"I went out of my way to play games I didn't like or find interesting. Those ended up being a lot more informative. I have literally thousands of games, and I think of them all as pearls of wisdom."
Super Smash Bros. game director Masahiro Sakurai has some advice for developers: if you want to learn how to make games, you'd better start playing them -- even those you don't like.
In a wide-ranging interview with The Guardian, the veteran director and designer highlighted the importance of playing games that haven't grabbed your attention for whatever reason, and revealed that's exactly what he's been doing since his student days.
Whether you don't enjoy a particular genre, or simply won't make time for anything other than critically acclaimed releases, if you want to avoid creative tunnel vision it's necessary to move outside of your comfort zone in the pursuit of knowledge.
"I went out of my way to play games I didn't like or find interesting. Those ended up being a lot more informative for me," he explained. "At home I have literally thousands of games, and I think of them as pearls of wisdom from my predecessors.
"Game development is very difficult. Nobody sets out to create a game that’s not fun. It's all of the challenges and difficulties that happen throughout development that determine whether a game is a failure or a success. I think playing those thousands of games is the single best and easiest way to learn from my predecessors."
Fore more tidbits and tales from Sakurai, be sure to check out the full interview over on The Guardian.
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