I
don't think anyone with a Western focus has made a consistent success in Japan. Obviously, the big emphasis from
our end is always seeing how Japanese publishers do in the West. But even names
like EA and Ubisoft haven't really made a splash.
SB: You know, it's funny, because I don't
really consider Ignition a U.S.
publisher and developer -- even though we are.
RS: If you look at the overall Asian
cross-culture heritage, from that point of view, I think that works better. Because
actually Japan
works with its own culture. So, the geographies are all similar, the strategies
are the same, but the cultures are a little different, between each territory.
AC: And I think another thing that you need
to look at: you look at all the key management at Ignition. We're all gamers,
so we understand gaming. That's the biggest difference. We don't go in suits --
except for me, today, because the big boss is here...
RS: Who's dressed in Tommy Bahama!
(laughter)
AC: He tricked me!
I think the key is that we understand. And the
core talent that we're bringing into our studios, the key thing is that they
look at the management and they think, "You get it." They see that we
understand it, that's why they want to work with us. And I think that's very
cool.
SB: And that's what I felt. When I first
came to Ignition, both Ajay and Vijay are such huge gamers. Such really passionate guys, in the same way that I am
-- and that's a rare find. I mean, I've met a lot of game CEOs, game company
presidents, and a lot of them don't even play games at all. The fact that they
get it, the consumer will ultimately understand: everyone along the way felt
passion for this game. That's important.
You
announced the new Samurai Shodown
game at E3. Is that your only announcement?
AC: Yeah, it's our only announcement, and I
think it's probably best it's kept this way, because we've got four very strong
games here now. To be announcing or doing anything is not strategically wise
for us. I think, you know, we've got Nostalgia;
we've got King of Fighters XII, which
is looking huge; we've got Samurai Shodown...
SB: And Muramasa.
AC: And Demon
Blade -- I mean, that speaks for itself. You've seen the press that's come
out already. Even Nintendo Power, we've had a nine or 10 page spread in there.
And every word -- the single word is, it's beautiful. And it's not just
beautiful and it doesn't play; it's beautiful and it flipping plays. So, you
know, we've got such a beautiful array of games, I don't think we really need
to do anything.

Ignition Entertainment/SNK Playmore's Samurai Shodown: Edge of Destiny
It
does feel like, at least for this year, you're on the cusp. Which is an
interesting place to be, I should imagine, and you're observing. I don't think
anyone really knew what E3 was going to be like this year, right?
AC: I was standing there thinking to myself
that my boss was going to tap me on the shoulder and say, "Where is
everyone? It's midday."
[Ed. note: The E3 show floor opened at noon on the first day.]
But, since it opened, the stand had been packed.
And we underestimated in some way how busy it would be. We could have had,
probably, a few more [demo] pods and they would have been packed, and that's great.
That's a great feeling.
SB: I think it shows that gaming isn't going
away. Despite the recession, despite all the fears, people are still really
excited about games. Probably next year will be even bigger for E3 -- and
bigger for us.
Something
that's interesting for me is Nostalgia.
I'm sure at some point this has happened, but I don't remember Tecmo doing a
lot of licensing out of their titles, so that's an interesting situation.
AC: I think with Tecmo it was quite
interesting, because we met by coincidence in Japan,
back in Tokyo,
and we were literally sitting at the table next to them. And we started a
conversation, and they showed us Nostalgia,
which I was surprised about. And we talked about what we would do with it; what
we had done before. They'd seen, previously, what we had done on Blue Dragon, and I think they were
impressed by what we had done.
So we put some ideas down with them,
discussed what we would do with the title, and I think -- like I said to you --
even bigger publishers now are looking. Because, and I think Shane put the nail
on the head. Some publishers have so many games that they don't concentrate on
all of them, and they only concentrate on one; the rest are going to fall, even
if they are very good titles.
So, I think the option is, let some other
people handle these products, and they'll put the concentration on them that we
can't afford to, and they'll make them successful. So this is why you're seeing
some partnerships that Ignition are taking.
People are looking at us like that. Seeing
the company, and seeing what we're doing. Even the actual logo [of the game],
we changed the direction, and the way people look at it. And they [Tecmo] have been
really impressed. And I think they respect the way we look after the IP -- the
way we're looking after the licensor -- and how transparent we are as a company
to work with. I think that is really a breath of fresh air for these guys.
There's transparency that Ignition offer.
SB: Yeah. Personally, I would love to take
on more Japanese games from other publishers and developers you wouldn't expect
to license games out. I think that the climate there has changed a lot. And,
same as here: the whole rules of who publishes what, and how it gets handled,
are changing.