Shuhei Yoshida pleased with Move, Microsoft reinvesting in Japan

Shuhei Yoshida, president of Sony Worldwide Studios, has said he is very pleased with Move's reception at TGS, and he was also pleased to see some familiar faces at Microsoft's presentation.

Speaking with Gamasutra at the event this week, Yoshida said while it was nice to see Microsoft taking renewed investment in Japan, Sony's "better utilized to develop content with local appeal".

"I saw many familiar faces, so I was smiling," he said, "but you realize some of those presentations were very, very early. Microsoft seems to be restarted investing in development in Japan, so I think that's good.

"The money coming in, and more opportunity for Japanese developers.

"[However] there are very particular cultural sensibilities that people outside of Japan do not understand. And the same way -- many games are strange and bizarre, especially the characters, coming from Japanese developers, [when seen] outside Japan."

Yoshida also said he was "very happy" because Move can be used for many years to come.

"This is the first major event [for the Move] in Japan, so a lot of Japanese people have not played PlayStation Move before...you have to try it before you can understand the difference," he said. "I'm very happy. We know we have a lot more work to do, but I'd give ourselves a nod.

"We didn't just make games, if you realize. We are an integral part of making the Move system itself. We are so excited to read lots of articles from people who praise the potential of Move and what it does. We are as happy to see the reactions to the Move system itself as when we get a great review on our games, so it's a kind of new experience that we're going through as a studio.

"So I'm very happy that the PlayStation Move is very robust, that we can use it for many years."

In the interview, he also called Team Ico and Olympic developers, and chatted a bit about The Last Guardian being in development for six years come its release. It's a rather good read.