Itagaki: Japanese games management "not practical"
Devil's Third and Ninja Gaiden designer Tomonobu Itagaki has expressed his admiration for US publishing executives, while suggesting their Japanese equivalents are a bit lost.
More so in the U.S. than in Japan, I think there are a lot of top management people who actually know how to make games," the Dead or Alive creator told Gamasutra .
"I think there are more people here like that, than in Japan. I think it's a good thing.
"Those guys know how to make games - so they know it takes money to make good games. Those two aspects are on a direct one-to-one relationship. So I think it's very practical to be that way."
Itagaki was particularly glowing on the subject of THQ core games head Danny Bilson, adding that "it's really fun to do business with that kind of guy".
On the other hand, Japanese executives are low on Itagaki's list of delights.
"In Japan, management people sort of pretend they know what they're doing," he said.
"Those management people, they say, 'I love games,' but they don't know how to make them... It's the opposite of practical. It's not practical."
The flamboyant Itagaki famously resigned from Tecmo, were he had founded and led Team Ninja, over claims of unpaid bonuses which were later settled. Now partnering with THQ, his latest game, Devil's Third, is due on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in early 2012.