Interview: Peter Moore - Part 1

Impressive stuff guys. EurogamerTV FTW

Mr. Peter Moore and Microsoft need to understand the following information about the Japanese sales market for videogames:

1. The most popular videogame genre in Japan is Role-Playing-Games.

2. The most popular videogame intellectual property franchise in terms of sales is DragonQuest, which is made by SquareEnix

3. The second most popular videogame intellectual property franchise is Final Fanal Fantasy. However, Final Fantasy is the most influential videogame franchise, because it often uses more advanced technology than DragonQuest.

4. If the Microsoft can get an exclusive version of Final Fantasy to be released on the Xbox 360, the system sales will increase in an amazing way!

5. The Sega Saturn initially outsold the Playstation in Japan by a ratio of 5:3, mainly because of the popularity of the Virtua Fighter intellectual property franchise. However, when Squaresoft announced Final Fantasy VII would be released exclusively for the Playstation, the sales of the Playstation exploded in an amazing way. The Playstation became by far the best selling system in Japan thanks to Final Fantasy VII.

6. It is a shame that SquareEnix has so little respect for Microsoft that they would announce TWO Final Fantasy games exclusively for Playstation 3 at the 2006 E3! This was a slap in the face that Peter Moore, J Allard, Robbie Bach, Steve Ballmer, and Bill Gates should not take lightly!

7. The second most popular videogame genre in Japan is fighting games.

8. By FAR, the most popular 3D fighting game intellectual property franchise in Japan is Virtua Fighter.

9. It is an absolute shame that Microsoft would allow Sega to release Virtua Fighter 5 exclusively for the Playstation 3.

10. From the point of view of Japanese videogame consumers, having Final Fantasy XIII and Virtua Fighter 5 exclusively for the PS3 is how American gamers would feel about having Halo 3 and Grand Theft Auto 4 exclusively.

11. The fact that the Playstation 3 has both Virtua Fighter 5 and Tekken 6 exclusively is very disturbing, because it means that Sony controls the majority of the 3D fighting game market.

12. The fact that Namco released Ridge Racer 6 on the Xbox 360, but is releasing Ridge Racer 7 only on the PS3 is a disrespectful slap in the face to Xbox 360 gamers who enjoyed Ridge Racer 6 and expected to see future Ridge Racer games from Namco. Ridge Racer 6 may not have sold very well in North America, but it was the best selling game for the Xbox 360 in Japan.

13. The fact that Sega released Full Auto on the Xbox 360, but is releasing Full Auto 2 only on the PS3 is a disrespectful slap in the face to Xbox 360 gamers who enjoyed Full Auto and expected to see future Full Auto games from Sega. I even have a Full Auto face plate for my Xbox 360. I am very disappointed about this.

14. The fact that Sega has 17 games planned for the PS3, but only 14 planned for the Xbox 360 is a disrespectful slap in the face to Microsoft when you consider that the Xbox 360 will have a 10 million sales head start before the PS3 has been released.

15. The fact that SquareEnix is only willing to release outdated Final Fantasy XI or shooting games for the Xbox 360, while they develop TWO NEW Final Fantasy games EXCLUSIVELY for the Playstation 3 and a DragonQuest game for the Wii is another disrespectful slap in the face towards Microsoft! SquareEnix management executives clearly have an unethical and dishonorable way of doing business that uses personal bias to support Japanese companies like Sony rather than superior foreign competitors like Microsoft. This is a terrible example of doing business responsibly, because the management executives at SquareEnix have forgotten that their primary responsibility is to responsibly earn the largest profit possible for their corporate stakeholders. The primary responsibility of SquareEnix is NOT supposed to be based on remaining loyal to Sony at the expense of loyal SquareEnix corporate stakeholders!

16. The majority of Playstation 3 excitement comes from games developed exclusively for the PS3 by Japanese third party developers. Games like Metal Gear Solid 4 from Konami, in addition to the other games I mentioned like Final Fantasy and Virtua Fighter 5. Metal Gear Solid 4 is a game Microsoft should have had Konami develop for the Xbox 360.

17. Poor sales of Metal Gear Solid 2 on the original Xbox are the reason why we didn’t see Metal Gear Solid 3 come to the original Xbox. And poor sales of Final Fantasy XI may be the reason SquareEnix is trying to use as an excuse for not developing Final Fantasy XIII for the Xbox 360. However, the reason why Metal Gear Solid 2 didn't sell well on the Xbox is the same reason why Final Fantasy XI didn't do well on the Xbox 360: Those games had already been released for a long time on other systems. This means the demand for those games had been greatly reduced. Microsoft needs to make sure that they get the games from third party publishers either permanently exclusive or first, before their competitors.

18. Microsoft seems happy to be on equal ground with Sony when it comes to big-name intellectual property franchise games. Sony is much more aggressive when it comes to gaining third party support, especially from Japan. Mr. Peter Moore got a tattoo, just because Grand Theft Auto will be released on the Xbox 360 and PS3 on the same day. But Sony announced TWO Final Fantasy XIII games and Metal Gear Solid 4 EXCLUSIVELY for the PS3. Compared to Sony, Microsoft is not aggressive enough in seeking big-name franchise games from Japanese third party publishers. This is a big mistake that Microsoft continually keeps making.

19. Midway's CEO, David Zucker, announced that Unreal Tournament 2007 is being released for the PC, PS3, AND Xbox 360! Microsoft continues to allow all of the videogame magazines to say that Unreal Tournament 2007 is only being released for PC and PS3. This is a HUGE mistake that is robbing the Xbox 360 of publicity that it deserves!

20. Microsoft needs to make sure that third party intellectual properties currently appearing exclusively on the Xbox 360 stay that way forever. Games like Mass Effect, Bioshock, and Gears of War made a big impression on the crowds of people at the 2006 E3. Microsoft needs to make sure that those games are only playable on the Xbox 360.

21. Microsoft needs to continually point out that the games appearing on both the Xbox 360 and the PS3 perform noticeably better on the Xbox 360. Games like Sonic the Hedgehog, Madden Football 2007, and The Darkness are several examples.

22. Microsoft needs to do a better job of getting classic games for Xbox Live Arcade. I have MANY ideas for this. Mr. Moore, if you would like to receive them, please contact me at michaelzoran@hotmail.com

23. Microsoft needs to truly understand what an excellent intellectual property franchise Perfect Dark is. Perfect Dark Zero is my favorite game of all time. I know that it received mostly high reviews, but I know how to properly address the things that some of the reviewers rated it poorly on. I own the Perfect Dark game, Soundtrack, Book, and Audiobook. PLEASE contact me about Perfect Dark improvements that could be applied to a sequel. My email address is michaelzoran@hotmail.com

24. The fact that Japanese programmers make comments during interviews that say things like, "Metal Gear Solid 4 can never be converted to another platform, because I believe that Metal Gear belongs on the Playstation," is an absolute slap in the face to Microsoft. Japanese programmers should not have that kind of business authority when it comes to determining which games are developed for competing platforms.

25. Microsoft may need to volunteer to do games like Metal Gear Solid 4 themselves; they would simply need permission from Konami to use the Intellectual Property franchise name.

26. Bottom Line: Please get NEW Final Fantasy XIII and DragonQuest games from SquareEnix. Get some form of Virtua Fighter from Sega for the Xbox 360. Get Konami and Namco to stop showing unintelligent business loyalty to Sony based on Japanese encouragement. Make sure that Japanese companies like Konami, Namco, and Capcom put games like Metal Gear Solid 4, Tekken 6, Soul Caliber 4, Devil May Cry 4, and Virtua Fighter 5 on the Xbox 360. Games like Final Fantasy and Virtua Fighter will instantly sell large quantities of Xbox 360 hardware units in Japan.

27. Mr. Moore, if you are reading this, please feel free to contact me at michaelzoran@hotmail.com. I am 27 and I have a Business Administration bachelor’s degree. I have graduated Summa Cum Laude. I fully understand the gaming industry, and I have always been looking for someone who is open enough to listen to consumers. Microsoft has always been that way on their website, which is why they are number one in the world. Mr. Moore, you seem like someone who would be willing to listen to my ideas. Even if you contact me to simply find out my ideas about Perfect Dark, it would be great!

mike_mgoblue in "japanese people like to slap people in the face" shocker!

Get Crysis - easy.

Buy Crytek - easier.

Good interview and seeemingly... B.S. free.

Reply to GuiltySpark,

Friend, if I was in a movie that involved Japanese businessmen showing disrespect like SquareEnix does, I think the trailer would say something like this: The award winning mike_mgoblue starring in "Japanese businessmen like to slap people in the face."...but this time, it is mike_mgoblue who is doing the slapping...with J.R. Ewing at his side! :-)

Seriously, some of the things that SquareEnix management executives do are absolutely disrespectful to both SquareEnix shareholders and foreign competitors. SquareEnix executives deliberately ignore worldwide statistics, and market potential facts presented to them by foreign competitors because acceptance of those facts would allow foreign competition to occur. SquareEnix management Japanese companies do not possess the ability to fully support a foreign competitor like Microsoft. I personally believe this is absolutely shameful. The fact of the matter is that these Japanese businessmen at SquareEnix have a problem known as Gaijin Xenophobia, which means Fear of Foreigners.

In America, we are very open to working with foreign companies and purchasing foreign products. In Japan, that same sort of openness does not occur. For example, Japanese consumers almost never purchase American automobiles, simply because of a fear that doing so would hurt the economy of their home country.

I have a friend who said, "Well, I don't know if that’s true, because the iPod sold pretty well in Japan." I responded by saying, "Well, can you name another foreign product that has consistently sold well in Japan." My friend didn't have an answer for that question!

The bottom line is that SquareEnix employees do not show loyalty to their shareholders. SquareEnix doesn't make a lot of money on products sold outside of the Final Fantasy and DragonQuest intellectual property franchises. They didn't make any sort of impressive profit for the year. That, combined with the fact that SquareEnix recently purchased Taito, makes it so SquareEnix is especially vulnerable at this point in time.

I believe Microsoft should purchase SquareEnix at this point in time for two reasons. The first reason is because of their current financial vulnerability. The second reason is because of the fact that SquareEnix would provide Microsoft with a huge amount of intellectual property franchises for the Japanese market. Even if the only two intellectual properties that SquareEnix owned were Final Fantasy and DragonQuest, it would still be worth it for Microsoft to purchase SquareEnix. This would give Microsoft a huge business advantage for decades.

If Mr. Peter Moore or anyone else from Microsoft is reading this, please consider bringing this information to the attention of the proper people.

Geez...

*falls asleep.