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offtherecord@intentmedia.co.uk TAG-TEAM INTERVIEW This week, Catapult’s Chris Stanton-Jones speaks to Square Enix Europe’s Justin Gaffney
Chris Stanton-Jones, Owner,
Catapult Business Solutions Vs
Justin, you were with Eidos when the Square Enix merger took place. How have the different British and Japanese cultures come together? とてもいですね。率 なところ、では全く違 がないほど合が進ん でいますし、の もよくたれています。
(In English, that’s: “It’s a good question. Honestly, the transition has been seamless and harmonious.”)
So what do you have in store for us this year? (Insert shameless plug here) Well, Deus Ex: Human
Revolutionis our biggest release for the year. And be sure to look out for Dungeon Siege 3and FF XIII-2.
You oversee a mix of many varied territories, including some ‘emerging’ ones. Which do you think have the most potential this year? The emerging markets for us are the Middle East, Russia, Poland, Turkey, India and Milton Keynes. From a traditional gaming perspective there is huge scope in all these markets – particularly on PS3.
You have probably been to more countries than
FROM THE ARCHIVE... FOURTEEN YEARS AGO NEWS
CTW March 3rd 1997
Sony announces a PlayStation price cut during the same weekend that Nintendo launches the N64. Sony’s console now costs £129 – almost half the price of Nintendo’s at £249... Viacom and its Spelling subsidiary sells off its 90 per cent stake in Virgin Interactive Entertainment. The publisher is the third biggest in the market, behind Electronic Arts and GT Interactive... Sega launches a new £199 Saturn bundle. Entitled the Action Pack, the SKU contains the console and two games...
the industry. The current members are...
OFF THE RECORD
Justin Gaffney, Export Director, Square Enix Europe
Alan Whicker. What is the funniest or strangest thing that has happened on your travels?
Needless to say in some of the more ‘exotic’ markets, it’s essential you know exactly who you are dealing with. My golden rule is to get them to ‘cough’ first and ask questions later.
What do you see as the key market trends in the next two to three years? The games market is increasingly diverse. The talk for the future is digital: smartphone gaming, social network gaming, DLC, PSN, Xbox Live, MMOs.
Unfortunately, different types of games work on different platforms which presents challenges and great opportunities. Otherwise, it’s human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together – mass hysteria!
Where do think the emerging markets will differ on these trends? Many of the emerging markets will overtake some of the more established ones in terms of digital market size versus traditional boxed product market size. Piracy of the traditional markets and large population sizes will be the main drivers for this.
You’re dating a psychologist right now. Has she helped you come to terms with your many, many issues? It’s far worse than that – she is a psychiatrist, which basically means she has the power to ‘section’ individuals under the mental health act. She threatens me with this quite often.
I’m sure that most of my distributors would agree that I’m still more than a little delusional when it comes to business plan numbers.
Who are you interviewing for next week’s Tag-Team? Neil Ralley, general manager of 2K Games.
CHARTS: ALL FORMATS 1. Tomb
Raider.................................................Eidos.........PSX, PC, Saturn 2. FIFA ‘97..........................................................EA/
THQ...PSX, PC, MD, GB 3. Destruction Derby
2................................Psygnosis
................PSX, PC 4. C&C: Red
Alert...........................................Virgin .....................................PC 5. Cool
Boarders.............................................Sony
....................................PSX
AND FINALLY We look at the imminent launch of Sony’s new budget-priced Platinum software range for PlayStation. The range launches with six titles, including Ridge Racer, Destruction Derbyand Wipeoutwith games at £19.99 each. It’s partly a cheeky stab at the price of the N64 launch titles – the cheapest is Pilotwings at £49.99, with Turok: Dinosaur Hunterexpected to retail for a whopping £69.99.
Azeem Sadiq, Comet
www.mcvuk.com
Graham Chambers, Amazon
Danielle Nicholls, DSGi
Igor Cipolletta, ShopTo
Anthony Stocker, Argos
Stephen Staley, Gameseek
Joanna Hunt, Tesco
Gurdeep Hunjan, Sainsbury’s
Phil Moore, Grainger Games
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