Fumito Ueda on shooting, robots and AI in Gen Atlas

I've seen more of Gen Atlas than was shown in Friday's trailer, but not much more. In a meeting with Gen Atlas's developers and publisher Epic Games on Sunday, I watched another minute or so of the game's so-far silent protagonist wandering the desert: more colossal robots, a bit more shooting, and a lot more sand.

It was tantalizing footage that raised more questions than it answered, but the main purpose of the meeting was to speak with Fumito Ueda about development—his studio's first game in a decade and the first he's ever released on PC. Ueda says a classic Fumito Ueda game must be something different and unlike anything else on the market, yet balanced within the overall experience.

He believes the experience should be something you can only see and build because it is a videogame, and he continually seeks elements of surprise that feel both unexpected and, at times, familiar. Above all, he focuses on refining what is entertaining and fun for the player rather than copying existing mechanics.

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