http://ps2.ign.com/articles/571/571464p1.html?fromint=1
Phantasy Star Event Movie Director Revealed
Plus, some harmless speculation about who's involved in this project.
December 07, 2004 - Sega hasn't been too open with information on Phantasy Star Universe, the next entry in the Phantasy Star series, but today one little bit slipped at Japan's Gpara.com website.
The site has an interview with Sega's Naozumi Yamaguchi, who directed the CG movie scenes in games like Shinobi, Kunoichi and the PS2 remake of the original Sakura Taisen. Yamaguchi reveals in the interview that, working out of Sega's 3rd GE Research Lab, he's currently producing the event movies for Phantasy Star Universe.
There are a few things we can take from Yamaguchi's comments in the interview. First, Sega apparently has some sort of 3rd GE Research Lab (and probably has a 2nd and 1st one as well). Second, Phantasy Star Universe has events, which hints that it may in fact take the series back to its roots as a story driven role playing game.
Finally, because Yamaguchi previously worked on three projects from Sega's old Overworks studio, that studio (in whatever current form it's taken now that Sega has restructured under Sammy) may have a part in the game's development. Reiko Kodama, one of the key hands in the Phantasy Star development history, is a producer from Overworks, so perhaps she has something to do with the project as well.
Speculation aside, it seems that the series is in good hands with Yamaguchi. At the end of the interview, Yamaguchi is asked to name a game that he would describe as a masterpiece, and he cites the Phantasy Star series. Yamaguchi apparently has great respect for the original RPG series, as playing it for the first time during the days of the SNES, he was amazed that a game using sprite-based visuals could paint such powerful story.
We're sure many Phantasy Star fans hope that Phantasy Star Universe will bring back the powerful storytelling that Yamaguchi loved so much.