Shuhei Yoshida Looks Back on Crash Bandicoot and Gran Turismo in CEDEC 2026 Keynote
Yoshida's keynote offers a rare insider account of PlayStation's early hits, including the Japan-specific redesign of Crash Bandicoot and the initial rejection of Gran Turismo's concept.
Reporting from 1 source: 4Gamer.net.
Shuhei Yoshida, founder of yosp and former Sony Interactive Entertainment executive, delivered the opening keynote at CEDEC 2026 on July 22. He discussed 26 games and creators from his career, starting with Crash Bandicoot and Gran Turismo. The article covers the first 10 titles, with detailed coverage scheduled after August 3.
Shuhei Yoshida opened CEDEC 2026 with a keynote tracing his career from the original PlayStation era to the present. He joined Sony in 1986, co-founded Sony Computer Entertainment in 1993, and later led Worldwide Studios before heading the Indies Initiative in 2019. He left Sony Interactive Entertainment in 2025 to establish yosp.
Yoshida's first project as localization producer was Crash Bandicoot in 1996. He was the only SCE producer who spoke English. Kazuhiko Torishima, then editor-in-chief of V Jump, told him the character would never sell in Japan. With approval from Naughty Dog's Mark Cerny, Jason Rubin, and Andy Gavin, the team created a new visual design for Japan and lowered the difficulty. A marketing staffer's idea for a song-and-dance TV commercial helped make Crash popular.
For Gran Turismo, Yoshida worked as co-producer with Kazunori Yamauchi. Yamauchi's initial driving simulator proposal was rejected, so he pitched Motor Toon Grand Prix as a Mario Kart-style game, but it was actually a detailed racing game.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.