GDC to host talks from various Japanese game developers

Before, if you wanted to hear Japanese developers speak about their work in person, you had to book a flight to the Land of the Rising Sun. Fortunately, this year’s San Francisco Game Developer’s Conference is offering a better alternative: several Japanese developers will be hosting talks on a variety of topics. Interested in knowing what the topics will be? A listing of may be found in the full article, right after the jump.

It’s usually a good idea to have an alternative perspective on things. Perhaps that’s why the Game Developer’s Conference (GDC) will also give some air time to several Japanese game developers, who will be presenting talks on a variety of topics, just like their Western counterparts.

According to Mr. Jamil Moledina, Game Developers Conference Executive Director, the list of presentations will include:

• Masafumi Takada, who will talk about his past compositions in a presentation entitled “The Music of Killer 7, God Hand,  Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles and No More Heroes.”
• FeelPlus president Ray Nakazato will speak on what worked and what didn’t with regards to his latest project in “Looking Back at Lost Odyssey: The Challenges of Cross-Cultural Development.”
• Time Pilot and Street Fighter 2 creator Yoshiki Okamoto will facilitate an in-depth discussion of his own creative process in “Creativity in the Form of Improvement.”
• Square Enix Technical Research General Manager Taku Murata will tackle such issues as Square Enix’s switch to a common development platform, the creation of a new engine and the decision not to go third party in “The Technology of Final Fantasy.”
• Final Fantasy Art Director Isamu Kamikokuryo will be in charge of a companion piece to Murata’s presentation called “The Art of Final Fantasy.” He will focus on the art style of the series, his inspirations and the flow of concept art to pixels in an interview with Steve Theodore of Bungie.

Moledina also noted that this year’s GDC will have two rooms with dual simultaneous translation in both Japanese and English for viewers’ convenience. That’s right, the GDC is welcoming Japanese attendees as well, so if you know of any Japanese who may want to attend, Moledina is encouraging you to forward the source link below to the interested parties.