Game Art: Art from 40 Video Games and Interviews with Their Creators

272 Pages·2015·11.3 MB·English

by  Matt Sainsbury

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$39.95 ($45.95 cDn)
shelve in: PoPular culture
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Art from
Akaneiro: Demon Hunters • Alice: Madness Returns •
American McGee’s Alice • Atelier Escha & Logy e
About the Author • Atelier Meruru • Atelier Rorona • Atelier Shallie • inside the mind of the gAme Artist
Matt Sainsbury is an Australian art critic who has been writing Atelier Totori • Bientôt l’été • Bladestorm: Nightmare Game Art is a collection of breathtaking art from 40 video
about video games for 15 years. His work has appeared in • Child of Light • Contrast • D4: Dark Dreams Don’t games  and interviews with their creators. Featuring major
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GamePro, PCWorld, and PC GameZone. He is the founder Die • Dead or Alive 5 • Deception IV • Dragon Age: studios like Square Enix, Bioware, and Ubisoft as well as
of DigitallyDownloaded.net, a leading Australian website for Inquisition • Dynasty Warriors • escapeVektor • Fairy independents like Tale of Tales and E-Line Media, Game Art
news and reviews of Asian entertainment. Fencer F • Fatal Frame II • Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm explores and celebrates the creative process that turns a
r
Reborn • flowmo • Gamebook Adventures • The video game into art.
Graveyard • Hyperdimension Neptunia • KILLER IS
cover illustration: Whitney clayton (from contrast) DEAD • LOLLIPOP CHAINSAW • Luxuria Superbia t
jacket Design: Beth miDDleWorth
• Malevolence: The Sword of Ahkranox • Monster
Monpiece • NaissanceE • Never Alone • Ninja
Gaiden 3 • The Path • Samurai Warriors • Shadows
of the DAMNED • Sorcery Saga: Curse of the Great M
Curry God • Spirit Hunters Inc • Sunset • Tengami
a
t
interviews with
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Peter Budziszewski and Tamara Schembri • Amy
a r t
Fredeen and Alan Gershenfeld • Auriea Harvey and
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Michaël Samyn • Yosuke Hayashi • Keisuke Kikuchi
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• Makoto Kitano • Mike Laidlaw • American McGee •
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Naoko Mizuno and Tsunako • Alex Norton • Yoshito
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Okamura • Jean-François Poirier • Guillaume Provost
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• Neil Rennison • Jennifer Schneidereit • Mavros
b
Sedeño • SUDA51 • Hidetaka Suehiro • Akihiro Suzuki
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and Hisashi Koinuma • Nic Watt • Naoki Yoshida
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art froM 40 Video GaMeS and
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interViewS with their CreatorS
M a t t S a i nSb u r y
www.nostarch.com
the finest in geek entertainment™

g a m e
a r t
g a m e
a r t
art froM 40 Video GaMeS and
interViewS with their creatorS
M a t t S a i n S b u r y
no Starch PreSS
San franciSco
GAME ART. Copyright © 2015 by Matt Sainsbury.
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval
system, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner and the publisher.
Printed in China
19 18 17 16 15 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
ISBN-10: 1-59327-665-6
ISBN-13: 978-1-59327-665-2
Publisher: William Pollock
Production Editor: Serena Yang
Cover and Interior Design: Beth Middleworth
Developmental Editors: Hayley Baker, Jennifer Griffith-Delgado, and Tyler Ortman
Copyeditor: Paula L. Fleming
Proofreader: Emelie Burnette
For information on distribution, translations, or bulk sales, please contact No Starch Press, Inc. directly:
No Starch Press, Inc.
245 8th Street, San Francisco, CA 94103
phone: [phone]
[email protected]; http://www.nostarch.com/
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sainsbury, Matt.
Game art : art from 40 video games and interviews with their creators / by Matt Sainsbury.
-- 1st edition.
pages cm
Summary: "Features interviews with game developers and discussion of the creative
process behind video game development. Includes full-color artwork and concept art from
40 video games"-- Provided by publisher.
ISBN 978-1-59327-665-2 -- ISBN 1-59327-665-6
1. Video games--Design. 2. Video games industry. 3. Art. I. Title.
GV1469.3.S148 2015
794.8--dc23
2015013186
No Starch Press and the No Starch Press logo are registered trademarks of No Starch Press, Inc. All
trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective holders. Rather than use a trademark
symbol with every occurrence of a trademarked name, we are using the names only in an editorial
fashion and to the benefit of the trademark owner, with no intention of infringement of the trademark.
American McGee’s Alice and Alice: Madness Returns are used with permission of Electronic Arts Inc.
Atelier Ayesha, Atelier Escha & Logy, Atelier Meruru, Atelier Rorona, Atelier Shallie, Atelier Totori,
Bladestorm, Blood Ties, DEAD OR ALIVE, DYNASTY WARRIORS, Fatal Frame, Ninja Giaden, and
SAMURAI WARRIORS are trademarks or registered trademarks of KOEI TECMO GAMES CO., LTD. D4
© 2014 ACCESS GAMES INC. Dragon Age: Inquisition images are used with permission of Electronic Arts
Inc. escapeVektor, Spirits Hunters Inc © 2015 Nnooo. Fairy Fencer F © 2013 COMPILE HEART. All rights
reserved. Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn © 2013, 2014 Square Enix, Ltd. All rights reserved. Final
Fantasy, the Final Fantasy: A Realm Reborn logo, A Realm Reborn are registered trademarks or trademarks
of the Square Enix Group. flowmo © 2014 ToyBox Labs. All rights reserved. Gamebook Adventures: Sultans
of Rema © 2014 Tin Man Games Ptd. Ltd. Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth1 © 2014 IDEA FACTORY /
COMPILE HEART / FELISTELLA. All rights reserved. Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth2 © 2015 IDEA
FACTORY / COMPILE HEART / FELISTELLA. All rights reserved. KILLER IS DEAD © GRASSHOPPER
MANUFACTURE INC. / Published by KADOKAWA GAMES. LOLLIPOP CHAINDSAW © KADOKAWA
GAMES/GRASSHOPPER MANUFACTURE. Malevolence: The Sword of Ahkranox © Alex Norton. Monster
Monpiece © 2013 COMPILE HEART. All rights reserved. NaissanceE © 2014 Mavros Sedeño. Shadows
of the DAMNED © 2011 GRASSHOPPER MANUFACTURE INC. Shadows of the Damned is trademark of
GRASSHOPPER MANUFACTURE INC. EA and the EA logo are trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. Sorcery
Saga: The Curse of the Great Curry God © 2013 COMPILE HEART / Zerodiv© D4Enterprise Co., Ltd. All
rights reserved. Tengami © 2014 Nyamyam Limited. All rights reserved.
The information in this book is distributed on an “As Is” basis, without warranty. While every precaution
has been taken in the preparation of this work, neither the author nor No Starch Press, Inc. shall have
any liability to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused
directly or indirectly by the information contained in it.
acknowledgments
There are too many people I’d like to thank for their help
and support in making this book a reality.
I’d like to thank No Starch Press for seeing the potential
in it; my friends and team at DigitallyDownloaded.net for
their feed back and support; and, of course, my family for
the way they have always been able to encourage me.
Thanks to all the wonderful developers in this book who
agreed to be interviewed and share their amazing art.
But most of all, I’d like to thank my wife. Putting up with
me isn’t always easy, and without her saintly patience and
support, I would have never followed my dream to write
about games and this book would never have happened.
contents
Foreword ..................................viii Fantasy worlds
by Larry Goldberg, COO of E-Line Media indie Freedom in a
triPle-a studio ........................056
PreFace .......................................x Child of Light (Ubisoft Montreal)
Jean-François Poirier, producer
BeautiFul games
serenity and wonder .............004 rising From the ashes ............070
Tengami (Nyamyam) Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn (Square Enix)
Jennifer Schneidereit, co-founder Naoki Yoshida, director and producer
telling a story .......................014 uncharted territory ..............088
Bientôt l’été, Luxuria Superbia, The Graveyard, Dragon Age: Inquisition (Bioware)
The Path, Sunset (Tale of Tales) Mike Laidlaw, creative director
Auriea Harvey and Michaël Samyn, owners
Pushing Boundaries
escaPe to the shadows ..........024 idealized Fighters and
Contrast (Compulsion Games) stylized violence ...................104
Guillaume Provost, creative director Dead or Alive 5, Ninja Gaiden 3 (Koei Tecmo Games)
Yosuke Hayashi, director and producer
the suPernatural
and the surreal sex and violence ....................114
turning tragedy KILLER IS DEAD, LOLLIPOP CHAINSAW,
into horror ............................... 036 Shadows of the DAMNED (Grasshopper Manufacture)
Deception IV, Fatal Frame II (Koei Tecmo Games)
Goichi Suda, CEO
Keisuke Kikuchi, producer
Playing detective ...................046
D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die (Access Games)
Hidetaka Suehiro, director
ePic Quests and everyday liFe culture and history
Parody with rePresenting
cute characters ....................128 native cultures ..........................196
Fairy Fencer F, Hyperdimension Neptunia (Idea Factory), Never Alone (E-Line Media)
Naoko Mizuno, producer, and Tsunako, character designer Amy Fredeen, CFO, and Alan Gershenfeld, founder
Building new worlds ..............142 remixing history.....................210
Arland and Dusk trilogies, Bladestorm: Nightmare, Dynasty Warriors,
from the Atelier series (Koei Tecmo Games) Samurai Warriors (Koei Tecmo Games)
Yoshito Okamura, series director Akihiro Suzuki, series director and producer of Dynasty Warriors,
and Hisashi Koinuma, director and producer of Samurai Warriors
laughter and aBsurdity ........154
Monster Monpiece, Sorcery Saga: childhood inFluences
Curse of the Great Curry God (Idea Factory) twisted Fairy tales ................230
Makoto Kitano, artist and designer Akaneiro: Demon Hunters (Spicy Horse),
Alice: Madness Returns, American McGee's Alice (EA)
microBudget games American McGee, managing director of Spicy Horse
roots in Film ...........................166
NaissanceE (Limasse Five) Bringing childhood
Mavros Sedeño, creator and owner Fantasies to liFe ....................242
Gamebook Adventures (Tin Man Games)
creativity under Neil Rennison, creator and owner
constraint .............................178
flowmo (ToyBox Labs) a game that never ends .........252
Peter Budziszewski and Tamara Schembri, owners Malevolence: The Sword of Ahkranox (Visual Outbreak)
Alex Norton, creator and owner
cheerFul color and
simPle gamePlay .....................186
escapeVektor, Spirit Hunters Inc (Nnooo)
Nic Watt, creative director and founder