MikeMcD

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In yet another telling sign that Japan's game industry -- and the people that work for it -- are changing more rapidly than ever before, this week's main feature in Japan's Famitsu magazine, devoted to game devs talking about the games and trends they're looking forward to in the future, was a parade of mostly Western titles.
Take Hajime Tabata, for example. He may have produced the PSP's Final Fantasy Type-0 (which ships next week over there), but all he can think about right now is Battlefield 3. "There are several overseas titles nearing release that I'm paying attention to, but this one is at the top of the pile," he said. "The PC version was one of the few games as of late that made me wonder if this was really in-game visuals. Half-Life 2 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 were both surprises to me, but the visuals here are really 'next generation' in a complete sort of way, so it's one of the biggest shocks I've ever had. The programmers and I watched the trailer together, and it hit us so much that we wound up having a full-on evaluation meeting afterwards."

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