Castlevania's Koji Igarashi: Microsoft don't get us

Embedded at the end of an interview with Game Informer, Castlevania producer Koji Igarashi hints at just why Microsoft's 360 can't grab that Japanese market they so desperately sought. Apparently, Japanese gamers only like three games, because as Igarashi says, "... if Japanese developers would say they're working on Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest or Metal Gear maybe, then I guess Japanese consumers would take it [Xbox 360] seriously and consider purchasing it."

[FamoAmo]

OK if Japanese people want to stick to sequals and over used titles then let them. Me on the other hand love GOW!! GOW is gonna be 10 times better than MGS4!!! If MS needs to make sequals for PS games screw it!! The 360 has my type of games PS and the FF series along with MGS series can lick my nuts!!

[DG]

Oh Gears of War...nevermind...u had me confused for God of War. Yeah I never cared for RPGs since FF7

...but 10x better I dont know about that.

[schnodder]

these people are funny.

[shotty]

If Bill Gates decided to buy square enix and the MGS series then sony is doomed. They have no real first party titles. Their dominace is based on third party titles developed by japanese developers. Both those titles appeared on the xbox but since they came out years after their ps2 conterpart they didn't sell as well. If they released on both platform at the same time the xbox surely would have come on top.

[BURLY]

I would personally be very surprised if the PS3 did better than #2 in every region other than in Japan - which is the only established market that is shrinking!

As someone who follows the industry, I find it B-E-Y-O-N-D insulting that this guy slanders Microsoft, when ever other developer is praising them for establishing the best development environment that this industry has ever seen.

Indeed, Microsoft's efforts have not gone un-noticed by myself and is one of the main reasons why I decided to purchase the 360! The type of rheteric coming from developers like this (who can only spit out sequels) is also one of the reason's why I will not BUY IN to Sony's PS3 - which as far as I am concerned is an insulting abuse of their consumer base!

Rock on 360, Rock On!

[Marriot VP]

this guy is right about the main few titles japanese are obsessed about. The fact is that MS doesn't need Japan at all, they only want the titles japan has to broaden themselves.

This guy doesn't matter, but his statement is right for the most part. Even with a few jap. titles coming it doesn't matter that much overall.

no reason to be a fanboy about this

[silent ninja]

lets wait for TGS and see how M$ have managed to get japanese support. its not about who has the best tools its about whether you product will sell if it comes to xbox 360 thats were the risk comes in, are you willing to make a game that will not do good on xbox when it can sell tons on other consoles

[Marriot VP]

I'm with you, i'll wait.

[halo4life]

Japanese already they rather play the same game with better Graphics. BORING no wonder I think the PS3 sucks

[halo4life]

Japanese already they rather play the same game with better Graphics. BORING no wonder I think the PS3 sucks

[Lostboy]

How do you explain DS and Wii?

[halo4life]

I mean sony fans thats all they what

[Sphinx]

If all the Japs want is three games over and over again, than they are a lost cause. I liked Final Fantasy 1,2,3,7,10... but XI and on seem like they are getting away from the source material... MGS was a lot of fun before, but I haven't even gotten myself to play Snake Eater because I wanted something new, not just another sequel... and Dragon Quest, never even played it or seen it.

[TMoney]

The opinion by Igarashi is valid. I don't think he was being insulting. Just stating his opinion on why the Xbox, (and now the 360), is not selling well in Japan.
The good news is that Japan is no longer the center of universe in terms of the console market. The old mantra that "a console can't survive without Japanese developers and/or games catering to Japanese tastes" is no longer valid. The Japanese market has reached critical mass and it won't get any larger. However, the European and American (and eventually, Chinese) markets are steadily growing. Thankfully, those markets are not obsessed with unbelievably boring and confusing RPG's, rehashed platformers, and stagnant fighters.
The market will bear itself out. Japanese developers will fall in line eventually. MS's strategy of seamlessly interconnecting computers, pda's, cell phones, with its game console will ultimately shift the balance of power away from Sony.

[The Real Deal]

1. the real point of the article is about the co-op, but the title is about the 360?

i think it's worth pointing out what he really says in the GameInformer interview:

GI: You’ve been working on the Castlevania franchise for quite some time now, do you have any plans for starting a new franchise on next-gen consoles?

Iga: Actually, I’m confused with all of this next-generation news. I don’t know what to do. I was really leaning toward PS3 in the beginning. But then at the Sony conference they announced the price and I was like, “Mmm, it’s too expensive.”

When it comes to Wii, obviously the controller has a unique feature, but I just can’t come up with a good idea that utilizes it. I mean, clearly you can with a lot of time.

GI: Microsoft has talked a lot about wanting to penetrate the Japanese market. They’ve got Square Enix putting out Final Fantasy XI. They have Mistwalker working on some projects. As a Japanese developer, do you think this will work to draw in the Japanese market?

Iga: I’m not really negative over Microsoft, but for some reason they tend to back off a little when it comes to something really foreign. But if Japanese developers would say they’re working on Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest or Metal Gear maybe, then I guess Japanese consumers would take it seriously and consider purchasing it. There has to be some killer titles to move the consumers into the 360 market. What I’m thinking is if Bill Gates uses his personal money and says, “I have a billion dollars. Why don’t you make a game for me?” Then we would love to work on it. (laughs)

[PS360PCROCKS]

see the old mantra never changes "Money talks" but heres one to "Hey Bill save your money, you can give it to the already 360 owners, buy 2 more 360's and put them in a few rooms, buy some games and make up the difference, screw Japan if they dont want it, than that's their fault, I like the fact that Microsoft although trying to get Japan is a big deal still notices the consumers who have already bought it and supports them and what they want.

[PS360PCROCKS]

"I’m not really negative over Microsoft, but for some reason they tend to back off a little when it comes to something really foreign"

This is probably because they do what I do when I see some of those games, "HAHAHAH (POINTS) WTF IS THIS SH*T???"

[Marriot VP]

Okay there's no reason to say screw japan. They're just oblivious to the otherside of gaming. They like their game styles and we like ours.

[Capt CHAOS]

I think MS could buy in more Japanese developers, But I think they are realising now, that no matter how much money is spent, there's little proof that it'll win over the Japanese market. This all sounds like the Japanese market will be left in the year 2004 while the rest of the world moves forward with different games titles. I think the gap in terms of type of games for the Jap and the West markets will just widen as time goes on. That's only because the Japanese refuse to buy into an US game brand name and wish to stick to Japanese loyalty.

[mikeeno7]

As long as Microsoft have America and considerable support from the Europeans, the Xbox 360 will do just fine...

[PS360PCROCKS]

yeah ur right Paul I didn't mean it in a bad way, but if they dont want it than thats their choice

[Marriot VP]

haha yah, I knew you weren't like that. But I get upset and say stuff like that on this forum sometimes.

[The Snake]

I personally play a lot of Western (North American and European)games, most of which are rated M. I haven't enjoyed a Japanese developed game that I know of for over a year, and haven't missed them with all these awesome Western developed games. Japanese games are often high quality, but what is the point of stocking up on fine wine when you like beer instead? Therefore I personally buy Xbox 360 games.

[ahmedbagoun]

if MS provided this good environment for developers which i can't deny, but you forgot that Sony interdouced 3D gaming which i believe the Japs appreciate. oh, and to everybody stop calling Japs stubid because we all know how smart they are.

[BURLY]

Infact, I actually bought the first Playstation on launch when everyone else was saying "I'm not so sure about Sony" because we had only grown up with Sega and Nintendo. Whereas the Saturn absolutely spanked the Playstation in the 2D department, the Playstation was far superior in the primary 3D processing areas. I had done a lot of research and read a lot of reviews about the initial Playstation games and the consensus at that time was that Sega's initial batch of games fell short because the hardware didn't provide developers with the power to innovate into the new and exciting 3D space.

So seriously dude I didn't forget that Sony was the first innovator of 3D and I can attest to the fact that "fun is fun" and when it came to 3D, we in North America were just as grateful, ...and it is in this same spirit of innovation that I now champion Microsoft's ENORMOUS contribution to the industry ---- most namely; creating a more attractive alternative to Sony's PS3, which I now consider an incompitent mess and a blatent abuse of their existing fan-base for the sole reason of cross-subsidizing their Blu-ray and Cell divisions!

Any ways, I hope you have a good weekend, peace :)

[Marriot VP]

tell me....are you ready for 4D???

[The Real Deal]

I agree with you on some of your statements. But I had the playstation and the Saturn and the sega saturn games looked much better than the playstation games. Virtua Fighter was 3d and amazing. It was just like the arcade game. Saturn was just hard to program for and was priced too high..hmmm...lol...sounds familiar....Sony won out because quite frankly they had much more games and a wider variety. Thats when I liked sony. Then the dreamcast came out and blew me away. I loved the games. I loved playing online Fantasy Star Online and Daytona online...ect...Then I remember like it was yesterday...They announced the ps2 and said it would have toystory in game graphics and would be 10 times more powerful than a top of the line PC. I was so excited. I still loved my dreamcast though. the games were top notch and just plain ole fun. When the ps2 launched I got one day one. I bought every launch game. I was soooooo disappointed. And I know I wasn't the only one. Dreamcast 2nd gen games quite frankly were better than sony's launch games. Remember...this is coming from a Gamer. I buy everything. Then the dreamcast section at my local eb got real small. They put the systems and games in the corner meanwhile ps2 was hyped and had the biggest section up at the front of the store. My relative was a manager there and he told me that corporate made them do that. Now I don't know what Sony did to make that happen but we all knew it was about MONEY. Sega ran out of it and Sony took over with a ps2 that did not outperform the dreamcast as far as games went. Real gamers were ready and waiting for a real gaming machine to come along. Then came xbox. Just what gamers had been waiting for. Microsoft would not run out of money and they created a better system from every stand point. Xbox live is top notch and HALO...wow. But you know what? Blu ray just got released. I went to best buy and they had the blu ray player up front and center on a big 1080p tv. I asked the guy today can I see hd dvd compared to blu ray. He told me hd dvd isn't hooked up anymore because corporate won't allow them to hook it up. So guess what? It was in the back corner where no one can see it. I then told him I wanted to see them running on the same display. He proceeded to hook it up for me. He and I agreed hd dvd looked a tad better than blu ray. He told me sony paid best buy to premier their unit and not display hd dvd. Sounds familiar. Are we going to be tricked by sony again folks? NOOOO we are much smarter this time around. If you don't believe me...go to your local best buy and see for yourself. The guy told me he gets requests every day to see a side to side comparisson of blu ray and hd dvd. But corporate won't let them have them both hooked up for display unless requested. WOW...Think about it.

[EVER OLVERA]

It's funny you mentioned about what you witnessed at Best Buy and the funny thing is that I noticed the same thing at both Best Buy and Ciruit City. Actually when I went to Circuit City they had a Samsung Blu-Ray players hooked up to a native 1080p DLP Samsung, front and center right when you enter the store. Yes, indeed it looked awesome, I can't deny it, but nonetheless sketchy. Practically, the Circuit City guys were having an orgasm just staring at that thing. I was impressed but I asked them were the HD-DVD players were at. They stated that they were fully promoting the Blu-Ray player. I mean they literally had the discs, the players, all front and center. When I asked them if the HD-DVD players were any good (just to test him), he stated that HD-DVD players only go up to 1080i. Is that true? Last time I read weren't they 1080p. Anyway's, I asked them if they could do a side-by-side comparison. After, insisting for more than an hour, the manager cracked, well, they hooked up the HD-DVD player next to an idenical Samsung that was hooked up to the Blu-Ray player. The HD-DVD player was being resolutioned at 1080i. After 5 minutes. We all realized that there was no difference whatsoever. Even customers that would walk by couldn't tell the difference (Well, except the price). Some customers didn't even know that next-generation DVD players even existed. My question is, why is the HD-DVD marketing campaign any stronger?

[Wotbot]

Microsoft would love to have the three games he has stated for 360. And if that’s all it takes to conquer Japan then MS should bring out their own versions with original ideas.

But to be honest the sequels are getting a bit tired.

[TheMART]

JAPANESE ALSO LIKE GAMES WITH TEENAGE GIRL AND SEXUAL ABUSE THEM

So I don´t care about anything they say.

I´ll just go with normal people that like Gears of War, Forza 2, Viva Piniata, Halo 3 and other great upcoming games.

Period

I hope Japan goes for Wii as they seem to do and the rest of the world for 360

[HaHa]

i hate the fact that you're from the same country as mine. you say japanese people like games with little girls in them and sexual abuse???? wtf.. in Gears of War you shoot & cut people up is that ok then? sex is much better than cutting people up. even in Holland

[TheMART]

Well I guess being a pedofile in games is a bit more strange then shoot and cut ALIENS that don´t exist at all.

Sex with kids is sick. When one wants those games and jurk of on it there´s something wrong with ya.

And we both know what´s it about. The sick Japanese rape games are a link between sexual frustration and real life they can´t get satisfied.

Cutting Aliens in half and shooting them is not very comparable to real life. You go and check it out my friend from the same country as me. You´ll be flabbergasted to see what this industry there is all about. When I bought a Japanese gamemagazine in the time that MSX 2 was a big thing (yeah that was a long time ago) that sort of things were already taking place. And I can tell you from that magazine, besides Metal Gear Solid Snake II for the MSX 2 it looked very, very, very strange to the average gamer

[PS360PCROCKS]

I have no clue what either of you are talking about, but I think that the Japanese developers are a little too worried about "boobies" and the physics of them, in rumble roses u have a photo mode where u can take pictures of fake girls in swimsuits and zoom in on any part u want to see, that to me is a little bit odd as well. Look at DOA EVERY girl has big boobs and they have to jump before every match starts, lol it's funny but unneccessary at best

[Thor1j1]

You must only play the xbox japanese games. They are like that because they know they only get sales from america, and they think that is what we want. Japanese games on the ps2 are so much better, save for ninja gaiden, then what they make for the xbox platform. All u guys have to admit that graw, gears of war, and halo 3 wont help out in japan. Realistic+guns+overviolent=no sales in japan. Just look at gta, sells like 1000 units over there. Its a mega hit here. Thats all there is to say about that. If microsoft wants japan, they have to cater to japan, not try to make them see microsofts way.

[TheMART]

First off: Japan is a declining game market, so MS should think of the fact that it's not main market. And as far as I know, they do. USA/Europe is main market. Think of the fact that Russia hasn't even got the 360 yet, probably because copyrightlaw on software isn't done properly there. But there is more and more money in Russia with new rich people around in that upcoming economy.

GRAW, Gears of War and Halo 3 will probably won't help out in Japan. You're right. But it works in the rest of the world!

MS has some new games for Japan they make. Is Blue Dragon not one of them?

Anyway, I think they better can leave Japan with it's own games and consoles. As once they still had MSX-2+ coming out when in the rest of the world it had died after MSX-2... In Japan for years and years it was the main format.

Foremost I feel that Wii will be main stream in Japan, not 360, but also not the PS3! Wii is impossible te defeat there I guess their own new gameplay. Japanese like gadgets