Okamoto hints at more Japanese support for Xbox 2

Former Capcom exec Yoshiki Okamoto, whose new studio Game Republic signed up to develop titles for Xbox 2 last month, has hinted that the company is lining up a number of other major Japanese developers to support the platform.

Speaking in an interview with the official Japanese Xbox website, translated by GameSpot, Okamoto said that "I've been hearing that some other designers will also be joining [game development for Xbox 2]. There are a lot of surprises. I find myself saying: 'What, this development studio!? This game!? These people!?'"

Okamoto was named as one of three big-name Japanese designers who would be lending his talents to the Xbox 2 in a flurry of announcements last month, joining Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi and Space Channel 5 and Rez creator Tetsuya Mizuguchi, whose Mist Walker and Q Entertainment studios are also signed up.

That's only the tip of the iceberg, though, if Okamoto is to be believed. "If the current line-up [of titles] in development for the next-generation Xbox was revealed, it would not only surprise users, but the entire industry," he said. "There probably wouldn't be anyone [in Japan] that would still be uninterested in buying the next-generation Xbox when they see the line-up."

Okamoto didn't give any specifics of what titles Game Republic is working on for the next-gen console, but he did confirm that due to the company's deal with Microsoft Game Studios, the titles would be fully exclusive to Xbox 2 - with no chance of them being ported to other consoles, which he described as "a disappointment".