CESA Boss Talks Japanese Gaming Problems

Thanks to GameSpy for its interview with CESA executive managing director Kazuya Watanabe, as the head of the "game industry's trade organization" in Japan discusses issues such as the Japanese games industry's dislike of the used videogame market: "Used software sales are now legal and covered by the law. Despite the fact that the court has passed judgment, the software manufacturers are still not satisfied with the outcome because of the high percentage of used sales in overall Japanese game sales." He also addresses the perception that many Japanese PC titles are adult-oriented: "They stand out. They do not have a large market, but they catch your eyes. If you look at that, you may think, 'Boy, these Japanese are very strange.' It is not the case."

Comments

Re:This guy knows his stuff.

[Colazar]

Actually, that particular statement was made by the interviewer, not Mr. Watanabe.

Re:Most Japanese PC games aren't hentai?

[dancingmad]

Actually, my girlfriend has worked on translating U.S. PC games to Japanese (Deus Ex and Northland). Nearly everything we get comes out there, eventually. It's not lack of quality per se, but Japanese don't like playing those type of games (a sentiment I share).