Violence in video games is one of the biggest issues at the moment, so I brought up the topic to NieR: Automata director Yoko Taro during my recent interview. After all, Taro has been one of the few creators to really examine the issue of death and violence within games in a critical light. “I feel that humans are kind of broken in a way,” answered Taro. “Just taking the Olympic Games for example, while we try to talk about peace in the world, we are always happy to win and you always want to be number one. We find enjoyment to be better than other people. Games in general I think it really caters to that human instinct where we enjoy fighting against each other and enjoy winning against each other, being better than others.”
“To go into the video game genre a little bit more, I feel that it caters to that kind of human instinct a little more,” continued Taro. “When in the real life where it’s not seen as something good, in video games you could participate in wars and use guns to kill other people. That turns into enjoyment of that player and whether or not the developers did that instinctually or they’re just creating it to have fun or if they wanted people to feel that way is a different question. But I feel that catering to that instinct is a part of that warped sense of the human mind.”
For even more insight from Yoko Taro, check out my interview with the talented director. Here’s a snippet of what he had to say regarding the success of NieR: Automata:
So, as for the success of NieR: Automata, I think that wholly lies on PlatinumGames. So rather than feeling successful, I feel lucky to have been able to work with PlatinumGames. So I do hope that I’ll be able to be that lucky again. That’s how I feel about this.
If media write at the very end of your article that PlatinumGames should work with Yoko Taro again, I think that that would pressurize them into working with me again, so please write that at the end of your article.
NieR: Autoamta is available now.
