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MinnMax Interview - Shuhei Yoshida Opens Up On Nintendo, Stress, Leaving PlayStation
🕑 Added 2025-02-03 17:15:00 +0000 UTC
MinnMax's Ben Hanson finally speaks with game industry legend Shuhei Yoshida about his 31-year career at PlayStation, where he worked his way up to president of Sony Interactive Worldwide Studios from 2008-2019 before becoming the head of PlayStation indies. He left Sony at the end of 2024 and he's finally able to discuss his thoughts on Nintendo, interacting with Shigeru Miyamoto, and playing a game on the fabled Nintendo PlayStation back in 1993.
Any help sharing the video version is appreciated! https://youtu.be/HtiJlzs0xRE
Masayuki Chatani book mentioned - https://www.amazon.com/Behind-Scenes-PlayStation-Former-Creation/dp/B0D98655C7
Silpheed gameplay from Game Galaxy - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUKGbg9Sx7Y
To jump to a particular discussion, check out the timestamps below...
00:00:00 - Intro
00:01:33 - Welcome Shuhei Yoshida
00:02:42 - Shu's thoughts on Game Informer
00:03:41 - Will Shu write a book about his career?
00:05:50 - Interactions with Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto
00:11:57 - Wanting to consult and help indie games
00:15:02 - The rarity of transparent game executives
00:17:32 - Astro Bot winning Game of the Year
00:19:47 - Thoughts on the Nintendo Switch 2
00:22:01 - Shu's origins at Sony in 1986
00:24:06 - Playing the Nintendo PlayStation
00:26:10 - Ken Kutaragi and Polygon Man
00:30:11 - Sony adapting to the Nintendo 64's analog stick
00:32:12 - The PlayStation 3's challenges
00:34:39 - The rise of Mark Cerny
00:37:50 - Calling the PlayStation 4 "Orbis"
00:38:42 - Scrapped designs for the DualShock 4
00:45:09 - The scariest moment from PlayStation's competition
00:48:04 - How to run PlayStation's worldwide studios
00:53:06 - How stressful was the job?
00:57:33 - The lack of leadership accountability when games fail
01:00:17 - Lessons from Nintendo's Satoru Iwata
01:01:22 - Media Molecule and Dreams
01:03:10 - When Sucker Punch pitched "Uncharted"
01:04:59 - Choosing which games to greenlight
01:10:24 - Ted Price, Insomniac, and Spyro's early days
01:13:45 - How expensive was Beyond: Two Souls
01:16:28 - Metal Gear Solid 4's PlayStation 1 throwback
01:17:45 - Favorite Hideo Kojima memory
01:19:58 - Agent, Bioshock on Vita, and vaporware announcements
01:22:24 - Canceling Wild from Michel Ancel
01:23:38 - The rocky launch of No Man's Sky
01:26:12 - The future of AAA game development
01:29:46 - Team Ico's Fumito Ueda and Project Robot
01:32:53 - Why the messaging of 8MB for the PS2 memory card
01:34:01 - The biggest game launch of his career
01:35:55 - Is hardship necessary to create a great PlayStation game
01:38:17 - Butting heads within game studios
01:39:46 - Missing the PlayStation 1 era of development
01:42:01 - Ever want to be the creative director on a game?
01:42:52 - Final thoughts
Comments
Patrick Hynes
Great listen, and I’m loving seeing this interview get cited in articles everywhere! Get MinnMax those new subs, Gamesradar!
voxshrapnel
What an absolute sweetheart! Great interview.
