a player reads an introduction of a game without image, it's even hard for the gamer to recognize whether he/she played it before or not.
I'm a fan of Shōji Kawamori, a Japanese anime creator. His new theater anime Animal Detective Kiruminzoo, which is about transforming into an animal, will be released soon. Some of the readers who don't know about the legend might ask what the animal-themed animation has to do with one-size-fits-all game materials. But a fan of the producer should have noticed why I suddenly mentioned the Japanese animation about animals. Shōji Kawamori was originally a mecha designer. He is not only a specialist but also a great master. The leading figure in mecha designing involved in various types of anime: Valkyrie in The Super Dimension Fortress Macross, mechanical characters in Patlabor, The Vision of Escaflowne, Cyber Formula, and Ghost in the Shell and he also took part in a mecha-based video game Armored Core. Animal Detective Kiruminzoo is his first animal-transforming character design for children. I made a big, long explanation because I'm a big fan of him.
So cut to now, let's go back to the topic. The great artist's new attempt is refreshingly shocking to me who have wanted more than just the same old game materials. It was that the master in his mid-50s having reached the top of his field tried his hand at something completely new. Kawamori observed ecological habits of animals of the forest for months and interviewed hundreds of children to design characters for kids.
I won't give up hope to see a whole new local game which makes me so excited about. Expecting a sobering and challenging game with high quality, I'm going to the movies this weekend taking my nephew and niece who attend primary school to watch Animal Detective Kiruminzoo.
※ This is from Kyunghyang Games column by 泥中蟠龍 since September 2013.
(http://www.khgames.co.kr)
Translation by Kim Ki-hui
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