Spectrobes: Kentaro Hisai Disney Interview

As Disney looks towards Japan to change its fortunes, we sit down with the former Jupiter Corp man producing the colossal new IP that is Spectrobes - starting with a DS game - for his most detailed interview yet published.

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Kikizo: Would it have been difficult to get that special co-operation with NCL if we were talking about a smaller developer working on a much smaller project than Spectrobes?

Hisai: The Disney name might have been a bit of an influence here! But Jupiter already had a good relationship with Nintendo, so working closely with them just made logical sense.

Kikizo: Obviously both Jupiter and Nintendo are both based in Kyoto. In the past Nintendo - specifically Miyamoto-san - has spoken about the 'Kyoto style' of making games as opposed to the Tokyo style. Is that view something you can relate to in a sense?

Hisai: Haha, yeah I think it's a bit of a Japanese in-joke. But it is true though!

Kikizo: Is it how you like to think of this thing as a Kyoto project then, or is it not something you think about?

Hisai: Haha! Well obviously this time, it is international I think.

Kikizo: So about the Spectrobes themselves, obviously the audience has to collect them. I was curious, are there going to be sort of some Spectrobes that are a lot more rare than others, so that if you have a particularly rare one, the kids can show off to their friends and stuff?

Hisai: Wow, absolutely. There are a lot. There are lots of characters in general but there are different ways of getting them. Different sources. Digging yourself is the difficult part. Or using the new card input system you get Spectrobes, as well as through Wi-Fi connection, and when you start to use all three, then you get a special bonus of some description. So there are a number of ways. Altogether there are more than 500.

Kikizo: Are some of those 500 going to be like so rare that they are of legendary status among the audience?

Hisai: Good question. Yes, we have that in mind. [smiles].

Kikizo: I understand the main target audience is 8-14 year old male. Have you had any feedback from this target audience yet and what has the feedback been telling you?

Hisai: Well first I wouldn't say it is just a male audience. It's girls as well. On numerous occasions we have done testing and collected feedback. Did we make any changes based on feedback, well, it begins with the weight of the DS console itself! Some kids find the DS too heavy or large. Little things like, the size of the cards, or the way you hold it or where the holes are, but the major feedback is typically about preferences related to the Manga style.

Kikizo: Do you have any internal expectations about where Spectrobes is likely to be most successful?

Hisai: Instinctively, I would say it is probably going to be more popular outside of Japan, because of the Disney branding, for obvious reasons. Disney in Japan has more association with 'softer' stuff in terms of their brand image, like Winnie-the-Pooh, or Mickey Mouse - largely, for girls, perhaps. So Spectrobes may be different to what the Disney audience in Japan may associate with Disney.

Kikizo: Well whenever I am in Japan I am always impressed by the popularity of Disneyland Tokyo. Maihama station is always crowded full of kids with Disney character balloons. So obviously Disney has weight there nonetheless, could they perhaps use this sort of entertainment location angle, to promote Spectrobes?

Hisai: Thank you for asking me that! This reminds me that I have a launch event at Disneyland Anaheim a week after one in Florda! In front of Space Mountain. So in a sense we are already planning to utilise this kind of venue in the Japan market.

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