Sakamoto Happy with Temco's Metroid Contribution

Yoshio Sakamoto, creator of the Metroid franchise is pleased with the collaboration of Nintendo and Temco's Team Ninja he revealed in a recent interview with Gamasutra. He believes that this successfulness is due to identifying the main elements of the project and working together towards them. Many developers who work on well established franchises usually have very little control over the titles developed. However, with recent iterations with Retro Studios, and currently Team Ninja, control over the project has been much more prominent.

Yoshio Sakamoto:
"I'd have to say that, if you wanted to maintain some sort of unilateral, top-down control over every aspect of the project, that's probably easier to do in the long run, but that's not something that I've ever wanted."

He added: "I don't feel like that's something that yields the best results."

"The best way to accomplish that, to find that sort of firmament that you can then put different arranged elements into, is to find the things that you can't budge on - find the things that are essential, important, and you don't want to change," Sakamoto continued.

"Once you've got that established, you can bring in all sorts of talented people and let them collaborate and contribute to what you have there."
Sakamoto had kind words for the Metroid: Other M's director, Yosuke Hayashi, who works for Tecmo's Team Ninja and who first came into the public eye due to his work on Ninja Gaiden Sigma. Said Sakamoto, "When we first brought him on, I didn't just hand him a pile of documents and say, 'Here you go. Please make this game.'"

"Rather, we talked about what was essential and what was good in the Metroid series and tried to figure out how best to use his arts background and know-how to really push those goals forward."

He concluded: "One thing that I really appreciate about him is he can really say some unexpected things every once in awhile that seem to come out of left field, but, since I know that we have the same end-goal in mind, even if we occasionally disagree or are surprised by each other's means or routes of getting there, we know we're going to end up in a good place. It's the right kind of conflict, and our individuality comes out in the best way possible."

What do you think about Nintendo's core franchises being worked on collaboratively by different studios? And are you looking forward to Metroid: Other M?