Confirmed: Fumito Ueda to finish The Last Guardian, then leave Sony

As far as I am concerned, there is now no good reason to buy Sony's next console. This man was literally it.

Mind you, I can't think of a decent reason to buy an Xbox 360 at all, but for the sake of having one or the other.

Still, this is huge. Fumito Ueda has a major case for being the best game designer on the planet today. I'm really curious to see what he does next.

Keep in mind, guys, those words 'as far as I am concerned' are a big part of that sentence.

For some, I'm sure (say) Uncharted is a pretty good reason to own a Sony console. Me? I find the series completely boring.

For many, I know, the Metal Gear Solid series is a pretty good reason to own a Sony console. (Assuming more get made, which I'm betting they will if it's not already been announced.) Me? I'm not a fan.

For many more again, I know Gran Turismo is that reason. Me? I don't like it.

I'm sure there are even some people who are really excited by David Cage and what he works on next. And truth be told, yeah, I'm more interested in that than I am by any of the above three. Sure, I've despised with a burning passion his last two games, but he's got enough ambition that if he can get over his vow to filmic construction, he might do something good. But I'm not betting on that.

But I bought a PS3 for precisely two discs: Ico/Shadow of the Colossus HD, and The Last Guardian. They were the only two games exclusive to PS3 that I needed to have. Everything else could be found on Xbox or PC. (Not that I have much of a PC for games.)

And now? Fumito Ueda has walked.

For me, that's the game.

Pretty good game, certainly one I enjoyed. Not one I'd buy a system for, but maybe the best exclusive the Xbox has, you're right. Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet is another contender, but I've not played it yet. Need to do so.

I don't know about Jarrod, but that would successfully get me to check out a Metal Gear Solid game.

Right there is our disagreement: I think Ico is probably the best game I've ever played. It does a staggeringly good job of conveying a sense of human connection through some really good work on Yorda's reactions, small touches of animation, and the excellent decision to not have her be understandable vocally. And it does it with a fantastic level of economy in the use of cut-scenes.

Shadow of the Colossus I felt was a much more pointed and bold effort (I read it as a condemnation of video-game violence) but I felt the ending was too convoluted and cut-scene heavy to truly work. And yes, the fights are fantastic and still hold up amazingly well even after all this time.

I'm curious who other people would consider the greatest game designer on the planet, but that's really a topic for another thread... so, I'll go ahead and make it.