What does SEGA’s Yakuza team think about the Playstation 4?

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Japanese developers weigh in their thoughts and concerns about the upcoming Playstation 4. The interviews were part of an article for the Japanese magazine Famitsu. In the interview both Yakuza team members Toshihiro Nagoshi and Masayoshi Yokoyama gave their thoughts about the Playstation 4. To read what they said, hit the jump.

 

 Toshihiro Nagoshi

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“I genuinely felt that the specs, namely the high image quality, that enable the development of high quality products, are amazing. I’ve been in this field for 23 years, and back in the past, the current specs would have been considered a fantasy. But at the same time, there are a lot of hurdles that need to be overcome to expand that fantasy to its limit, so there is a certain tenseness that keeps me from simply being overjoyed. I’m also aware that users want to see that fantasy taken to the limit.

“To sum it up in a single phrase, it’d be ‘a great emotional experience shared by many people.’”

I’m looking forward to the functions and services that stimulate the ‘user community’ and share game enjoyment. The ‘online’ component of games has been a standard for a while now, but I’m looking forward to services that utilize that component to dynamically cultivate user connectivity.

To sum it up in a single phrase, it’d be ‘a great emotional experience shared by many people.’ It used to be the norm in all areas that the bigger the numbers, the worse it looks, and the better it looks, the smaller the numbers—the question now will be how to escape that dilemma? I’m going to give it my best.” Toshihiro Nagoshi, SEGA Chief Communications Officer. 

Masayoshi Yokoyama

Yama

“Personally, I was expecting a Sony group home appliance substation sort of expansion, so it felt like an evolution of ‘gaming hardware’ in a good way. There are a lot of features that tickle my creative fancy as a game developer, so I’m quite excited.

“I believe we’ve truly entered the new age of ‘bi-directional media.’”

My primary interest is the controller. I believe the controller is a user’s biggest direct interface with [a console’s] ‘quality.’ With previous game consoles that were released, after a time, what you tend to think of is the tactile sensation of the controller in your hands and the feeling of gameplay. That feeling is stored in your brain along with the memories of fun games. The new controller has the most appealing form and specs I’ve seen since the original PlayStation, so I’m very excited about it.

Looking at the new functions, I believe we’ve truly entered the new age of ‘bi-directional media.’ In Japan, TV and other ‘passive’ media are still the majority, but with the emergence of the PS4, I think the possibility of new genres like a change from ‘viewed’ to ‘movable’ TV would be interesting. I’m thinking of such possibilities.”– Masayoshi Yokoyama, SEGA Section Manager

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4 responses to “What does SEGA’s Yakuza team think about the Playstation 4?

  1. Trippled says:

    Social this, Social that

    frikkin lame…

  2. Zeek says:

    I just hope that as digital distribution continues to progress, publisher like Sega will find affordable ways to bring more niche games to the western market via PSN. I really would like to be able to play Yakuza on PS4.

    • latereplier says:

      Except Yakuza games often weigh 20+ gigs, have fun downloading that. I know it supports partial download and playing half-downloaded games, but still.

      Wouldn’t you prefer to have a boxed version?
      I mean, in case of PSN failure or your account getting hacked, you’ll have a copy of the game. In case of your PS4’s hard drive failure or something, you’ll have a copy of the game – no need to download again. No fear of lost money or whatever.

      Boxed releases cost more, both publisher and customer, yes, but they give you *something* substantial.

    • Nagoshi'sAniki says:

      Your “lost money” argument is bogus. IF your hard drive fails, you CAN re-download your game again, for free. Plus, it stays with you forever — while a disc can
      fail, get scratched and fail in far easier and more irreparably ways than a hard drive. A 20 gig download is quicker than shipping a boxed disc, so yes, I shall have more fun downloading that. The only real difference apart from the beneficial ones I mentioned is that you can’t sell your game digitally, so if that is your real objective go ahead. I don’t buy to sell however, and I like the security of a digital download – the tangible sense of having something that is tied to me, regardless of any technological failures. Have you ever downloaded a single game before, relic of 1995? Also, if this helps Sega reduce costs and make the game available to Western audiences, why would you be against this? Stop being so frickin greedy.

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