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Publishers speak to Famitsu on 360 plans
By admin | March 14, 2010
The latest issue of Famitsu Xbox360 features interviews with a number of Japanese publishers, on what they think about the current state of the Xbox 360 on the Japanese market, as well as their future plans for 360 support. Some snippets from the interviews follow:
Konami
Basically focusing on titles that will sell in the west, but that’s not enough, so they’ll start to develop titles to make the 360 appealing in Japan. First up is Rumble Roses in March, followed by baseball and soccer games in April onwards. Call of Duty 2 has been successful in the west, so they’d like Japanese players to try it out too. They’ll also proactively localize some foreign titles for the Japanese market. The 360 market has yet to take off, but Konami intends to proactively support the platform.
Namco
Frame City has been delayed due to development issues. Once they’ve been overcome, it should go on sale straight away. Love Football is intended to be released before the World Cup in June. A new RPG is being developed which should be a 360 flagship title. In one or two months, the new RPG and another new title should be announced to the public.
Capcom
Dead Rising is in the second half of development. Lost Planet is also coming into its own. They want to release both games some time this year. Biohazard 5 still lacks form and work will continue until it’s worth of a next-gen Biohazard title. Although Capcom never expected the 360 sales to explode from the start, it has performed less well than the expected. They admit this in, in part, the responsibility of developers, however.
Success
Operation Darkness is a military RPG with big production values. It’s turning into something very unlike their typical games. It will be released worldwide some time after Autumn this year, but some information will be revealed in the next 2-3 months. Regarding other titles, they are watching how the market develops. With big titles like Blue Dragon and other third party games, the company believes that the 360 can still see success in Japan.
Sega
Games released overseas such as Full Auto and Condemned are basically ready for Japanese release too, but they are waiting for the right timing before releasing them. Since Japan is a difficult market for the 360, they will start with Chrome Hounds. It will come out before Blue Dragon. Sonic will be released at a typical Sonic time. Some new titles will be announced at E3, and after targetting the western markets Sega will start to release some Japan-centric titles. Since the
western market is doing well, Virtua Fighting etc will be considered. This year, Sega will also be preparing some of their classic IP for the next generation of consoles.
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