MIGS: Day 1, 8:30am: Fostering Cultural Diversity and Stuff

MIGS took place Nov. 16 - 17, 2009.
Jim McGinley gives you all filler and more filler.
Previous Entry - 7:40am

Day 1 - 8:30am - Keynote 1
Fostering Cultural Diversity in Game Development
Yoichi Wada

Headset translation working.
Translator sounds like the robot in Portal.
Female. Dispassionate. Calm. Sexy.
But who translated Yoichi's slides?
Bigger question, why am I helping Valve sell more copies of Portal?

10 years older than me...
Looks younger than me...
Girls going to go crazy for this sharp dressed man.
What doesn't he have? This blog.

First slide lists his credentials to prove that,
while he's not involved directly in making games, he
"has a fundamental knowledge of the industry".
Impressive. If I was president of Square Enix,
I would have started with a simple "wazzup bitches."
Think Obama's with me.

Whenever Yoichi requires a new slide,
he issues a quiet-yet-stern "next please",
completely devoid of expression.
It's the only english he speaks.
You dare not disobey that tone.

The goal of Square Enix is
"to spread happiness across the globe by providing unforgettable experiences."
Notice the word game isn't included?
Square doesn't want to limit themselves since the world is growing further.
Sounds suspiciously like the King of All Cosmos.

next please
Slide shows a breakdown of different Square revenue sources.
A substantial amount comes from ARCADES.
Somewhere in Hell, Funland is puzzled.

We're covering 4 topics today.
They represent opportunities, and threats.

But not online... "I don't dare mention online."
Online is "too important" to be included.
Ominous.

next please
Female translator replaced by man with slight japanese accent.
Was she fired? I miss her.
I felt we shared a connection.
I'll find you... and save you... princess.

1. IP

Square's all about their own IP.
Recall they needs it to spread happiness beyond games.
He lists the usual suspects, AND includes Arkanoid and Space Invaders!
Subsumed Taito shown the mad respect. Word.

Looking around, I may be the oldest person attending MIGs.
These young'ns probably think Arkanoid and Breakout are the same.
Idiots.

2. Globalization

It's not about making games that target geography.
There is no land called "global"
(hats off to the translator).
Instead, create games that target user's lifestyles.

next please
She's back!
Accent free, robotic, enunciating every syllable clearly.
It doesn't sound like she was beaten.
Perhaps it's a tag team approach?
She's Hulk Hogan, he's the Ultimate Warrior. They're fighting english.

3. "Form" of Game

There has been a "cambrian explosion" of game formats.
"new formats mean more diversification mean more monetization"
If explosion goes too far, "user can't imagine what a game is supposed to be".
Japanese image of games is incorrect, "sit in front of TV to complete" is detrimental.
Need 1 or 2 formats so we can explain to users what gaming now is.

The president of the largest Japanese timesink maker in the world
basically said the Japanese aren't interested in that type of game anymore.
Not only will Square be adapting as a result,
but they want to educate their audience about new possibilities.
I just found General Motor's savior.

next please
4. Community

Value has been shifting from hardware to code to data to community.
Don't fully understand that, but it sounds dangerous and radical.
"if data comes from users, it can't be pirated"
"what's important is data saved by the customers, data important to them."
"relationships between friends can't be replaced."
"the value lies in what's indispensable - people."

I believe he's talking about PC's WOW, PS3's LBP and Facebook's Restaurant City.
If I was 100% sure, I'd be running Square Enix,
and making fun of people that wrote blogs about me.


Q & A

Thankyou for your presentation... it was very insightful.
(question buried somewhere beneath the praise)

Yoichi's response included some impressive hand gestures, second only to David Sirlin.
At one point his left hand orbited a planet created by his right fist.
"Does that answer your question? I hope it does."


Games as a commodity or games as a service?

Need to propose a new format that doesn't currently exist.
It must appeal to busy people. Maybe you have an idea you could propose?


How do you change the linear narrative to expand the audience?

"We've not been able to do a good job yet."
FFXI achieved this. However, while you can live in that world,
it's still not a user led story.
New blood is the solution.
Need to find someone completely different and isolate them.
"if they get immersed in linear RPG - they get contaminated"
"That's one of the reasons we bought Eidos, bitches."


Something about Dragon Quest on the Nintendo DS.

"Can't make money on the DS - it's unfortunately Nintendo's policy."
"WiFi is free of charge, unfortunately for us."
"People good at DQ communication probably not good at communication in real life."


Hogan makes the TAG!!! The Warrior is IN!!!

At what point is a franchise exhausted?

Customer gets tired of diversification, but there's "no exhaustion of Mickey Mouse."
What's important is the view of the world and backstory.
The surface might get exhausted, but the focus must be on the world.

If I was in charge, I would have unleashed the ladies (my fists) on smart guy's face.
Wait... maybe I SHOULD be running Square?


Business drive versus Creative drive?
(Asker might be douchebag)

Creative? Profitable? It's polarized, but this polarization doesn't happen Day 1.
People pay for interesting.
We should not give up on something for the sales of it.
Why not try coming up with something creative AND interesting.
Creativity is allowed/needed. Drives costs up, keeps my salary low.


I loved you in "Yoichi's Island"