Interview | Yuji Naka Talks Ivy the Kiwi? (Nintendo DS/Wii)

Yuji Naka, CEO of Prope: It’s been getting very good, positive reviews by users, especially from those older-school, 2D, side-scrolling gaming fans. So Ivy the Kiwi? has had a very good start in Japan, and it’s getting quite positive reviews so far.

Adam Riley, Cubed3’s Senior Editor: How do you feel about the results so far from the Japanese sales, and the US sales? Have they been impressive, and do you expect a better reception in Europe?

Naka-san: It’s actually lower than I expected, very [much] the same for the North American market. I hope it’s going to be accepted and do well over here in the UK.

AR: Why do you think it wasn’t accepted as well as you imagined?

Naka-san: [Long answer in Japanese]

Translator: Sorry, that’s a no comment.

AR: Okay, sorry. I was wondering if maybe you thought that in the Wii market and the DS market now it’s very difficult to sell new ideas; everyone’s always looking for a well-known franchise. I wonder if that was perhaps something you’d considered as a reason?

Naka-san: It is getting difficult to be successful in the DS and Wii markets, but at the same time you could say the same thing for other platforms, so it’s really hard to tell.

MM: Why did you choose to develop download versions [of Ivy the Kiwi?] as well? Was there not concern that they will eat into the sales of the retail versions?

Naka-san: Prope will be emphasising the packaged game. The downloadable game is something we have to do, but our emphasis is more on the packaged title.

MM: Is it true that the idea [for Ivy the Kiwi?] came up through a young programmer experimenting?

Naka-san: The idea originally came from quite a young team at Prope, who came up with this original idea of Ivy the Kiwi?. But I somehow saw strong potential in it, in its very early stage, so I decided to expand it. In that sense, it was quite accidental. I wasn’t planning that from the beginning.

AR: How much actual hands-on involvement did you have with the game itself?

Naka-san: Since I moved to Prope - and this is something I could not do back in SEGA - I’ve been getting involved in every process of game-making. This was the same with Let’s Tap, the first game from Prope. I’m very much involved in every process of game-making.

Naka-san: That really depends on the sales, the sales performance of Ivy the Kiwi? over here [ in Europe ]. If the game proves to be successful over here, and if I see many demands, of course I want to convert the character to other games.

AR: Because it’s a very cute character, it could work as a very good mascot for the company.

Naka-san: I personally prefer to try something new, instead of making the second, or third, version, and trying different things with the character. I want to concentrate on making completely new games.

AR: We mentioned that it was a young developer who came up with the idea initially. Do you actively encourage the younger developers in your team to create new ideas and pitch them to you?

Naka-san: Yes, very much. I want to encourage the young game creators in Japan to work harder. That was one of the reasons I left SEGA; I had to show that skill to the young game developers.

MM: Do Prope own the rights to Let’s Tap, and the Let’s... series? The licensing rights.

Naka-san: It’s co-owned by SEGA and Prope combined.

MM: Would you ever consider collaborating with SEGA to create more small, experimental games with the Let’s... banner?

Naka-san: I still keep a very good relationship with SEGA, so if there’s an interesting project coming up in the future, I’d really want to do that.

MM: What was behind the decision to put multiple games into Let’s Tap, on one disc? Was there ever any game that was the main game, and the rest just got added onto it?

Naka-san: The game was always targeted towards the family sectors, so that’s why. With Let’s Tap, we wanted to target more than one player.

AR: The Let’s Tap games unfortunately didn’t sell as well as expected. Would you ever consider breaking down the separate games in Let’s Tap as download releases, to recoup sales?

Naka-san: I tried that with iPhone, with parts of games that you can download [N.B: known as the iPrope series], but they didn’t work out, so that’s not my plan any more.

MM & AR: Thanks for your time!