Konami's Mukaitoge: Japanese Gamers Prefer Franchises

Author: by Brandon Sheffield, Staff

As part of an in-depth new Gamasutra interview with rising Konami star Shingo Mukaitoge (Elebits, Dewy's Adventure), the Wii-specializing developer has been discussing the Japanese market, suggesting original IP goes down less well in the territory. Specifically, when discussing the performance of Elebits, which got significantly more attention in North America to Japan - in a similar way to some other notable titles from other developers such as Killer7 - Mukaitoge suggests: "Well I've found that mysterious myself, as well, but the Japanese market tends to purchase games that already have previous versions, like franchise games, instead of original ones. Maybe that is one of the reasons. It's not a good thing though..." Elsewhere, Mukaitoge revealed that both of the Konami Wii-exclusive titles he worked on were game concepts as a result of initial brainstorming how to use the Wii controller: "At first, my team and I focused on how to utilize the Wii Remote for control -- that was the main thing. The starting point for Dewy's Adventure and Elebits were basically the same. We had a few concepts for Wii games, based on what you could do with the controller -- one was for Elebits, and one was Dewy's Adventure. We picked Elebits to be made first, but Dewy's Adventure's concept already existed." You can now read the full interview with Mukaitoge, including how he got his start in the video game business, his gaming influences, and what the future has in store for his team.