Hironobu Sakaguchi Mixtape: Beef with Kutaragi
by Jared Rea 
{ May 1st 2007 at 2:53PM }
When you're the creator of Rad Racer, hatin' just comes with the territory. In the June issue of EGM, the head of Mistwalker himself, Hironobu Sakaguchi, had a very simple response to why he has no plans for the PlayStation 3."The machine's architecture is tricky, and I don't like Ken Kutaragi."
Snap, son! Ken "I Got Shot Nine Times" Kutaragi only announced his retirement last week and you want to play him like that? The Final Fantasy creator was also asked about the Wii and said that while intriguing, he has no plans at this time.
Naturally, this is where the crazies don the cap of money, clench their teeth and spray spittle in the form of flames. Yes, Mistwalker is working on a few Microsoft exclusives, but that doesn't mean he isn't without critiques.
He says Microsoft's marketing strategy needs to do a better job selling Japanese consumers on "excellent" titles like Gears of War and calls out their Windows Vista ad saying "it's terrrible."
Why the hate, Sakaguchi? We suppose "wow" isn't as catchy as DOOO DOOO DOOO!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Justin McElroy @ May 1st 2007 2:54PM
Squash the beef!
hvnlysoldr @ May 1st 2007 3:00PM
Where's the beef?
NintendoFanbot @ May 1st 2007 3:00PM
"Snap, son!"
I liked that part.
Chris @ May 1st 2007 3:07PM
Oh no he didn't!
Chris @ May 1st 2007 3:09PM
PS
They see me mowing my front lawn,
I know they’re all thinking I’m so white and nerdy.
Moe @ May 1st 2007 3:28PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whE0Y0LeNWE
Do! do! do!
bootsielon @ May 1st 2007 3:21PM
If I was on Microsoft's payroll, I would say that. But hey, that's just me. Oh wait.
Ken @ May 1st 2007 3:22PM
Amazing article Jared. I "LOL"ed at least 6 times.
Alex @ May 1st 2007 3:29PM
Maybe EGM interviewed Sakaguchi (lol what a name) before Ken's fall? Or maybe Sony pressured Ken to leave because Sakaguchi and maybe other developers did not get along with him? Pathetic iether way, leave the beef to the devoted fanboys guys, stay professional. Is all this guy ever do is whine about other people's decisions, I have a Vista and it's not as bad once you get used to it.
Kizzle @ May 1st 2007 3:34PM
This guy has kind of stayed off of my radar, but he's right about everything - Kutaragi gives you no reason to like him, Gears is awesome, and the Vista ad (not to mention Vista itself) is crap.
embassy @ May 1st 2007 3:33PM
Sakaguchi = MC gucci sack?
dope.
kingofwale @ May 1st 2007 3:34PM
I'm surprised that Mr. Hironobu Sakaguchi had the enough time to seperate himself from Bill Gates' behind to make such comment.
but can you blame him? The guy's paying his salary.
hvnlysoldr @ May 1st 2007 3:34PM
1 Thing I'll say about Vista, and Office 2007, I got them for free through that Power Together contest mabob. Haven't used them at all and may not for a long time. But I gots mine.
Prof_Chaos @ May 1st 2007 3:35PM
Alex, read it again. He didn't say anything about Vista, just the ad for it (I assume he means the Japanese one).
There certainly is a bit of mad on here. He probably didn't finish the interview before body-slamming the interviewers mother and kicking his dog.
Johnny @ May 1st 2007 3:42PM
So basicly this article is about a guy being honest?
Phranctoast @ May 1st 2007 3:53PM
no its about a guy getting money from MS and showing a biased opinion. who could blame him. you dont bite the hand that feds you.
LongshotX @ May 1st 2007 3:57PM
hvnlysoldr
Give it to me if you won't use it!
Rubang B @ May 1st 2007 4:00PM
He wasn't even talking shit. He just said "I don't like him." It was almost too honest. I kinda wanted to hold Sakaguchi in my arms and tell him the bad man was going away.
Alex @ May 1st 2007 4:04PM
those small two words are easy to miss, maybe the Vista japanese ad is bad, but it can't be worst than Apple's ads over here taking jabs at the PC.
The Gears of War ads in Japan were also terrible (one of them features an obvious fake green monster hand underneath a girl's bed), but he can't blame it all on MS's campaigning in Japan, they rather play wuss games like Final Fantasy.
Mr Khan @ May 1st 2007 4:08PM
This probably stems from 1 part being on MS's payroll, 1 part honesty
He seems a very balanced individual, but he is honest, i'll give him that...
also: lol at the hip-hop references
Jon @ May 1st 2007 4:13PM
Is this the same Sakaguchi who almost bankrupted Squaresoft with that awful Final Fantasy film?
KilgoreTrout XL @ May 1st 2007 4:46PM
Great pic.
Frankie @ May 1st 2007 4:56PM
"Beef is what Sakaguchi said to K~agi!"
"Beef is when your friend breaks your Atari"
"Some Beef is big some Beef is small"
"Make sure you bring your change jigga"
"Or you can't play a game at all"
BooYah
Sam G. @ May 2nd 2007 7:53AM
SHUT EM DOWN, HIRO, SHUT EM DOWN
Darcrequiem @ May 1st 2007 5:00PM
"21. Is this the same Sakaguchi who almost bankrupted Squaresoft with that awful Final Fantasy film?
Posted at 4:13PM on May 1st 2007 by Jon"
Yeah and he is also the same Sakaguchi that saved Square from bankruptcy with the original Final Fantasy. He is also the guy that padded Square's bank account with Final Fantasy I through VI and Chrono Trigger. Sakaguchi was responsible for seven Final Fantasy titles of those, only FFII is considered underwhelming. FFVII, FFVIII, FFX, FFX-2, and FFXII were done without him. So I think Sakaguchi's words should be heeded, because the series has been hit and miss with out him.
Jon @ May 1st 2007 5:05PM
@Darcrequiem
What you said about Sakaguchi could also be applied to Kutaragi. In a way those two are more similar than not.
rfom @ May 1st 2007 5:16PM
Darcrequiem, I am no fan of Ken Kutaragi, but the reason sakaguchi made his name worldwide is because of FF7 - guess who is the one man who made it possible? ken kutaragi and his CD drive in the PS1.
Let me be honest - I havent played any of FF1-7. But if you read the reviews, one thing is clear - most of the early FF were crap compared to FF7. The only better RPG was Chrono - and that was made by an entire star team from SE.And if Ken had not come around, and FF7 were on N64 - well....
Sakaguchi is a greedy pig who sold out to MS becuase they offered him more money, as simple as that. And this interview is part of the job for MS.
jay @ May 1st 2007 5:31PM
This is just brilliant marketing. most hardcore xbox fans aren't too much into JRPGs. But most hardcore xbox fans do hate Ken Kutaragi. So Sakaguchi's just pandering to the crowd to generate more sales among the xbox faithful. Good work.
Rubang B @ May 1st 2007 6:55PM
rfom, you haven't played any of the first 7 but can tell the first 6 are crap from reading reviews? Find me a bad review of FF6. FF6 is still my favorite RPG of all time, and has my favorite Uematsu soundtrack (made possible by Ken Kutaragi's SNES sound chip).
SuicideNInja @ May 1st 2007 7:10PM
"If I was on Microsoft's payroll, I would say that. But hey, that's just me. Oh wait."
He seems pretty honest to me, boots. He knocks all three systems. Vista sucks, the Wii is interesting, and the 360 has the best games for the time being (read, "Hurry the hell up Nintendo/Sony!").
Disgustoid @ May 1st 2007 10:59PM
"Let me be honest - I havent played any of FF1-7. But if you read the reviews, one thing is clear - most of the early FF were crap compared to FF7."
Can I be the first to nominate this as stupidest comment ever made on Joystiq?
bootsielon @ May 1st 2007 11:02PM
rfom,
The FF1-FF6 games are awesome. It's not that they were poorly reviewed; it's that they were barely reviewed. The west wasn't very interested in RPGs until FF7 came out; it was the first RPG for many. Perhaps all of the JRPG developers/lovers should thank everyone on the FF7 Team for opening the floodgates to more profitable/enjoyable waters, respectively.
SuicideNinja,
As much as I've enjoyed Sakaguchi's games, I don't think he can be impartial when he's on Microsoft's payroll. Mistwalker may not belong to Microsoft (should I say not yet?), but they are at the moment second party. The guys at insomniac, factor 5 and Santa Monica have all said great things about Nintendo, and nothing good about Microsoft; I wouldn't expect different just as I don't expect different from sakaguchi. They are all being honest, but naturally biased nonetheless.
mushiking @ May 1st 2007 11:23PM
funny Kojima has no problem with the architecture. oh well, no hard feelings Sakaguchi, we'll just continue to watch your games fail in Japan: your biggest market.
Darcrequiem @ May 2nd 2007 12:35AM
Final Fantasy VII was a success for one reason only. It actually had an ad campaign. FFVII isn't close to the best in the series. It just that their are whole generation of gamers that started with the series because it was advertised. If FFVII would have received the same sort of advertising push as FFVI, FFIV, or FFI did in the states, it would have had similar sales numbers.
As for rfom's comments about the first six FF games. Any credibility you had evaporated with that statement. Reviews gave high scores to FFVIII and FFX-2, that must mean they are excellent games as well...