Japanese Developers Talks Next-Gen Consoles

[Dante]

Japanese Developers E3 comments from a Japanese's magazine

 

Capcom's Hiroyuki Kobayashi, producer of Resident Evil 4 and Sengoku Basara says, "It was fantastic that I got a chance to go to E3. Seeing the PS3 games designed for foreign markets highlighted many differences between Western game design and Japanese game design. I walked away understanding precisely how Devil May Cry 4 must be."

 

Irem's Kazuma Kujo, the sunglasses-wearing creator of such hits as R-Type and Bumpy Trot (aka Steambot Chronicles), fears that the drastic differences between the Sony PlayStation 3 and the Nintendo Wii's control inputs will discourage many developers from making games for multiple platforms. He says that the "most interesting thing is that these two systems are launching near-simultaneously." He hypothesizes that developers will only truly succeed in making good games if they focus on one system, and that it will be very exciting to see who decides to focus on which system.

 

Kouji Okada is founder and president of Gaia, who released Jewel Summoner on PSP this January and is also the creator of the now-legendary Megami Tensei series of RPGs. He says the biggest surprise of E3 was "definitely the price of the PS3. As a Blu-Ray player it's cheap; as a game console, it's expensive. You might enjoy the games you get, though really. Is it a 'game machine' or an 'entertainment machine'? Then there's the Wii. The games are playable and sharp. They're friendly, though I imagine they'd get kind of boring after a while."

 

He fears that too many developers will be confused by how they imagine they're supposed to incorporate motion controls, and we'll be flooded with gimmicks. He says, "Might an age of confusion be before us?" And muses about how "maybe portable games really are the future."

 

Tetsuya Mizuguchi says that he finds all three systems "truly gorgeous" and came away believing that all three systems will fare well.

 

Capcom/Clover's Atsushi Inaba, director of Okami, Viewtiful Joe, and the Phoenix Wright games, says that "this upcoming console race is far different from any console race before it." He says that the differences in the consoles might push gamers to wonder if they even really want a game console at all, if they have any room for it in their life. He claims to be fully aware that most people will only purchase one of the three systems. He says he will have to continue to think very hard about "this industry." He always strikes me as a level-headed guy. He's Hideo Kojima's favorite current game producer, by the way.

 

Chikako Yamakura, producer for Ganbarion, says she has "never seen an E3 with so many people smiling while playing games." She is excited about the WiiConnect service for the Nintendo Wii, and says "even if I weren't making games for it, I'd be most excited about the Wii."

 

Noritaka Funamizu, executive director of Craft and Meister, makers of the Monster Hunter series, believes that "the network capabilities will sell the PlayStation 3." Maybe he knows something we don't about how cool Monster Hunter 3 is going to be? He also believes the Wii "has some potential none of us can imagine yet." His final comment is that "Final Fantasy XIII looks really cool. I watched that movie and thought, yes, this is what it means to make a game people love at first sight."

 

Yoshiki Okamoto, of Game Republic (formerly of Capcom), says, "I asked a lot of my friends their opinions of the next generation of games, and the responses were all over the place. It's going to be interesting." He closes with, "Lots and lots of people were lined up for the Wii. People were waiting four hours!! If you ask me, if you make people wait in line for four hours, you better give them something to do for four hours. That, or just have some more on display." Excellent suggestion, Mr. Okamoto. We'll forward it to Nintendo, who will continue to ignore it.

 

Koei's Kou Shibusawa's impressions of E3 are a list of videogames in development for all consoles, many of which star Japanese or Chinese men with swords and spears.

 

Tecmo's inimitable Tomonobu Itagaki says things only he can say: "It is most interesting to see Sony made the decisive judgment to revert the PlayStation 3 controller to its true shape. It takes great bravery for a company to change something that has already been announced."

 

He goes on: "The Wii is truly interesting. People were talking about it. A person asked me to make a Beach Volleyball game for it, one that takes advantage of the motion controls. I wondered. Would this man really play it? Dead or Alive Extreme 2 will offer players more than 100 hours of game time, so I suppose they might need something to take a break with. I will consider."

 

In closing, he says "The Xbox 360 was doing well as always. Everyone smiled when they saw the footage of our upcoming games. America's love for the Xbox 360 has yet to waver. If only America would just explain Japan why they love the Xbox 360 already."

 

Sega's Takumi Yoshinaga, producer of the eccentric Feel the Magic touchy-feely games/concept-collections for Nintendo DS, shocks me by saying, "I'm definitely going to be focusing on the PlayStation 3." He describes E3 as "a little lonely, yet overwhelming; there were just so many games flying around between Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3."

 

Akimi Watanabe, producer at Flight Plan, makers of Black Matrix and Summon Night, believes that "The PlayStation 3 looks like it might still be widely used ten years from now." He says it seems like it really has its head on straight about online content. He believes it will work out in the end. The Wii, on the other hand, he says will be a valuable training-ground for developers who serious "need to learn new ideas." Incidentally, three people who make games based on anime licenses all seem most excited about the Wii.

 

Kazuya Maruyama, the Namco-Bandai man behind the sure-blockbuster Gundam FPS, claims to aim to make people acknowledge what is already in place.

 

Level-5's Akihiro Hino, producer of Rogue Galaxy says, "WIIII for Wii!! Final Fantasy XIII for PlayStation 3 looks really sweet!! And there are some big games coming for Xbox 360 at the end of the year!! It's going to be great!!"

 

Okamoto: "I asked a bunch of my friends what they thought of the industry situation, and every answer I got was different. Everyone is confused what the outcome is going to be, so perhaps there won't be a clear winner this generation?

 

Sega's Toshihiro Nagoshi (Spike Out, Super Monkey Ball, etc) "You can't really tell it from Japan, but going to E3 I realized just how popular 360 is in America. The number of games, the genres and quality, the reality of the online service", and he also notes that overall there weren't enough games at E3 that really blew him away (for any platform)

 

Itagaki's paragraph about 360 is like this: "Xbox 360 was doing well as expected. Our game was popular, of course, and everyone was standing there gawking at the images (laughs). Now if only Japan could catch on to the fever that American's have for the 360. We're really excited about it, and are planning to release more and more games for it in the future so look forward to it"

[Tellyn]

INteresting find, the Sega guy who made Project Rub shocked me though. He could have made great things on the Wii, better than the PS3.

[pedrocasilva]

Nice comments... I just want Sony to fail miserably, yeah I gained hatred for them at this E3, I dispise them now, I hate that feeling but yeah... can't avoid it. they deserve to loose this generation real bad.

 

this also shows that Nintendo doesn't really have a place right now, they have to proove themselfes from day one... in Japan at least.

[ShadowV7]

Guess Nintendo needs to make some solid choices on how to get noticed more.Annoying how people like the PS3 after what they done,yea graphics look good but copying and no rumble,no one mentioned the flaws.

[Shino]

Now that's a slap in the groins. I expected a lot more positive comments, especially after seeing a 4 hour line for the Wii.

[Hellfire]

I agree with most of those comments, Nintendo is indeed undertaking a gargantuan task an it will be very hard for them to pull it off. Still, I applaud the and support them for doing their best.

[Fierce_LiNk]

I can't believe the PS3 is still being applauded and supported for its direction. It's essentially the same step they took last generation, but with nicer visuals.

[Hellfire]

I can't believe the PS3 is still being applauded and supported for its direction. It's essentially the same step they took last generation, but with nicer visuals.

Money hats my friend. Money hats.

[Jamba]

Disappointing. I honestly thought that the Japanese would love the Wii. I still think the Japanese market will but the Devs just aren't convinced are they?

[Demuwan]

Disappointing. I honestly thought that the Japanese would love the Wii. I still think the Japanese market will but the Devs just aren't convinced are they?

 

Im still waiting to see Resident Evil Wii!!!

[mario_jr]

Haha those comments about FF XIII, "That game looks so beautiful...But it plays like crap and no 'non-gamer' is gonna wanna pick it up.....But it looks Beautifffuuullll!.":sad:

[Colin]

 

Level-5's Akihiro Hino, producer of Rogue Galaxy says, "WIIII for Wii!! Final Fantasy XIII for PlayStation 3 looks really sweet!! And there are some big games coming for Xbox 360 at the end of the year!! It's going to be great!!"

So does this pretty much confirm that Level-5 are already working on an rpg for the Wii? That comment suggests so in my eyes!

[Anakenobi]

You got to place things in perspective. A lot of game developers went to E3 with PS3 in mind. Nobody was even considering the Wii as an option. Many game developers already had their minds set in stone as to whom they would support (PS3).

 

Except UbiSoft. That company saw potential in the Wii before anybody else saw it at E3.

 

That is why this news story sprang in may 16:

 

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Game Makers Missing Out on Wii

 

Nintendo turned a lot of heads at E3 last week in Los Angeles with its new Wii console. Thousands of gamers lined up for hours to get their hands on the motion-sensing controller and to play with old favourites such as Link and Mario. The console seems poised for success, but one analyst says publishers, Western ones in particular, have missed the Wii boat.

 

"I didn't think publishers [knew how cool the Wii was] until they got their hands on it," Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Morgan Securities, told Next Generation. "I don't know how Ubisoft figured it out. Let's give them a lot of credit. They're ahead of everybody right now."

 

The game that is putting Ubisoft ahead is Red Steel, a Wii-exclusive game filled with swords, guns and the Japanese Mafia.

 

The problem is that third party publishers haven't put enough weight behind Nintendo's console, which could end up hurting them if things take off for the Wii.

 

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After E3, with the E3 Game Critics giving the Wii the Best at Show and Best hardware/peripheral awards and getting from the media much positive response, the Wii will probably have an impact on the future game development projects from most game devs.

 

GameSpot's Greg Kasavin wrote, "Despite how many great-looking games were on display at this year's show, the Wii stood out as the single most exciting and remarkable new product at E3 2006."

 

Things are looking well for the Wii.