As seen from the photograph, the well-tanned Yakuza series developer, Toshihiro Nagoshi was walking among the crowds at E3 this year. Hopefully basking in the saturated spectacle of upcoming consoles and games.
Nagoshi wrote on his blog about the Sony conference and the announcements from Microsoft and Sony (Unfortunately, due to flight delays, he was unable to attend the Xbox One conference).
In regards to Microsoft's direction of increased security restrictions against used games, Nagoshi remarked, "To be honest, with the rising cost of making games, Microsoft's strategy is something that developers will be happy about."
Nagoshi recognized that public opinion seemed to be swaying towards Sony, with their initial announcement on the used game issue. However, he did point out that, "With the PS4, digital download versions of games that you buy will have protections that won't let you sell or give them away, so that doesn't really help the used game market."
While many of the games he has had a hand in developing may have been Sony exclusives, Nagoshi's reflections on his first day at E3 2013 were mostly those of a neutral spectator. In closing, he did remark, "The consoles were smaller than I expected." and that "These days many have voiced the opinion that the days of the console wars are over, but it looks like the flames are still burning hot."
Ｅ３に来たよ。 [名越稔洋オフィシャルブログ「とりあえず乾杯デショ。」]
Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.
To contact the author of this post, write to cogitoergonihil@gmail.com or find him on Twitter @tnakamura8.