Toshihiro Nagoshi

Toshihiro Nagoshi talks Relic purchase, next generation and future of SEGA

by

download
If you guys didn’t know, Toshihiro Nagoshi, a developer known for games like Yakuza and Binary Domain was promoted to chief creative officer over at SEGA last year. Now he speaks up on next generation systems, Relic purchase and the future of SEGA games. The Relic buyout was due to SEGA wanting to make games locally, I assume the drama with Gearbox Software has something to do with this decision?

“[The purchase] is based around our objective of getting products locally developed by local studios, but it’s also due to the heavy-hitting RTS titles Relic has. Sega already has The Creative Assembly, which is great at making RTS’, and so we’re becoming one of the best in the world at this genre now. So this purchase was part of our strategy for tackling this genre as well. It’s a well-established one, especially overseas, and having this wealth of experience under our belts makes me really look forward to seeing how the chemistry between the two studios works out. If we have the opportunity to make further purchases that emphasize high creativity, I think you’ll see us aiming for that.” – Toshihiro Nagoshi, Chief Creative Officer at SEGA Japan

He also talked about SEGA’s image, something many readers and even some writers accuse of SEGA of losing.

“I want to think about things from ground zero one more time. That’s tough for our younger staff, but it’s also fun and exciting. That’s what you want the Sega logo to represent: things that seem crazy at first, but really surprise you when they take form. Even if people say ‘Oh, now they’ve done it’ at us sometimes, I don’t want to do away with the expectations that people have had for us since way back. It wouldn’t seem right if Sega acted all firm and conservative, would it? I think I’d like to keep that.”

Read more about next generation and costs of making games over at Polygon.

7 Comments

Nagoshi discusses the next Yakuza title – promises a more physical experience

by

iloveyou

Yakuza series producer and SEGA of Japan CCO Toshihiro Nagoshi discussed the next Yakuza title this weeks issue in Dengeki PlayStation magazine. According to Nagoshi, the development team will be taking a programmatic approach with the next title, meaning players can have a more physical experience. The game’s battle system is said to see new innovations, and in general the plan to broaden gameplay. The next Yakuza game will most likely not be seen on the Playstation 3, as Nagoshi believes that Yakuza 5 will be the last entry for the series on the current Sony console. Given the interview taking place in a Playstation magazine, the next game will probably end up on Sony’s next gen console. Nagoshi hopes to show something related to the new game this year.

Thanks to SEGAbits forum member Aki-at for the tip!

8 Comments

Taiko Drum Master to be a playable arcade unit in Yakuza 5

by

SEGA loves adding real world brand collaborations in the Yakuza series. This time around SEGA is collaborating with Namco Bandai to have their game Taiko Drum Master appear as a playable arcade unit in Yakuza 5.

The arcade unit will allow you to select from a handful of songs, including Mappy Ondo, Nijiiro Yumeiro and Shinsekai Yori. This was announced on this week’s Famitsu as a part of looking back at ten years of Taiko Drum Master. The issue also included a picture of our tan hero Toshihiro Nagoshi playing a Taiko arcade unit. So rare.

3 Comments

Yakuza creator talks about the future of console gaming

by

Toshihiro Nagoshi or better known as the man with an awesome tan, who has helped create games like Super Monkey Ball and Yakuza, was part of a recent article by Famitsu called “Future of Games”. Nagoshi says that the Japanese console game market has had bad growth and that the international market has been showing signs of a drop. He says that developers will have to combat this by being more aware of problems with their games and come up with solutions.

Continue Reading ➜

3 Comments

Toshihiro Nagoshi is headed to E3

by

SEGA’s Chief Creative Officer and head of Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio’s Toshihiro Nagoshi is headed for E3 as he is set to leave Japan for a week. In a blog post today he said that E3 is the time when game industry people all leave Japan for a week. He will be taking the late night flight out of Haneda. Not one to come off as being lazy, Nagoshi is already started to get worried about the work he will leave building up in his office once he returns to Japan. Wither he is there on official business or just enjoying E3 is not known, but the Yakuza fan in me hopes that Yakuza 5 would be announced for Western release. Unlikely but hey, it’s nice to dream from time to time.

1 Comment

Swingin’ Report Show #29: Crossover Mayhem

by

 

A new week and a new episode of the Swingin’ Report Show. This week George, Sharky and Barry the Nomad talk about Akria Yuki in Dead or Alive 5, salvia and much more. So sit back, enjoy the ride. We have also fixed our RSS feed, you can follow the new one below. We are also submitting the new RSS to iTunes, you shouldn’t have to do anything if you are already subscribed. Hit the jump for the show notes.

[Download] [Archive] [RSS] [iTunes]

Continue Reading ➜

11 Comments

Toshihiro Nagoshi Becomes Sega’s Chief Creative Officer on April 1st – No Foolin’!

by

Starting April 1st, theres a new CCO in town: Toshihiro Nagoshi. SEGA Sammy has announced that starting in April a bit of corporate reshuffling will go into effect, due to the retirement of some of SEGA’s higher ups. Naoya Tsurumi takes over the President and Chief Operating Officer role from the retiring Okitane Usu. Toshihiro Nagoshi, creator of Yakuza and producer of the recently released Binary Domain, will fill a newly formed Chief Creative Officer position. All I can say is that this is some great news! I know nothing about Naoya Tsurumi, but Nagoshi in a CCO role? Very cool. Always a good thing to see a talented person in a high level creative position. Check out the full report here in PDF form.

6 Comments

Binary Domain Interview With Toshihiro Nagoshi

by

With Binary Domain set to be released next week, SEGAbits was given an exclusive interview with one of SEGA’s finest developers, Toshihiro Nagoshi. Having joined SEGA in the late 1980s with a degree in media, Nagoshi has been involved in several high profile games for SEGA early in his career, from working on Virtua Racing to having worked on the biggest arcade game in the industry, Daytona USA. Moving up the ranks, Nagoshi soon found himself leaving his job at AM2 to head up Amusement Vision in the late 90s during the Dreamcast era. There his teams made two of SEGA’s most well loved series in the modern era, Super Monkey Ball and Yakuza.

Now heading the newly formed Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, we get a chance to talk to Nagoshi after the release of his new studio’s first title, Binary Domain.

Continue Reading ➜

11 Comments

Toshihiro Nagoshi stars in Black Panther 2 ad, tells all men to play his game

by

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=327MNKMQyEI
Toshihiro Nagoshi always said that the Black Panther PSP games was about aggression and being a man. He has decided to use the same idea for the sequel, Black Panther 2: Yakuza Asura Chapter. Who better to tell the men at home to play the new Black Panther than the most manliest man Nagoshi knows? That’s right, himself.

No Comments

SEGA gives Nagoshi a truck to advertise Binary Domain & Black Panther 2

by

SEGA has already marketed his game with a hummer, so it seems the next logical step would be a truck! That is right, Toshihiro Nagoshi and the Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio are going to get their own truck to help promote their latest two titles, Binary Domain and Black Panther 2 in Japan. The truck will house demos of both particular titles mentioned. With it, players lucky enough to get a ride in the Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio track will not only play the game, but get to meet Toshihiro Nagoshi himself! Click on the link below to Andriasang to check how many people turned up to the original signings for Yakuza 1 in 2005 and another image of SEGA’s newest marketing tool. Perhaps next time they’ll happen to use a bus.

[Thanks to SEGA Portuguese for the tip! Andriasang ]

4 Comments

Toshihiro Nagoshi Teases ‘Project-A’

by

Not satisfied with already having three in development (Binary Domain, Yakuza Black Panther 2 and the recently announced Yakuza 5) Toshihio Nagoshi and the newly formed Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio is teasing yet another game in the works. The new game tentatively titled ‘Project-A’ has a teaser site HERE. The teaser site has very little information on it beyond Nagoshi’s big angry face looming over you like a sex criminal. It does however credit the concept of the game to Nagoshi himself and also says that the game will be announced world wide in four days time.

Could it be Yakuza 5? Could it be a brand new IP? Check back in 4 days to find out!

[Thanks Pao]

3 Comments

Nagoshi shares some new details about Yakuza 5

by

Nagoshi had  another live event, one which he likes to call “”Nagonama”. This time around he answered some personal questions, along with giving a few new details about the upcoming Yakuza 5.

  • Yakuza 5 will take place in Kamurocho, but there will also be a second city added to the mix. Right now they are considering Sapporo, Nagoya, Osaka, and Fukuoka.
  • Nagoshi refused to confirm if the game will have multi-heroes or single hero.
  • No idea if there will be hostess additions for this game like the past couple installments.
  • Nagoshi says it’s unthinkable  having a Yakuza game without Kazuma. He says he is like the Mario character of the series.
  • Nagoshi has stated he wants to make a prequel, like “chapter zero” detailing the past of the Tojo Clan.
As for personal questions, he has stated his favorite vegetable is tomatoes, his favorite candy is gummy and he sleeps with his cat (like actual sleeping, no perverted stuff). Also he says that he used to play in a band in college and is pretty confident in his singing voice. Sounds good. 
[Source: AndriaSang]

4 Comments

Nagoshi reveals why Yakuza is Playstation exclusive

by

SEGA’s action adventure series Yakuza has never moved from the Sony platforms and it does not seem like that will be changning anytime soon. Speaking to Eurogamer, Nagoshi revealed recently why Yakuza is exclusive solely to Sony platforms;

“At the beginning of the project we spoke to all the platform holders including Sony and Microsoft,” he said, “Every platform holder was negative about this prospect, but we kept on pushing because we believed in the potential, and as we kept going one platform holder that showed interest and saw the prospects of this title was Sony.”

“That’s how we started working with them, and that’s probably not going to change.”

Nagoshi also revealed that Yakuza of the End is the end of one particular era of Yakuza games, saying that as the series started as a Playstation 2 game, some design aspects were not changed when they moved to the Playstation 3.

“The basic style and mechanics is really an old game that started on PS2 and continued on PS3,” Nagoshi said, “Times keep changing, and if we started on some new games they would be in a very different shape – so the last game was the end of one particular era.”

[Source: Eurogamer]

7 Comments

Binary Domain – Weapons Trailer

by

Yet another trailer for Binary Domain, the new IP from Toshihiro Nagoshi (of Yakuza fame). This trailer highlights some of the weapons you will be armed with to take down those pesky robots! The trailer doesn’t really show off any unique weapons; indeed, most of them are a shoe-in in pretty much every shooter going. However the way they are used and the enemies they are used on looks far more exciting and really made the trailer quite awesome to behold.

I’m excited about Binary Domain, I think they should make a bigger deal of the ‘trust system’ they have in the game because that’s one of the things that really sets this one apart from the other 3rd person shooters out there!

[Special thanks Suzuki Yu]

No Comments