neXGam

Quoted

E3: SNK - The interview.
June 8, 2003 11:31 PM PST


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Ben Herman, President, SNK NeoGeo USA Consumer
Shinya Morishita, Director of Sales
Eric Feiner, V.P. of Sales and Marketing
----



IC: First of all, we're glad you're back.

Ben Herman: Thanks. We are too, we are too.

IC: I bet. Okay. So. We've got a lot of questions to get out.

BH: Bring 'em on.

IC: We'll start easy. Will SNK be publishing and distributing Playmore titles in the US?

BH: [makes affirmative gesture]

IC: All or most, or...

BH: Okay, let me explain who Playmore is. Mr. [Eikichi] Kawasaki, from Japan -- SNK has been his child, his company. And... if you understand what happened with Aruze -- Aruze was set up... was requested to invest money with us to allow us to market the Pocket, y'know, to a much higher level. Needed more marketing support, they were going to do that for us.

They, instead -- all they wanted was our development team, to make pachinko games for them, which was their main business in Japan. Pachinko is a major gambling platform in Japan. Mr. Kawasaki started litigation and over the last two years has basically won every lawsuit that has been imaginable but more importantly has gotten back the rights to all his games, all his names. And...

A year and a half ago, before he was allowed to, he created the Playmore name. But it was basically the SNK company, the SNK people -- but he could not use the SNK name. So that's who Playmore is. It really is SNK. So Playmore is not just this... y'know. It is SNK. Mr. Kawasaki is twenty-six years of this company. We've been in the arcade; we've continued in the arcade all the way through.

About a year ago in Japan, under the Playmore title [gestures] -- PlayStation One, PlayStation 2 games. And we're still developing more for Japan.

The decision was made about six months ago -- although it was always there -- to plan for a reentry to the United States. Here we are.

IC: Excellent. And who's going to be doing distribution? Like, arcade and end distro?

BH: SNK NeoGeo USA is set up in Cypress, California. They are in charge of our arcade products. The three of us will be in New Jersey. The office will be set up -- uh, we're taking office space; it'll either be Whal or Freehold, New Jersey. We'll decide that shortly before we, June 1st, take the office space.

But we will be SNK NeoGeo USA Consumer.

IC: So, you going to be doing all your own stuff?

BH: [shakes head] I mean, we get all -- it's really Japan. We all report to Japan, but there'll be two separate divisions here; one for the arcade, one for the consumer.

IC: Because we were worried for a while about the -- like, the Apple fiasco and all.

BH: Apple was brought on as a distributor for our arcade products. That's what they were there for. That was dissolved about a year ago.

IC: Yeah. But they were still making outlandish claims after that, y'know.

BH: Okay.

IC: Okay. Um. Do you have any thoughts about Capcom's withdrawl from the arcade arena, and is this a drawback or an opportunity for you?

BH: I would position it this way: that the arcade arena has had its difficult times over the last number of years. Every company makes their own decision as to what to do. But...

Y'know, It's a little disappointing but it probably gives us an opportunity to be a stronger player in the arcade arena. We are not dispensing with our arcade business at all.

IC: Great. Um. You answered this, but just so we're completely clear -- about the Aruze lawsuits, you have... won them? And... are you receiving compensation, or...? [pause]

BH: [to Shinya Morishita] What would you say about the lawsuits in Japan, or what can... what would you like to say about the lawsuits? [pause]

SM: Uh. [laughter] Wow. It's... still on the way. It's really, really hard to... say that --

BH: [speaking over Morishita] It's still -- they're still continuing litigation.

SM: ... yeah.

IC: Okay...

BH: 'Cause we can't really get --

SM: ... talk about this matter fully, right yet.

IC: Okay. But. You said that basically, he's winning them?

BH: I'm saying basically, we have our stuff back. We have all the stuff.

IC: That's good.

BH: It's good.

IC: And, uh -- is there any chance of the -- that sort of tell-all book about the SNK/Aruze relationship being released in the US, in English?

BH: Uh, we're not going to do that.

SM: [muffled laughter]

BH: But that's a copy if you'd like to have it translated.

IC: Oh yeah.

BH: Okay. But that is...

IC: I'll read that.

BH: There's a publisher that came out, that wanted to write a book... and... we were asked to -- Mr. Kawasaki was asked for his comments, his thoughts. They're in the book.

IC: That's great. Okay. Um. Now, regarding pachinko --

BH: Yes.

IC: We've seen on the webside that Playmore is hiring people for pachinko development, R&D, all that stuff.

BH: Yup.

IC: So. Are you planning a large-scale pachinko division, or just licensing... the characters... uh, or...

BH: We've... Last year, we actually actively did pachinko business in Japan.

IC: Okay.

BH: So we entered the market. And, uh. We'll continue to be there.

IC: Okay. Seems like a really good move, considering how --

BH: It's a big market in Japan.

IC: Yeah.

BH: It's big.

IC: Because, uh. [weird laughter, starting with Mr. Morishita, and spreading from there]

IC: It makes us all feel better that, y'know. Financial security for SNK.

BH: And I don't want to say that, y'know, this was because we were so angry with Aruze that we decided to go after their own business.

[some unintelligible half-started comments from others]

BH: One could say that there's... there's a lot of business there, and yes we have entered it.

SM: Yeah. [muffled laughter]

BH: [clears throat]

IC: I understand. [laughs] Um. Last question in this category: are you hiring in the US?

BH: As far as the... consumer division? Yes.

IC: Yes.

BH: Yeah, we're adding staff. We haven't completed our staff. We're not going to do development here, with -- we're gonna' be guessing we have sales... marketing, y'know, division.

IC: Now where's development going to be done, 'cause I heard in that Game Daily interview a while back that some development was going to be done in the US.

BH: No.

IC: No.

BH: No, I wouldn't read that. I mean, the only thing that goes on here is that -- like, for Xbox we get the disc and you have to kind of work with others to create the artwork, so that you make a finished package. But others -- y'know, like Sony, whatever -- they give you a finished package, terrific.

IC: Speaking of artwork, who's the artist for the SNK NeoGeo USA site?

BH: Uh, we have not selected one. We're going to be creating -- but notice, we have -- the NeoGeo USA site that exists?

IC: Yeah.

BH: It's an arcade site.

IC: And there's -- but, the art that's on there currently.

BH: Right.

IC: Who is that?

BH: It comes from Japan.

IC: Oh.

BH: So it's hard to tell. It comes from Japan, we put it on the site.

IC: I see. Um. Could we get his name? Do you know it?

BH: I'm not sure who...

SM: Uh... was it a King of Fighters, the Tonko? I don't know that. But, uh.

IC: But the one that's doing those, uh. There's, like, a Metal Slug drawing on the...

SM: Yeah.

IC: On the...

[silence]

IC: All right. Um. Will there be any more coming from that artist? Because it seemed kind of nice.

BH: Well, we're going to get our artwork from Japan.

IC: Okay.

BH: Okay. So, I -- y'know. Whoever that person is, or. A lot of the people that are in Japan that are doing the games are the same people that've been doing the games to, y'know. We have a very nice team that all does it.

IC: Okay. Um. Now that the initial contract with Eolith is over, uh, will you be having... any more...

BH: [clears throat]

IC: ... development relationships with that company?

BH: I'm not sure I know the answer to that.

SM: Uh. Sorry, please? Could you?

IC: Yeah. Um. Eolith.

SM: Eolith.

IC: Yeah. Now that you have, um. Now that the initial contract is over -- you know, to do the two games, KoF2001, 2002 -- will you still be using them for development in the future? Or...

SM: Oh. Eolith? Ah, yeah. Ah [incomprehensible]... Is the question to ask. I cannot answer but I already have. Heh.

IC: ... All right. Um. And what has happened to Brezza? Are they part of Sun, now? Or...

SM: Yeah.

IC: They got, yeah. They've been --

SM: Yeah.

BH: We've restructured the whole way we've set up the international... probable... you look at the Playmore website, you will see different pieces that fit together? What's going to be added is a SNK NeoGeo USA Consumer piece.

IC: Okay. And will Sun, since they have Brezza, be doing some development now?

Eric Feiner: Not sure of that yet.

BH: It's not just responsible for sales worldwide or arcade and consumer products. Really what it is is that's a division of Playmore, which is all part of our SNK family.

IC: Okay. Now, what about Megaking? We're very curious about them because they aren't on the website, for one thing. But yet, on their website they say that they have license for all SNK properties in Korea on mobile. So we were just wondering.

BH: I'm not sure of that. We have some licensing agreements, uh. We have a licensing agreement with the Playmore division of Sammy for mobile games in the United States.

IC: Wait. Said -- you have a... license with... second one? Of Sammy? Who is that?

BH: Playmore is a company that's a division of Sammy. [shows some material] We have some mobile phone license -- so we've licensed out some products.

IC: Okay. I see... That... really, really looks like a NeoGeo Pocket game. That... is very interesting.

BH: But that's, y'know. Mobile gaming is another --

IC: So you said... Now, when you said Playmore is a division of Sammy, you didn't --

BH: Playphone.

IC: You didn't mean --

BH: Playphone.

IC: You said "Playmore" two times...

BH: I'm sorry, I --

[laughter]

BH: Thank you for clarifying. Playphone.

IC: Playphone.

BH: Was a separate company...

IC: We got it now.

BH: ...that Sammy has invested in and...

IC: Okay.

BH: They're in the Sammy booth, if you want to just kind of walk right over.

IC: I really do.

BH: They have some other licenses besides just SNK, but it's just -- they're building an arsenal of products.

IC: Okay, we're going to need to get some shots of that. [laughs] Uh. And. Evoga: what happened to them?

SM: Evoga? Evoga is actually one of the, uh. We had a contract to make the one game. Uh. It's the Rage of Dragon. But, uh. That is the one project. The other games, we didn't have any. It's just Rage of the Dragon.

IC: Okay. Say the game name again?

SM: Rage of the Dragon?

BH: Rage of the Dragon.

IC: Rage of the Dragon, right.

BH: Yep.

IC: Um. Yeah. That's out already. So, any future projects with them?

SM: Ah, no. We didn't have any.

BH: Not right now.

IC: Oh, not right now. Okay. All right. Um. Who is Uno Technology? What's their relationship with SNK? Uno Technology of Korea? Because we know that Kim Kap Hwan is named after the president, and Jae Hoon and Dong Hwan are... sons.

BH: Okay.

IC: So.

BH: This is just, y'know -- this is...

SM: Yeah. [laughs]

BH: This is deep. It's deep.

SM: Yeah, it's very heavy. Sorry, but I, uh. So, is there no doubt that we are now targeting the US in market? Right? Yeah. We are not, of course going to operate Korean market. We don't have much information. Yeah...

IC: All right. So, um. You don't know if there are any plans to release King of Fighters Online in the US? 'Cause that's their title.

SM: Um. No. Not here, yeah.

IC: So no plans.

SM: [negative gestures]

IC: And you don't know, like, what relationship they have?

SM: Uh.

IC: They're not part of SNK, right?

SM: No, I can't tell.

IC: But it was an official licensed title, right?

SM: Uh, yeah. In production.

BH: Yeah, we've had some, y'know, some products that we licensed to Nintendo; Crystalis was a Gameboy game that we did. We've done some things with Sony. Y'know, there's been different times in our time period that we have made some decisions... Agetec has some product here. And, y'know, right now there are still some situations where there are some relationships that will be outside of our control. But now that we're back, going forward, there will be an effort to take care of our marketplace by ourselves.

IC: Okay. Here's another... kind of weird one. Um.

BH: Okay.

[laughter]

IC: Who is Matrix? There were four Matrix staff members credited on King of Fighters EX 2 for GBA. Are they the chip makers that Playmore was discussing hardware ideas with, in the past?

SM: Mm-hmm.

IC: Yes?

[laughter]

IC: Yes. Um. Well, what was their relationship with -- if they're chipmakers, what was their relationship with this game software?

[door opens; it seems someone else wants to talk]

BH: All right, just -- [motions]

[door closes again; someone laughs]

SM: GBA EX, right?

IC: Mm-hmm. EX2.

SM: Yeah. That's kind of the last thing in the contract, but -- AH! Osa... ah! Sorry. I cannot tell a lot about this matter now.

EF: Just say you don't want to discuss.

SM: [laughs heavily] That's all I got.

EF: It's okay to say that?

SM: Yeah.

EF: Okay.

BH: Is that a couple years old? Or is that kind of like right... happening now, or --

IC: It's happening now. 'Cause, um. KoF EX2 -- that came out just...

BH: Just, we're not going to discuss that at this time.

SM: Yeah.

IC: I know --

[laughter]

IC: No, it happened a while ago. That's in the past. Let me tell ya'.

BH: I mean, I'm just wondering myself. So that's very interesting. So we'll just --

IC: Yeah. Okay. The... KoF EX2 just came out, um... was it this year or was it late last year? It was this year.

BH: It came out on what platform?

IC: GBA?

SM: No no came in here yet.

IC: Oh, not here.

SM: Not here.

IC: No, not here. In Japan.

BH: Gotcha.

IC: It came out, it came out.

BH: It's okay, it's okay.

SM: [laughs]

IC: Okay. Um. What pre-Neo or Neo-Geo or original titles will SNK be bringing to US consoles?

BH: Well, right now, our lineup -- we can give you a packet of five games we've shown you. What we're going to do initially -- King of Fighters 2001 on Playstation 2?

IC: Okay.

BH: We're going to do a combination where if you buy that, you will get a free copy of King of Fighters 2000.

IC: That's great.

BH: 2000. Y'know, '99 was the last release, was on Dreamcast.

IC: Yeah.

BH: So. You'll get 2000, 2001 -- either two games on one CD or two CDs in one jewel case... whatever. That's going to be our ultimate promotion.

IC: Great.

BH: We're also going to be coming up the Metal Slug series. Staying with Playstation 2. We'll have Metal Slug 3 out this fall.

IC: Okay.

BH: All right? After that, we're going to bring King of Fighters 2002. We've got Metal Slug 4. And we have a King of Fighters 3D in development. For fun.

IC: Okay. So, The King of Fighters 3D is not going to be the KoF Online. Or can you not comment?

SM: No, totally different.

IC: No? Totally different?

SM: Yeah.

IC: Okay. And, uh. About that KoF 3D -- can you say who's developing it?

SM: Um. Ah. Sorry, but all in the brochure. We cannot discuss for the moment. Yeah.

IC: Okay. Can't say. but. Is it going to be, like, a fighting game? Or is it going to be like a side-story kind of --

SM: Fighting.

IC: Fighting. Okay. And is that, like, the direction that King of Fighters is moving, or are we still --

BH: We're... We are a 2D company.

IC: Okay.

BH: We're going to explore it. We're going to test it. See what our fans have to say. And if they want us to do more 3D... if they like the 2D, which we know they do... y'know, we're not going to upset our fans. We're just going to let, to give them an opportunity to take a look.

IC: Okay. Um. And this is developed exclusively for home console, right?

BH: Playstation 2.

IC: Playstation 2. Okay. Um. Will the ports use original arcade translations, or will you retranslate it for the console soft? Or retranslate it from existing console soft?

BH: King of Fighters 2000, in Japan -- y'know, I don't wanna'... you say it's more of a console port, in terms of the ability of the system?

SM: Uh. Mostly with that we have the original game model for the Playstation game consoles. Yeah.

IC: So you have the original end text translations?

SM: Uh, yes.

IC: Okay. So it's basically, like, straight from arcade.

BH: Yeah... the whole idea of these systems is get 'em so you can bring the arcade home. And we're trying to do that as easily and as best as possible.

IC: Okay. And how will the ports be handled in general? Like, will there be new menus or options, or whatnot? I guess that's a Playmore thing.

BH: Yeah. Well, no. But it's -- I think it's overall we're going to try to bring the arcade game to the little screen. So it'll be, y'know similar -- as close to being accurate as we can.

IC: Great. But, um. Like, I remember... on the Neo CD, for instance. In Metal Slug 1, 2 they come to the console with extra -- like, they have mission modes. Etcetera. Will there be any --

BH: Yeah, there's always hidden levels.

SM: Yeah.

IC: Okay.

BH: There's always hidden things.

IC: Great. Um. Now, what is King of Fighters Advance all about? And who's going to develop it?

BH: Okay.

IC: If...

BH: Um, there's... It's a category right now that we don't want to really discuss. Because, uh. We talked earlier about licensing things and so forth. So. We're not going to discuss what our -- what we're doing with King of Fighters at this time, for Advance.

IC: Okay. So you can't say if it'll be Sun-tec again, developing it?

BH: We're not going to say that the game exists yet.

IC: Oh.

BH: We're gonna' kind of say that... down the road, we'll do something for our franchise. But it's not... the current plans of our lineup. Got Metal Slug Advance coming. Uh...

IC: And who's going to develop that, if I may ask?

BH: ... Probably us! I... assume it's us.

SM: [laughs] By the old master --

BH: [speaking over Morishita] The one will be --

SM: [something unintelligible]

BH: We're not dis...

SM: ...by that, yeah...

BH: Okay. [very long silence]

IC: ... Because we're used to having the -- we're not really used to... y'know, Playmore developing, per se.

BH: But Playmore is SNK.

Quoted

IC: Yeah. I know. But even --

BH: But I understand what you're saying...

IC: So far in the life of Playmore proper, there has not been, y'know, a Playmore-developed game. It's all been, like, y'know, Brezza or... Evoga, or whatnot.

BH: But they are part of the family.

IC: Right.

BH: So it's really -- it's just a... it's an accountant's arrangement more than anything else.

IC: Right. And so... another touchy one. Is it... will the EX series be killed off with the advent of the Playmore KoF Advance? Can you say?

SM: Sorry. We cannot talk about King of Fighter EX at the moment, yeah.

IC: All right.

SM: [laughs heavily]

IC: And, um. I'm assuming I'm gonna' get the same answer, but I'm gonna' ask about SNK vs Capcom for GBA?

BH: At this point we're not going to discuss it, but uh...

IC: Just that it's being --

BH: It's certainly a category that we, y'know, we are certainly exploring.

IC: And can we...

BH: We can talk about the Playstation 2 version of Chaos, that's coming.

IC: That's something I don't know about.

BH: Yes. Okay. Here we go. King of Fighter... excuse me. SNK vs Capcom Chaos will be out in the arcades next month.

IC: In US arcades? Or is it Japan?

BH: July?

SM: July.

BH: July.

[door opens again; short break while Mr. Herman gets rid of the caller]

BH: We, uh... SNK vs Capcom Chaos will be out in the arcades in July. We will have a Playstation 2 version of that in... I'm not going to say it's December, but I'll say that it is in development, and we will bring it to the US market. And there will be a healthy lot of press.

IC: Right.

BH: So possibly it's pretty darned good.

IC: And can you say who's developing the MVS version?

SM: Ah. Playmore.

IC: Playmore. And... can you give us some names of people that are working on it, that we might recognize? Just...

SM: Are you talking about the... characters?

BH: Yeah yeah, like developer --

IC: I'm talking about developers... producers...

SM: Sorry. Difficult. You must have a knack about it.

IC: Okay. And... 3D Metal Slug. What's that?

BH: It's too early to talk about it.

IC: Okay. Um.

BH: Just understand that we're testing 3D versions of some of our home systems.

IC: Okay, so they're in... development? They're like, work in progress.

BH: There... there's discussions, but there's nothing that I want to announce at this time.

IC: Back to Megaking. Do you have any plans to localize the software that they've ported to PC? Because I know they've got almost every NeoGeo CD game ported to PC in Korea. Any chance of that coming to the US?

SM: ... Don't know at the moment, yeah. We haven't talked to them related to this.

IC: ... They're a very mysterious company. They sell stars' DNA.

BH: Okay. Really?

SM: Yeah.

IC: They do some interesting things. Um. Okay. Will any of the Noise, Megaking, or Evoga titles be ported to the Dreamcast in Japan? Like, Rage of the Dragons, Metal Slug 4, New Power Instinct, etcetera?

BH: That's a Playmore question. We're not sure.

IC: [to Shinya Morishita] That's a... "can't answer", from you?

SM: Ah, sorry. [laughs]

IC: Um. So. All right. So I can't ask if King of Fighters 2002 is the last Dreamcast title. Um. Samurai Shodown V. Can you give me a platform, a format, or a developer, or a... or a dimension?

BH: No. Can't discuss that one at this time.

IC: Okay.

SM: All right.

[laughter]

IC: Um. Let's see. This may be out of left field too, but in the past there was a King of Fighters game initially planned or -- not planned; announced, for the GP32 handheld in Korea? Any idea what's caused it to be cancelled, or if it'll ever come out?

BH: Now, probably I would -- my guess would be, what'd... what's the hardware install base? Is it doing well? Is it discontinued, or...?

IC: Well, it's got -- in Korea, it's fifteen thousand. Which is... small. But it's about to launch in Europe, end of this year.

BH: Well, we're not in Europe right now.

IC: Right.

BH: So it's kind of...

[quiet mumbles and gestures]

IC: Okay. That answers that. Um. Another weird one. There were a lot of NeoGeo Pocket Color games that were in production, that were stopped when Aruze came in. Any chance they will ever be completed or... released as-is, like... King of Fighters R-3, Magician Lord, Ikari Warriors

BH: For... the Pocket?

IC: Yeah.

BH: I don't think so.

IC: Okay. Any chance they could be finished and ported to GBA?

BH: Um. That's... Not sure. I... really think all that stuff that ended back then, is behind us. Y'know, unfortunately in some cases. But.

IC: Any chance of releasing, like, prototypes... just, uh...

BH: For what, for... ?

IC: For the good of the community?

BH: What, for the GB... For Pocket?

IC: Yeah.

BH: I think Pocket is... unfortunately, done. We knew there was a window there. It was 16-bit. We're now into 32-bit. We've got a new Sony PSP coming next year.

IC: Right.

BH: We'll support it. I plan to support it. Uh.

IC: Ah. Let's write that down.

BH: Development kits are coming this summer. And hopefully we'll be offered one. It's a very good move for Sony, and I think the community will endorse it.

IC: I just think -- I... was not aware that the PSP was even far enough along to have dedicated dev kits.

BH: They're going to do dev kits this summer.

IC: Wow.

BH: That's what we were told.

IC: That's... interesting news. Um. Do you know, at least, how far along some of these games were, like KoF R3, Magician Lord, Ikari Warriors? We heard reports -- KoF R3, about seventy-five, Ikari Warriors, maybe sixty... Magician Lord maybe thirty percent. Any idea?

BH: All I'll say is that we had... we came out of E3 three years ago. We had a launch schedule. Um. Some of those games were on there. Some of the ones that were on there I assume were further along than ones that were not. But, uh. 'Cause Magician Lord, I don't -- it's not on that list at that time.

IC: Okay. Ah, that's great.

BH: I know. Ah, you're right. But there is a Playstation One. And as many games as I can possibly get out on this, for inexpensive retail, we're going to try to take advantage of that. Because there is a tremendous market still existing for Playstation One.

IC: If it were possible to release, like, an NGPC, uh, compilation of unreleased games that --

BH: I've... been asked to... Maybe we go to Xbox and we do, like, a Namco Collection. We do an SNK Collection. We make it a full retail, but you get a collection of games on there. I think there'd be a lot of excitement. Y'know.

IC: Yes.

BH: Yes?

IC: Yes.

BH: Yeah.

IC: Uh. Which leads directly into my next question about the classic SNK compilations. Can you say anything about what games eventually you might be planning to repackage and, uh, anything aside from Xbox that you will support with that?

BH: Well, I've -- Playstation One, y'know.

IC: Yeah.

BH: It'll be the Japanese Playmore titles in front of us, y'know. They're a no-brainer. I'd like to go back and get --

IC: Those are gonna' be mostly re-releases, or possibly compilations?

BH: Um. I think at this point, re-releases for, y'know, $9.99 retail. That's what I'm trying to hit right now; just individual...

IC: Yeah. I understand. And, um. One of my other staff got Xbox out of you?

SM: Uh...

BH: Yeah, we're meeting with them and I plan to support the platform. That's, uh. Y'know, we're gonna... It may take a while, obviously... as far as development. But we're gonna' -- we'll be supportive, if they're an important part of the United States.

IC: Can you give any... y'know, just to touch on titles?

BH: Just, I'll say our traditional licenses will be explored for it. I mean, it's just to me, it's like if you're going to do Playstation 2, y'know, might as well get the other twenty percent and do...

IC: Right.

BH: Yes?

IC: Okay. Uh. Do you have to support the N-Gage?

BH: ... I...

IC: Or, will Playphone?

BH: I think, talk to Playphone about that.

IC: I'm going to!

BH: I think, personally, y'know, we... We're not doing portable gaming ourselves. I think Playphone would be the person. If they want to do it, we will support Playphone.

IC: Okay. And, uh. If Megaking does it, that's not in breach of contract with you? Do they really, truly have... you can probably answer that. Do they really have legal right to release SNK properties in Korea?

SM: Uh. But that is between Playmore and the Koreas. Megaking, the story there, yeah.

IC: Okay.

SM: Sorry. Yeah.

IC: I assume it must be if they keep having it all over their sites.

BH: You're probably right, but it -- y'know, but it's really, it's like not for me...

IC: It's a very gray area.

BH: We're getting shots from Playmore... They get, y'know... it's just... okay.

IC: Any plans for a new home console, or anything or... um, handheld or anything?

BH: Not that... we're aware of.

IC: Not that you're aware of.

BH: Not that we're aware of. I would say that, if you look at the old NeoGeo console, okay? We are still making software for it. Um.

SM: Yeah.

BH: King of Fighters '02. Y'know. There's... We're gonna' continue to support it. There's a distributor or two out there, there's some... people that'll probably be able to come to our website and make purchases. We will continue to support the cartridge-based system.

IC: Okay.

BH: We're not hardware consumer.

IC: So no new hardware.

BH: No new hardware.

IC: Uh. Any new arcade harware in the works? We heard about Atomiswave as a potential -- Atomiswave, from Sammy, as a potential, uh, next step.

BH: What I would say is that, uh. That's a Playmore question. But I think as arcades... y'know, develop, and new harware becomes available, we will look at, y'know, developing software for those new systems.

IC: So you can't say anything that you're -- they're looking at?

BH: No, it's not even -- it's not something I, we should really answer. I mean, not that we know the answer. But I think that's something that... y'know, if Playmore's looking to do that... it's a Playmore question.

IC: 'Cause I've seen, also, on the website...

EF: Oh yeah...

IC: Playmore, that they are hiring for... um, like, hardware OS...

BH: Right on.

IC: ... programmers, and...

BH: Just read into that what you -- I mean, you...

IC: Yeah. Very curious...

BH: Just. Y'know, I would go to -- find a way to talk to Japan...

IC: Yeah, it's --

BH: Y'know.

IC: I'm going to be in Japan next week. Could I set up an appointment with Playmore?

BH: Tell you what I'll do. I will ask Mr. Koyama to, when he goes home, to to ask that, and to contact you. What dates you gonna' be there?

IC: We're going to be there from the... well. I'll be there and active from the twenty-second to the fourth. Or the third, rather. Twenty-second of May --

BH: Yup.

IC: Until the third of June. If you want to write it down. And... as long as... he can speak a little English, I think we'll be all right.

BH: Well, there's translation.

IC: I'm pretty good on the, uh. On the Japanese front. All right.

BH: Cool.

IC: Um. Any plans, if you know, to revive the second-party development houses like Yumekobo, ADK, Saurus, Sacnoth?

SM: Ah... Sorry, at the moment we don't have...

IC: No plans?

SM: Yeah...

IC: Okay. And... Another thing we noticed on the site is that Playmore is looking for an animation designer? Um. Is this in any way -- I mean, are we gonna' see something like the old King of Fighters movies? Or... I mean, not King of Fighters. I mean, uh. Fatal Fury. Sorry.

BH: I think in general, y'know, um. The company is restaffing. Y'know. We got our SNK building back, okay, that we had lost in the, y'know, in the plan... We've moved back into that building, about a month ago. Very exciting part for us.

IC: Yeah, I heard you moved back to Osaka.

BH: And there's a number of, I guess there's a number of positions that're available to staff-up. So.

IC: Okay.

[laughter]

SM: Ah, yes.

BH: I'm here! Y'know, we're back!

SM: Yeah.

BH: That's... part of it. So.

IC: Does Playmore intend to change its name back to SNK at some point?

BH: I cannot answer that?

SM: Not enough, yeah...

BH: I cannot answer that.

IC: I would imagine it so, though. It seems like... okay.

BH: May will be, but it's just not -- not at this time.

IC: Okay. And if you know anything about this, what is that club that just got set up on Playmore's site? What's it really about? What kind of stuff is going to be released there? Any idea?

[lots of mumbling]

SM: I haven't seen that yet.

IC: You haven't seen that? Okay. It's like a... SNK/Playmore subscriber's club. And, y'know --

BH: Y'know, it's probably similar to what I would do here, maybe. You want to get a mailing list. You want to get your devoted people, so you can kind of like... talk to them, and, y'know. In this world, it's all about email. Just get a mailing list. So they're probably, y'know, trying to get a contact list, to be able to just... talk.

IC: Okay. The characters they have, as the spokespersons for this are Amp and one other character [Yusa], from Cool Cool Toon. Is that any indication of Cool Cool Toon coming back, or is that just a recycling of...

BH: Don't know, but it's probably just, y'know, something to help make it a... creative...

IC: Okay. Cool Cool Toon, we know, was not... the biggest game. It could have been something, but. So it's interesting for them to bring it back.

BH: I know. That phase went around the entire industry, and. Y'know, it's just... [slaps hands together]

IC: Okay.

BH: There, y'know?

IC: I think that's... pretty much everything.

BH: Okay. Take a copy of the book.

IC: Thanks.

BH: Great place. Um. We didn't write that book. That's, y'know, that was a... publisher wanted to write a story. He asked for our input, so. Uh. He put us in there.

IC: Great.

BH: But it's... y'know, look, it's a situation that... it's a great heritage with the company. Mr. Kawasaki and his wife and family; it's just a... It's a wonderful situation. He's a great manager. And, uh. A lot of people been in this company a long time. A lot of people are really excited about what's happening. And we're, y'know, back in the United States for war.

IC: Excellent.

BH: Happy to tell you about it.

IC: Good stuff.

BH: Okay.

IC: All right. So we're going to have to keep in contact.

BH: Yup! You gotta' do that.

IC: Yes, and --

BH: We're all going to be in New Jersey.

IC: Thanks.

BH: And you obviously know what you're talking about. You got some deep questions.

[laughter]

SM: Yeah. You have lots...

BH: Stumped us on a few, but.

IC: Great. Thank you very much.