Japanese Publishers Outline 360 Plans

Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu has just released a number of interviews with several major Japanese games publishers, quizzing them about their plans to support Microsoft’s Xbox 360.

The damp squib of the Japanese launch and continuing slow sales uptake in the country has led a number of commentators to opine that Microsoft have something of an uphill struggle to crack the notoriously difficult Japanese gaming market.

Here are a few choice snippets from the interviews, via our mates over at [URL=http://digitalworldtokyo.com] DigitalWorldTokyo.com[/URL]

Konami:
Plan to focus on titles that will sell in the west and also start to develop titles to make the 360 more 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 also planned in for release 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. The highly-anticipated Lost Planet is also coming into its own. Capcom want to release both games some time this year. Biohazard 5 still lacks form and work will continue until it's worthy of a next-gen Biohazard title. Although Capcom never expected the 360 sales to explode from the start, it has performed less well than they expected. They do admit this is partly the responsibility of developers as well as the platform holder.

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 Sega is 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 targeting 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.

(source www.DigitalWorldTokyo.com)