SNK Executives Speak Out on Industry

SNK's Yoshihito Koyama reveals insightful opinions on Japanese arcade industry and comments on other matters SNK loyalists need to know.

SNK bosses have finally spoken out on some matters of great interest to the publisher's loyal fanbase, concerning the current set-up of the company, and their opinions on the Japanese arcade industry.

Frustratingly, a wall of silence usually compounds the secret opinions of Japanese gaming executives, particularly in the arcade amusements field. But in an interview with Spong today, SNK bosses spoke more frankly about their opinions on recent matters such as the Sammy-Sega buyout. Yoshihito Koyama, Director of SNK Neo Geo's Overseas Business Operations, commented, "Sega had been making a loss for sometime. Now, it won't. There has always been a relationship between arcade games, slot machines, pachinko and pachislot. Although [gambling] is still heavily policed, the return-per-unit count... is very high."

He elaborated, "for Sega to make a deluxe dedicated arcade game takes a lot of time and costs a lot of money. The final arcade cabinet can cost in excess of £15,000 and the return is never assured. Compare this to an example from the pachinko industry. Sammy released a game earlier this year, costing around £1,500 for an arcade hall operator to buy. Sammy shipped over 500,000 units of this machine, so you can understand how much money there is be made from the basic demand. Then remember that Sammy owns some of the halls in which the machines are operated and the true value of this becomes clear."

In good news for fans of SNK franchises such as The King of Fighters, Koyama-san asserted, "Right now, SNK owns all of its own IP and that is how things will remain... The holding company, SNK Neo Geo, is a separate entity looking after all of our properties."

Interestingly, Koyama-san also comments on the frustration the firm has experienced with Sony Computer Entertainment America relating to content approval for the local market: "Sony just isn't interested in 2D games anymore - whatever it might be, and yet shitty games, as long as they are in 3D, trickle trough all the time. It's a crazy situation and we don't believe it reflects the needs of game consumers. This is why we decided to release Metal Slug 4 and 5 as Xbox exclusive." Damning words indeed.

The interview, which includes words from another SNK boss Shinya Morishita, also touches on the problematic issue of arcade piracy in the far east, and the turbulent matter of recent business dealings with Aruze Corporation.

Adam Doree
Director, Kikizo.com