How Dynamic Developer Nakamura Ikumi Won The Internet

Nakamura Ikumi
The online gaming community this week was smitten by Nakamura Ikumi, creative director for video game publishing company Tango Dreamworks.

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The online gaming community this week was smitten by Nakamura Ikumi, creative director for video game publishing company Tango Dreamworks, after her bubbly presentation during the Bethesda Softworks conference at E3 2019. Nakamura took the stage to introduce her first game as creative director: GhostWire: Tokyo. According to Nakamura, players in this action thriller are tasked with solving the mystery of a disappearing Japanese urban populous, combating monsters and demons of urban legend in an adventure that can only be described as “spooky”.

Tango Gameworks Ikumi Nakamura, Ghostwire Tokyo Presentation | E3 2019 Bethesda Conference

Tango Gameworks Studio have announced their new game GhostWire: Tokyo which is not a survival horror game but it’s ”spooky”.

In a video game conference historically dominated by male presenters and developers, Nakamura immediately turned heads as a Japanese woman leading the charge in this game’s creative development. It was her enthusiasm and bombastic personality on stage, however, that catapulted her to the top of Twitter’s trending page, generating a surge of over 100k new Twitter followers, with a wave of tweets and fanart pouring over in admiration for the developer. Her overt love and passion for the game was breath of fresh air in a conference where stiff, all-business presentations had become the standard.

While the social media coverage towards Nakamura following her presentation has been overwhelmingly positive, some are rightfully skeptical of this mass fandom reaction. Some, for example, are drawing attention to a problematic Western trend of idolizing and infantilizing female, particularly Asian, personalities as cute. The overflow of Tweets from fans willing to “die to protect” Nakamura seems to speak towards this trend.

An Impressive Career

But others are taking this opportunity to showcase the unseen yet glowing career that Nakamura has lead up until this presentation.

While this might be the first time Nakamura has hit the international spotlight, GhostWire: Tokyo is only the beginning of her impressive resume in the gaming industry. Her artwork can be found in the widely acclaimed titles of OkamiBayonetta, and Evil Within – the latter of which was her first role in concept design in the realm of horror games.

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In interviews surrounding her creative approach, Nakamura highlights the importance of realism in the genre, and in creating fear and tension in the player by distorting what was once familiar:

Reality and horror are inseparable; if you overdesign, you force the player, and without any design the experience becomes less memorable. Just having blood splatters and heads chopped off is not enough…. I focused on the fact that we feel comfort in the familiar, and we remember those things more easily. The real world is full of horror concepts realized by those who came before us. (Nakamura Ikumi, “The Evil Within” Artbook)

開発インタビュー:アダム・セスラーが聞くThe Evil Within(サイコブレイク):第6回

ジャーナリスト、アダム・セスラー氏がThe Evil Withinの開発メンバーにインタビュー。ゲームに惚れ込み、Tango Gameworksの開発現場を取材するために来日した力作シリーズ。 第6回目からサイコブレイクの特徴のひとつであるクリーチャーのお話。今回は「キーパー」誕生秘話です。 ※画面は開発中のものです。 サイコブレイク: 全世界を震撼させた新生『サバイバルホラー』が、ついに登場! 刑事セバスチャンは、相棒のジョセフ、キッドと共に、大量死亡事件の現場となった精神病院へ急行するが、捜索途中に気を失ってしまう。目覚めた彼を待ち受けていたものは、何が起こるかわからない、死と隣り合わせの極限状態が続く現実だった…… 公式ウェブサイト http://psychobreak.com/ スペシャルサイト http://psychobreak.com/sp/ ツイッター https://twitter.com/PsychobreakJPN フェイスブック http://www.facebook.com/Psychobreak 【製品情報】 製品名 :サイコブレイク 販売  :ベセスダ・ソフトワークス 開発  :Tango Gameworks ジャンル:サバイバル・ホラー 発売日 :2014年10月23日(木) 対応機種:PlayStation®4、Xbox One、PlayStation®3、Xbox360® 価格  :PlayStation®4 / Xbox One(パッケージ版、ダウンロード版)7,300円(税抜)     :PlayStation® 3 / Xbox360®(パッケージ版、ダウンロード版)5,800 円(税抜) 対応言語:音声/ 日本語、英語      字幕/ 日本語、英語 対象年齢:CERO D (17歳以上対象) 予約特典:特製スチールブック&サウンドトラックCD(全ての予約者)      ゴアモードDLC(18歳以上限定)

Now stepping into the driver’s seat for the development of Ghostwire: Tokyo, it is clear from the debut trailer that her affinity for realism will play a major role in the core narrative of this game. The opening shots of the teaser are particularly familiar to the typical Japanese citizen, featuring bustling Tokyo crosswalks, subway stations, and shopping districts.

Things soon take a turn for the uncanny, however, as people begin to vanish in thin air, with iconic imagery of Shinto shrine gates and bowls of ramen transitioning seamlessly into figures of demons and ghosts. One can guess that the very real concerns of population decline and urbanization in Japan will take center stage in Nakamura’s upcoming game, presented in a way that plays with our sensibilities and understanding of Japanese urban legend.

Ghostwire: Tokyo – Official E3 Teaser

Teased at the 2019 Bethesda Showcase, watch the trailer for Ghostwire: Tokyo, a new action-adventure game brought to you by the team at Tango Gameworks. After strange disappearances hit Tokyo’s population, it’s up to you to uncover the source and purge the city of a strange, new evil.

While internet culture tends to err towards the fanatic, in the case of Nakamura Ikumi, the hype seems to be entirely deserved. Her passion for artistic yet realistic character creation and storytelling radiates through her introduction of the upcoming game, and players worldwide are finding this enthusiasm infectious. Time will tell how the final game will look – and, more importantly, how it will play into the ever-growing conversation on gender that is fomenting in the international gaming community.

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