In which we discuss game development and design, Digige participation, and the challenges facing Japanese devs when promoting their indie games
An Interview with Hamazaki Factory, Part 2
Interview by: Douglas Schules; Translation by: Douglas Schules
Daedalus Machine
Many mobile games adopt the free-to-play (freemium) model. What are your thoughts on this approach, and do your games fall into this category?
Hamazaki Factory
Normally, it’s not a problem for a game to be free if you’re putting out games just to be played, because there is the possibility that it will reach many people. However, if you begin to consider how to make profits, at that moment it becomes more difficult. In particular, it’s a bit harsh to say that the game design of old-style sellout is not effective. What is good design in order to raise profits through the freemuim model? I’m constantly thinking about how these things fit with my games. Even prior to the freemium model, the “free app with advertising” model was common. Now, as we have to consider advertising plus items for sale in-game plus long term sales (this is info I heard at a seminar), it's gradually becoming more difficult for individual creators. I don't know what will happen in a few years, but the changes are extreme. But that means I must follow these trends to survive… Daedalus Machine Roughly how long were the games in development? Hamazaki Factory It depends on the scale of what I want to create. Black Blood Breaker, which I'm currently making, is the longest, and it's taken about a year and a half so far. I also made one game in the course of a week. In that case, it was because there was this company that was trying to increase the number of developers who use its platform, and they would give out gift certificates depending on how many apps you released. If you release an application on this company’s platform, they will give out a gift certificate depending on how many games you put out. If I consider how it was in the PC era, it took about one year if I tried to make something reasonable. That’s about as much time as I can afford, but it seems that this time it’ll take much longer. After the game is done, I might be able to figure out the reason why I’ve lasted so long this time. Daedalus Machine Are they available worldwide? Hamazaki Factory I think the apps that I put out are still available. (NOTE: See the end of Part 1 for a list of his apps) Daedalus Machine In that case, to what extent do you try to make them accessible to players worldwide? Do you plan to translate the games, or perhaps include certain design elements so that players understand the game regardless of language? Hamazaki Factory With the previous apps that I have put out, I have either asked some translation site to do it or simply used Google Translate to translate the Japanese menu. Also, I didn’t really consider how the game design would help people overseas enjoy the games without need of language. With Black Blood Breaker I attempted a UI design that includes both English and Japanese. After learning that katakana looks graphical for English speaking players, I thought that, by using English for the basic menu and Japanese as a supplement, English speaking players can approach the Japanese parts as design elements, and Japanese speaking players can approach the English parts as design elements; considering this I made the design of the current menu. As a result, there is a big problem at this moment: “There’s too much textual data! It’s annoying!” It is, of course, annoying because there are two languages on a single screen. I regretted that I made a UI that depended on letters (language). However, there is no way that I can fix it at this point, but I’ll need to adjust it as much as possible using icons. Daedalus Machine Overall, it seems like you’ve sold your games on a variety of app stores. Based on your experience with them, what do you think the strengths and weaknesses of these platforms are for game distribution? Hamazaki Factory Unfortunately, there haven’t been enough downloads so I can’t judge their strength or weakness. I’ve released where I can as an individual. I haven’t made that many apps, so I can’t really judge that… Daedalus Machine The majority of indie and doujin games I’ve seen at events like Comiket and Digige are for PC, but Hamazaki Factory focuses on mobile. First, can you tell us your reasons for developing on mobile? Second, why do you think that Japanese developers tend to focus on PC? Hamazaki Factory I wonder if you think that there are many game creators for PC from the impression of Comiket or Digige. If you look at the current situation for apps, I have an impression that the number of individual developers is more for mobile (this is my personal impression, and I don’t know the actual numbers). I don’t personally know people who create doujin games for PC, or why there are people who keep creating for it. This was the first time I participated in Digige, but I kept being overwhelmed by how much effort people invest in making games, because I’m just doing this simple because I like creating them. Daedalus Machine You’re certainly right about that. Since I spend a lot of time at events like Comiket and Digige, it seems like indie devs are making nothing but PC games, even if the market research says otherwise. Since this was your first time at Digige, though, what was your original impression of the event prior to going?
Hamazaki Factory
Before participating, I had the impression that this was an event for the exhibition and spot sale of doujin. Demos are distributed, goods are made…the image is an event where we enjoy these with the people who come. I was very anxious that I made something for mobile and just for exhibition, wondering if anyone would even look at it. Daedalus Machine What expectations do you think Japanese players have from PC and mobile platforms? Hamazaki Factory I think there are tendencies as to who uses which platform. For example, mobile for more casual players and PC for more involved ones. However, the opposite pattern could be true as well, so I don’t think there is a difference. I don’t know. Or if I knew, I’d have created games that would sell for users. Daedalus Machine What have you done to market your games? Hamazaki Factory I’d like to ask “what should I do to sell?” At this point, what I have done is to put them out on pre-order sites, advertise through Twitter, write a production diary on my blog, talk about it at game study groups and seminars, and participate at events where I can distribute them. Right now, it seems that there’s an impact if a widely-known game broadcaster picks up a game, but I have no connection with them…. I really want someone to promote my games and a place to do so. Daedalus Machine You mentioned one strategy was using a pre-order site. Do you mean using something like Game Connect? Since this method isn’t really known in America, could you explain what this type of site is and what’s involved to put your game on it? Hamazaki Factory What I have used is Yoyaku Top10. Once a developer registers the release information for a game, users who are interested pre-order it and an email will be sent to them when the game actually gets released. What you need to register is the same information you would need to release at a store, such as screen resolution and videos, game description, and so forth. It looks like you could give special content to users who pre-order the game, but I haven’t used it so I’m not sure on the details. It also looks like there is some screening process, but it doesn’t seem too strict, so unless the game is terrible it’ll pass. I haven’t used it enough that I could say it’s certainly effective, but I thought if you’re making mobile games on your own it couldn’t hurt. Of course, I think it’s hard for someone to discover and book your game, especially among the crowd of games from the major companies. Daedalus Machine Do you have any advice for those who want to develop games in general, and Tokyo in specific?
Hamazaki Factory
Compared to a long time ago, it’s possible to find many more tools to make games. Because there are these tools, if you love games and want to make them I don’t think it’s too difficult. If, however, you want to make games that other people find interesting and enjoy playing…that ramps up the difficulty and I have no idea how to make such games. For now, I create games that I like however I like. As for location, I wish I could say you can learn wherever because of the Internet and that there are lots of study groups or seminars, but I think Tokyo has an advantage because you can directly communicate with other developers. I suppose that’s also the case if you want to work for a game company. However, coming to Tokyo doesn’t necessarily mean that you can create games, so if you want to create games on your own, I think the most important thing is simply to start doing so. Related Posts
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