Gates Open up for Japanese Developers

by Christopher Kirkman · Published March 2, 2005 · Updated

Microsoft announced this morning that they’ve hired even more help from Japan in the form of game developers for their upcoming next-gen console. Last week, the software giant brought Hironobu Sakaguchi onboard, the creator of the Final Fantasy series of role playing games. This week brings ex-Capcom head Yoshiki Okamoto and Tetsuya Mizguchi to the recently expanding development team for exclusive games.

Okamoto is best know for his work on the Street Fighter series, Resident Evil and The Legend of Zelda. Mizguchi works the other side of the tracks, most recently on Sega Rally Championship and the highly lauded Space Channel 5.

The general hope is that these 3 fresh idea-makers will boost the sagging sales of the Xbox and its future brother by bringing more varied titles to market. Though big in the U.S., racing sims and shooters for which the Xbox is predominantly known for are not strong genres in the east.

Tags: Resident Evil

Christopher Kirkman

Christopher is an old school nerd: designer, animator, code monkey, writer, gamer and Star Wars geek. As owner and Editor-In-Chief of Media Geeks, he takes playing games and watching movies very seriously. You know, in between naps.