Mark Cerny–best known as the lead architect of the PlayStation Vita, PS4, and PS5–recently appeared on Simon Parkin’s My Perfect Console podcast to choose five games he would preserve on a fictional console. While much of the conversation naturally touched on his long history with Sony, one of the most surprising and heartfelt moments came when he talked about his love for Nintendo’s Pikmin.
Despite his deep ties to PlayStation, Cerny made it clear that Pikmin left a lasting mark on him. Cerny described playing the original Pikmin as a truly “transformative” experience. He explained how emotionally invested he became in Captain Olimar’s struggle to survive and return home.
“I had this thing where I tended to play smaller, lighter games for about 10 years, so I don’t know, Portal or Plants vs. Zombies or Flower or Katamari Damacy. Pikmin, I just [picked] out of that list because I thought it was such an emotionally involving story,” Cerny explained. “Poor Captain Olimar, he crash lands, and he’s got 30 days to reassemble his ship, or he’ll run out of oxygen and die, and he’s sending letters home every day.”
This is an interesting take on Mark Cerny! It’s always great to see influential figures in gaming sharing their personal interests. Pikmin has such a unique charm, and it’s fun to think about how it might influence his work.
Absolutely! It’s fascinating how Cerny’s passion for Pikmin might influence his approach to game design. His appreciation for such a unique title could lead to innovative ideas in future PlayStation projects.