Japan's game gods weigh in

The current issue of Weekly Famitsu contains seven pages of interviews with some of Japan's most celebrated game creators. The topic was the upcoming three-way race between the Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3, and Nintendo Wii.

The first respondant was Yoshiki Okamoto, former Capcom COO and now president of Game Republic. His credits include Time Pilot, Street Fighter II, the first three Resident Evils and Code: Veronica. He is currently working on the PS3 games Monster Kingdom: Unknown Realms (working title) and Genji.

He stated that sales, not specifications, are what really matter. "Many talk about which is the best piece of hardware, but I think this is meaningless. The problem is how much the hardware will sell. If all the [next-generation] consoles can sell 10 million units, then they've all won. It is possible that all the hardware will be winners, but it's also possible that they'll all be losers." The one thing that may tip the scales, according to Okamoto, is the game lineup. "I think the console that produces killer titles will see sudden growth in sales. The consoles that can't keep up will have an uphill fight."

Next, Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima weighed in. Although his next big game, Metal Gear Solid 4, will be for the PlayStation 3, he took a very non-partisan view. "I think [each console] is attractive, and I want them all to do well. ... We're already thinking about what we can express on each machine. I am not interested at all about which hardware succeeds. As I said, I want them all to do well."

Discussing the Wii, Sora LLC president and Meteos cocreator Masahiro Sakurai talked about the Wii's controller in the context of Super Smash Bros. Brawl development. He gently chastised the herd mentality among developers regarding the Wiimote. "I think there are a lot of games that rely on the controller. There are games that use it as a racket or bat, and a game in which it's used like a scalpel to perform surgery. They all take a different approach, but this has given the impression that the controller is specialized to provide enjoyment through mimicking [activities]. However, how this develops is what's important. For example, how do you [use the Wiimote] to create the fun and addictiveness of your games?"

He also revealed that Brawl would take its own path. "We have given no thought to how we'll use the controller in Brawl. We decided to use it like a normal controller." However, he did not rule it out entirely, adding, "It will not be used in the course of normal play."

In addition to the interviews, Famitsu revealed the results of a questionnaire sent to 58 developers working at 19 software companies in Japan. They first asked how the developers felt, in general, about each of the systems. The results were very positive. Of those polled, 80 percent expressed positive views on the PS3. For the Wii, 99 percent took a bullish stance. Views on the Xbox 360 were somewhat more negative, with 45 percent stating they had few expectations for the console. Even so, a majority 53 percent responded positively on its prospects.

Finally, Famitsu asked for some more specific opinions. When pressed as to which console they personally wanted to own, 9 percent of the developers said Xbox 360, 42 percent said PS3, and 49 percent said Wii.

As for which platform they want to develop games for, only 5 percent answered Xbox, while the PS3 and Wii respectively got 32 percent and 63 percent of the votes.

On the topic of which console they thought would sell the most, the developers picked the Wii by a landslide--60 percent, compared with 37 percent and 3 percent for the PS3 and Xbox 360 respectively.