According to the creator of Capcom’s franchise, if that is the case, then the developers have not done a good enough job…

Shinji Mikami, the creator of Resident Evil, reportedly said that if watching a live stream of a game is enough to satisfy players, then the game itself cannot be good enough. Japanese comedian Eika Kano attributed these views to Mikami during a recent TV appearance. Last week, Kano appeared on TV Asahi’s late-night talk show Mitorizu Jan, where he was asked to share anecdotes about people he admires. Kano, who regularly streams games on his YouTube channel, explained that he previously had mixed feelings about streaming games like those in the Resident Evil series because many of them feature puzzles and story elements.

“When I play Resident Evil, there are bits and pieces of the story and puzzles that come up here and there, and I realized I was giving all of that away to my viewers. I wondered how people feel about spoilers. I did get permission from Capcom, the game company behind it, but I still wondered what the actual situation was,” Kano said.

Kano said that he later had the chance to talk with Mikami, and at that point he decided to ask him what he thought about streaming, preparing to stop if Mikami said he did not like it. Instead, Mikami reportedly told Kano that if an audience watching a stream of a game is satisfied just by watching the game through to the end, then the game is not very good, and it is the developers’ job to create games that people want to play through with their own hands, even if they have already seen others play them. The comedian said he discussed the same topic with Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii and received the same response. Thus, in his view, both gods and legends share this way of thinking.

Kano’s anecdote echoes recent comments by Naoki Hamaguchi, the director of the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy, who said earlier this month that modern RPGs need to offer players more choices to discourage them from watching streams instead: “One thing RPGs like Final Fantasy need to be careful about today is the possibility that people might simply watch a stream and feel satisfied without ever playing the game themselves. This is a bit of a crisis for the work itself, or rather, it is not something game creators can wholeheartedly celebrate,” Hamaguchi told 4Gamer.

It is hard to argue with that…

Source: VGC, Nikkan, 4Gamer