FROM IGN.COM....VERY INTERESTING.
We've all heard the gamer and analyst
reactions to E3, but what about the Japanese development community? The
latest issue of Famitsu scored brief comments from Japan's most
respected development staff on May's big trade show. While the comments
ended up being, for the most part, neutral, there were a few hints at
where priorities lie in the next generation race.
Many of the developers mentioned PS3 and Wii but ignored Xbox 360.
Flight Plan's Masami Watanabe (Black Matrix, Summon Night series) said
that, given its specifications, he imagines the PS3 being the standard
for the next 10 years. The PS3 is something that a developer has to
make games for, he said, while the Wii is something developers out to
try out if they have a good idea for it. Sega's
Takumi Yoshinaga of Feel the Magic fame said that his attention is most
focused on the PS3, as he's interested in seeing what type of
developments the Cell will bring about. He's also interested in the
connectivity between the DS and Wii.
A few developers were surprised by the PS3 announcements at E3.
Capcom's Hiroyuki Kobayashi was surprised that Sony set a firm price
and release date at E3. He noted that, looking at the PS3 titles that
are being developed overseas, development for the system seems as
though it's being handled differently in Japan. The thing that made him
most glad about going to E3 is that he was able to get a final image
for Devil May Cry 4.
Kobayashi's former coworker, Noritaka Funamizu, who now heads up Craft
& Meister, also experienced some Sony shock at E3. While he was
surprised to see the PS3 controller lose its rumble, the biggest
impression from the show was the PS3's price. He actually expected the
60,000 price point, but he was also expecting Sony to hold off on
release until March of 2007. He doesn't feel that Blu-Ray will have as
much impact on sales as DVD
did, and he believes the PS3 has yet to show what will make it sell. He
believes the system's networking will be a sales point.
Gaia's Kouji Okada had a somewhat pessimistic reaction to E3. He was
most surprised by the PS3's price -- cheap for a Blu-Ray player, but
expensive for a game machine. He noted that, for people who just want
to play games, this price point will be difficult. For the Wii, Okada
believes that playing the system for lengthy periods could be tiresome.
He also feels that Wii games will have to, from here on out, avoid
being extensions of current style games and instead make proper use of
the controller. Noting that console gaming could be entering a period
of confusion, he suggested that players can expect great things from
portable machines.
Some developers look a more neutral stance, touching on all three
platforms. Level 5's Akihiro Hino (Dragon Quest VIII) had praise for
the high visual quality of Final Fantasy XIII. Wii gave him the sense
of taking gaming back to the basics and simply being fun to play. For
Xbox 360, he noted that the system seems to have strong software going
into its second year.
Q Entertainment's Tetsuya Mizuguchi also commented on all three
platforms. He feels that E3 offered a more solid image of the different
approaches being taken by the hardware manufacturers: the PS3, with its
movie-like qualities, the Xbox 360, with its Vista connections and
digital convergence of content, and the Wii, which inherits its sense
of control from the toy world.
Finally, because we don't have enough Xbox 360 love in this article, we
turn to Team Ninja's Tomonobu Itagaki. The chief ninja said that it
took guts for Sony to change the controller design back to the original
Dual Shock design, but added that as a developer of action games,
Team Ninja has to consider that the controller no longer has rumble
features. Regarding the Wii, he disclosed to Famitsu that someone asked
him to make beach volleyball game using the controller. This made him
wonder if one might get tired using the Wiimote for something like Dead
or Alive Xtreme 2, which can be played for over 100 hours. Itagaki
feels that the 360 had its usual strong showing, but he expressed hope
that the heated overseas Xbox 360 market could be brought over to Japan.
