Square Enix dev says Japanese industry is "pushing back"

After years of stagnation, the Japanese game industry is ready for a comeback. At least, that's what Square Enix technical director Yoshihisa Hashimoto told 4Gamer last week in an interview translated by Edge.

Hashimoto acknowledged that in terms of influence on the industry, the Japanese industry is "being pushed around by Western games without a doubt." However, he has seen encouraging signs that things are changing, specifically pointing to Kojima Productions' Fox Engine work (as seen in the Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes trailer) as an example.

"Recently, it feels like the Japanese game industry hasn't lost, and is gradually pushing back."

Given that Hashimoto is currently involved in the creation of Square Enix's Luminous Studio game engine, he found the glimpse of Kojima's new engine to be motivational as well as encouraging. Hasimoto called the Fox Engine tech amazing, adding that it spurred him to think, "We [Square Enix] won't lose to this though!"

For Luminous Studio, Hashimoto is trying to create technology capable of meeting the demands of Square Enix's AAA titles, but also adaptable for smartphone, tablet, and cloud-based gaming as well.

"The aim is to broaden the vision of the company, and establish a better integrated game development environment," Hashimoto explained.

The Luminous Engine was first shown off at the Electronic Entertainment Expo earlier this year with a Final Fantasy tech demo trailer called Agni's Philosophy.