Even as Capcom looks to scale back outsourcing to Western developers, one of their own is saying that they need to catch up to those same developers. In a small interview with Xbox World 360, Lost Planet 2 and Resident Evil 5 producer Jun Takeuchi says that unless the Japanese games industry catches up to their Western counterparts, they don’t have a "hope in hell."
“If the Japanese games industry doesn’t evolve and simply maintains its current status quo, I really don’t think we have a hope in hell,” said Takeuchi. “Drastically innovative ideas are needed – and quickly – to equal or exceed the Western games industry.”
His comments mirror those of fellow 'Capcomite' and Mega Man-designer Keiji Inafune last September. When commenting on last year’s Tokyo Game Show, Inafune said, “Personally when I looked around [at] all the different games at the TGS floor, I said 'Man, Japan is over. We're done. Our game industry is finished.'"
Perhaps these sentiments will signal a return to greatness for the house that Mega Man and Street Fighter built. During the fiscal year ending on March 31, 2010, Capcom posted a net loss of 73%. In the same report, the company acknowledged that the Western market is the key to the future.
