Kikizo: Tecmo was early to realise how important it is to make games that appeal to a worldwide market. Now, while the Japanese games industry is in a slump, Western game markets are thriving. Why do you think this is? What should the Japanese games industry do to recover?
Itagaki: To recover, we have to change the education system. What is good about the Japanese people is that they are hard workers, and know themselves well. Nowadays, a lot of people here are forgetting such basic concepts. Most of them don't realise what they are capable of, and what they aren't capable of. This situation is resulting in criticism from Western game users. Under such circumstances, their minds close, and their vision gets narrower and narrower. I really think the way the Japanese are educated these days is part of it. Many have lost their personal confidence. In [Europe], the level of education is very high. Our educational system is not functioning so well. Most game developers won't say this sort of thing, but I'm willing to say it simply because I really love games and want to see things improve.
There are several books, written by a certain game developer, about how to create games. Some of my staff are reading such books. When I found those books in the office, I was surprised - I told the team that if they wanted inspiration, to read some [of these] books instead, since they'd be much more useful. They should also look at gambling-style games, like poker, backgammon and blackjack, that sort of thing.
