Japan remains a ”very important market” in the industry, despite its decline over the years. Their studios have given us ”games the world plays.”
”Japan is a very important market for the gaming industry and home to some of the video game industry’s leading innovators,” Greenberg tells Destructoid. ”In many ways, I think what makes Japanese games so special is that not only are these the franchises many of us grew up playing, but Japanese creators have given us the games the world plays.”
”I have spent a lot of time in Japan in the 10 years I have been on the Xbox business and I love the country, the people and their ability to create new experiences that could only come from Japan,” he continued. ”The reality of the Japanese gaming market is that it is not the size it once was and at the same time we have seen gaming become the largest form of entertainment around the world.”
”However, I don’t think this means that Japanese creators should be trying to come up with the next Halo or Call of Duty. I think there are ways to leverage their creativity with new tools like ‘Project Natal.’” The Xbox 360 motion tech launches this fall.
”I also believe that there are ways for some of the popular Japanese franchises to become more approachable for a wider audience as well.”
”As you know, at TGS this year, we held a ‘Project Natal’ Creators Panel with three of Japan’s leading creators, Kojima-san of Konami, Inafune-san of Capcom and Nagoshi-san of Sega and talked a lot about the future of creativity and their excitement around bringing new experiences to life with ‘Project Natal,’” added the Xbox boss.
”In fact, all of the leading Japanese publishers have announced that they are actively working on games for ‘Project Natal’ and I can’t wait to see these come to life. I truly believe the future is bright for Japanese creators and publishers.”
Is motion technology what Japan needs to bring their games industry back into full swing? They’ve had Nintendo Wii out there for quite some time after all…?
