In a recent interview, Lost Planet 2 producer Jun Takeuchi said Capcom had to cut a significant amount from the game. When asked how development was going, he replied, “There wasn’t especially any big trouble. More than those kind of difficulties, the edited content was way too much and dealing with that was more difficult than anything.”

“This time, truly, the content that was cut was significant,” Takeuchi added, “and at the end, we had to wrestle with disc space.”

Takeuchi went on to expand on how difficult it was to make those cuts, saying that it was a situation in which the team was on the verge of crying as they shaved down their game to fit on the disk — though Takeuchi is most likely being facetious. The upside to these cuts? “I think we could be able to add that content at a later date as downloadable content.” Everybody wins!

The original Lost Planet was first released as an Xbox 360 exclusive and eventually ported to the PC and the PS3.

カプコン竹内「『ロストプラネット2』はディスク容量との戦いだった、泣く泣く削った部分もある」 [はちま起稿] [Pic]

In an internal interview for Capcom’s investor relations site, Jun Takeuchi – of Lost Planet and Resident Evil 5 fame – has gone all stick-in-the-mud.

“The core elements of [Lost Planet 2] were developed in Japan, while the music and some of the language details were handled overseas”, he said. “Cultural differences don’t allow for the smooth collaboration between Japan and developers overseas.”

Well, they won’t with an attitude like that!

Jun Takeuchi [Capcom] [image]

Here’s Takeuchi discussing the winter 2009 Lost Planet 2 with Edge magazine’s interviewer. Note that Lost Planet 2 is designed to be played in co-op and supports online play. And note that online gaming isn’t very popular in Japan.

Edge asks: “Sticking with co-op, do you find it strange that Japan has one of the best broadband infrastructures in the world but online gaming is yet to really take off on consoles?”

After mentioning the rare popularity of co-op Monster Hunter and online Final Fantasy XI, Takeuchi says:

I just can’t understand why Japanese gamers are so reluctant to play networked games. I find overseas players to be more curious — they go towards what they think looks, sounds or feels fun by themselves. In Japan, I have the feeling users are just waiting for us to guide, to feed them with fun things. The problem is that the online experience is something that requires users to make a move first. Nobody is going to open the door for you. You need to decide to go into it by yourself. I want to create in Japanese gamers that curiosity for going online. Because of course you can enjoy the game alone, no problem, but as soon as you are with a friend coordinating, you enter into a whole other dimension.

That interview runs in the new Edge issue, which covers the 2009 Tokyo Game Show and offers that new spin on the familiar topic of the modern struggles of the Japanese gaming industry. The issue is available in the U.K. and available to U.S. subscribers (like me) now.

Jun Takeuchi Q&A [Edge Magazine Issue #208[

“There are several candidates for the name of the controller,” said Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios head Shuhei Yoshida. While still undecided, those names are making their way through Sony, being run up the flagpole and getting feedback from various internal departments.

“The SIXAXIS and the DualShock 3 — while great product names — are based on the actual tech,” Yoshida explained. “The name we pick for the Wand Controller maybe won’t be so techy.”

The reason is this: Sony is hoping to appeal to a casual and core market, so the company needs a name that can convey an image or a brand to both groups. And for Yoshida, the Wand Controller could very well expand the PS3 user base in the same way that the Eye Toy did for the PS2. That’s not to say it’s a casual-only peripheral. “Hardcore gamers are surprised how accurate and responsive the Wand is,” the exec added.

At Sony Japan’s press conference, Capcom producer Jun Takeuchi and his demo demoed a Wand version of Resident Evil 5, called Resident Evil 5 Alternative Edition. Later, Takeuchi joked that Sony should call the Wand Controller the Alternative Controller to do a clever marketing tie-up with RE5 Alternative Edition. The RE title was controlled by the Wand in one hand and the the PS3 DualShock 3 in the other hand, using the buttons and analogue thumbstick as a make-shift Nunchuk.

There have been rumblings that Sony is currently working on a proper Nunchuk peripheral — that it is already in the design phase. Yoshida was unwilling to confirm this secondary peripheral, but did concede that using the PS3 DualShock 3 as a Nunchuk was “the cheapest solution”. Yoshida wasn’t being glib: while the PS3 DualShock 3 might not make the most attractive Nunchuk solution, it does appear to work.

Meaning? Meaning that gamers won’t be forced to shell out for yet another peripheral.

Pic]

“Honestly”, RE5 and Lost Planet 2 producer Jun Takeuchi told Kotaku, “the producer for Resident Evil 6 hasn’t been decided yet”. Takeuchi has previously expressed interested in a fresh take on the RE series. With Resident Evil 5, he spearheaded the implementation of a dual control scheme that allows players to play with more traditional RE controls or newer, tweaked ones.

“I think, while Resident Evil 4 is a great game, its appeal was limited somewhat to maniac players,” Takeuchi said. “With RE5, I wanted to bring the series to a larger audience. I think its important to do the same for the next RE.”

Part of Capcom’s plan to bring the franchise to a larger audience includes the Wii Resident Evil titles. Since Resident Evil 5 is coming to the PS3 with wand motion controllers, it would make sense for Capcom to bring the title over to the Nintendo Wii.

Wii ports might be possible, but according to Takeuchi, “With the difference between hardware specs for the Wii and the PS3, porting might be hard. We currently have no plans.”

With that new Sony wand motion controller, there might be just that.

“Speaking to other developers in Japan,” Resident Evil 5 producer Jun Takeuchi tells game site 1UP, “I’ve heard a few of them say they were delighted by the Sony motion controller because they can just port over their Wii titles to the PS3.”

That doesn’t mean Capcom is delighted. These are other developers, you know. Why wouldn’t Capcom be excited about the chance for more ports?

Porting—even between the Wii and the PS3—does ensure more people get to play a game, which is always a good thing. We’re not playing graphics here, folks! We’re playing games.

Takeuchi Interview [1UP via VG247]

Speaking with G4, Capcom’s Jun Takeuchi has said “[There] probably [won't be] so much of a reference to this particular title [Lost Planet 2].”

“However, the only thing I know is those people working on the project that they love the world of Lost Planet. So, we know that they’re going to utilise that world, but as far as the story line goes, the movie is completely different from the game.”

Who are we kidding. Of course there’ll be robot suits and giant bugs.

Lost Planet Movie Isn’t Based On The Storylines Of Either Lost Planet Game [G4]

The news came after a member of the audience asked if there would be more co-operative vehicles in the game in addition to the three-player mech we were shown during a brief demo. In response, Takeuchi explained that there would be more co-op vehicles, and some of them would fly.

After the panel was over I confirmed with Takeuchi’s translating partner that yes, this was indeed new news and no, they might not have been supposed to say that.

Speaking at a Resident Evil panel at Comic-Con, Takeuchi was asked by a fan about the possibility of a total series reboot for the next main game. His response? A little… different.

Seems Takeuchi and fellow RE veteran Masachika Kawata are playing blackjack to see who will end up producing the next Resident Evil game. For real. But they’re not playing alone, because Takeuchi followed that up by saying “it doesn’t appear as though either of us is going to be in charge” of the next game.

Interesting! You’ve got to wonder, after the lukewarm reception Resident Evil 5 received, who’s going to end up producing RE6? The winner of this blackjack series, or the loser?

According to Capcom’s Takeuchi, when Capcom was developing Devil May Cry 4, he thought this was the Xbox 360’s limit. But again, when they were making Resident Evil 5, the game fit within those boundaries, and ditto for the upcoming Lost Planet 2. “I was like,” says Takeuchi, “‘This hardware is deep!’” He goes on to say that he was surprised and that “This is good hardware.”

While From Software’s Masanori Takeuchi is not disparaging about the Microsoft hardware — but rather, the situation it puts Japanese developers in. According to Takeuchi, developing for the Xbox 360 is “difficult”. “Japanese game makers want to make games for Japan,” he explains. But things like the low install base in Japan mean that developers must think about creating titles for a larger audience. “The fact that you must make games for a global audience,” he explains, “makes the Xbox 360 a difficult platform.”

Hey, in this sluggish Japanese game industry, making hit games at home isn’t easy either.

カプコン竹内「Xbox360は深い」、フロムソフトウェア竹内「Xbox360はキツイ」 [はちま起稿]