GoD Q&A: 'Hudson's Lee On Its U.S. Mobile Resurgence'

Hudson has recently experienced a resurgence into the public eye, with a successful strategy of downloadable content for Wii and Xbox 360 supporting a full slate of mobile releases, and in this latest Games On Deck interview, VP of sales and marketing John Lee speaks out about the company's decision to concentrate on mobile. But why would a console game developer like Hudson decide to invest so heavily in the U.S. mobile game market? Lee explains: “Hudson has a history of thinking beyond core gaming. It has a very large R&D group that is constantly evaluating new opportunities. As you may know, Hudson created some great hardware technology before in the PC Engine/TurboGrafx system. It also created handheld electronic toys like the Teku Teku Angel device. Mobile was viewed as a great opportunity for growth, so we made the commitment to tap that market. In fact, Hudson was one of the first companies ever to showcase mobile games at the Tokyo Game Conference. People thought we were crazy, but the investment has paid off. Console development is what we are known for to the core gaming audience, but as you can see, we are known for many other things as well. ” He later adds: “We never invest in a platform just for marketing purposes. It has to be a good financial decision first and foremost. But having platforms, such as the VC, does help us determine if there are untapped brands from yesteryear that would be worthwhile to bring back.” You can now read the complete interview, which includes more from Lee on Hudson's continuing work within the mobile games space, including why digital downloads will continue to influence Hudson's growth (no registration required, please feel free to link to this feature from external websites).