To return to the original question, but in terms of the Xbox 360, that's obviously a lot further along and has a large, passionate fan base, and of course, Team Ninja's already made three games for it, so the situation's different. I was wondering if you would mind talking about how you view that system now, in a similar question.

YH: The Xbox 360, in our point of view, has all-around integrated aspects and elements that have... basically, coming out with the Xbox and 360, Microsoft has had a lot of experimenting and research that they were able to do in order to make a brand new gaming console and hardware piece.

But moving forward, we are interested in seeing how they are going to take that to the next level as a gaming console. We would like to be able to be a part of that experiment.

When you say "take it to the next level," do you mean within the current generation?

YH: Talking about current generation, and executing that in the future generation.

In terms of how the 360 has been for you, it's been successful. Are you satisfied with the reception the games have had? Are you satisfied with the fact that you were able to do sequels to many of your most popular games? Do you see more opportunities on the 360 for Team Ninja?

HH: We believe that it's definitely our job and our duty to make sure that we continue to increase. Not just Team Ninja, or action or fighting game fans -- but in order to push the console to the next level.

As leaders, with some of the games that we've already released so far, and leaders of the Xbox 360 console, it's really almost like our obligation to make sure that that happens. People are saying that it's all about globalization and this and that, but we're actually going to say quite the contrary.

We think that "made in Japan" product is what makes Team Ninja's product, and we're going to keep that going, and continue to push that.

Tecmo/Team Ninja's Ninja Gaiden II

Do you think that that gives an advantage? It stands out on the 360. A lot of the Japanese developers who have made 360 games try to Westernize them a bit, but do you think to an extent that that's an advantage?

HH: We're not necessarily saying that the technology or flavor needs to be in a certain Japanese style or way. I don't dislike the western style that other Japanese developers are doing in order to make it a global appeal title.

YH: Our continuous and ultimate goal is that at Team Ninja, we are here to create entertaining content that will be accepted by the worldwide audience. When you look at the audience, obviously, we're not just looking at our country here in Japan, but we're looking at gamers in America and gamers in Europe.

We're only concentrating and focusing on creating entertainment that's accepted internationally, but that's more of an end result of what I do. It just turns out that what we do becomes internationally accepted entertainment.

I think that's important, because I don't think you can force it. I think that's what's being discovered over the course of this generation.