The Design Philosophy of Fumito Ueda | Ico , Shadow of the Colossus and Design by Subtraction
Channel: The Game Overanalyser
Date: 2021-02-05

Design by subtraction is the design philosophy often used to describe Fumito Ueda's creative sensibilities, where he removes elements of design that are not integral to the core emotion or theme of his games. Whether, Ico, Shadow of the Colossus or The Last Guardian, this lens permeates the world and aesthetic of his games, generating worlds that are as beautiful as they are elusive. This video aims to find out the origins of design by subtraction, and if there is more to his design philosophy than meets the eye. What we find is that creativity cannot be reduced to a simple expression, it contains its own multitudes , open for evaluation by the audience. 

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Sources

- Fumito Ueda Interview , Game Masters
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Nl1oHy3zlw

- Ico and Shadow of the Colossus Secrets Revealed. Fumito Ueda Interview 1up
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2svF-fV4VU

- Interview Extra: Fumito Ueda (Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, The Last Guardian) , Cane and Rinse
https://caneandrinse.com/fumito-ueda-interview/

-Investigating the origins of The Last Guardian's architecture , Eurogamer
https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2016-12-12-investigating-the-origins-of-the-last-guardians-architecture

-The Da Vinci interview: Miyuki Miyabe talks with Fumito Ueda
https://web.archive.org/web/20081017100148/http://www.tigmagazine.com/davinci.html

- Outside the shadows: Talking with the makers of ICO and Shadow of the Colossus , DICE
https://web.archive.org/web/20081016074608/http://www.tigmagazine.com/dice06.html

- Fumito Ueda at the Nordic Game Conference 2008
https://web.archive.org/web/20081017100158/http://www.tigmagazine.com/nordic08.html

- A puzzling duo: Interview with Fumito Ueda and Kenji Kaido
https://web.archive.org/web/20081017100333/http://www.tigmagazine.com/puzzlingduo.html

- Miyazaki vs Ueda: The path to compelling fantasy , Reboot Develop Conference
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2019-04-16-miyazaki-vs-ueda

- Walking with Giants, Fumito Ueda Interview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjfXaMVbhuM

- Shadow of the Colossus and the Art of Ma , Variety
https://variety.com/2018/gaming/opinion/shadow-of-the-colossus-art-ma-1203088597/