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Capcom's Ben Judd on Japan
For those who could tear their eyes from the cosplay annex, this year’s TGS saw the inner turmoil of Japan’s game industry made public. Typically reserved executives brought passion (and pessimism) to their keynotes, while their studio booths brought little, the showfloor dominated by western titles. Stealing the biggest queues was a solid and truly global display from Capcom – a reward, perhaps, for its steady courtship of western developers and unflappable in-house values. Key to those is veteran expat producer Ben Judd who offered his thoughts.
What did you think of the showfloor this year?
Not impressed. I don’t want to toot my own horn or anything, but the Capcom booth probably has the most major titles, and we’re ranked about sixth of seven in terms of profitability. I think this year’s going to be a pretty tough one for Japanese publishers. You go to the Sony booth and it’s pretty much western games – it doesn’t put a lot of faith in me for the future of the Japanese games industry. TGS itself might now have to encompass more anime, more manga – more universal stuff.
Why so few announcements this year? It’s not like E3 or Leipzig stole them.
Japanese publishers are traditionally more conservative – maybe they wanted to wait and see which hardware was going to pan out before starting production. And since it’s been one of those tough-to-decide kind of things, maybe they didn’t start fast enough. And they’re not making as many original games so there’s not that much to announce. Oh, look, another Castlevania game.
How about LittleBigPlanet? What are its chances here?
It stands a better shot than most. If you look at western games in Japan, the ones that have done the best have traditionally been platform games: Crash Bandicoot, Jak & Daxter, etc. But still, I can’t see it doing anything better than what LocoRoco or Patapon do. It’ll sell to that same target group, which is, what, a million units?
Where does Capcom stand now in its relationship with the west?
There are two phases, I think. Phase one was the Dead Rising, Lost Planet stage – our Japanese studios trying to design western games. Now it’s about having a Japanese publisher work with western developers; let’s have our US office create more product. Because five years ago we had Final Fight: Streetwise, and that was pretty much: ‘OK, let’s not let the US make any more games’. But we can’t stop trying until we’ve found the right connection because international markets are so important.
How was Bionic Commando received at your booth?
People have been lining up for it, which is good. But it’s a smaller booth compared to some of the major titles, and that’s because it’s just not as Japanese-centric. A game that has the sort of controls that this one does: I’ve seen the western press play it and pick it up in five minutes, and I’ve seen the Japanese press be confused by it for ten, 15, 20 minutes. They walk around in circles not knowing what to do. And you’re just sat there, going: ‘Why is the camera looking up at the ceiling?’
Is there a fallacy there, then? Some people tend to associate Japanese consumers with ‘hardcore’ gaming.
There’s a ton of casual Japanese gamers – casual to the point where they need to be led around. They’ve created some extremely linear action games. But when it comes to timing, combos and fighting games, that sort of precision is where you see them become hardcore. They’re the best Street Fighter IV players in the world because they focus on those details.
Picture courtesy of Kotaku.
What did you think of the showfloor this year?
Not impressed. I don’t want to toot my own horn or anything, but the Capcom booth probably has the most major titles, and we’re ranked about sixth of seven in terms of profitability. I think this year’s going to be a pretty tough one for Japanese publishers. You go to the Sony booth and it’s pretty much western games – it doesn’t put a lot of faith in me for the future of the Japanese games industry. TGS itself might now have to encompass more anime, more manga – more universal stuff.
Why so few announcements this year? It’s not like E3 or Leipzig stole them.
Japanese publishers are traditionally more conservative – maybe they wanted to wait and see which hardware was going to pan out before starting production. And since it’s been one of those tough-to-decide kind of things, maybe they didn’t start fast enough. And they’re not making as many original games so there’s not that much to announce. Oh, look, another Castlevania game.
How about LittleBigPlanet? What are its chances here?
It stands a better shot than most. If you look at western games in Japan, the ones that have done the best have traditionally been platform games: Crash Bandicoot, Jak & Daxter, etc. But still, I can’t see it doing anything better than what LocoRoco or Patapon do. It’ll sell to that same target group, which is, what, a million units?
Where does Capcom stand now in its relationship with the west?
There are two phases, I think. Phase one was the Dead Rising, Lost Planet stage – our Japanese studios trying to design western games. Now it’s about having a Japanese publisher work with western developers; let’s have our US office create more product. Because five years ago we had Final Fight: Streetwise, and that was pretty much: ‘OK, let’s not let the US make any more games’. But we can’t stop trying until we’ve found the right connection because international markets are so important.
How was Bionic Commando received at your booth?
People have been lining up for it, which is good. But it’s a smaller booth compared to some of the major titles, and that’s because it’s just not as Japanese-centric. A game that has the sort of controls that this one does: I’ve seen the western press play it and pick it up in five minutes, and I’ve seen the Japanese press be confused by it for ten, 15, 20 minutes. They walk around in circles not knowing what to do. And you’re just sat there, going: ‘Why is the camera looking up at the ceiling?’
Is there a fallacy there, then? Some people tend to associate Japanese consumers with ‘hardcore’ gaming.
There’s a ton of casual Japanese gamers – casual to the point where they need to be led around. They’ve created some extremely linear action games. But when it comes to timing, combos and fighting games, that sort of precision is where you see them become hardcore. They’re the best Street Fighter IV players in the world because they focus on those details.
Picture courtesy of Kotaku.
>>And they’re not making as many original games so there’s not that much to announce. Oh, look, another Castlevania game.
could you elaborate on what you mean by Original games? Does this mean western publishers have been more creative lately, if so with what?
>>Japanese publishers are traditionally more conservative
so how are western publishers more liberal? If so, how?
>>: I’ve seen the western press play it and pick it up in five minutes, and I’ve seen the Japanese press be confused by it for ten, 15, 20 minutes.
Why is that? Did you play it yourself to know why? Were the controls very different from say, Capcom's Devil May Cry?