Tag Archives: Kenji Matsubara

Tecmo Koei CEO Kenji Matsubara has said that Nintendo 3DS and 3D games will appeal more to the hardcore than the casual.

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Tecmo Koei president Kenji Matsubara has told Play that the company is interested in Sony’s motion technology for games like Ninja Gaiden, but more research is needed to see if it would be a proper fit.

“I’m very interested in the new motion-control technology announced at E3, but we really need to know how responsive it is,” said Matsubara. “I’m sure that for casual games these motion controls will be very popular, but for action games like Ninja Gaiden we need quick responses and if you’re swinging your arms around like you’re using a sword you will soon be tired.

“Maybe we have to change the playing style and check the technology to see how quick it can be. So, at first it will be casual games and then maybe hardcore games and we have to prepare for that and provide the games to satisfy that playing style.”

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Kenji Matsubara, CEO of Tecmo Koei, has said that the company plans to take advantage of the expanding European and US markets.

“The US and European markets are expanding very fast, so we have to focus on these markets,” he told CVG, at a recent London event. “And our strategy is to expand our library. We have our current brands like Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive – they are very popular especially in the North American market. And we have Dynasty Warriors as well.

“We have to focus on expanding our existing brands, and in addition we plan to create new IP targeting the western market. So we’re hiring developers not only within Japan but overseas too, like in Singapore and Toronto Canada.

“We are pretty much ready to develop titles focusing on a western audience, so that’s our strategy.”

The company is also currently at work on a Euro PS3 exclusive, and Matsubara say that focusing on all platforms is the proper way in to ensure market saturation. Therefore, he doesn’t understand why Activision has threatened Sony with lack of support.

“I’m not sure what Activision means in those comments, but Activision sees that the PS3 is a very important platform,” he said. “In the PS2 days, Sony was dominant, and nothing else came close. Now, in the PS3 era, I understand that the 360 is bigger, but the PS3 isn’t small – it has a big share [of the market].

“So from a publisher or developer’s view, focusing on a single platform is very risky. Instead we have to focus on providing every title for every platform.

“That’s a key standpoint for Tecmo Koei.”

Kenji Matsubara, president and CEO of Tecmo Koei, is all over the news today. During an interview with Kikizo, he discussed the Japanese gaming market and what can b done to salvage it.

“The Japanese video game market is pretty much the same, or is even shrinking, compared to ten years ago. But we can see a lot of growth opportunity, even within the Japanese market,” he told the site. “The problem is that the tastes of Japanese gamers have changed so much compared to ten years ago. Ten years ago, Japanese RPGs were dominant, but the platform for this has changed in terms of online oriented services and performance.

“From a developer and publisher perspective, we need to reassess and cater to that, because at this moment we have not caught up to the expectation of Japanese customers, but when we do catch up, I am sure we can see the growth of the Japanese market again.

“You can see that the popularity of PS3 and 360 in Japan is very small compared to the western market; it does not mean Japanese customers do not want to spend money on new game systems, it is because they don’t see titles that are appealing to them; we’re struggling with high performance consoles, but by contrast, the PSP has expanded very rapidly for example.”

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Tecmo Koei CEO Kenji Matsubara, has said that during meeting with Sony, he requested a price cut for PS3.

“Whenever I discuss this with Sony reps I always ask them: ‘Please cut the price’, but I don’t have a clear view on Sony’s situation,” Matsubara told CVG. “Yes, from a publisher’s point of view we would welcome a price cut for PS3, and we are waiting, definitely.

“It’s definitely a way of boosting the PS3 market, but it’s Sony’s strategy and I don’t know their cost structure. Sony introduced cutting-edge technology in the PS3, that’s why people in the industry accept that the PS3 cost is so high, but we’d welcome a price cut.”

So would the rest of the world, apparently.

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Kenji Matsubara, global President and CEO of Tecmo Koei Holdings, has said that despite a difficult start in Japan, Microsoft is doing better with Xbox 360 than it did with the original console.

“Xbox 360 as a business is doing better than the old Xbox,” he told Kikizo. “They have a good opportunity for growth, but of course Sony is a Japanese company and Microsoft is known as a business software company, so brand image is one point. But Microsoft is doing well, especially considering how difficult it is these days.

“I think they have good growth potential for the future depending on the titles. We have a close relationship with Microsoft so I hope we can be a part of that.”

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Speaking to Gamasutra, Koei boss Kenji Matsubara has explained the need to get into bed with a firm like Tecmo, saying it’s going to be years yet before PS3 and 360 are a stable business in Japan.

“I think it will take some years [for PS3 and Xbox 360] to be a big market,” he said.

“The DS is big enough, but the DS has already established a market for third parties. Two or three years ago, only Nintendo could make a business in the DS market, but these days, third parties can make a business. We expect the same situation for Wii.”

It’s not like it was back in the day, said Matsubara, where you could bang out PS2 games willy-nilly and swim around in your money bath.

“It’s back to surviving the market, I think,” he added. “In the PlayStation days, the platform was only one, but the competition was so high. For PlayStation 3, we have to spend huge resources. In the PlayStation 2 days, we could just focus on one platform, but these days, we have to spend resources on handhelds, popular consoles like the Wii, and high-performance consoles like the Xbox 360 and PS3.

“It means that we have to spend too much money and many resources. That’s a challenge for us.”

Full thing through the link.