Hideki Kamiya Expresses Remorse Over Harsh Treatment Of Ōkami Fan

Shame he had to be a d**k to people in the past but nice to see the personal growth.

Many in and around gaming could do with a bit of that humility.

He probably just had a moment of guilt after seeing so many positive reactions and good vibes surrounding the series lately and questioned his own persona online, but he has nothing to worry about. His humorous comments to fans are funny and not to be taken seriously.

"Never change"? Oh please do change, you self-important a**.

Kamiya could well do with processing why it is he requires someone to express joy over his own creative exploits before he feels a sense of guilt and responsibility for his abusive behaviour

Kamiya doesn't need to make new games. His social life is already an excellent visual novel 😂

All of those reports from the past (especially in the Wii U years) used to make me wonder how any company would ever let this walking PR nightmare anywhere near a social media account. Dude needed (probably still does) some serious help. I hope he actually got it.

Definitely never change. Gaming needs more wild cards and less milquetoast personalities. I find it way more self absorbed when someone is trying to please everyone than unapologetically being themselves through the good and bad. Give us hell, Kamiya.

people shouldnt take his comments seriously, its more like an act or game he plays where he 'plays the d**k' but isnt actually one. its just part of his persona. He is a bit eccentric and thats a good thing. Genuine artists were often ecentric, but there is such pressure against genuine eccentricity these days, that it makes people inclined toward eccentricity even more uptight and neurotic. Not everything has to be taken as a serious moral failing. He is just an eccentric who likes to play with his fanbase a bit.

My personal philosophy is that it's free to be nice. I don't really understand why some people choose to be absolute knobs to people, especially fans. But hey, I guess not everyone enjoys being approached by seemingly random strangers with questions.

I kind of assumed he was always joking… I don’t think he meant (most) of the hostility, it was just his thing and it became a badge of honour to get blocked by him?

I think being ‘blocked by kamiya’ was a stretch goal on a kickstarter at some point!

He came across really well in his little YouTube series, so I'm inclined to think that the whole 'godlike' thing is a bit of an act.

BTW, DeepL's translation of this is: "You know, I was watching the reaction video of the Okami announcement, and I was struck by a woman who was very emotionally expressive and happy...
At the same time, I thought, "This person looks kind of familiar," and I dug through my X logs, and there was a question from her, and I was being unsympathetic. He was cursing at me and I wanted to twist my own neck..."

Lmao I'll be expecting an apology for calling me and insect and blocking me on twitter dot com in my inbox now

I've never been all that impressed by his games (beyond RE in the early PSX days, and Viewtiful Joe in the Cube days) and his attitude helps me stay indifferent perpetually. I find the "wanting to snap my own neck off" bit extremely odd, and it almost feels like he is still being aggressive towards this person.

Character development

I mean, saying he wanted to snap his own neck is a bit extreme but nice to see Kamiya showing some humanity by expressing remorse for once. A tiny glimpse that he can indeed improve as a person.

Yeah, I’ve never taken his twitter persona seriously. I’m sure he does feel genuine annoyance when people ask him certain things but I always saw the over the top responses/blocking as him just having fun (especially when getting blocked by him was a Kickstarter reward or whatever).

I remember someone who met him for an interview saying he was very down to earth and nice to them…pretty sure his whole attitude online is just an act

yea, it's just a shtick he does. even his remarks to/about himself in this post are over the top. but, still, it's nice that he showed respect for her.

One apology down, 3174 to go, Kamiya-san.

@dequesi fr lol

The west is too soft for Kamiya's schtick. It's kayfabe.

Even the 'apology' is in line with his public persona, an eccentric guy whose reactions and answers are all over the place.

@Folkloner
That's what I was thinking as well.

While I am personally of the belief that I would rather see Kamiya with no filter not because I think being rude is great but rather I would rather see him for who he is rather than who he pretends to be while he takes my money… I think seeing someone having that much faith in something you had a hand in creating must be moving. I feel that fans and devs both are fanatics on both sides but I do think there can be a simple human connection in working to create something and seeing someone enjoying that creation. That being said I think it’s fair to not want his interactions bombarded with a language he doesn’t speak on the regular and people not respecting that (many of whom would get mad if he responded in Japanese only) gets an appropriate response by being blocked.

Long story short, I am glad this person moved him (and that he remembered her enough to look into it) but I do hope that these are his sincere feelings and not him needing support as an independent. Manners cost nothing but even if you can’t afford them, be honest. One can be polite without being kind.

I mean she is cute...I would feel remorse if I was rude to someone so cute.

@-wc- Curious about what you find impressive in Resident Evil?

At least he said sorry.

What are you talking about when you say "X"?

I have spent my whole adult life studying and/or being around artists. A lot of them are jerks, lol. Maybe a more diplomatic way to put it would be to say that they do not suffer fools. I think we kind of just have to take the good with the bad with artists. Good artists seem to usually have strange or unique points of view (sometimes because of great intelligence but more often just due to weirdness). They go through their whole life feeling misunderstood and struggling to get their point across. Frustrated and annoyed turns into their default mood which they even project into totally unnecessary situations like ordering lunch. And yet, to wish that they would just “be normal” would be to wish away the very quality that makes their work surprising or exciting. So I think we’re stuck with a certain percentage of jerk artists and that’s okay I guess.

@Yalloo

Incredible graphics, atmosphere, and premise I'd never seen anything like in a videogame to that point. 👍 Pre rendered backgrounds and FMV cutscenes were extremely impressive and "hi tech" for the time, and "adult" games were still mostly unheard of, especially on the consoles I'd had as a kid.

I'm 39, so I was about 10 or 11 at the time, and a playstation early adopter. 👍

Can I infer from your comment, that you don't like RE or find it very impressive? I'm curious if you were "there" at the time, or if your assessment is purely retrospective? Obv it's a very subjective thing, but I can imagine that to younger folks, its hard to imagine what was so "impressive" about those early 3D games 😊✌️

@MSaturn

"They go through their whole life feeling misunderstood and struggling to get their point across. Frustrated and annoyed turns into their default mood which they even project into totally unnecessary situations like ordering lunch."

yeah, Mr. Kamiya can join the f****** club, frankly. you don't have to be an artist to be a frustrated, annoyed grump who struggles and feels misunderstood.

I'm an artist, and art/games/music is my world, but if having a few less games is the price we would have to pay to not be mistreated by grumpy men while we (for example) simply try to take their lunch order, then I will take it, 100%.

OTOH I don't believe that part of this man's artistic process is abusing anonymous fans on the internet. ✌️

@-wc- The reason I asked is because I love the Bayonetta games and I find Witch Time one of the most satisfying mechanics in videogames to this day. So I was curious about RE (I probably played one of them a long time ago, but not into the genre/horror/zombie/survival), and wondering what I may have missed there. Your answer is very interesting, since you're looking at something else than gameplay, more the atmosphere, the setup and the cinematic technics used. And I totally get how that's something impressive as well. And subjective of course like you noted.

I'm 42, and a similar experience for me would be The 7th Guest, it was also probably one of the first games including filmed content into a pre-rendered 3D environment. And the atmosphere/premise was certainly one of the highlights in a puzzle game.

Something else you mentioned, that to younger people it could be hard to understand, it's surely very true and at the same time a bit sad, since the less detailed the graphics, the more room for the imagination, right.

I don't necessarily always agree with your comments, but certainly always enjoy and appreciate them!

✌🏻🧡🎮

It's like Ebeneezer Scrooge has turned over a new leaf!

Huzzah!

I think people take the whole Kamiya persona thing a bit too seriously. He's generally having a bit of fun and mostly poking fun at social media in general in my opinion. If you watch any of the recent conversations he had on video or interviews in the past it's clear that he's just a creative dude who doesn't take life too seriously.

That doesn't mean seeing this fan's reaction didn't make him consider the effect his trigger bans might have on people though.

@-wc- Mistreated by grumpy men how?

1st of all, I think you're taking the whole situation out of context.

2nd of all, coulda woulda shoulda. The world will not become heaven just because you want it to. Kamiya explained his behavior in a few YouTube videos. Nothing can convince an attitude determined to hate though, and I think that's really what your problem is.

And lastly, as for not being impressed by his games, aren't you the same person who said they didn't like Metroid Dread because of the EMMI zones, even though those were inspired by the SA-X sections of Metroid Fusion? Yeah, based on that, I'd say I'm grateful that Bayonetta 2 - at the very least - is a game you weren't impressed by.

I choose not to play games he's involved with because of the way he presents himself. hope it's worth it to be a troll.

@Lightsiyd

I personally believe it's OK to like different games,* but I'll bet we have plenty of games in common.

I'm not sure what you are talking about, world becoming heaven? determined to hate? pretty dramatic stuff.

I should play the Bayonetta games eventually but they not really close to my usual cup of tea✌️cheers.

(*it may have been "inspired by," but Dread is not Fusion, or anywhere close, in my opinion.)

@-wc-

I'm not sure what you are talking about, world becoming heaven? determined to hate? pretty dramatic stuff.

Guy stated that he left Platinum because they wanted to focus on anti-consumer policies, but all y'all can focus on practically any article about him is how he banned some people and did not cuddle them with his words. Which is why I used the word 'hate'. But perhaps I should have gone with 'dissatisfaction' so it wouldn't be a 'dramatic' statement.

I believe you and the rest expressing such dissatisfaction are focusing on the wrong things and taking it out of context (especially with how he explained himself publicly and to be honest, even if he hadn't). Anyhow, to each his own. Cheers to you as well.

Social media = plague. That's all

@Lightsiyd

you are entitled to your opinion, i see where you are coming from. respectfully, the article is about his behavior, not his departure from Platinum, so that explains the focus here in the comments. I don't remember commenting on him in the past so I don't know who "y'all" is. ✌️

I swear lol. Was Platinum making him toxic? Never know with Kamiya.

@TheBigK Please allow 6-8 weeks for Kamiya to give a f—-

@Lone_Beagle Mr. Burns: “Excellent!”

@larryisaman @smithyo Precisely. It's also worth noting that he doesn't use that persona on his instagram, I've had no problem commenting on his posts and not being blocked for it. It's just a Twitter thing and it's not that serious, hence the Kickstarter reward for getting blocked by him. The people here calling him an a-hole and abusive are deeping it.

@-wc- I'm much the same. Absolutely loved Okami, but aside from Infinite Space, none of the Platinum games have really appealed to me very much. I'm generally inclined to believe the stuff about Okami I loved was more the result of, you know, everyone else who worked on the game.

Between the man's work since and behavior, Kamiya's name alone isn't enough to convince me the upcoming Okami sequel will be any good at all, let alone live up to the original.

@RubyCarbuncle oh I thought it was hilarious, and I was just a little starstruck too! Like, Kamiya blocked me!

@Yalloo

Bayonetta has such a good reputation, but the art style and presentation doesn't really do it for me so I've dragged my feet playing it (see a pattern? 😅) Like many games, though, it's on the list and I will eventually see for myself what I've been missing. ✌️

I'm not sure there's alot with resident evil to really go back for, but the game really did have a special atmosphere and style in its day.

Gameplay wise, it almost seems like the opposite of bayonetta: you play as a stiff, human cop who can barely mave fast enough to survive. A lot of people are really turned off by this, but I think it's really cool and for me, the "tank controls" (really just normal 3D controls but with a fixed camera) just take a little time getting comfortable with.

I remember so vibidly reading a preview for 7th guest in a game mag back in the day, and just DREAMING of having a console like a Philips CD-i that could play games like that 😂 i never got around to playing it, but in my mind it was like "spooky Myst."

"the less detailed the graphics, the more room for the imagination, right."

exactly right! I miss the impressionism and chunky representation of lower resolution graphics in games, and I dont think "retro" will ever get it quite right, as much as I love seeing the different attempts and playing the sometimes great new games. ❤️

you know what I really miss? when developers would deliberately min-max for style + performance over "graphics." see: tobal on psx, fzero x, or bangai-o on n64/dc for examples. I have a theory that the tendency/necessity to use tiny screenshots to promote games back in the day had devs tuning their presentation for the thumbnail as gamers had little else to go on at the point of purchase.

I had a theory that the wii, wii u, and especially switch would lead to an entire era of games like this but it didnt really happen. instead, we get "miracle ports" and first party games that run on the hardware, but seemingly just barely. alas.

"I don't necessarily always agree with your comments, but certainly always enjoy and appreciate them!"

hey same to you! thanks for your well considered reply ✌️ have a good day or likely, night (it's 0630 here in Tulsa 🌞)

What a huge knob. Hopefully he works on a few other apologies too. Highly doubtful.

@-wc- I'm in Europe (Amsterdam) and I think I got the notification of your message around midday. It's a bit late now, but I'm on holidays and it's hard to keep track of the time 😁

It brought back many memories!
I remember reading about Myst in a CD-i magazine for a while before getting it. It was for me a big disappointment realizing it was a point-and-click game! In the mag it looked so dreamy and with such a special vibe.

But 7th Guest is on the Switch eShop if you want to catch-up on childhood memories 😅 I remembered it took us months to go through the whole game and discussing it with my brother, but after downloading it on the Switch, I was done in a few hours ... it's actually a very short game with maybe around a dozen puzzles. Back in the days we were making "paper game guides" you know with drawings of the puzzles, logos, etc ... such passion 😍

When you get to it, I'm curious to hear your impressions on the Bayonetta gameplay, if you feel like sharing 🙏🏻

Thanks for your messages, we'll exchange again on another topic I'm sure ✌🏻🧡🎮

He's the Nassim Taleb of gaming, in both the good and bad sense.