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[sundrenched]

Fantastic read, thanks so much!

Few interesting points to digest, though one thing that sticks out is that he seems to have quite a idealistic view of western developers and he does seem bitter with Capcom but after working there for 23 years and getting this kind of treatment, I would expect anyone to be bitter...

Seems like he's advocating a minimalist approach to gaming, have a few really talented people oversee external project, have a few internal projects to grow the next generation of talents. So Japan gets the developed masters of the genres and the west is stuck doing the technical side :lol

 

[Tiktaalik]

He's completely right, consumer demands always bring average product with almost zero creativity to the table, clones after clones, in short, consumer demands are worth nothing, Miyamoto also express this same thing, saying that he prefers "surprise" people through creator viewpoint instead give them what they want. I think he used the word "surprise" to replace "people's ideas sucks most the time" :lol

I wish he had stayed on that topic for a bit longer. He only briefly touched on the consumer and what he said is a bit open to interpretation I think. Your interpretation is a bit different from mine for example.

Here's the whole section:

KI: More. More. People always want more fun and prettier graphics, right? This is to be expected, and it's not necessarily a bad thing. But that's where a problem arose. The players' demands and the creators' demands wound up parting ways.

4G: Oh, maybe it looked like a graph showing the change from a company's net profit to a loss?

KI: Right. At first, it can be a good thing. Between the players' demands and the creators' demands, the creators' way took over and both sides' expectations increased at the same angle on the graph.

But, after a point, the players' demands took over. Whether it was the players' demands increasing at an unprecedented rate or the creators' slope trailing off, I'm still not sure. But the way it's going, I think that expectations have risen to a point that's impossible to catch up to.

4G: So, few games are able to break the records of the last mega-hit.

KI: That's right. Well in Japan, it's Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, and Monster Hunter, right? And Pokémon and such. It's a very limited set of products. Others aren't well-established, so they don't sell.

4G: I see, so this is getting back to your previous point.

KI: It's not a system where you don't get paid your next month's paycheck if the game doesn't sell. Even if it doesn't sell, you still get your paycheck the next month. Because people are used to working in such a system, against such competition, the sense of wanting to make a better and better game has weakened. It's like, "I'm just doing what I was told to do."

4G: That must really hit home for a lot of people.

KI: Particularly, for example, "Is 500 thousand copies sold in Japan enough?" If you look at the numbers, 500 thousand copies sold is great, and that might get you 2 billion yen ($25 million). After paying for development costs, promotion, corporate expenses, and business overhead... Thinking about all of that, 2 billion yen really doesn't cover it.

The bolded sentence is the one I'm very interested in. Here Inafune is unwilling or unsure on who to put the blame on, consumer expectations or creator effort. A large part of this interview is his criticism of the work effort of Japanese game developers and the Japanese game industry and so that is why he maybe thinks the issue is the fault of the creators. On the other hand the issue of consumer expectations being out of hand and AAAA games overwhelming everything is also a bit of an issue in the west, whose developers he praises as being hungry and passionate.

Personally I think the problem is a bit with player demands. Creators have created a bit of a monster and player demands are a bit crazy and it is causing many problems for game developers that are attempting to meet all those expectations. The best strategy is probably to actually not follow the market and ignore to a degree what the players are demanding.

 

[sundrenched]

I wish he had stayed on that topic for a bit longer. He only briefly touched on the consumer and what he said is a bit open to interpretation I think. Your interpretation is a bit different from mine



The bolded sentence is the one I'm very interested in. Here Inafune is unwilling or unsure on who to put the blame on, consumer expectations or creator effort. A large part of this interview is his criticism of the work effort of Japanese game developers and the Japanese game industry and so that is why he maybe thinks the issue is the fault of the creators. On the other hand the issue of consumer expectations being out of hand and AAAA games overwhelming everything is also a bit of an issue in the west, whose developers he praises as being hungry and passionate.

Personally I think the problem is a bit with player demands. Creators have created a bit of a monster and player demands are a bit crazy and it is causing many problems for game developers that are attempting to meet all those expectations. The best strategy is probably to actually not follow the market and ignore to a degree what the players are demanding.

But then the game wouldn't sell well. But of course that is not an issue if you aim for getting a profit based on a % of the cost of the game, ie same team = small profit, but most people would want to chase after the golden dream no?

 

[Tiktaalik]

But then the game wouldn't sell well. But of course that is not an issue if you aim for getting a profit based on a % of the cost of the game, ie same team = small profit, but most people would want to chase after the golden dream no?

Well "player demands" simply means what players think they want. That doesn't mean that they couldn't be provided with a game that they would find very enjoyable and worthwhile. Even if the game didn't meet the checklist of what forum fans and game critics think is necessary I think a title can still end up being a winner.

 

[sundrenched]

Well "player demands" simply means what players think they want. That doesn't mean that they couldn't be provided with a game that they would find very enjoyable and worthwhile. Even if the game didn't meet the checklist of what forum fans and game critics think is necessary I think a title can still end up being a winner.

Then the issue boils down to how the game is marketed in a way that makes players want something that they didn't want before. Traditionally most game sales come from the first 2 weeks of release since the used game market is huge so for such a title to sell it either has to have:

a) good marketing (unless it's guerilla this will increase costs by a lot)
b) more causal orientated
c) non transferable (e.g download games)
d) have an amazing word of mouth and small inital print run so used copies are expensive (eg the Phoenix wrights of the gaming world)

Can definitely see how it is viable but it would seem tough to get approval from publishers/the company itself for such a plan.

Guess that's why Inafune chose the small independent developer route

 

[charlequin]

Personally I think the problem is a bit with player demands. Creators have created a bit of a monster and player demands are a bit crazy and it is causing many problems for game developers that are attempting to meet all those expectations. The best strategy is probably to actually not follow the market and ignore to a degree what the players are demanding.

Of course, the "player demand" for giant, high-budget AAA blockbusters is largely manufactured. Companies who produce gaming hardware have had incentives to position themselves as technologically advanced and powerful (though after this generation they may be smart enough to back off from that) and large publishers have been more than happy to latch on to that idea because it provides a strong oligarchic distinguisher: if "video games" are giant, $50m AAA monstrosities, it pretty much guarantees that companies as big as EA and Activision are the only people who can operate in the "video game" market. There have been a lot of efforts to prop up this blockbuster model, and to starve off portions of the market that aren't amenable to it.

I think the success seen in indie games, handheld titles, console DD, etc. demonstrates that there's plenty of "player demand" for simple, inexpensive, elegant games, but large companies aren't actually all that well positioned to take advantage of it.

I think there's a middle ground there, though, where you can keep the same employees in a company but still make them feel like they're not just a cog in the company machine, like they have more ownership of the product.

This is the kind of long-term investment that's almost impossible to protect in a publicly-traded corporation, though, and it still doesn't really solve the other side of the equation (bringing in and grooming brand-new talent.)

 

[SlipperySlope]

Good job on the translation. That's a long interview. His thoughts are interesting. It does seem like the Japanese games industry is stuck in a different time period.

 

[Tiktaalik]

Of course, the "player demand" for giant, high-budget AAA blockbusters is largely manufactured. Companies who produce gaming hardware have had incentives to position themselves as technologically advanced and powerful (though after this generation they may be smart enough to back off from that) and large publishers have been more than happy to latch on to that idea because it provides a strong oligarchic distinguisher: if "video games" are giant, $50m AAA monstrosities, it pretty much guarantees that companies as big as EA and Activision are the only people who can operate in the "video game" market. There have been a lot of efforts to prop up this blockbuster model, and to starve off portions of the market that aren't amenable to it.

Certainly at least at one point this player demand was manufactured. Inafune references this in the paragraph before:

KI: Right. At first, it can be a good thing. Between the players' demands and the creators' demands, the creators' way took over and both sides' expectations increased at the same angle on the graph.

Perhaps we could call that the PS2 era? With the HD gen though we are unable to continue along the path from before. Even aside from advanced graphics, with this generation developers have lumped on additional multiplayer modes and gameplay to the point where these games are just utterly massive.

I don't think developers even have to go so for as casual and social or portable games in order to scale back. Valve's Portal, Team Fortress 2 and Left 4 Dead are all HD era games that are quite a bit more scaled back in terms of simple scope than similar looking games from other developers.

 

[Negator]

I've taken the liberty of translating the 4Gamer interview with Keiji Inafune

You are awesome. Your work is appreciated.

After reading this interview, I'm curious as to what Inafune's next move is.

 

[No_Style]

Awesome interview and translation! Thank you very much!

BTW, who's developing MVC3 with Capcom again?

 

[Kittonwy]

Certainly at least at one point this player demand was manufactured. Inafune references this in the paragraph before:



Perhaps we could call that the PS2 era? With the HD gen though we are unable to continue along the path from before. Even aside from advanced graphics, with this generation developers have lumped on additional multiplayer modes and gameplay to the point where these games are just utterly massive.

I don't think developers even have to go so for as casual and social or portable games in order to scale back. Valve's Portal, Team Fortress 2 and Left 4 Dead are all HD era games that are quite a bit more scaled back in terms of simple scope than similar looking games from other developers.

Valve has been smart enough to basically not keep up with the tech either, and for the PC market they can reach more customers, but then Valve is not really competing in the "bigger is better" console space, Capcom's situation is different.

 

[Smo21]

No, he clearly states he views Monster Hunter as very important and one of the two games Capcom should still develop internally, the other being Resident Evil.

I hate to source Kotaku but... ummm...

Rumor: Resident Evil In The Hands Of SOCOM Team

Slant Six isn't really THE SOCOM Team.

Maybe I shouldn't have used Kotaku's stupid title for their article.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

...as being of particular interest. If there's anything I've noticed about the Japanese industry, it's that the majority of development there is happening at the same companies as ten or even twenty years ago, often with the same 40-year old producers managing teams and directing titles. I don't think the Western model of completely disposable teams is great (the amount of "body memory" lost over the decades by having great teams dissolve with no one to carry on what they'd learned is immense and deeply tragic) but developing and forefronting new talent is absolutely necessary to staying competitive and innovative. Many of the Japanese companies that used to have this skill (like Capcom and Square-Enix) no longer do, and new upstart developers seem to have more trouble building a good name and brand for themselves in Japan than in the West.

The interview gives off a feel of more Japanese publishers following S-E into western temp-happy HR methodology in the future, if only for the reason not enough new blood comes in or is recognized (financially or fame-wise).

If you read between the lines of this and a few other Inafune interviews, I believe it definitely sounds as if Inafune separates companies in his mind when he bemoans Japanese development. Companies like Nintendo are not included (or indicted, let's say) by default.

He's talking about the Namcos; companies that churn out product with no ambition and no awareness of what the world thinks.

A good example would be the Tekken series and compare it to Street Fighter's revival. When Capcom oversaw SFIV, they didn't make what was simply a westerized game. SFIV is very much a Japanese mentality game from top to bottom. However it isn't thoughtless. Its art style is carefully open enough to both look meticulously Japanese crafted (they have a reputation for it) and appeal to global sensibilities. Its presentation and content takes cues from what western arcade fans grew up with in the 90s.

But Namco just keeps mindlessly churning out Tekken with no real awareness of what else is happening anywhere (even in Japan evidently). They have the same overly stereotypical cheesy Japanese b-movie character designs. They use the same recycled, awkward game modes such as Tekken Force and its successors, with their early Playstation 1 game mechanics. Same shoddy attempts at storytelling and bad cut scenes.

Inafune has room to talk because of Dead Rising finding a nearly perfect balance between east and west. It has the sticky, refined play mechanics of a Japanese game, and the detail-oriented world building and carefully refined, hyperreal artistic sensibilities people havecome to associate with Japan. It also has, perhaps intentionally, a little dash of traditionally goofy Japanese storytelling and characterization. But it's also more naturalistic. It has characters more down to earth and international, and grounded. It's locals aren't entirely full of Japanese weirdness and perverse, obscure in-jokes - just enough to give them spice and set it apart. It handles the scope and scale that western games have come to specialize in and that the global audience likes.

That's what most Japanese developers don't understand and Inafune is right about. And yes, people such as Team Ico are excluded in the same way Nintendo is; not just because they "make good games" but because their games are not aimed at merely a niche Japanese audience. The Ueda games have what is actually a very western art direction and world design with just a hint of Japanese feyness about them; enough to lend them an exotic, but not stereotypical, flavor.

And you know, when Inafune says "western games are more fun" in some cases, that's true. It does depend on what part of "Fun" you're looking at. Japanese games are still generally good with refining mechanics. But western games have gotten very good at being broadly entertaining. They're often better at spectacle and taking the player on a rollercoaster ride.

BOOM! Head-shot. Especially the bold.

KI: More. More. People always want more fun and prettier graphics, right? This is to be expected, and it's not necessarily a bad thing. But that's where a problem arose. The players' demands and the creators' demands wound up parting ways.

He's completely right, consumer demands always bring average product with almost zero creativity to the table, clones after clones, in short, consumer demands are worth nothing, Miyamoto also express this same thing, saying that he prefers "surprise" people through creator viewpoint instead give them what they want. I think he used the word "surprise" to replace "people's ideas sucks most the time"

Silver-Age Marvel had "Don't give the reader what they say they want, give them what the didn't know they wanted."

But yah, you can see this, especially in a number of Western devs treating their fans as fickle lovers, whom they are terrified of those fans leaving in the next sequel, or next patch. So they woo. And they woo some more. And more. Give, give, give, as long as the cash keeps flowing in the opposite direction, damn quality to hell. Japan doesn't get off scot-free in this reguard either, with several dev houses seemingly elated to follow the anime industry lemminglike into the pit of insular otaku-fanservice (again, where the highest cash-per-customer lies.)

 

[Kittonwy]

I hate to source Kotaku but... ummm...

Rumor: Resident Evil In The Hands Of SOCOM Team

Slant Six isn't really THE SOCOM Team.

 

[hsukardi]

Inafune saying that lower level Japanese workers are slaves compared to US passion

and that he makes the decisions for ~10 projects down to the character design

= does not compute


That's such a good manager, making all the decisions with no autonomy for your staff.

 

[magash]

Its pretty funny that Nintendo is ALWAYS excluded when people talk about the health of the Japanese gaming market. Its really funny. The retards at Capcom,Konami etc would rather emulate the Western way of doing things(more like the stupid way of doing things)than emulate the Nintendo way of doing things.

Bravo...Braafuckingvooo...I mean why try understanding a successful way of doing something when you can piss away tens of millions of dollars catering to a very small group of consumers...Adam smith must be rolling in his grave now.

 

[Kittonwy]

Its pretty funny that Nintendo is ALWAYS excluded when people talk about the health of the Japanese gaming market. Its really funny. The retards at Capcom,Konami etc would rather emulate the Western way of doing things(more like the stupid way of doing things)than emulate the Nintendo way of doing things.

Bravo...Braafuckingvooo...I mean why try understanding a successful way of doing something when you can piss away tens of millions of dollars catering to a very small group of consumers...Adam smith must be rolling in his grave now.

Nobody can fucking emulate Nintendo, they don't have diehard fans dedicated to Nintendo IPs like Mario and Zelda, Nintendo has fan loyalty that no other platform holder or publisher has.

 

[Songbird]

Could anybody in the know tell me how well Demon's Souls sold in Japan? Canova's posts made me think about its design choices from both eastern and western games. DS definitely struck me as a niche game made for its home country.

 

[ULTROS!]

Could anybody in the know tell me how well Demon's Souls sold in Japan? Canova's posts made me think about its design choices from both eastern and western games. DS definitely struck me as a niche game made for its home country.

From an MC thread:

Demon's Souls                           159,278
Demon's Souls (PlayStation 3 the Best)   22,928
-----------------------------------------------
Σ                                       182,206

Famitsu data up until Mar 7, 2010.

 

[Songbird]

Hmm, thank you. That's something to chew over.

 

[magash]

Nobody can fucking emulate Nintendo, they don't have diehard fans dedicated to Nintendo IPs like Mario and Zelda, Nintendo has fan loyalty that no other platform holder or publisher has.

So publishers just gave up because "nobody can emulate nintendo"? Seriously dude nintendo started from somewhere.

 

[Pureauthor]

Thanks for translating, Cheesemeister. Long, informative read.

 

[Noshino]

So publishers just gave up because "nobody can emulate nintendo"? Seriously dude nintendo started from somewhere.

They not only had a huge head start with not much competition, being one of the big 3 also gives them a huge advantage.

I would say it is much harder to do so than many are led to believe :lol

 

[starsky]

Thanks for the interview! Really interesting read.

 

[RurouniZel]

They not only had a huge head start with not much competition, being one of the big 3 also gives them a huge advantage.

I would say it is much harder to do so than many are led to believe :lol

Very true, but it's not that it can't be done; it's just most people can't figure out how. The problem is most developers, when imitating others, try to imitate in the literal sense (i.e. same exact concept wholesale) rather than the approach, the method, the thought process. Take Level 5 for example, they've recently gone from "who?" to having a huge damn press event that they run themselves with hugely anticipated releases. So how, might I ask, did they do this? By emulating Nintendo, but not literally.

They didn't try to emulate Mario by, say, creating a platformer in the same vein. Doing so would have a high risk of failure. While Mario games are known for their incredible polish, this quality isn't exclusive to Mario. So what gives? He's also quite a universally liked character with a simple, memorable design that stands out. So Level 5 decided it was far better to try and create a likable character in his own style of game, one with a simple but charming and memorable design that stands out. A character with a more universal appeal in design and personality. The result was Professor Layton, and he's made quite the splash in the US and Europe, as well as their native Japan.

Now, did they sit in a meeting room and say "We're going to make our own Mario"? No. But they wanted an iconic character who could be the start of a franchise.

They also learned that a good part of Nintendo's success comes from diversity. Let's take a look at their big games. Mario. Zelda. Metroid. Pokemon. Wildly different games. So Level 5 takes a similar approach. Professor Layton. Inazuma 11. Time Travelers. Ninokuni. A bit more similar than Nintendo's, but still quite varied. They were also smart in making sure they started small and let their franchises grow through word of mouth, and also developed a novel way to stave off too many people from trading their games in after completion (the weekly downloads that have been a part of almost all if not all of their DS games).

It can be done, but it needs to be done intelligently and creatively to succeed.

 

[Pureauthor]

It should also be noted that level 5 is/was one of the smaller dev houses, and that it's a heck of a lot easier for a small company to shift focus and methods than the giant corporations like Capcom or SE.

 

[KongRudi]

Fantastic interview..
If only western press could deliver interviews like this..
He does bring up alot of concerns.. :-/

There is alot of problems in the west aswell..
We need a stronger symbiosis of people coming in from the developement side of the buisness, aswell as the PR-side, and buisness-side - amongst publishers.

i.e. I think it might be easier for someone like Phil Harrison who came from a development background in Mindscape (same position as Inafume, I think) to spot talented teams with promising projects, they needed to work with, compared to what it might be for someone like David Reeves, wich I believe have more buisness-background. :-/

Looking from outside and into the japaneese industry, perhaps the biggest problem is that they're home-market is weak hardware, handhelds - no point in learning 3D-modeling if you're going to make sprites for a DS-game. :-/
And that might be why studios don't put that much effort into building and optimizing their own tool-chain, as western studios do.
And it's probably not as interesting for foreign programmers to come to Japan as it used to, to work on a game-engines, if their main target-platform is the DS/PSP in Japan, if they can work on a 360/PS3/PC engine in the west.

Heck, I don't know..
I love japaneese games, I just wish they made more high-end platform ones, and I also remembered this article written by a programmer who worked on Pokemon wich raised a few points about the state of programming in Japan a while ago: http://zine.bitfellas.org/article.php?zine=12&id=37

 

[shaowebb]

You are very naive if you think everyone should sit and wait for you to create your artistic masterpiece. Games are a business, they are a product to be created. Every product requires deadlines, good rate of return, planning, etc. We are no longer in 1980s, when it took 1 guy in the basement to make a game. I hope you understand that, otherwise you will be very disappointed with the industry.

To put it other way: Games should be about quality WITHIN A CERTAIN TIMEFRAME. Not everyone is S-E and can afford to make a game for 5 years.

I understand all of that. Believe me I do. I just feel the same as Inafune that the over emphasis on deadline, and budget often times holds down the creative atmosphere of games. Meet this quota in this time is all well and good but don't beat your studio to death with it as constantly as Capcom did. When you do it turns it into, as he said, a salaryman job of "Who cares what its like so long as it pleases the boss. At least my paycheck is safe."

Making the studio more answerable to quality is a must is what I am really driving at. You are right though...it would have been better phrased as games should be about quality within a certain timeframe.

 

[Henchmen21]

They not only had a huge head start with not much competition, being one of the big 3 also gives them a huge advantage.

I would say it is much harder to do so than many are led to believe :lol

Course the near Industry killing crash of '83 helped them in that regard

 

[John Harker]

So let's just get down to the important stuff.

How, realistically, does the effect my chances of Breath of Fire 6 this decade?


Great read. thanks for translating. At least one day he'll still get to play Legends 3, even if he didn't finish it.

 

[Noshino]

Very true, but it's not that it can't be done; it's just most people can't figure out how. The problem is most developers, when imitating others, try to imitate in the literal sense (i.e. same exact concept wholesale) rather than the approach, the method, the thought process. Take Level 5 for example, they've recently gone from "who?" to having a huge damn press event that they run themselves with hugely anticipated releases. So how, might I ask, did they do this? By emulating Nintendo, but not literally.

They didn't try to emulate Mario by, say, creating a platformer in the same vein. Doing so would have a high risk of failure. While Mario games are known for their incredible polish, this quality isn't exclusive to Mario. So what gives? He's also quite a universally liked character with a simple, memorable design that stands out. So Level 5 decided it was far better to try and create a likable character in his own style of game, one with a simple but charming and memorable design that stands out. A character with a more universal appeal in design and personality. The result was Professor Layton, and he's made quite the splash in the US and Europe, as well as their native Japan.

Now, did they sit in a meeting room and say "We're going to make our own Mario"? No. But they wanted an iconic character who could be the start of a franchise.

They also learned that a good part of Nintendo's success comes from diversity. Let's take a look at their big games. Mario. Zelda. Metroid. Pokemon. Wildly different games. So Level 5 takes a similar approach. Professor Layton. Inazuma 11. Time Travelers. Ninokuni. A bit more similar than Nintendo's, but still quite varied. They were also smart in making sure they started small and let their franchises grow through word of mouth, and also developed a novel way to stave off too many people from trading their games in after completion (the weekly downloads that have been a part of almost all if not all of their DS games).

It can be done, but it needs to be done intelligently and creatively to succeed.

It should also be noted that level 5 is/was one of the smaller dev houses, and that it's a heck of a lot easier for a small company to shift focus and methods than the giant corporations like Capcom or SE.

No doubt, Level 5 pulled through like no other. But we its also necessary to point out that they are the exception, not the rule.

Unlike many others, they did get a big budget for their first projects, which were not only well received by critics and costumers, but also was done in a timely manner. It was that that allow them to develop DQ, and the rest is history.

They had a chance and they made the most out of it, unfortunately not all studios have the same luck.

 

[Raging Spaniard]

Amazing interview, I want to work for him

 

[Cheesemeister]

Thank you all for your kind words. I'm enjoying reading this thoughtful discussion as much as you've enjoyed the translation. It's threads like these that made me want to join GAF in the first place.

 

[Shig]

This is the kind of long-term investment that's almost impossible to protect in a publicly-traded corporation, though, and it still doesn't really solve the other side of the equation (bringing in and grooming brand-new talent.)

It doesn't necessarily have to be an investment at all, though. I'm not talking about creating new divisions, I'm just saying they should grant existing ones a clearer identity. The publisher just needs to allow their teams a moniker and a logo before the title screen to help better personify them, instead of simply saying Presented by [Publisher] as a catch-all for everything that publisher does, and making consumers have to do detective work to find out which one of the oh-so-memorably-named R&D1 through R&D6 was actually responsible. You know the old adage about people not wanting to be treated like numbers? Well...

It might just be a token offering, but I really think making employees feel like part of a more exclusive and impressive-sounding club than "[Publisher] R&D[number]" is a great motivator for them to make a better product, to make their little corner of the company stand out against the others and feel like 'theirs.'

 

[Noshino]

Thank you all for your kind words. I'm enjoying reading this thoughtful discussion as much as you've enjoyed the translation. It's threads like these that made me want to join GAF in the first place.

And everyone is glad to have people like you that take time to translate that wall of text that rivals Cameron's e3 speech.

This industry is not just made of those making the games, it heavily depends on the gamers as well

 

[AwakenedCloud]

Fantastic read. At first I was pretty bummed hearing about him leaving, especially in the wake of Legends 3, but this interview makes it clear this is the best move for him.

With the right set of partners, I can see his next set of games taking off worldwide.

 

[rpmurphy]

Excellent read! Thanks for taking the time to translate it all.

It does seem like the industry's reliance on sequels is taking a major hit now. While on the one hand it's guaranteed revenue and very hot when fresh, it is bound to hit a downward turn after a few iterations unless there is something fundamentally different and exciting, which takes a lot of inspiration and creativity to make. Bigger and better only goes so far. Refinement, even less distance. Even worse than that, if the development culture ends up worrying solely on satisfying the people who bought the last game and avoiding any risky changes, just to make sure they just pass what Inafune described as the zero-sum worst-case scenario, growth will be hard to find. However, this big problem is common on both sides of the ocean, and publishers and developers with good solutions are rare.

Good luck to Inafune on his future endeavors.

 

[zerokoolpsx]

Thanks Cheesemeister for the translation.
I have a better understanding of why he left Capcom now.

 

[rockman zx]

This is a massive translation job, thank you very much. I will read later, it's quite long.

 

[sfried]

KI: I got the impression that the Inafune brand was the worst-handled within Capcom. Say you had a beautiful younger sister, and of course other people would say, "Your younger sister is pretty. It must be nice to live with her." But then maybe you look at her and think she's rather average? It's kind of like that. (laughs)

4G: I'm not exactly sure what you mean, but I think I get the point. (laughs)

Oh Infaune...

It's kind of interesting how Inafune's comments in the game industry parallel Dai Sato's comments in the anime world.

 

[Swifty]

I'm glad Inafune set the record straight with everyone. It's really annoying to see people rag on him for his supposed desire to Westernize the Japanese game industry when his views, as indicated in this interview, are much more nuanced and specific than that.

 

[Olaeh]

Thanks so much for translating this, Cheesemeister. This interview sheds a whole new light on the subject and the Japanese gaming industry as a whole.

 

[Castor Krieg]

Inafune saying that lower level Japanese workers are slaves compared to US passion

and that he makes the decisions for ~10 projects down to the character design

= does not compute


That's such a good manager, making all the decisions with no autonomy for your staff.

We get only one side of the story. Inafune was clearly not satisfied with his work at Capcom, but we really don't know how he carried his day-to-day duties. He complains a lot about Capcom and Japanese developers, how nobody called him after his resignation, etc. But what did he try to do in Capcom? Did he try to communicate with the Board and other managers? Did he try to create a working environment, where you can share ideas and discuss current issues?

It might well be that nobody contacted him because they are fed up with him talking BS on them all the time, while refusing to co-operate. Clearly the man has a strong beliefs how "KI brand" should be handled, it is possible he was kept so long in Capcom because of his experience and the fact he spent 23 years there (which is exactly an aspect of lifetime employment he is criticizing so much).

Inafune seems to complain that Capcom does not operate as HE wants it to. As you mentioned going all the way down to character design is a very hands-on approach to management.

 

[Sixfortyfive]

Finally finished reading this whole thing.

Dude's got an ego, but I like a lot of what he had to say. Hope he gets the opportunity to put his money where his mouth is, and I mean that in the most positive way possible.

 

[Air Zombie Meat]

Just read it all, very interesting. It's a shame that he wasn't able to get across his sentiments in a better way before. He certainly didn't deserve all the shit flung his way anyway. Hope he goes on to do something good. Not sure about his desire to make movies after watching Dead Rising Sun though

 

[AkuMifune]

Really interesting read, thanks for the effort.

Seems almost as much of an indictment against Japanese culture, or at least corporate structure, as it is Japanese development style. I get the feeling he is really disillusioned with the way they are making games there and he feels the only way to cultivate creativity and passion is to drastically restructure large companies and take away guaranteed contracts. It'll be interesting to see if his new venture can actually 'walk the walk' or if he's just misleading himself out of ego/bitterness. Either way, it couldn't have been easy to resign and I wish him the best of luck!

 

[MaddenNFL64]

He romanticized heavily on western developers. He viewed being a slave to your job added passion to get noticed, and stay employed. He's correct in a sense that you will work harder to try & stand out amongst your peers in work ethic & quality of work, in a climate where being fired, or layed off is pretty common, but fuck.

Constantly on your heels, no job security, massive turnover. Eh, I can see the benefits in new blood & ideas, but fuck if it ain't ideal.

Stagnation isn't either, but his "grass is greener on other side" views are just.. meh.

 

[Kafel]

Awesome work, thanks Cheesemeister.


I like Inafune better now that I've read this interview.

 

[Celine]

Nobody can fucking emulate Nintendo, they don't have diehard fans dedicated to Nintendo IPs like Mario and Zelda, Nintendo has fan loyalty that no other platform holder or publisher has.

That's true but there are more prominent factors than "just" IPs.

 

[BudokaiMR2]

I'm with Infaune! Capcom are bastards!

:'( :'(