小黑屋
最终幻想之父坂口博信是微软在日本发展的关键人物。坂口博信的Mistwalker工作室是微软在日本的王牌武器。Mistwalker工作室开发的蓝龙 和失落奥德赛是X360在日本扩展份额的关键。 Gamespot采访了坂口博信，以下简称Gamespot为GS，坂口博信为HS。 GS：首先说说蓝龙。蓝龙在日本已经发售了一段时间。个人来说你对游戏销售情况满意吗？ HS：蓝龙最初日本销售目标为10万，现在蓝龙销量接近20万，我对销量很满意。这也证明我是X360在日本主要的推动者之一。我感觉实现了自 己的目标。 GS：日本玩家对蓝龙的反应如何？ HS：日本最大的社区是2ch。我经常在这里看玩家讨论蓝龙，他们都赞扬游戏的品质。 GS：蓝龙的英文版有什么变化吗？ HS：没有，除了语言改为英文外，就是修正了一些bug。 Hees Kyung：游戏难度作了调整，同时日本的下载内容已经包含在美版蓝龙的光盘中。 GS：美国会有游戏下载内容？ Hees Kyung：发售后会提供丰富的下载内容。完成游戏后还可以选择新的难度。 GS：会通过Live发布试玩吗？ HS：试玩在制作中，预计6月或7月发布。正是版游戏在8月发售。 GS：接下来是失落的奥德赛。目前开发进展如何？ HS：非常好。下个月可以完成Beta版。游戏将在年底发行。因为使用UE3，游戏画面很好。 GS：奥德赛会有试玩吗？ HS：目前没有计划。可能会通过Live提供影像资料介绍。 GS：你同时制作奥德赛和蓝龙，两个风格不同的游戏，这困难吗？ HS：很忙，但是也很充实，完全没有问题。 GS：你对为X360开发游戏的感受如何？X360硬件如何？和之前的主机比，因为硬件可以实现哪些新的游戏设计？ HS：X360有出色和硬件和出色的软件开发环境。战神注：举了一个蓝龙水面效果的例子，此处略。 GS：微软对日本游戏商的技术支持如何？ HS：非常好。不过在因为UE3是英文，所以有时需要懂英语和日语的开发人员。有时需要翻译的帮忙，这会影响进度。所以微软在解决语言障碍 方面做得还不够好。 GS：X360网络支持很好，但是PS3/Wii网络结合度较差。你认为次世代网络内容重要吗？ HS：我在Square时尝试过建设网络，但是成本太高，运营也很困难。微软提供出色的网络环境，这非常好。 GS：X360在美国销售很好，如何才能让X360在日本也很成功呢？ HS：市场营销。X360日本的营销人员很差劲。市场营销很重要，也最重要。 GS：比如说"jump in"？ HS：用英语说"jump in"听起来很酷，而用日文就没这种感觉。另外最新的"Do, do, do"广告也不好。 GS：营销人员要努力了。 HS：是的。 GS：你认为索尼和任天堂的发展发现有什么看法？你希望为PS3/Wii开发游戏吗？ HS：我不喜欢PS3的架构。索尼设计PS3没有考虑到游戏商的想法。Wii机能不强，不支持高清，不过很多人没有高清电视，所以Wii和360画面差 别不大。Wii游戏开发成本较低，有吸引力。 GS：索尼和任天堂都使用动作感应技术，这对于未来游戏是必需的吗？ HS：制作RPG不需要动作感应技术，所以我不感兴趣。我认为360手柄是我见过最好的手柄。 GS：越来越多的游戏都多平台，如果最终幻想系列登陆X360，你将和原先自己的游戏竞争，感觉如何？ HS：最终幻想应该登陆360，这是明智的选择。最终幻想在欧美很流行，适合360。我听说SE开发用于开放平台的白色引擎，这样白色引擎制作 的FF13可以轻易的移植给360。 GS：和自己多年前创造的游戏竞争没有问题吗？ HS：我很乐意把最终幻想系列撕成碎片，踩在脚下。 GS：你做rpg很多年，考虑过制作其他类型的游戏吗？ HS：我喜欢模拟游戏。我原来不喜欢fps，不过玩了战争机器后，感觉很有趣。我有兴趣制作像战争机器之类的游戏。 GS：微软发行了战争机器日版。针对日本市场，你感觉微软这方面做得好吗？ HS：日文版本很好，不过宣传很差。 GS：还是很差？ HS：日本没人知道战争机器。 GS：如果宣传好游戏就会卖得好？ HS：是的。 GS：最近其他游戏有没有给你灵感？ HS：战争机器。 GS：其他游戏呢？ HS：塞尔达。不过我不喜欢Wii体育。 GS：因为Wii体育太简单了？ HS：人设像玩具娃娃。 GS：感谢你接受采访。
Final Fantasy series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi has recently been a key figure in Microsoft's efforts to gain ground in Japan. That market has yet to embrace the Xbox 360, but Sakaguchi's Mistwalker Studios is one of Microsoft's most potent weapons in the battle against Japanese mainstays Sony and Nintendo. Mistwalker's Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey are at the vanguard of Japanese-developed games for the Xbox 360, a crucial area Microsoft must continue to improve in to win more market share in that territory. Mistwalker's Sakaguchi is at the forefront of Microsoft's development efforts in Japan. GameSpot sat down with Sakaguchi-san at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco last week to talk about his company's two projects, Microsoft's support of Japanese developers, and other development-related topics. On translation duties is Hees Kyung, Microsoft's global product manager for both Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey, who also chimed in briefly with specific answers on those products. Sakaguchi answered a number of questions directly in English; those answers are also denoted as such. GameSpot: Thank you for taking the time to talk with us. Let's start with Blue Dragon. The game has been out for a little while now in Japan. Are you personally satisfied with how development turned out? Hironobu Sakaguchi: I was satisfied with the initial goal that we set for Blue Dragon, which was 100,000 units in Japan, but now it's on the road to sell through the 200,000-unit mark. So I'm highly satisfied with the sales, and it has proven to be one of the key platform drivers in the Japanese market. So I feel that our objective has been accomplished. GS: What was the feedback you got from Japanese players? How was the game received? HS: There's a big [Japanese] community Web site called 2channel. It's the biggest online messaging board, a huge community, and BD is often talked about. I often check the threads, the message boards, and the responses have been overwhelmingly great. GS: You're showing the localized English version for the first time here [at GDC]. Aside from the standard voice acting and text changes, are you making any updates to the game for the American market? HS: There's no change. There are actually two songs out of the total five that we're modifying, localizing into English. So those two songs in the game are the only things that we're making any changes to. [in English] And we fixed some bugs. [laughs] Hees Kyung: We also adjusted the difficulty level around the mechat shooting. That was one of the [pieces of] downloadable content in Japan. But we're actually including that as part of the [North American] game. GS: Speaking of downloadable content, do you have plans to release more content after the game comes out in the US? HK: There are plans, and I can speak to that on behalf of Sakaguchi-san. Over the course of five to six months, postlaunch there will be more downloadable content: a set of three [pieces of] downloadable content, the last of which is going to be a dungeon with a lot of randomized patterns. By randomized patterns, I mean each time you enter into the dungeon, you encounter a different environment, a set of new characters, and monsters. So there are eight-plus patterns that have actually been set for the dungeon. So it is a completely new experience, in addition to this great game that we have. Also, when you go to the start screen, you see [a new difficulty level] "impossible." This is for the gamers who have completed the game, know the game backward and forward, and have their character's levels above 50 points. A lot of other bosses and new items appear in this impossible mode. GS: Will we see a playable demo on Xbox Live Marketplace? HS: [in English] Yeah, we are making a playable demo--maybe for June or July. Blue Dragon: Demo this summer, release in August. GS: Moving on to Lost Odyssey, you're showing that game here as well. Can you give us an update on how development is going? What stage are you at? Is it progressing as you'd hoped? HS: It's going very well. The development process is going quite smoothly. In fact, there is a beta version coming out next month. So we're hopeful that we're going to get the game out at the end of the year. And it boasts the great graphical enhancements that come from Unreal Engine 3. GS: Can we expect to see a demo for Lost Odyssey as well? If so, will that be available in both territories? HS: Currently, there is no plan for a demo, which is still to be determined. Our objective is to get the game in the hands of our consumers and really let them see what this game is about. So, in light of that, with that goal, we would like to get trailers out on Marketplace just to enhance the users' understanding of the product. GS: OK. So you've been working on Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon at the same time. Did you find it difficult to change your mind-set between the two? They're obviously visually, stylistically, very different games. HS: It keeps me highly saturated. It keeps me busy, and that's really fulfilling. There's no problem there. GS: What are your thoughts on developing for the Xbox 360? What do you think of the hardware in general? Has it enabled you to do things in terms of game design that you weren't able to do on past consoles? HS: I think that in general it's great hardware and has a great software development environment. Take, for example, the stunning water effect you see in Blue Dragon. That's the result of a collaboration between Artoon, our developer, and Ensemble Studios, the studio behind the Age of Empires series. So working collaboratively with the talented game developers from the Age of Empires series and from many other Xbox 360 teams, I've been able to benefit a lot from the hardware, as well as software, offerings. Mistwalker is working to get Lost Odyssey out in 2007. As soon as I started seeing a lot of beautiful effects with the water, I actually increased the number of ponds and lakes. So there are a lot of watery scenes because it's so graphically stunning. [laughs] GS: What do you think of Microsoft's support of Japanese developers? Do you think that, in terms of its support or its documentation of the system, there's anything Microsoft could be doing to encourage more Japanese teams to work on 360 games? HS: It's very good overall. Support has been outstanding. But the problem is, for example, Epic's Unreal Engine 3. It's developed in English, of course. And unless you've got programmers who can understand English or are bilingual...we've got numerous bilingual staff, programmers who are highly capable of speaking and understanding English, so they can understand the updated information and versions with respect to the development of UE3. But unless you've got programmers who can understand English, they actually can't read the materials. And even though translation takes place, there is a lag. Oftentimes when they read [about] a version, the very version that they read is outdated. So those are some of the challenges associated with the language barrier. That's one area that Microsoft is poor in: documentation. GS: The Xbox 360 is the only console that currently has a really solid integrated online platform. The PlayStation 3 and Wii are certainly less fully featured in that sense. How important do you think the online stuff is for this generation of consoles and also for the games that you want to make? HS: You know, when working at Square, I tried, or in fact, we tried to set up numerous servers and create live environments, but it was very costly, and the operations were very difficult. But Microsoft has solid ground in the online feature aspect. It has got the solid Live servers that developers, including myself, can rely on. So it makes it really easy for me to create games that cater to the audience that likes online connectivity. GS: You mentioned that Blue Dragon has been one of the top sellers on the 360 in Japan, but the system's success in Japan still hasn't come close to what it has reached in the United States. What else do you think that Microsoft and developers have to do to bring the 360 up to that level of success in Japan? HS: [in English] Good marketing. Japanese marketing guys are not so good. Marketing is important, most important. GS: How do you think they could strengthen their marketing in Japan? What are they doing wrong? Is there a different strategy they should pursue? Sakaguchi: don't don't don't. HS: Just to give you an example...the "jump in" statement, right? Jump in...the tagline. Nobody can understand it or knows what "jump in" means. So it has to be localized to cater to the audience in Japan, to get them to understand what that's about. So paying particular attention to [the marketing]--not just bring everything as is over to Japan--it's not going to do any good. You have to really think about the market, market needs and demands, and then really tailor it to that audience. HS: [in English] If you say "jump in" in Japanese. Jump in. It's not so cool in Japanese. GS: It doesn't make sense. HS: [English] Yeah, makes no sense. Microsoft PR rep: "Do, do, do." [the recent Xbox 360 slogan in Japan] HS: [English] "Do, do, do" is not so good either. [laughs] GS: So they need to try harder then. HS: [English] Yeah, it's not so cool. [laughs] GS: With this generation, Sony and Nintendo are doing different things from each other and also from Microsoft. Each has its own strategy this time. What do you think of their individual approaches? Do the things they're doing make you want to develop for either of their systems? HS: [in English] Ah, Kutaragi-san's architecture...seven DSPs and a low-powered CPU. I don't like the PS3's architecture. [in Japanese] First off, with Sony, programmers want to do well and want to create good software, but Kutaragi-san makes the final call and [designs] the [hardware and software] environment himself. So that's been really challenging. Sakaguchi may one day find himself competing against his own former franchise. And with the Wii, the system is not that powerful, and it's not HD. But the fact is that there are not a lot of homes that have HD TVs. So I feel, for example, at my place, the screen I have is not in HD. So when I play the games, both for the Wii and 360, it's hard to tell the difference. But with the Wii, it's relatively cheaper to make. It's less costly. So that's one of the attractive things about the Wii. GS: Both of those companies are using motion sensing in some way. Does that seem like an essential feature for future game development? HS: On the motion-sensor front, I've been intimately involved in creating role-playing games. It's all I've been doing, so when I look at the RPG space, there's not a huge need for motion sensing. So I'm not that interested in that aspect of the technology. But take the 360 controller, for example, which is actually the best one that I've seen, especially the analog. And it's easy to operate, and it's really reactive, unlike the Sixaxis. GS: What do you think about what Square Enix has been doing with the Final Fantasy series since you've left? Because we're seeing more games go multiplatform these days, if it ever came to pass that the Final Fantasy series came to the Xbox 360, how would you feel about competing against it with your own games? HS: [in English] Like Dragon Quest going to the DS. GS: Right. HS: I feel that the Final Fantasy series should come to Xbox 360 as well. This is wise. It makes so much sense to me...it has so much potential in North America and in Europe. So there's a great chance for the series to succeed on 360 as well. [in English] And I heard they made the White Engine open platform as well. [Final Fantasy XIII is being developed on the White Engine; if the engine is indeed cross-platform, an Xbox 360 port would be a simple matter. -ed.] GS: So you wouldn't have any problems competing against a series that you helped create so many years ago? HS: I'm willing to break them into pieces, crush them at my feet. [laughs] GS: Good answer. You've been working on RPGs for so many years. Do you ever get tired of it? Are there other genres that you'd like to explore? What are those genres? HS: I like simulation games. And I wasn't a great fan of first-person shooters...didn't think they were that good. But after playing Gears of War, I loved it and felt really good about playing it. So I'm actually interested in creating something like Gears of War. GS: That's interesting because we've seen the Japanese version of Gears of War with its localized Japanese voice acting and everything. How well do you feel Microsoft brought that game to the Japanese market? America obviously has a great appetite for Japanese games, but perhaps that's not so much the case in the other direction. Do you feel that Microsoft did a good job of localizing and marketing Gears of War for the Japanese market? HS: [in English] Yeah, the localization is good, but the marketing is too bad...too bad. [laughs] GS: Still no good? HS: [English] Nobody knows about Gears of War. Next from Mistwalker: a third-person shooter? GS: [to Microsoft PR] You should be taking notes here. [to Sakaguchi] So they just need to raise awareness then? Do you think the games would sell themselves if people knew about them? If they were better informed? HS: [in English] Yeah, sure, sure. GS: Lastly, what's something in the game industry that has inspired you recently? One thing you saw in game design or development that really made you say "wow" or really impressed you? HS: Gears of War. [laughs] GS: Any others? HS: [English] I like Zelda. I don't like Wii Sports. [laughs] But I do like Zelda. GS: What don't you like about Wii Sports? Is it too simple? HS: The characters are bad. They look like dolls. GS: Fair enough. Thanks again for your time.
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