Ellie Gibson
13:01 (BST)
15/05/2007
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Nordic Game: PS3 is "too big", says Parappa creator
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NanaOn-Sha boss Masaya Matsuura has said he believes the reason the Wii is outdoing PS3 in the sales stakes is because Sony's next-gen console is "too big" for Japanese consumer tastes.
Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz in an interview at the Nordic Game conference, Matsuura observed that the PS3 is "currently" lagging behind but added, "Of course they have a chance to recover over time."
He said the problem is not the price or the range of software available for PS3 but simply the size of the machine itself: "It's too big for the Japanese."
Despite such issues the PlayStation 3 is still outselling the Xbox 360 which has yet to secure a solid foothold in the Japanese market.
According to Matsuura, "With Xbox, the problem is not the size of the hardware but of the AC adapter."
So what of the Wii, the most diminutive of the next-gen consoles? Matsuura offered praise for the machine, but said it also presents new challenges for developers.
"Wii is a very good piece of hardware. Many talented people from Nintendo make great ideas for game hardware, of course. Already I've been starting to think about Wii software, but it's very hard sometimes. Because can you keep shaking the controller for hours?
"Players can't spend a long time on gameplay, so this can be tough. So I respect Nintendo's activities, but for software designers like us, it's very hard."
However, Matsuura said he is currently in the planning stages of developing a game for Wii - with work set to officially begin "soon, maybe".
He went on to reveal that NanaOn-Sha has been working on "a very casual, one-button game" - but declined to offer any further details.
"Maybe the publisher will announce the release soon," Matsuura said. "It's a very simple game, but I hope it will be successful."
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