GotNext: You were one of the very first female game design artists. What motivated you to go into this field?
Kodama: I thought about going into desining advertising materials in high school. I became interested in graphic design during college, where I realized I wanted to create my own works rather than just trumpeting those of others. Games were an emerging field back then. I thought it would be a good challenge for myself.
GotNext: Did it feel unusual when you first began working at Sega?
Have things changed now? Do you feel that women are making more headway into this industry?
Kodama: Well, Sega has always been a company that judges based on your individual ability rather than gender. As for women in game development, it's changing. Gradually, and slowly, but it's changing. I think it's a bit more common for women to want to get into this field here in Japan. Playing games as a recreational activity for young girls is much less common than it is here. But if they play games they find very enjoyable, the desire to make their own games will certainly go up. I think that as more and more people start playing games, the number of female game designers will gradually increase.
GotNext: There's a lot of talk nowadays about figuring out how to get women into the gaming profession, and getting more girls to play games. Seeing as how you have been in this field for almost two decades now, we would like to hear your thoughts on this.
Kodama: Well, girls playing games isn't horribly unusual here. You start playing them in your youth. Then the kids play them, moms play them, dads play them...I think girls tend to like RPGs, like Final Fantasy. Girls who play games like that seem to get more of a desire to work in this field. I usually don't think to make games strictly for a female audience, myself, but I think my RPGs attract a larger female audience. Violent, war-themed titles seem to attract an overwhelmingly male audience. I think if companies want to get more girls to play their games, they should keep this in mind.
GotNext: What made you decide to make the lead character of Phantasy Star female in a time when there were almost no strong female leads in games?
Kodama: 15 years ago, the idea of a female hero was practically unheard of. We wanted to do things that hadn't been done before...like animated monsters and 3D dungeons. Thus, the idea a female hero came naturally. What sort of story would she have? We thought it'd be an interesting change.
GotNext: Do you think the way females are portrayed in games has changed since then? Is it positive or negative?
Kodama: I don't think it's changed much. As I'm a woman myself, when I make games, I try not to just have them be male fantasy figures, as people needing to be rescued. I like to make female characters people of both genders can relate to. But we are seeing more strong-willed women in games geared towards female audiences.
