Toshihiro Nagoshi: Kikizo Interview 2005

Sega's top development executive talks about PS3, Xbox 360, Revolution, arcades, Ryu ga Gotoku, Monkey Ball DS and loads more.

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Kikizo: Virtua Striker remains very popular in Japan and Europe. In Japan the latest version of the game uses VS.net - can we expect it on future export versions as well or do arcades in the west lack the infrastructure to make it viable?

Nagoshi: Export versions... hmm. Well, I know arcades in the west aren't doing so well nowadays. Finances are a pretty big bottleneck. But beyond that, I don't know if the service and maintenance abilities of western arcades are quite up to scratch, either. Those are the primary issues in trying to expand the service outside of Japan to Europe and the US.

Kikizo: There's been a lot of talk recently about games getting too complicated for new and casual players to enjoy. The fact that games with simple concepts and controls like Super Monkey Ball and Katamari Damacy have found wide success seems to support this argument. What are your thoughts on this subject?

Nagoshi: That's a very accurate observation. But there's a lot of established users who enjoy complex games as well. We're really just trying out best to figure out the sort of thing users want. I think the most important thing is that the game simply has to be enjoyable to play, whether it's simple or complex.

Kikizo: All three of the major consoles have now been shown in one form or another - can you tell us your thoughts on each one?

Nagoshi: At this point, the PS3 remains pretty enigmatic to us. We haven't really been able to gauge or see its power for ourselves. The Xbox 360's final hardware exists, so I can say that development on the system is quite simple, even moreso than the original system. The original didn't do very well in Japan, as you know, so I'm really hoping that this one manages to perform better.

Monkey Ball: Best thing ever?

As for the Revolution... it's really hard to say anything about it, since there's even less concrete information about it than there is for the PS3. The thing is, Nintendo's consoles seem to have more of a perception of being "toys", and this looks like it will be more of a true multimedia system. I wonder what sort of marketing they're going to undertake.

Kikizo: Besides the looming next-generation battle, the competition between the PSP and the DS is really starting to heat up. What are your thoughts on these two platforms?

Nagoshi: It's impossible to declare a "winner" just yet. There's a lot in the works for both platforms at the moment. It's becoming pretty fierce. But borrowing from what I said previously, there's a bit of a different perception between the two consoles. The PSP is a multimedia device; the DS is a pure gaming system.

Kikizo: With the PSP and the DS on the market, people have begun talking about how they'd like to see a new Monkey Ball for portable consoles. Do you have any plans for a new installment of the series in a portable format?

Nagoshi: We do have a new Monkey Ball game in the works for the Nintendo DS. We've been calling it "Touch and Go." It's a bit different than the previous games, since you will primarily be using the stylus.

Kikizo: How about a new Daytona game?

Nagoshi: Well... I haven't really ever thought about it. *laughs*

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