Making International Hits in Japan - The Foreign Developer's Perspective | CEDEC 2010

Making International Hits in Japan
- The Foreign Developer's Perspective

Date: September 2 (Thu) 17:50 - 18:50
Format: Round Table

Expected Skill	This session is recommended for: - People who not only love playing games but have a passion for making games to entertain gamers from all over the world - Foreigners living overseas with an interest in working in the Japanese game industry - Anybody with overseas working experience in the game industry, regardless of nationality and current location - Anybody who wants to make the Japanese development community even better
Ideas Take Away	・View of the Japanese game industry from a foreign perspective ・Tips on how to get into the industry.

Expected Skill

This session is recommended for:

- People who not only love playing games but have a passion for making games to entertain gamers from all over the world

- Foreigners living overseas with an interest in working in the Japanese game industry

- Anybody with overseas working experience in the game industry,
regardless of nationality and current location

- Anybody who wants to make the Japanese development community even better

Ideas Take Away

・View of the Japanese game industry from a foreign perspective
・Tips on how to get into the industry.

(Below only shows some of the examples, the actual content will also depend on the core speakers and the audience.)

■ Why do we need more foreigners in the local industry
- By learning from the America CG industry, recruit top talent from all over the world, not just from within Japan.
- Discuss how to make a hit game for an international audience
- Exchange ideas, skills, knowledge and so on

■ What sort of challenges may a foreigner face in the Japanese work place and how to deal with them
- Resume, demo reel, interview, etc
- Visas and other logistics
- Language barrier, long working hour and working style
- Positions that require Japanese ability and positions that don't
- Game companies with English-speaking foreigners
- How to start a game development studio

■ What can Japanese companies do to attract more and better foreign talent
- Internationally competitive wages
- Logistical aid for setting up bank accounts, apartment contracts, etc.
- What sort of projects attract an international staff

■ Looking ahead
- What kind of positions are in high demand?
- What we can contribute to make international hits?
- Do we need organizations oriented to towards foreigners working in the Japanese games industry?

* The session contents are based on the information provided by the speakers.

Fred T.Y. Hui

Game Programmer

Development Division

Square Enix, Co., Ltd.

Educated in Hong Kong, he has five years of game-programming experience,
as part of 13 years of programming professional interactive software.
He works on an unannounced title at Tokyo now.
He worked as a game programmer for World Fantasista (Playstation 2) and
as a CG software engineer at Visual Works Division for Final Fantasy XII
(Playstation 2) and Final Fantasy VII Advent Children (DVD).
He works on an unannounced game title now.

[Message]

If you work in the local game industry,
please join us to share your views and working experience, especially those with foreigners in Japan.
If you have experience working in game industry overseas, please come and join us!
Audiences are welcome to join the discussion.
Robert Ota Dieterich

Lead Engineer - Gaming

Program Team

iNiS Corporation

He has worked on titles like Gitarooman Lives (Playstation Portable), Elite Beat Agents and Ouendan 2 (Nintendo DS), and Lips (Xbox 360).
His previous work experiences include working as a U.S. government contract programmer, working with a short-lived startup to create a new dance arcade game called NeonFM, and teaching English at Japanese schools on the JET program.
He also writes independent video games under the moniker NobunagaOta.

[Message]

Whether you're new to the games industry, old to the industry but new to Japan, or an old-hand with the Japanese games industry, please come and join the discussion.