Dice Summit: Jun Takeuchi, Resident Evil producer, wonders if Japanese game makers can still succeed in the West
Japan is a shrinking part of the video game market, with software sales now trailing behind the United Kingdom. It’s about 6 percent of the global market and sales are shrinking on an annual basis.
Can the Japanese succeed outside of Japan? Jun Takeuchi, executive producer of upcoming Resident Evil 5 game from Capcom, is addressing the question at the Dice Summit in Las Vegas. He can speak to this topic from experience because the Resident Evil series has spawned a bunch of hit games and movies. Capcom has also just launched the latest installment of its famous Street Fighter series, with considerable critical acclaim.
Nintendo has succeeded with the Wii and Nintendo DS, but Japan’s role on the global stage is weakening. Sega has encountered the same problem with its cute mascot character games, and over the past four years it embarked on an acquisition binge, buying Western game developers. In the meantime, Korean and Chinese game makers are making a lot of headway with online games.
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