The upcoming PS4 exclusive Deep Down has been under fire from some areas of the press for having only a male protagonist (or for having twelve of them, which isn't true, but some interpreted it that way for some reason), but there's a lady at the heart of the game's development.

Technology Section Programmer Haruna Akuzawa is among those responsible for the game's beautiful visuals, and she introduced her point of view in Capcom's Annual Report for 2014

If Only With Skills and Motivation You Can Make Dreams Come True

The RPG “deep down” for PlayStation 4 has been created using “Panta Rhei”, the new development engine for next-generation consoles and the heart of Capcom game development. I am responsible for the graphics function, specifically game screen “post-effects” such as lens flare, final tone corrections and chromatic aberrations.

I have had an interested in the game industry since I was an elementary school student, when I was first impressed by the gorgeous graphics of video games. I chose Capcom because I felt attracted to their unique development engine. In other words, being responsible for development engine graphics is my dream job. At Capcom, gender makes no difference; anyone can get the job they want as long as they possess skill and motivation. I am living proof.

Aiming for Game Creation Incorporating a Female Perspective

Every day, new technologies from Game Developer Conferences and other sources are being adopted, enhancing developer skills. In a workplace dominated by men, the topic of conversation often turns to action games, robots and “mecha” characters, which I wouldn’t normally know about, making it a considerably stimulating place to work.

At the same time, I feel there is still plenty of room to make more use of female sensibilities. Now, stern-faced male characters and grotesque creatures are commonplace.

However, technology enabling hair to be depicted as more silky-looking, for example, is one point male creators don’t really focus their attention on. I hope to create new value in the graphics industry by making use of the female perspective and mastering new technologies related to game depiction.

Akuzawa-san's insight is definitely interesting, and it's quite different from what we usually hear on the topic. The results of her work are also definitely stunning, as you can see in the videos accompanying her panel at CEDEC 2014, in which she highlighted some of the advanced effects we'll see in Deep Down. If you missed them before, give them a look, because they're quite impressive.