Alright, so I am probably getting my hopes up for nothing, but I just can’t contain my excitement. Fumito Ueda, yes Fumito Ueda, will be speaking at next month’s Game Developers Conference. Virtual high five random Internet stranger! Oh, I see. The puzzled look on your mug suggests that perhaps you aren’t as elated as I am. Perhaps you don’t even know why you should be excited.

Continue on for enlightenment.

The reason you should be pissing your pants right now is because Ueda is a senior game designer for Sony Japan, who was behind “ICO” and “Shadow of the Colossus.” Both titles were lauded by critics; “Shadow of the Colossus” eventually joined the PlayStation 2’s Greatest Hits line. “ICO” didn’t burn up the sales charts when it first appeared, but since the release of Sony’s giant-murdering masterpiece, many gamers have sought it out on Ebay and Amazon. Unfortunately, the game is rather rare, which has led many to hope that it, and other PS2 classics, will eventually become available through the PlayStation Network.

Ueda is currently working on a PlayStation 3 game, but, aside from a rather ambiguous pic, gamers haven’t seen or heard much about it. Will Ueda finally pull the curtain back at GDC? Possibly, but probably not. Tokyo Game Shows 2007 and 2008 were viewed as prime opportunities for the game’s official reveal, but Sony apparently felt that the exclusive wasn’t ready to be shown.  Here is hoping that we get some information soon, as I am dying for something. Will it connect to the team’s previous games? If so, how? For those that never played or finished the game, “Shadow of the Colossus” was a prequel to “ICO.”

“Shadow of the Colossus” released for the PS2 in October 2005, which was four years after “ICO” dropped. Therefore, one might hope that Team ICO’s next game will ship before the end of the year. Shuhei Yoshida, Sony’s senior vice president of product development, told Official PlayStation Magazine last year that he had labeled Team ICO the “Olympic Team,” due to its four-year development cycles. During the same interview, he said the game was going to be “really, really good.” Splendid. As someone who thoroughly enjoyed “Shadow of the Colossus,” I am expecting big things.

GDC 2009 will be taking place March 23-27 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. In addition to Ueda, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata and “Metal Gear” creator Hideo Kojima will be delivering keynotes, with Lionhead Studios’ Peter Molyneux and Media Molecule’s Alex Evans set to speak as well. Click here for the full list of speakers.

Source: GDC 2009 official site

Story first seen on Eurogamer

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