Wired News: Game Devs Plan to Save Japan

"In 2001, gross software and hardware shipments from Japanese companies totaled about 1.46 trillion yen. In 2004, they were about 909.1 billion yen -- a drop of over 37 percent. This isn't merely attributable to the fact that the PlayStation 2 and GameCube hardware are getting on in years, as software shipments have dropped as well.

The declining bottom line is felt by everyone in the industry. But in the end, game designers are in charge of creating the products that will get the industry out of its slump. At E3, Wired News spoke to three of Japan's biggest names -- Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma, Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi and former Nintendo designer Masahiro Sakurai -- about their futures, and how they hope their new games will become the next generation's breakout hits."
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