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

This guy knows his stuff.

[Naffer]

From the article:
"Also, ownership is an important component of American culture. People do not like to buy things unless they feel that they own it with no strings attached"
How is it that the head of Japan's major video game trade group has more insight into American consumer desires then our own trade groups?

Re:This guy knows his stuff.

[Colazar]

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

Used media..

[CashCarSTAR]

The thing is, even though I support fair use rights, there is a point in this. Used media, of all types, games, software, movies, music, is a killer of sales.

In fact, more than P2P, it's my personal observation that this is where the real damage is to producers.

Think about it for a second..sales of used media are pretty stable, if not increasing. This does one of two things..

#1. It prevents a new sale on something that is still sold shrinkwrapped.

#2. Even on obsolete media, it's taking valuable entertainment dollars out of the market.

It's #2 that I'd be concerned about, more or less. People only have so much to spend on entertainment, and theoretically, it would actually be better, for example, for a consumer to spend that 20 bucks going towards a new game, and download the older game, than taking that money out of the potential market for their product. Now that's no guarentee that it'll work out, but you gotta be bold, be confident I guess.

Now, I buy used media myself, and get it at a good price. (Buy 2 DVDs get 2 free) Even though I know it's hurting the producers, as long as they focus on piracy, and those scare tactics, instead of going after those stores, frankly, I couldn't care less.

But it IS hurting them.

Used games

[Neo-Rio-101]

I can't see how used games is really any different than used book sales. Publishers also have to deal with these things called public libraries, where books can be traded and lent around freely. A new release book often sports the same price tag as a new release game.

I honestly don't see Mills and Boon whining about how much of their stuff is in a used book shop.

I suppose if the game industry wants to cut down on used game sales, they could always re-release their old stuff as an added bonus with the new game.

Re:Japanese? Weird??

[WolfWithoutAClause]

But there is a reason why there isn't an english translation for hentai.

It literally means 'pervert'.

I think you are trying to make out the Japanese to be more different than they really are- for example, the tentacle rape is just a side effect of their weird legal system (no human penises allowed, no sex between women and animals either, but sex with imaginary creatures apparently falls into a legal grey area... go figure!); and the apparent youth of the manga characters is illusory- the Japanese consider the characters to be older than Americans do- there are some cultural differences relating to reducing sun exposure in Japanese women and physical differences that tends to make them look younger to western eyes than they really are. You cannot really condemn Japanese Hentai manga unless you understand the environment that it has evolved in.

I mean, the Japanese may well consider LA porn to be barbaric and offensive (you can see pubic hair?)

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).

no rentals for games in Japan either

[Spatula Sam]

Here in Tokyo I've always found it weird that while CD rentals are very popular and perfectly legal, Game rentals are banned and nonexistant. Can you immagine the massive hissyfit the RIAA would throw if people could take their favorite backstreet boys CD home for $2 and copy it to their MD players? And yet the gaming industry here is petrified at the notion that users might be able to try out the latest 100-hour RPG game for a night.

Maybe the game industry in Japan just has more legislative clout to get the government to give it control over users, but I doubt it given the size of the music industry here.

I wonder if maybe it's just that historically the reason so many more games are available in Japan is because so many of those games are very, very, crappy. If people are able to rent a game and realize how shoddy it is, maybe they would be discourraged from buying the product. This same thinking might explain the crusade against resale -- a much larger chunk of the gaming pie here consists of titles that are simply worth the wait for buying used.