I've been a long time lurker. Back from the Sega Nerds days haha. I have a decent level of Japanese reading ability, and have lived in Japan before. I decided to help out with the translation of the article. I'm far from any expert, and I shouldn't be quoted on anything! Just my idea of what Nagoshi was saying. I translated the parts of the interview that I had a good understanding of, not all of it.
As for the consumer business possibly stopping 10 years ago:
The IP was drying up and their was a time when Sega was losing its way with their brand. Ryu Ga Gotoku, Phantasy Star, and mobile smartphone games created a foundation. Voices arose with questions that the consumer business might stop. If that stopped there would be many difficulties. When business is in hard times, new content is created to support the company. (He then says something about the theory of long term successful companies, but I had a hard time understanding that). If you look at the present slow recovery, he feels that Ryu Ga Gotoku has been one part of that recovery.
(The interviewer told Nagoshi that Ryu Ga Gotoku is something like Sega's consumer business' billboard. Nagoshi was not exactly asked a question, and then he replied with the above statement about the consumer business)
What has changed and what has not changed in the past 10 years:
From the start, the fan base had many users who where in their thirties. He now sees a trend of users in their twenties beginning to pick up the series. Those users began playing withe "Zero" and "Goku".
Random replies I understood well..
-Nagoshi states that the series will not contain themes of drug use, the death of children, or themes that bring a feeling of disgust. He is baffled by the direction of foreign countries' culture by including such things. (I'm not certain of any particular countries he is pointing out)
- The Asian market for the series is really heating up. He was surprised by the sells "Goku" and "Zero" in the Asian markets. The Ryu Ga Gotoku series has recently had a presence in events held in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Fans at those events clearly knew who he was and asked for autographs.
- The interviewer states that the series is gaining momentum in North America and Europe, stating the applause given to the series during the Playstation Experience event. Nagoshi states that he does not exactly feel that way even with applause given. He would not say the situation is good. (DONT take that statement too literally, its hard to translate perfectly for me) He still wants to improve the appeal of the series in North America and Europe.
- From the start the series was made for Japanese adult men. The European, American, and Asian markets were cast aside. Japanese and Asian players have different incentives to buy the game. If you analyse the data, oversees sells are possible.
- If a good plan for smartphone arises he wants to do that. He doesn't think working on smart phone content is impossible.
There's quite a bit more that seems interesting, but I wrote down what I could read well. If I really wanted to I can attempt the other stuff later.
