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Saving Shooters

Edge Staff's picture

By Edge Staff

November 5, 2008

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Today’s industry is very focused on the North American market. Do you feel pressure from the company to make games that sell overseas? How does a project like TFVI fit in the current market environment?

We do have pressure. But let’s be frank: overseas developers are best suited to make the content that overseas users will enjoy the most. In that sense, what we like to develop in Japan has to aim first at a domestic audience. I do understand the necessity in trying to target the worldwide market but, from a content point of view, it’s nonsense. To be honest, I feel a bit tired recently when I’m told or I hear “let’s make games for the West”. Of course you feel happy when your game is a worldwide hit. However, I don’t think that should be your prime goal. We should be focused on our creative process first and deliver a title that is enjoyable.
 
Will Thunder Force VI be released overseas, and how?

I would like to see how download distribution could work for us. But in that case we have to find a balance with the pricing. On another hand, we could very well shift this title to the PSP. But it is unclear how much that performs if you take Monster Hunter Portable out of the equation here in Japan. It reminds me of the Wii a bit. I’m not sure our game would have much impact on those platforms even if they meet lots of success. So after we release the game on the PS2, the next platform we could try is certainly the download distribution. Of course, should Thunder Force VI do well in Japan, I would be very happy to go with the Xbox 360 for the overseas market. No problem at all. But in Japan, it is about PS2.
 
If Thunder Force VI is the first step of Project STG, what are the next ones?

Well, there are 2 dormant Sega licenses which I would love to work on, Space Harrier 4D and Fantasy Zone 3. Should our first step be a success, I really would like to get some big studios and resources on those. But Thunder Force VI is a very decisive step so others can come after. I need to demonstrate our approach is viable. But for my next step, I’d really like to work on Space Harrier. This is a unique game in Sega’s history that projected us into some incredible worlds and experiences. But the success of Thunder Force VI is the key to any future projects.

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AndyLC's picture
On November 5th AndyLC said:

>>. But as time passed, those games could be made by other than Japanese developers: and they could be made cheaper, or the western input would make those games fit the overseas markets better.

I think you're missing the most important factor, it has nothing to do with innovation or creativity, it's simply Marketing!

Americans are much, much better at marketing and advertising than Japanese are. Games like Halo and World of Warcraft did succeed by merely being well crafted, but they reached a whole new audience of people that had never played those games.

When Japanese fail in America it's because they do not understand how to sell to Americans, or when they try to get "American Expertise", since they don't understand American marketing in the first place poor choices are made.

If Japanese are going to compete with the culture that invented fast food and TV dinners, they've got a lot to learn.

Daniël_Niks's picture
On November 5th Daniël_Niks said:

"Today, the games are too complicated, they need too much focus. When making Thunder Force VI I wanted that excitement back: no need to wonder about anything, just shoot, defeat the enemy waves and bosses and get the reward of achieving victory! No weird character designs or sophisticated systems. Just pure shooting fun."

AMEN!!!