MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
Nioh’s success was never set in stone. The title’s chaotic development started back in 2004, but it only hit shelves this February. An even bigger surprise was director Fumihiko Yasuda’s assertion that the concept of the game had “remained the same throughout development.” So how could a game whose life …
Read More »From West to East: How to prepare for success in Asia
Bigpoint producer Bigpoint producer Jonathan Lindsay discusses how Western developers can improve their chances in the world's most elusive markets
Read More »Persona of interest: Atlus CEO Naoto Hiraoka’s first European interview
CEO Naoto Hiraoka speaks exclusively to MCV about bringing Japanese sensibility to the West, pairing with Sega, sticking with Vita and remaining unpredictable Best known in the West for the role-playing franchise Megami Tensei, which spawned the highly popular Shin Megami Tensei: Persona subseries, and surgical-simulation visual novel series Trauma …
Read More »Vita IS a triple-A machine in Japan but Western future remain unclear, Sony says
Sony is confident about the Vita’s future prospects in Japan, but is less certain about its place in the Western market. The handheld routinely vies it out with 3DS for supremacy in the weekly Japanese hardware charts. The story is completely different in the UK, however, where weekly sales are …
Read More »New publisher Chorus Worldwide wants to take Western games to the East
Western mobile game devs are being offered a new route into the lucrative Asian digital games market. Chorus Worldwide, founded by Shintaro Kanaoya, helps devs to fully localise their games for markets such as Japan and Korea. Its first two games are Alex Trowers’ Glyph Quest and Beartrap Games’ Sky …
Read More »So why does Kirby always look angry in the West?
Ever noticed that Kirby is always the embodiment of happiness and light on Japanese artwork and a right grump on Western game boxes? Well, there’s a reason for that. Basically, cute things sell well in Japan. "For the Japanese versions we are at [developer] HAL involved in everything throughout development, …
Read More »Trio of Sony Japan Vita RPGs heading West
Soul Sacrifice Delta is one of three new SCEJ RPG Vita titles confirmed for a Western release. IGN reports that the game will arrive in Europe on May 14th. It builds on the original with an improved graphics engine and sharper AI, as well as some additional character optimisation options. …
Read More »VIDEO: Nintendo to give Tomodachi Life a shot in the West
Having gained a devoted following in Japan, Nintendo’s new Animal Crossing” is going to be debuted on 3DS in Western markets. It’s quite hard to explain Tomodachi Life. In fact, you might be better off simply watching Nintendo’s totally leftfield debut video below. Described by some as The Sims meets …
Read More »Cave shutting down Western social media presence
The future looks bleak for cult Japanese studio Cave. The company has announced that it is closing its English language Twitter account and is directing users to instead refer to the official – Japanese only – Cavegames account. It all boils down to what is a disappointing failure for the …
Read More »Vita TV will take "a different road to market" in the West
Sony plans to take a very different approach to its streaming-centric Vita TV device when it eventually makes its way to Western markets. The microconsole has got off to a slow start in Japan with sales of just 42,000 units during its first week of release in November. It’s currently …
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