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So it sounds like you guys have a strong process. Your greenlight process is an established process that you've spent time thinking about working on. Are processes something that could map across, and share not just your tech or staff, but processes?
PR: Well, massively. I mean, we've recently done some process analysis on certain data flows around sales, and marketing, and publishing; and, actually, when you look at the "hardware", if you like, of how we work, of course there are huge similarities. Then you've got the "software", if you like, the people side, on how we get these things to work.
But there are lots of similarities in terms of what we do. And therefore, efficiencies that we can achieve, or best-of-class... You know, again, knowledge transfer to improve things. We've got a process for greenlight that I think is very logical. You can read it, it's documented, and you understand it; but it in turn takes people to actually make that thing work.
So sharing best practices is something that you see as a definite possibility.
PR: Of course. It's the first step -- whether it's internal, or even looking outside and seeing what other people are doing -- and trying to achieve more.
Around GDC time, I spoke to Fumiaki Shiraishi, who is establishing the U.S. studio of Square Enix, and I wonder, does this have any effect on him at all? Does it have any effect, positive, negative, or indifferent on what he's establishing?
YW: Eidos has multiple numbers of studios because of the multiple numbers of the territories. And it just so happens that we only have one, in Tokyo area. So it's not too unusual that there's going to be multiple numbers of studios. Plus there is going to be more diversity.
Square Enix's Final Fantasy XIII
I've heard some things kind of come through the grapevine from American developers that Square Enix has recently been working with on their projects, that they're finding it really good to work with Square Enix as a publisher, compared to both Western and Japanese publishers that they've worked with in the past. I was wondering -- have you heard that from the people you've been working with in the U.S.? And why do you think that is, honestly?
YW: Maybe the budget is better? They can use more money?
(laughter)
PR: The currencies!
YW: Just kidding! But, actually, in the past, we've never placed an order to an overseas studio. But, actually, only with the domestic [Japanese] studios, we will not be able to address all of the global market and global needs. And because of that, in the early portion of last year, we started to place orders to U.S. studios and European studios.
And because it's the first time, we want to be able to do a thorough job -- and also because it's the first time, it's exciting, and I believe that transcends; that it's communicated to the developers that are working.
And Phil has mentioned this a couple of times, but the big point, the big key word is "diversity," I believe, and we have to be able to acknowledge that we are a different entity, and a different people. So based on this acknowledgment that we are different, there is going to be a mutual respect for each other, and we believe that that is something that we need to be able to adhere to and embrace.
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As someone who just finished his MA in women's and gender studies, I found it interesting that diversity is being stressed on both sides, but it seems that the concept is only being considered for internal personnel at the companies. However, the fact is that culture is diffused amongst consumers, too, and that diversity applies to their tastes just as it applies to company employees.
Many Western consumers prefer Japanese games precisely because of the various Japanese cultural elements, philosophies, viewpoints, etc that are found within them, and I believe that the same is true for Japanese (or East Asian in general) consumers who enjoy Western offerings. This has become more apparent as East Asian entertainment has become more widely available in the West during the past 15 years or so. Furthermore, the growth of the WWW and Internet has caused much faster, broader diffusion of cultural values and communications. On the other hand, this trend has also created many instances of miscommunication and misperception because people receive information through their own ethnocentric filters.
I am very concerned that companies, particularly East Asian companies, would focus on attempting to create products that appeal to Western consumers, or that appeal to specific regional demographics in the overall global marketplace. The ever-increasing pace of communications and cultural exchange indicates that this type of approach runs against the actual real life experiences of people in the various regional markets. I do not think that this is a positive approach to take as far as the potential of popular entertainment media is concerned. I do not think that employees of a company, regardless of their level or position, can truly ascertain the diverse tastes of any particular region of the world. I don't think this is possible because the state of diversity is in constant flux, and the rate of change is constantly increasing or is too variable to be accurately analyzed by any company or institution.
I think it would be much better for businesses and consumers if the "uncertainty principle of markets" (to borrow from physics theories) was simply accepted and creative efforts were offered with a basic understanding that some will fail and some will succeed, but that no one can offer any sort of accurate predictions about which ones will be the former and which will be the latter.
Editors: Is there a reason why there are numerous missing spaces throughout the interview? It makes reading it a bit of a challenge.
Personally, I can't wait to see how they balance stealth gameplay with the Bahamut summon in the next Thief game. (I kid, I kid)