One question
I've been thinking about for a while is when someone in Nintendo's new
market purchases a game and they get
Wii Sports or Wii Fit -- like a housewife or someone older
-- will they buy another game? Ever? I don't know. I know it's a model
that will work for Nintendo, because they sell their consoles at a profit
and their games at a profit, but how about everybody else? I wonder.
Will the mom of the family ever buy anything else?
YT: I think we as a publisher have
to come up with a game design, produce a game, hire a developer, and
take their concepts or designs, but we really have to think about how
to utilize the Wii very well to whatever kind of game we want to make,
be it an action game, adventure game, or RPG maybe. It's a software-driven
business. It's not hardware. It's a software-driven business. If we
come up with a great game on the Wii that utilizes the Wii controller
very well, I think gamers will come back to the Wii and buy the games.
Everything's software-driven.
I think ultimately it can be software,
but my feeling right now is that for the very immediate term, Nintendo's
business is hardware-driven. Wiis sell out immediately, even still in
America. I passed by a GameStop, and they said, "We have six Wiis
coming in today!" And I went to lunch next door, and when I came
out they were taking the sign down!
YT: I think Nintendo is making the
Wii because they want to sell their software. Tons of software. Ten
million, twenty million, thirty million. Which they do. That's their
business.
It makes sense. It's just that I'm
a little worried about these millions and millions of people having
Wiis with one game. That's what I'm concerned about. But we'll see.
YT: I share your worry, because I'm
here to sell Wii games. We have three games coming out this calendar
year, so that's my concern too. I think eventually, somebody will figure
it out.
I know that
Puzzle Quest is coming to Wii as well, right?
YT: Yeah.
But
Dragon Blade is more of a hardcore gamer-type, right?
YT: Yeah.
D3 Publisher's Dragon Blade: Wrath of Fire
But that's for the Western market,
right? So that makes sense. Would that kind of thing make sense in Japan?
YT: The game itself?
Yeah.
YT: I think we are keeping some elements
that are liked by Japanese people. I don't know if we are going to do
anything to localize it heavily for the Japanese market. We haven't
decided yet. But I was thinking about the Western market, to just capture
the Wii momentum about a year and a half ago. So we'll see the performance.
In Japan, I'm talking to D3 Japan, and we are discussing what to do
with localization. [Ed. note: Following the September release of Dragon Blade in the U.S., the game is on schedule for a late November release in Japan.]
It's your job to take care of
the West, though, not to worry about Japan.
YT: Well, the Japanese market is important
too.
It is, but it's not your problem
necessarily.
YT: The games we produce here, we put
our heart in it, so we want to sell the game in Japan.