Games industry is 'like sponge'

Q Entertainment's Tetsuya Mizuguchi has called on the games industry to welcome new talent and ideas in a speech which also touched on his affection for late eighties Norwegian pop combos.

Speaking at the Montréal International Games Summit, which began yesterday, Mizuguchi said, "I love music, music videos and movies too, and also games too. It's good if you can use that kind of experience in another media or entertainment form... That kind of inspiration always helped me to make new things."

Mizuguchi's speech focused on his career in gaming and the sources of his inspiration - which have ranged from the musical Stomp and the paintings of Wassily Kandinsky to the music video for Aha's Take On Me (yes the one with the cartoon where poor old Morten gets beaten up).

He observed that gaming has come on leaps and bounds since his career began in 1990, stating, "15 years ago, [there was] just 2D, beep sounds - but now you can get high res, high def movies, visuals and sounds. So I think there's no limit in this industry.

"This industry is a kind of sponge," Mizuguchi continued, helpfully illustrating his point with a slide which showed a photo of a sponge with the word "sponge" underneath.

"If you want to make something, if you need some kind of technology, the games industry is always kind of sucking many things. So if you want to connect to people, technology is coming - [and there is] no form and no limit."

Once again Mizuguchi joshed that he plans to retire from gaming soon, adding, "I think the future of games, and the future of this industry, is your imagination... I think that we should welcome young talent, young inspiration to this industry."

After his speech we got the chance to sit down with Mizuguchi for a chat - so check back soon for more...