A biography for Jenova Chenhasn’t been written yet.
“When I designed 'Flower' I was thinking about making it a positive, almost like a self-healing experience. It's like therapy.”
“Seeing games become more of a young person thing, I feel like a toy I grew up with has been left behind. I don't want to. I want this thing to be respected by adults. I want this thing to be growing with me. It's important to have games that could be more nuanced and reflective of the real world and relevant to adults.”
“I always have a problem playing text-heavy games. I'm a slow reader. I don't speak English well. As a kid in China, trying to play these games, I just wanted the text to go away.”
“We founded thatgamecompany to push the boundary of video games as an interactive medium.”
“My dream is to make everyone love video games.”
“If our games can help people, that's the best reward we can get.”
“'Flower' is about the sublime.”
“If we can make great games for PS3 players... how many PS3 players are out there? If we can make great games for everybody, that's a much bigger service. There's no reason I shouldn't do that.”
“I always played games with my friends, but as I got older, my friends stopped playing.”
“Even in film, books, and music, there's always action - there's always rock and roll. Young people appreciate that kind of experience.”
“Our goal is always to make games that can move people, that are designed for everybody so the whole family should be able to play it together, and that bring people together and really move them in a way.”
“I feel like that nature has this great power.”
“Nothing truly bad happens. There's always good and bad in any changes.”
“When humans are hungry, they look for food. But they are also hungry for certain feelings. They go out to look for entertainment - from music to movies to novels to games - to satisfy their emotions.”
“I would rather see a game where you play to feel happier and to make other people like you and to make the people you care about happy.”
“Video games have always been a part of my life.”
“'Cloud' and 'Flower' are very much egocentric about my own expression. 'Flow' is more utilitarian, and 'Journey' is more about collaboration between various creative voices in the team.”
“I would say 'Flower' had a story. It is told through the environment.”
“Humans are lazy but not stupid.”
“At TGC, we are firm believers in the value of making games that respect our players.”