Japanese Developers Comment on E3 (Wii and PS3 mostly) + Some info about FF13

RC Cola · Jun 2, 2006

Famitsu (Japanese gaming magazine) interviewed 28 developers in their most recent issue, asking them about E3. Some of their comments have been translated via next-gen.biz:
http://next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3144&Itemid=2

Capcom's Hiroyuki Kobayashi, (pictured), 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."

Truly Gorgeous

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."

Scattered Opinion

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."

Ten year plan

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!!"
Click to expand...

Two other Japanese gaming magazines included some info about Final Fantasy XIII, translated by IGN in this 3 page article:
http://ps3.ign.com/articles/710/710761p1.html
Nothing really of note, but a nice read if you're a FF fan. They do discuss why they moved the game from the PS2 to the PS3 (Blu-ray being a big reason it seems), how far along in the development the game is, how they might use the PS3 controller, and a few other things.

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Japanese Developers Comment on E3 (Wii and PS3 mostly) + Some info about FF13

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