We had the opportunity to sit down with Microsoft to talk about the Xbox's first-party Japanese titles. Product Unit Manager Toshiyuki Miyata has been put in charge of overseeing the growth of the Microsoft brand in Japan and beefing up the company's first-party lineup.

　　GameSpot: How do you go about balancing content between established genres and original content that will help increase the Xbox user base?

　　Toshiyuki Miyata: I think for Xbox to catch on with gamers, they have to feel secure that they'll be able to play the full range of games they're used to. They want to play the titles they're already familiar with. So, of course we have excellent game developers in Japan, and the important thing is for them to develop titles for the Xbox console so that gamers can feel secure. They can say, "OK, I can play familiar titles here." The next step is for us to provide Xbox-exclusive titles. That's another story, and I believe that's the responsibility of Microsoft. First-party titles are things we need to cover. By doing that, I believe we can provide gamers satisfaction.

　　GS:On the subject of getting exclusive titles, how important will third-party exclusives be in a market that is leaning toward third parties supporting all consoles?

　　TM:Well, we understand third parties are developing games to be played on various consoles. That's why first-party titles are becoming more important. That's what my team in Japan and Ed's in the US are doing: making sure we can provide Xbox-exclusive titles to users. And in the US, we are working on more than 50 titles; in Japan, we are working on many titles as well. By doing that, I think we can enhance the Xbox's presence.

　　GS:In terms of the title that your teams are working on, are your teams targeting the Japanese market specifically? Do you see any of those titles coming to the US?

　　TM:Well, since MS is a global corporation, and since we are a part of that, we are hoping whatever content we create will be able to be sold in the worldwide market. However, it is a fact that there are some differences between Japanese and US gamers. Whether what we create in Japan can be accepted by the US market will be a decision for the members of the US team. Sometimes it might be that we may just have to change a character a little bit to get it accepted in the US market. But that kind of a decision will depend on market research.

　　GS:What do you feel your teams can contribute to the Xbox lineup that other teams can't?

　　TM:Well, the older Japanese team members have a very rich experience in the Japanese gaming industry, so they are very well aware of what kind of culture exists in the Japanese industry. They also have very specific skills. And also, because of the power of the Xbox console, people have wanted to express or represent something in a certain way, but in the past, it was not possible because of the spec limitations of gaming hardware. But now with the Xbox's power, they can do that. They are working on these new challenges. Because of that power--and the freedom it gives developers--I think we'll be able to create new types of games people have never seen.

　　GS:What kinds of games do you like to play?

　　TM:Actually, I never really played games before working in the industry. The first time I was exposed to games was when I started working on the PlayStation. But I was already pretty old [laughter], so I was never very good at action types of games, which required quick responses, but I developed skills for RPG and simulation types of games. So those are what I play now.