Japan â??still at forefrontâ?? says Capcom exec

Remarks that the Japanese games industry is ‘finished’ – famously first said by Capcom global head of production Keiji Inafune – remains a matter of dispute within the company.

Christian Svensson, Capcom vice president of strategic planning and business development, said he wasn’t in complete agreement with Inafune-San’s comments.

“To say Japan is five years behind, I’m torn on that,” Svensson told IGN.

“In some ways he’s right and in some ways I think he’s wrong. I think when it comes to online, [Japan] has some catching up to do, when it comes to artistic efforts in game design, they’re every bit at the forefront of the games industry.

“As far as his comments about the Japanese market, there are economic realities there; it is not a growing market, factually speaking, in terms of the amount of revenue being generated there.

“So I think he’s sounding the alarm of concern that something should change to turn that around. I think he’s trying to take up the mantel of someone who’s willing to try and make that happen.”