Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi and his mustache sat down with GameSpot during GDC and dished out a refreshingly honest interview. Sure, Sakaguchi does say that Final Fantasy should come to the Xbox 360 — Sadly, his opinion doesn't matter anymore! He does mention that he dislikes Wii Sports, that he's interested in making a shooter like Gears of War and that he doesn't have an HD TV at home (wha?), the real fireworks are when he lays into Microsoft, who have funded two of his games: Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey. So what does Sakaguchi think the reason that Microsoft hasn't had success in Japan?

Japanese marketing guys are not so good. Marketing is important, most important. Just to give you an example...the "jump in" statement, right? Jump in...the tagline. Nobody can understand it or knows what "jump in" means. So it has to be localized to cater to the audience in Japan, to get them to understand what that's about. So paying particular attention to [the marketing]—not just bring everything as is over to Japan—it's not going to do any good. You have to really think about the market, market needs and demands, and then really tailor it to that audience... If you say "jump in" in Japanese. Jump in. It's not so cool in Japanese... "Do, do, do" is not so good either... Yeah, the localization [for Gears] is good, but the marketing is too bad...too bad... Nobody knows about Gears of War.

That's not Sakaguchi talking, Microsoft Japan. It's his 'stache. Brian Ashcraft

Sakaguchi Talks About Stuff [GameSpot, Thanks Andrew!]

The Land of the Rising Sun might not be a lost cause for Microsoft. There are rumblings that pre-orders for the limited edition Blue Dragon bundle are selling out. The 29,800 yen (approx. US $250) set includes a striped down Xbox 360, BD faceplate, a copy of Blue Dragon and five Blue Dragon figs. There are apparently only a thousand of these puppies. One site even claims the first-run limited edition bundle's pre-orders are selling out faster than the PS3's! And some retailers, such as Bic, Sofmap, Yodobashi Camera, Rakuten's Edigi and Seven Dream have supposedly stopped taking pre-orders. Just did a quick internet check, and yes, some of these retailers are have ceased pre-orders on the limited edition bundles. Some haven't. Regardless, this title looks poised to moved consoles. Could Blue Dragon be Japan's Halo? Could it? Brian Ashcraft

Is It Selling Quick?! [Wabu Wabu via NeoGAF Thanks, Devin!]

Wired's Clive Thompson puts forth a burning question: Who are these mythical 40-hour gamers? Thompson, like most, wants to tear through an involved game title, but doesn't have the time to play for 8 or 9 hours at a stretch in order to finish it. A job, family, etc. make only short bursts possible for most, and gaming comes an hour at a time. Thus, the problem writes Thompson:

The demographic schism over 40-hour gameplay is gradually becoming a big problem for game designers. Their options are unenviable. If they develop a game aimed at the hard-core crowd, a wuss like me will almost certainly never finish it. If they do the opposite, the power cartel will blow through the game in afternoon and feel justifiably ripped off: I paid $50 for this?

At Sakaguchi's TGS press conference, I remember the famed game creator saying it took him 40 hours to finish Blue Dragon. And that's the guy who made it, so it will take normal players longer. That's supposed to be a good thing? Brian Ashcraft

More Here [Wired]

At last year's TGS, Microsoft rolled out the Xbox 360. The company staked out a huge booth, filled with with companions and new hardware. The 360 was the first next-gen console the Japanese would see. The country look a look and collectively went "meh."

A lack of titles saw a disastrous and embarrassing launch. No matter which way you sugar coated it, the 360 was a failure in Japan. 2006 saw a reshuffling of Xbox Japan leadership, a new ad campaign fronted by a J-pop boy band and a handful of Japan-friendly titles. The perception was that the machine was picking up steam. Very slowly.

Last Wednesday, Microsoft held its Media Briefing in Shibuya. The company's Peter Moore and its Japan leader Takashi Sensui took the stage. Upcoming games where highlighted. The likes of Trusty Bell, Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon are set to give the console a huge boast. We didn't see price drops, but bundles rather, because Microsoft loves the bundles. One includes packaging Project Gotham Racing 3 and Ninety-Nine Nights with the Core System for 29,800 yen (US $265). Sensui added that this makes the 360 the most affordable next-gen console and even cheaper than the Wii.

Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi took the stage and showed both Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey. Both titles are getting the maximum Microsoft marketing push, with an hour-long playable Lost Odyssey demo appearing in an upcoming issue of Famitsu. A limited-edition Xbox 360 Core System Blue Dragon Premium Pack to kick off the game's launch and include the game software. This pack will retail 28,381 yen (US $244).

Microsoft has been going after Japan full on, bringing in the best game creators imaginable. Still, so far, that hasn't been enough. Sitting in the Media Briefing and listening to Sakaguchi give a Blue Dragon run through, I couldn't help but think: If Blue Dragon, a game made by the Final Fantasy creator with characters designed by the Dragon Quest creator, does not help the 360 in Japan, nothing will. A ninety-minute wait to play the game at the Microsoft booth gives hope that it just might. Brian Ashcraft

After the Sakaguchi presser yesterday, Microsoft gave all attendees Blue Dragon toys. I've taken mine out of the box and have decided that it'll make a nice place on my shelf. Either there, or eBay. Hit the jump for it out of the box, but wrapped. Brian Ashcraft

Oh wait! There is is airplane shooting! Now, the airplane shooting is over.

Now, Sakaguchi is saying that the game is nearly finished. It says it takes him 40 hours to play through, even though he knows all its secrets. So, it should take you noobs about a gazillion hours (actually, 70 hours).

He now says that Toriyama (the Dragon Ball and Dragon Quest creator) checked all the 3D models.

The guy two seats down is sleeping. I'm not. Cheapy's not. The RPG does look fun.

Now, we're watching a cut scene. It looks really nice. I just went up and tried to take a pic of Sakaguchi's 'stache. It's way blurry. I was nervous.

The hair metal strikes up again! Cheapy says "yeeeeeeeeeeeeeees." There is a fight on screen. The character Zola and her blue dragon are duking it out.

Sakaguchi says that that's all about Blue Dragon. He adds that even though it looks cute, he put his focus on the human drama. He's going to show us the trailer with English subtitles, which will be on XBL Market Place on September 27th.

Cheapy says he hopes it doesn't have hair metal.

No hair metal so far, but the really nice piano music. It is actually moving. No, seriously. This seems to be the same trailer Microsoft showed at the presser a few days back. But with added English fun!

Now, Q&A session. We were just told "no Final Fantasy questions." We wanted to know how Blue Dragon compares to FF. But whatever.

No one wants to ask a question.

...
...
...

Okay! We have a contestant!

Someone just asked with is larger, game play or movie part. Sakaguchi says play part. Also, in some of the clips, we can control somethings. Move the character around, press buttons, etc.

Sakaguchi said he picked the clips, because, well, they look more attractive.

Another question: How do you want characters to feel?

He said there is no certain way to play the game. There is a lot of customization. Cheapy says he has a question: Do you read Kotaku? But Sakaguchi picks another dude.

Question: The game play and the system seem a lot similar to (don't say FF!!!) the classic title (don't do it!!!) Chrono Trigger?

Sakaguchi and his 'stache reply: It's nothing like Chrono Trigger. Then paused.

Woah.

Now, he's talking about plastic models. Oh, he says the English version of Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey will be subtitled. But, Sakaguchi got the animated who worked on the Final Fantasy movie to help with the job. HE SAID IT!

He said he is currently working on assembling an English language voice cast.

Another question: Will Lost Odyssey be your *gasp* new Final Fantasy?

Sakaguchi: (in English) Don't say Final Fantasy.

He then actually entertained the question, saying, it is the futuristic version of Final Fantasy. It has the essence of it.

There will be 9 playable characters in Lost Odyssey. Oooooooopps! Sakaguchi just messed up. There are EIGHT. Four of them are immortal and cannot die. Four them are mortal.

Ooooooooooops! There are NINE.

Seriously. He just said that. And then let it drop.

Seriously. He just said that. And then let it drop.

Now, he's talking about going back and forth between cuts and play. He is talking about that. And that's a wrap!

Oh, we get a Blue Dragon toy if we return our press badges. Oh, boy! Brian Ashcraft