Source: JOYSTIQ
Japan Studios has had little impact on the PlayStation software library this generation. The platform's greatest hits so far have, instead, come from America and Europe. Titles like Uncharted, Killzone, LittleBigPlanet, Ratchet & Clank, Resistance, God of War, and WipEout all come from various studios at SCEA and SCEE. But what has Japan Studio created thus far? Siren, Trash Panic, and The Eye of Judgment -- noteworthy games perhaps, but hardly a collection of system-selling blockbusters.
Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida explained to Gamasutra that "their focus was shifted onto the PSP, which reflects the success of the PSP as a platform in Japan ... It's completely opposite of the way how US and European teams moved onto working on the PS3 and we see the fruits of those efforts, while Japan studios shifted their focus onto the PSP." Of course, handheld owners have much to be thankful for: system-defining hits like Patapon and LocoRoco were created out of Japan Studio's dedication to the platform.
However, the next year (and beyond) should be very different for Sony's Japanese developers. With The Last Guardian and Gran Turismo 5 coming from Sony's other Japanese studios, the pressure is on for other developers to follow suit. "We are now re-energizing teams and coming up with new ideas for PS3 development," Yoshida said. "We'll be able to show fruits of this work sometime next year."
If you guys are interested you can read the whole interview here.
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/4179/sonys_software_strategy_shuhei_.php?page=1
You didn't show the motion controller at Tokyo Game Show. There was a bit of reworked Resident Evil 5 and LittleBigPlanet shown for the Japanese press, but that was it. We expected more. Are games not yet in an advanced enough state to be shown to the public?
Shuhei Yoshida: We showed demos of a few games -- so at least we kept our promise of showing live demos of games supporting the motion controller. But we decided not to have them on show floor. For one thing, it takes a lot of space to set up these kinds of things, you need more schooled staff, proper lighting and such things.
We are also still working on the motion controller; it's not complete. We are making changes to the hardware, so we really want to wait until we feel confident enough about giving the audience a chance to try it out. We are making progress, though, and we wanted to show at least snippets of games in that are in development.
How disappointed are you that Gran Turismo 5 is not out this Christmas?
SY: (Laughs) I'm not really disappointed. March is a great date, and my job is to let the developer make the best game possible. Of course we want to bring the game out as early as we can, but we also want it to be the best it can be.
Can you reveal the status of the Cambridge studio?
SY: They are developing LittleBigPlanet for the PSP, but they are also working on a new product that we haven't announced yet.
