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Itagaki Says Japanese Developers Lack Social Skills

Itagaki Says Japanese Developers Lack Social Skills

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Tomonobu Itagaki has always been viewed, at least by the man himself, as a “punk” game developer. He consciously goes against the Japanese gaming industry grain, making titles with heavy Western influences. Itagaki has also proven to be loud. Never one to shy away from speaking his mind, the Valhalla Games founder postulated in a recent interview that Japanese developers are having difficulty on a global basis because they don’t have Western social skills. Particularly, he notes, a sense of humor.

“It’s important to have the skill to express what you’re doing, what you want to do—you know, express yourself,” said Itagaki. “I’m talking about social skills. The American social skills, European social skills.

“You know, maybe they don’t have humor; they don’t know how to joke around.”



Itagaki’s latest venture, Devil’s Third, is being published by THQ, a western company. Furthermore, recent release Shadows of the Damned was developed by Suda 51’s Grasshopper Manufacture, but published by Electronic Arts, setting a new standard for cooperation between the Eastern and Western gaming industries. That game had a wicked sense of humor. Could Itagaki have a point?

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