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Natal Can Help Japanese Devs “Leverage Their Creativity”
Xbox director of product management Aaron Greenberg says “the future is bright” for Japanese game creators and publishers, but he doesn’t believe developers should be trying to come up with the next Halo or Call Of Duty.
Instead, the Xbox director of product management points to Project Natal as a new technology that can help Japanese studios “leverage their creativity”.
"Japan is a very important market for the gaming industry and home to some of the videogame industry’s leading innovators," Greenberg told Destructoid. "I have spent a lot of time in Japan in the ten years I have been on the Xbox business and I love the country, the people and their ability to create new experiences that could only come from Japan.
"The reality of the Japanese gaming market is that it is not the size it once was and at the same time we have seen gaming become the largest form of entertainment around the world. However," he added, " I don’t think this means that Japanese creators should be trying to come up with the next Halo or Call Of Duty. I think there are ways to leverage their creativity with new tools like Project Natal."
The Japanese games market generated ¥542,640 million in 2009, down 6.9 per cent year-over-year, according to figures from Famitsu publisher Enterbrain.
Keiji Inafune, the head of Capcom’s R&D management group, created something of a stir at the Tokyo Game Show in September 2009 when he said that “Japan is over”. At the same event he participated in a Project Natal creators panel also featuring Konami’s Hideo Kojima and Sega’s Toshihiro Nagoshi.
"I strongly feel that Project Natal will expand the possibilities of gaming,” Inafune said at the time. “It's really going to stir up our creative spirits. I think it's going to bring new ways to play and new surprises to Xbox 360 fans and help further the development of completely original content.”
Earlier this month Microsoft said that somewhere in the region of 80 per cent of third-party publishers currently have Natal titles in development.
Greenberg added: “… All of the leading Japanese publishers have announced that they are actively working on games for Project Natal and I can’t wait to see these come to life. I truly believe the future is bright for Japanese creators and publishers."
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If it means Katamari Natal then i will be happy
Sure, because controlling Katamari with lag-laden arm waving is infinitely preferable to controlling it with the twin sticks around which it was originally conceived, right?
Well i would hardly say the twin stick control mechanic was a major factor in the initial idea for the game, more the best solution given the tools available.
Also how do you know it will be laggy, and finally Katamari is hardly twitch gaming at its peak, a good Katamari player will plan a route (the exact opposite of twitch gaming)
I don't know and you don't know because neither of us have tried it, it could be fun. Do you ever give it a rest or are sony paying you by the word?
Haha, if that were the case I'd be writing much longer comments.
(oops, double post)
Xbox was first codenamed Midway, the decisive battle where America defeated the Japanese navy to swing WW2 in their favor. The bright green X was meant to evoke radiation, the atom bomb, the weapon that annihilated the Japanese military spirit leading to occupation by America.
Hahah, it's funny hearing Xbox speaking for the future of Japan
I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that this may not be true...
Haha, the 'X = radiation' stuff seems a little far-fetched but you never know because unfortunately the Midway thing is spot on:
Xbox had the code name "Midway," after the World War II naval battle in which the United States effectively ended the threat of a further Japanese invasion in the Pacific.
Reuters, 'Microsoft’s [sic] launches new security initiative,' July 4, 2002
Never underestimate the assholery of Microsoft.
I'm sorry, whose arse did you just pull this out of!?
Although it would be pretty funny if it were true.
Its pretty rich that a console overwhelmed with generic first person shooters is being pitched as a creative console to a country with a history of games and systems as creative as Katamari Damacy, the Final Fantasy series, the Zelda games, Nintendo Wii and DS. Somehow I don't feel that Japanese creativity is the reason for the more recent downturn, and I certaintly don't think a stupid camera accompanied with shovelware will be the item that turns things around. I wonder if they actually really know its going to be a massive white elephant but have to stay "on message" anyway?
Translation: You can't make first person shooters so make stereotypical wacky Japanese motion based games to appeal to non-gamers.
Bahaha, I'm sure Greenby's patronizing attitude will go over big with his target audience. "Fret not, Japanese developers who essentially started the modern games industry, our vaporous toy camera is here to save you!"
You gotta wonder how many millions Microsoft spread around to secure these Natal titles, because I can't imagine why Japanese developers would pour their own resources into an unproven mid-cycle add-on for a console that's been utterly humiliated in Japan sales-wise. Oh well, just another drop in the $10 billion bucket!