Marketplace Musings
BS: I hear that WiiWare games don't
sell much.
TT: It'd be nice if they did a bit more.
BS: I don't know anything about Virtual
Console sales, but how do Hudson's VC games
fare?
TT: Well, speaking in terms of all our downloadable offerings, our
top-selling product is the Bomberman
that was made over in the U.S. That's because a very large chunk of 360 owners is
connected to Xbox Live.
Unfortunately, while Japan has a huge percentage of its population as internet
users, only about 40 percent of them connect their game consoles up. It's still
not that much. I think that'll gradually go up in the future, and we'll really
begin to see the transition starting this year.
Makers will keep putting out neat stuff for WiiWare and DSiWare, and
users will begin to notice en masse all the things that're available. When you
look at the DS, it sold just okay for a while, but when Brain Age came out, bam! Sales shot through the roof.
If we can get
one title with that kind of performance power for WiiWare or DSiWare, then
you'll see a similar expansion.
Bomberman Live
BS: So Nintendo needs to come up with
something.
TT: Yeah. But there's another problem Nintendo has to work out with the
DS platform, and that's the proliferation of piracy. That's a fatal blow to
software houses here. Dragon Quest IX's
release date was October 15, but it was already all over the net by the 13th.
It's not that Nintendo's been completely lazy with this, and I know it's
unavoidable to some extent, but... With the iPhone, everything goes through
their own store, and no matter what you're connecting with the home office, so
to speak.
BS: A broader question, but what do you
think of the Japan game
industry at present?
TT: I think it needs to change. Twenty years ago, you had the core group
of kids that played Famicom games. As that group's grown up, the game
industry's continued to cater to their needs over the years, essentially
cutting off anyone older or younger. They're making games without thinking
about these other groups. I think that needs to be rethought.
Targeting a particular age range isn't a bad thing in itself, but we
need to have more games that target a core of younger users, or else there
won't be anything left. You can play games on all kinds of platforms these
days, too, like cell phones.
BS: Another rude question here,
perhaps. Does Japan really
have what you could call core users, or gamers? Lots of people have systems
here, yes, but they always seem to be purchasing brain-training stuff or
something. I'm not sure how many Famicom users are still interested in games.
TT: Neither do I.
BS: They aren't completely gone, but
they're dwindling.
TT: Famicom users from back then are in their 30s or 40s today, after
all. They've got families and children of their own, and they haven't got a lot
of free money because of the recession. So, yeah, a lot of old Famicom owners
have drifted away from games.
I think the 20-something gamers are the current core fanbase for the
industry, people that started with the PS1 or PS2 and never touched the
Famicom. And then you have the other target base, the young adult ladies who
purchase brain-training games and so on. That's another "core," if
you will.
BS: A lot of people have nostalgia for
games, though, and that group doesn't seem as interested in modern games.
TT: I write in a blog daily, and I always get comments along the lines
of "Oh, I played Adventure Island! Wow, that brings me back!" And that's all they
say -- they aren't playing anything now. That's what ex-core users are like.
KS: There are too many options to choose from now. You can play games on
your cell phone quickly and easily, and it's the same on the net, too. The sort
of people who played the Famicom and hung out in arcades can now get a far
better experience in the comfort of their own homes -- really, on their cell
phones, even. So you have this group that samples a broad range of stuff but
never really explores anything deeply.
There are lots of options, but it's tough for an individual title to
grab the attention of a great deal of people. Maybe a game's immediately fun
once you try it out, but there are fewer opportunities for that connection to
be made with modern gamers, I think. Core gamers follow the scene enough that
you hardly need to advertise to them, but normal people aren't like that.
TT: They aren't going to do the looking for you. You have to show them
on the TV.
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So much low-end budget crap nowadays, built on milking popular trends and genres.
Can't wait for Bonk, though. Hope it will become Sonic of XBLA.
I think that the cell phone systems in Japan are a bit different than America and many other countries, so the capabilities and offerings there are perhaps a bit more varied and robust, not to mention the ease of access, etc. I was surprised that there wasn't a bit more stress on portable systems like the DS and PSP rather than cell phone gaming because I think that the Japanese market for portable gaming tends to use those systems even more than cell phones, at least for gaming. It might depend on what one considers a game, too, but that's semantics.
I feel that the original Hudson games are far superior to other offerings from other companies at the time, particularly on CD-ROM. Audio makes a huge difference to me. Even great games like Phantasy Star really suffered compared to something like Ys or Valis on the PC-Engine due to the audio (the music, not just the speaking characters). The first track being data for the game never bothered me; I still used the game CDs as audio CDs by just skipping the first track because the music is some of the best ever created. I still have the systems and games, and I still play them from time to time.
That brings up my next point: many of those games are far more enjoyable than the latest offerings with fancy graphics. Graphics are merely a visual lure, but they won't matter unless 1) they are aesthetically appealing (and the focus on "realism" today, especially for Western games, really kills the appeal for me and other gamers) and 2) the actual game is enjoyable to play. I'm really not where the comment about older works such as classic Disney films comes from because many classic works of various media are still enormously popular even with mainstream audiences, and not just with collectors. This is why you have constant re-releases of classic works, for example. In fact, many people find that newer works that rely on a lot of CG to be inferior in many ways. There are limitations to CG, after all, just as there are with older techniques. An analogy might be to other crafts such as carpentry - a mass produced chair might be convenient and cheap to buy, but a hand-carved chair made by a craftsperson trained in classic techniques is often far superior in overall quality and comfort.
Aside from these considerations, many of Hudon's older games were far superior in design than current offerings. For example, strategy games such as Military Madness and Vasteel are still some of the best strategy games ever created. Why? Because these products featured elements such as hexagonal map grids and environmental aspects (weather damage/impairment of functions, alien life forms in certain environments that could ruin your plans, etc). This is where modern offerings fall short by focusing on fancy graphics but ignoring the actual game design elements that need to be included for a well-rounded, sophisticated, enjoyable game experience. There's also far too much focus today on the idea of "challenge" as though it is necessary for a game to be difficult or challenging in order for it to be enjoyable. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Of course, a primary obstacle to achieving game content that is appealing is the sales and marketing departments. I think perhaps companies need to take their staff from these departments and force them to play many of the classic games for a couple of weeks in order for them to learn why those games are fun whereas the newer stuff often simply is not, regardless of how many fancy images you put into the game and on the cover in order to lure people to buy the product. In other words, look at releases as a long term sales project rather than look to garner sales within the first three months. You'd get much better games with a long term vision.
Plus, publishers can get away charging 3-4x the price of games on the DS or PSP, Chinatown Wars - DS/PSP $40 initial price. iPhone, same game, $9.99.
I think that sort of thing will take its toll on publishers more than piracy. Why pay $30 more for a game?