Gracias al medio japonés Gamer y a ZhugeEX por la notificación; he traducido una noticia interesante sobre la industria del videojuego en Japón y Akihiro Hino CEO de Level-5.

It’s about Hino, and some trends in the japanese game industry.

– Okamura was presented as the new chairman of CESA.
– According to Okamura, the number of smartphone titles on TGS have increased year on year, and is about 40% of the total of the games exhibited. However, the number of home console games haven’t necessarily decreased.
– It has been shown an increase of western developers.
– Okamura highlighted the presence of japanese developers overseas. Japanese influence has been decreasing since 2005 when half of Top 50 in NA were from Japan. For the year 2014, only about 20% were japanese developments.
– Japanese media content was described as a “content with a hidden potential”, and mentioned the broadcast in Italy of “Lupin III”, the movie “STAND BY ME Doraemon”, and the World Tour held by Hatsune Miku as examples.

After that is about Hino and its creativity powers. Some descriptions of Layton, Inazuma and Yokai. Maybe with more time I could continue.

Continuing with the translation, the next headline says: The Secret of the Two Faces of Hino: Creativity and Management. (Lol, it’s a joke)

– Hino, who has created a variety of hit content, said the reason is “not a pure management, but a mix of creativity and management”. The relationship between the management and the creative team’s point of view is the most valuable strenght of Level-5.

– In fact, Hino has experienced almost all occupations of game development.

– About Layton:
– The development of “Professor Layton” started in the time of “Brain Training” boom.
– He wanted to make a high-quality game.
– Development and production costs were about 150 million yen and advertising expenses were about 230 million, being the most important project for the company.
– Although now has become very common having voices recorded in a videogame, at that time wasn’t at all. However, Hino hired voice actors for the game. Even though it was a high cost move, Hino adopted it since he felt that would be interensting from the user point of view.
– Initially the project was headed to be named “The Gymnastics of the Brain” but it was found that would take a long time to clear the trademark rights. So, Hino changed the route. “The Gymnastics of the Brain” was the main element of his “Unravel the Puzzle while Enjoying the Story” in Layton series.

– About Inazuma:
– To animate the game was very difficult, mostly because the anime staff side of the project.
– Hino tried to understand the animators necessities and created a feeling of unity.
– That made possible to speak creators firmly and took the role of connecting managment and creation.
– Hino finally succeded in getting a strong cooperation in his cross-media projects.

– About Ni no Kuni:
– Studio Ghibli was an untouchable presence for the game industry.
– Therefore, in order to ensure that Hino would decide all on the spot, they answered in advance various patterns.
– That management cost process was sloppy, so the project didn’t lead to profit quite in the middle stage.
– However, was able to succeed because he forcibly allowed to proceed the project even while there were no clear answer to the budget and duration.

– About Yokai Watch:
– Position of Hino in Yokai Watch was General Producer, but rather than only the game, in the cross-media.
– The animation format of Yokai watch was very well-driven.
– Original concept, selection of program staff and introduction of CG dance in the ending theme, were very important elements in this Level-5 initiative.

– Hino has the “authority of management and emperor decision”, with the understanding of a deep creativity.