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Toshihiro Nagoshi谈新作及日本游戏开发的未来

发布时间:2013-10-31 10:52:38 Tags:,,,,

作者:Daniel Robson

在上周的东京游戏展上,最长的队伍出现在《Ryu Ga Gotoku: Isshin》的预告片前,这是大受欢迎的世嘉系列游戏《Yakuza》的派生游戏,并即将问世。为什么玩家愿意排这么久的队伍只为观看一部预告片?如果你对此感到好奇,你便算低估了日本系列游戏的受欢迎程度。

《Isshin》将于明年2月在日本面向PS4发行,同时也会推出PS3版本以及Vita Crossplay等一些形式。游戏的背景设定在明治时期,并将《Yakuza》的Kazuma Kiryu及其密友重新塑造为历史上的武士——有点像是2008年以江户时代为背景的《Yakuza:Kenzan》的后续。

Toshihiro-Nagoshi(from edge-online)

Toshihiro-Nagoshi(from edge-online)

我找到了该系列的创造者,同时也是Yakuza Studio的领导者Toshihiro Nagoshi,希望能够了解更多有关游戏的情况及其是否有翻译成英文的可能性,同时探寻他对于PS4以及日本游戏产业未来走向的看法。

Yakuza游戏提供了一张更大的地图让玩家探索。你们这次重新创造了地图,所以新游戏中的京都有多大?

它会比我们近来的一些游戏中的京都小一些,但却比《Kenzan》中的京都大。同样地,地图本身也许看起来不大,但是建筑物中却有许多房间让玩家可以进入,所以从整体上看来要大上好几倍。

关于面向PS4的发行日期是否给你带来了一些压力?

当然;这是我们首次创造面向该平台发行的游戏。所以整个团队都在担心是否需要更多时间。但是我们已经面向PS2和PS3创造了Yakuza的一些游戏,并吸引了许多新粉丝的注意,所以致力于PlayStation版本的游戏创造给我们留下了很好的回忆。幸亏有PlayStation的粉丝我们才能走向PS4,即使这也意味着一定的压力。

Yakuza-Isshin-art(from edge-online)

Yakuza-Isshin-art(from edge-online)

《Yakuza 1 HD》和《Yakuza 2 HD》是面向Wii U而发行的;现在你是否有兴趣将该系列带向不同平台?

PlayStation拥有许多用户,所以我们知道用户就在那里。基于HD版本,我们是先面向PS2创造了游戏,之后才出现HD版本,所以我们能够很轻松地将其移植到Wii U,但是要想移植一款全新游戏则有点困难。我对Wii U格式很感兴趣,并好奇多少Wii U用户会对《Yakuza》系列感兴趣,而找到这一答案的唯一方法便是尝试着发行一些内容。这便是一次实验。但销量似乎不是很好。

为什么你们要选择同时在PS4和PS3上发行游戏?

我们已经决心创造一款PS4游戏了,但是在考虑用户时我想到,虽然PS4比之前使用的硬件便宜,但从总体看来也还是很贵,所以我决定通过同时发行PS3版本将粉丝带向这里。这也是为何我们要选择在同一天发行两个版本的主要原因。

游戏将如何与Vita连接在一起?

我们将发行一个能够与Crossplay一起发挥作用的Vita版本,但是我们却还未决定业务模式,就像是要做成免费下载还是其它模式。而现在我们可以证实游戏已经准备好正式发行了,并且能够同时兼容《Yakuza:Isshin》的PS3和PS4版本。不过我们也仍在担心相关细节。

考虑到Wii U销量不佳以及日本手持设备的普及,你是否认为日本下一代的PlayStation和Xbox主机还会有市场?

的确,近来的手持设备卖得越来越好。但是过去人们一直在说面向PS3和360创造游戏的前景会越来越惨淡,而现在我们仍然面对着PS4以及即将问世的新版本。我认为这将是一个决定性的循环。不管是否会有PlayStation 5或新的Xbox,我们都会找到这里。其次,我认为未来的事应该由未来去决定。

手机和手持设备将继续改变着,这也将对我们带来影响。就像音乐下载取代了磁带并淘汰了立体音响系统那样,游戏主机在未来的某一天也有可能彻底消失。

Yakuza-Isshin-2(from edge-online)

Yakuza-Isshin-2(from edge-online)

你是否想要创造一款智能手机游戏或浏览器游戏?

是的,我有这么想过。毕竟这些平台拥有最大的安装基础。但是每个设备都拥有不同的规格,所以面向它们开发游戏简直就是一场噩梦。如果主机能够拥有一个标准规格的话,我们的创造便会方便许多。

作为一款免费游戏,《智龙迷城》在日本赚取了巨大的利益。你是否也想尝试类似的内容?

是的,这真的很诱人。但是免费游戏的势头却很少超过2年。虽然现在它们每个月能够赚取较大的收益,但是在18月内或2年内它们便会逐渐被人们所忽视。而如果你能在主机上创造一些真正优秀的内容,它便有可能持续10年甚至是20年,但免费游戏即使再优秀也很难持续2年以上的时间。GungHo可能已经知道了这一点,并一直尝试着去避免这种情况的出现——也许这也是为何他们会推出3DS版的《智龙迷城》的主要原因。我期待着他们会取得不一样的变化。

基于该游戏,GungHo准确地瞄准了休闲游戏市场。当然,任天堂基于最初的Wii在市场定位方面取得了巨大的成功,但是他们却未将这种成功带向Wii U。如果你将面向智能手机创造免费的Yakuza游戏,你将如何平衡硬核玩家与休闲玩家?

我知道如何运行一款在线游戏,但是却不懂得如何面对免费游戏。从根本上来看,我认为选取一个IP并尝试许多不同的业务模式便非常棒,但却有许多元素不能组合在一起,要知道强扭的瓜并不会甜。我不认为《Yakuza》或《侠盗猎车手》必须变成免费游戏;这些类型的游戏应该基于完整的包装进行销售。可下载内容是不错,但是免费模式并不适合这些内容。

你是否计划面向西方市场对《Yakuza 5》执行本土化策略?

我们暂时还没有这一计划。Yakuza Studio团队是基于一个既定规模,我们必须在继续创造下一款游戏与本土化已经发行的游戏间做出选择。这一游戏规模相对较大,所以比起本土化这款游戏,我们最终选择专注于创造新游戏。但是我们也为此接收到了许多咨询与抱怨。

Yakuza-5(from edge-online)

Yakuza-5(from edge-online)

当你们在对《Yakuza 4》进行本土化时,你们删除了Answer X Answer流行智力迷你游戏,因为你觉得西方玩家不会知道问题的答案。而因为《Isshin》是以日本历史为背景,所以你们是否会为游戏的本土化而伤脑筋?

说实话,即使是许多日本人也不是很清楚这些历史内容。但这与我们看到一款基于古罗马背景时的想法是一样的。只要你能够通过人类戏剧,服装或和服等元素进行传达便足够了。不管是在日本还是海外市场,我都不担心这一问题。

所以在某一天《Isshin》也会实施本土化策略?

如果我们拥有足够的人力与费用的话,我真的想把游戏推向全世界。

你们是否会继续推出《Yakuza 6》?

现在我们的注意力全放在《Isshin》身上,而在这之后的话……如今日本的经济处于萧条状态,即使2020年的奥运会将再次来到这里,但是我们却不能准确地说出经济何时才能真正复苏,所以拥有一系列能够在这种艰难条件下持续运行的游戏让我倍感庆幸。所以只要有机会,我便会继续推出接下来的游戏。而到时我们所面临的问题便会是如何发展接下来的游戏。我们最大的竞争对手将会是自己的《Yakuza 5》,即拥有较大的规模与较高的质量,所以我们需要想办法做得更好并能够继续带给玩家惊喜,而做到这点真的非常困难!

说到奥运会,Yakuza肯定会为迎接2020年的到来构建各种合作关系。也许这将成为推动Yakuza游戏发展的基础。

我还不能回答这一问题(笑)。但是我希望奥运想能够帮助日本吸引来自世界更多的关注。

Yakuza-Isshin-3(from edge-online)

Yakuza-Isshin-3(from edge-online)

你认为西方玩家会喜欢《Yakuza》系列的哪些元素?

我认为他们总是希望能够体验一些全新内容。西方玩家本来就对日本蛮感兴趣的;游戏拥有一些本质的融合,所以不管是对于日本本土玩家还是外国玩家来说,这种融合都具有一定的吸引力。这并不是关于他们喜欢内容,战斗系统还是剧情表演;而是陌生的街道节日氛围感染了他们。

Yakuza的游戏中经常会出现一些日本名人。你是否也会将一些西方名人,如Kiefer Sutherland 或Ellen Page带到游戏中?

我们可能会邀请西方名人进行游戏配音,但是他们的身价实在太昂贵了!日本名人会相对便宜些!

本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译,拒绝任何不保留版权的转载,如需转载请联系:游戏邦

Toshihiro Nagoshi on the new Yakuza game and the future of Japanese game development

By Daniel Robson

One of the longest lines at last weekend’s Tokyo Game Show was for a special trailer for Ryu Ga Gotoku: Isshin, the forthcoming spin-off from the popular Sega series known in the West as Yakuza. Why would gamers line up so long just to watch a trailer? If you have to ask, you may be underestimating the immense popularity of the series in Japan.

Isshin will be a launch title on PS4 in Japan in February, with a PS3 version released on the same date and Vita Crossplay of some form too. The game is set in the Meiji Era, Japan’s great restoration, and re-casts Yakuza’s Kazuma Kiryu and chums as famous historical samurai – sort of a loose follow-up to 2008’s Edo Era-set Yakuza: Kenzan.

I caught up with series creator and Yakuza Studio head Toshihiro Nagoshi to find out more about the game and its chances of a localised release in English, as well as his thoughts on PS4 and where the Japanese game industry is headed.

The Yakuza games offer an ever-larger map to explore. How big will historical Kyoto be this time, since you’re making the map from scratch?

It will be a bit smaller than our recent games, but a lot bigger than the Kyoto in Kenzan. Also, the map itself might not seem large but there will be a lot of rooms inside the buildings that you can enter, so the total will still be many times bigger.

Does being tied to the PS4 launch date put some pressure on you?

Yes, for sure; it’s our first time to make a launch title. The team were worried that we’d need more time. But we’ve made Yakuza games on PS2 and PS3, and in that time we’ve attracted many new fans, so we have fond memories of working on PlayStation formats. We feel like we owe it to PlayStation fans to be there at the start of PS4, even if it means a bit of pressure.

Yakuza 1&2 HD came out for Wii U; were you not tempted to take the series multiplatform from now on?

The PlayStation format has a lot of users, so we knew that our audience is there. With the HD versions, we had already made the game once for PS2 and then in HD, so it was quite easy to port it to Wii U, whereas [porting] a whole new title is a bit tricky. I was interested in the Wii U format and curious about how many Wii U users would be interested in the Yakuza series, and the only way to find that out was to try releasing something. It was an experiment. But the sales weren’t great.

Why are you releasing the game simultaneously on PS4 and PS3?

We had committed to making a PS4 launch title, but when I thought about the users – well, the PS4 is cheaper than hardware used to be, but it’s still not cheap, so I decided we’d be letting our fans down if we didn’t also release a PS3 version. That’s why we’re making both versions available on the same day.

How will the game connect with Vita?

We will release a Vita version that will work with Crossplay, but we haven’t decided the business model yet, like whether it will be a free download or not. For now, we can only confirm that it will be available at launch and compatible with both the PS3 and PS4 versions of Yakuza: Isshin. We’re still worrying about the details…

Considering the poor sales of Wii U and the popularity in Japan of handhelds, do you think there is an audience for next-gen PlayStation and Xbox consoles in Japan?

It’s true that handhelds sell better these days. But people were saying that things would be difficult for the PS3 and the 360, and yet now here we are with the PS4 and the One coming out. I think this will be the deciding round. This is where we’ll find out whether there will ever be a PlayStation 5 or an Xbox, uh, Two. I think the future will be decided this generation.

The mobile and handheld business will continue to change too, and that will certainly influence us. Just as how music downloads replaced cassettes and made stereo systems obsolete, it’s entirely possible that game consoles will disappear.

Would you like to make a smartphone game or a browser game?

Yes, I would. That’s the biggest install base, after all. But each device has different spec, so it’s a nightmare to develop for those. Having consoles that have a standard spec is convenient for us.

Puzzle & Dragons is making ridiculous money in Japan as a free-to-play title. Are you tempted to try something like that?

Yeah, that’s amazing. But [free to play] games rarely sustain that momentum for more than two years. It’s bringing in lots of money every month now, but it’ll be down to a trickle in 18 months and over in two years. On a console, if you make something good it can last 10 years or 20, but even the best free to play games don’t outlast two years. GungHo probably knows that, and is trying to avoid it – maybe that’s why it’s releasing a 3DS version of Puzzle & Dragons. I’m interested to see how that goes.

GungHo is targeting the casual market very precisely with that game. And of course Nintendo had great success targeting that market with the original Wii, but it didn’t translate to success with Wii U. If you were going to make a free-to-play Yakuza game for smartphones, how would you find that balance between the core fans and casual gamers?

I do have an idea for how it could work as an online game, but not as a free-to-play game. In principal I think it’s good to take an IP and try lots of different business models, but there are some things that just don’t fit together, and there’s no point in trying to force it. I don’t think it’s necessary for Yakuza or GTA to become free-to-play; these sort of games should be sold as a complete package. DLC is fine, but a free-to-play model just doesn’t seem right.

Do you plan to eventually localise Yakuza 5 for the West?

We don’t have a plan for that at the moment. The Yakuza Studio team is a fixed size, and we have to choose between forging ahead with the next game or localising the one that just came out. This time the size of the game was so large, so rather than localising that game we chose to focus our manpower on the new game. But we get asked about it a lot. We get lots of complaints!

When you localised Yakuza 4, you removed the Answer X Answer pop-culture quiz mini-game because you felt Westerners wouldn’t know the answers. Since Isshin has a historical setting, won’t that be even harder to localise?

Well, even many Japanese people might not know the history. But we understand when we see a game set in Ancient Rome, you know? So long as you reach them with the human drama, suits or kimono, it doesn’t matter. Japan or overseas, I’m not worried about that.

So Isshin could possibly be localised someday?

I’d definitely love to reach the whole world, haha, if we have the manpower and the money to do it.

Will the numbered series continue with a Yakuza 6?

Right now we’re focusing on Isshin, and then after that… Japan is in a recession, and even with the Olympics coming up we don’t know when it will recover, so to have a series that can continue even in such tough conditions is something that makes me very grateful. So if there’s a chance, I’d like to do it. The question is how to grow with the next game. Our biggest rival will be Yakuza 5, which has so much volume and quality, so we’d need to be able to do something even better and that can still surprise people, which will be really hard!

Speaking of the Olympics, the yakuza are bound to land some juicy construction contracts in the run-up to 2020. Maybe that could be the basis for a Yakuza game.

I can’t answer that, haha. But I do hope the Olympics will be a chance for Japan to attract the world’s attention.

What do you think it is that Westerners like about the Yakuza series?

I think they’re the kind of enthusiasts who like to experience something new. I don’t think it’s necessarily because they’re interested in Japan; the games have such a mix of essences, even to a Japanese player, and I think it’s that mix that appeals to people overseas. It’s not that they like the content or the battle system or the drama; it’s the mixed-up street-festival atmosphere that grabs them.

The Yakuza games often have Japanese celebrities make guest appearances. Would you ever include a Western celebrity, like Kiefer Sutherland or Ellen Page?

Well, we could use a Westerner celebrity as a voice actor, but they’re so expensive! Japanese celebrities are much cheaper!(source:edge-online)


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