Monkey business

Confidence is everything in life. Many possess the skills to succeed, but few have the execution to follow through. It’s unsurprising, then, that Shuhei Yoshida – the president of Sony’s colossal Worldwide Studios network, and subsequently one of the most important people in gaming – is particularly proud of his own work.

In an article designed to celebrate the PSone's anniversary on the PlayStation Blog, the affable executive has shared his top three releases on the format – and they all happen to be ones that he helped nurture. To be fair to the smiling suit, he does stress that he wanted to produce a personal list, as there are “so many amazing games on the PSone”.

So, what are his picks? Ape Escape, Gran Turismo, and Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped. Of the first, Yoshida reveals that he was quite closely involved with the production of the inaugural DualShock release. “This title was the game that I was most involved in the creative aspects of the development among the games that I produced during the original PlayStation era,” he said.

He continued: “Designed only to work with the DualShock, it was fun to come up with many gadgets that took advantage of the twin sticks like Sky Flyer, Dash Hoop, and Monkey Rader. The game became very popular among kids in Japan, and we were so happy the game got critical acclaim outside Japan.” Isn’t it about time for a proper sequel, Shu?

Gran Turismo is also close to Yoshida’s heart, as he was the head of the studio that would eventually produce the greatest racing property of all time. “I could not believe what I was seeing when I first saw the reflection mapping on beautifully modelled cars in the game,” he remembered. “This game was the start of [creator] Kaz [Yamauchi]’s long history in developing a close collaboration with the car industry.”

As if that wasn’t enough, the executive was also responsible for much of Crash Bandicoot’s popularity in Japan. “Crash 3 sold over one million units in Japan, a phenomenal achievement by a non-Japanese game,” he enthused. You can learn about the favourites of many more PlayStation veterans through here – and, if you’re interested, peruse ours as well.

[source blog.us.playstation.com]