CDM Japan 2011 Photo Gallery
Vol. 1 Company Visits --
会社訪問の編
We visited a total of eleven companies in the trip. Following is in the
chronological order (i.e., itinerary), within the category (Gaming/Animation).
Game Companies
Presentation on the company overview, followed by a Q&A session with Mr.
Hidetaka Miyazaki (the director of
"Demon's Souls" and
"Dark
Souls") and Mr. Yasunori Ogura (PR Dept). We were also able to show
our Matsuri game to Mr. Miyazaki and
Mr. Ogura, and receive their feedback.
Q&A session with Mr. Kumagai (PR Dept) and Ms. Nakano (Development Dept).
The president of the company is, of course, Suda 51.
Tour of the company and Q&A session with the CEO, Mr. Tanaka.
Their main lines of business are mobile games (for regular cell phones as well
as smartphones) and social games (for Mixi, Facebook). They have also made an AR
game called Alice, which
we played when we visited. The company is growing rapidly and
steadily. They are confident.
Mr. Koich Abe, the president of the company, was a programmer at Nintendo (in
particular, its R&D division Intelligent Systems). He quit Nintendo and started
his own company, because he thought the work conditions and practices which have
become common and even a 'norm' in the game industry (e.g. long hours, frequent
change in design & direction, buggy code) are deplorable (and inhumane) and
grossly inefficient. He wanted to build a company which models his philosophy
for an ideal game company (in terms of work conditions, product development
practices, and products themselves) -- no overtime (!), frequent communication
with the clients and publishers (to prevent misunderstanding as well as to
enforce continuous quality check), and the products which contribute to the
society (rather than just entertainment).
He has been very successful in this endeavor. The company grew quite a bit,
and now has a few big publishers (under whose name they can develop games, such
as Sega, Sony and Nintendo (though not so much any more these days)).
Currently the company's main line of business is mobile games, in particular,
with emphasis on smartphone, iPhone and tablet games. They do a multi-platform
development, and use their in-house engine and tools (initially developed by Mr.
Abe himself).
Assemblent has also started another line of business, "ZombieShop George" (http://www.zombieshop.jp/)
-- an online store for anything zombie! You can ask him anything about zombie :)
Mr. Abe is also an adjunct faculty at
Ritsumeikan University,
College of Image Arts
and Sciences, teaching courses on Game Programming.
A Japanese "boutique game company". The creator of the crazy
"Disgaea" strategy RPG series. The
home of Prinny,
the penguin. They are..!!
Animation Companies
Toei is the largest, as well as one of the oldest, anime/animation companies
in Japan. They made numerous well-known titles (TV, cinema etc.) over the years.
They just had their 50th anniversary in 2006. Their work is extensive.
Telecom is one of the oldest anime companies in Japan. Notably, Hayao
Miyazaki used to work there in his early career and made "Lupin the III, Castle
of Cagliostro".
Being in the anime business from early days, Mr. Takeuchi and the company is
well connected with other anime/animation companies. They have also worked with
film and animation companies in Hollywood such as Disney and Warner Brothers.
Actually they made a part of "Green Lantern".
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A New Year card from Mr. Takeuchi
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Attended by: Mr. Yoichi Ogawa, Animation Director.
A former CG division of Sega, now a separate company. Amazing graphics.
Involved in Hatsune Miku's
concerts (FYI, a Los Angeles Times article
"Japanese pop star Hatsune Miku takes the stage -- as a 3-D hologram").
A wide range of content. 2D animation to 3D CG, to character design to
graphic design, to commercial films to feature films. Ambitious.
Professional. Amazing.
The recipient of the 2009 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for the
animation "La
Maison en Petits Cubes (つみきのいえ,
"The House of Small Cubes")".
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Nenga-jo (a New Year's card) from Dr. Berndt
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