Jap Developers Take Next Gen Survey

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Source: IGN - http://wii.ign.com/articles/737/737630p1.html

Wondering what the Japanese development community thinks about the next generation of gaming? The latest issue of Japan's Weekly Famitsu provides a few clues.

The magazine conducted a survey with 58 developers at 19 Japanese game companies. Included in the mix were directors, programmers and designers -- the people who are making the games, rather than the people making the business decisions.

First up, a question on how much the developers expect out of the next generation systems. For the PS3, 48% said that they have extremely high expectations for the system, with 32% having just high expectations. 18% said that they don't expect much of the system at all.

The Xbox 360 got a poorer rating, with 45% saying they're not expecting much of it at all, 40% having high expectations and 13% having extremely high expectations.

And then, we come to the Wii, which seems to have the favor of the entire Japanese development community. 36% have high expectations for the system, with 63% claiming extremely high expectations. Only 1% of responders said that they weren't expecting all that much from Nintendo's new system.

Moving on to games, of the PS3's lineup, most developers were excited by Metal Gear Solid 4 (12 votes). This was followed by Final Fantasy XIII (10 votes), The Eye of Judgment (7 votes), Afrika (6 votes) and Heavenly Sword (4 votes). Other games mentioned include Bladestorm, Gran Turismo HD, Lair and Resistance.

Not surprisingly, Blue Dragon took the top spot for Xbox 360, with 18 votes. This was followed by Lost Odyssey (14 votes), Culdecept Saga (8 votes), Dead Rising (4 votes) and Gundam Operation Troy (4 votes). Other games mentioned include Lost Planet, Gear of War, Riot Act and Idol Master.

For Wii, Zelda was the overwhelming winner, with 26 votes, followed by Super Mario Galaxy (8 votes), Wii Sports (5 votes), Animal Crossing (3 votes) and Smash Brothers X (3 votes). Other games mentioned include Wario Ware, Fire Emblem, Sonic and Elebits.

The survey takers were also asked to name their favorite parts of each system. Visual power took the top spot on PS3 with 19 votes, followed by overall hardware specs (10 votes), Cell's computation abilities (9 votes), the built-in hard disk (3 votes) and the use of Blu-Ray (3 votes). Some developers also mentioned PSP connectivity, online functionality, the 6-axis control system and even the brand power associated with PlayStation and Blu-Ray.

For Xbox 360, Xbox Live was mentioned the most, getting 18 votes. This was followed by the system's ease of development (13 votes), connectivity with Windows Vista (12 votes), visual power (6 votes) and overall hardware balance (4 votes). Developers also mentioned the system's demo download service, ranking system and strength of sales in the North American market.

Nintendo's unique controller was mentioned most for the Wii, taking 34 votes. It was followed by Wii Connect 24 (9 votes), the Virtual Console (6 votes), ease of development (4 votes) and the console price (3 votes). Other developers mentioned the hardware size, the concept of moving your body, and the focus on light users.

Finally, Famitsu put all three systems against one another. In the category of system sales, 60% of those surveyed expect Wii to come out on top. PS3 took 37% of the vote compared to Xbox 360's 3%. The PS3's price point was cited as reason for the low expectations.

Most developers want to try out Wii development. 63% selected Wii as the system they most want to develop for, compared to the PS3's 32% and the Xbox 360's 5%.

Wii also won out in the category of which system the developers want the most, personally. 49% selected the Nintendo hardware. PS3 was chosen by 42%, with Xbox 360 coming in last at 9%.

The developers were given a series of questions about the 3 next-gen consoles. The Wii topped out in almost all of the categories, aside from the console specific game ones. Xbox 360 doesn't look too hot in terms of Japanese interest. PS3 was nearly tied with the Wii in some of the areas, which means the next-gen battle will be decided by these 2 consoles. Whether the console market focuses on graphics, or on gameplay.