"It's possible to survive as an indie developer." "Some developers overseas have already succeeded as indies." "There's no reason why we can't do that, too." "I've always been a freelancer." "I've worked hard at it." "I would rather stand on my own than be part of some large company." "To be honest, working for a big company is just no fun." "Bureaucracy, meetings, staff..." "A lot gets between you and your work." "Especially when it comes to games we're moving away from lining up physical games on store shelves." "Online platforms like Steam or the App Store are supplanting that model." "So in my mind, that back and forth isn't vital to game creation." "So, some things happened, and I became lonely and alone." "I wasn't sure I wanted to make games anymore." "Borders no longer matter." "Once it's online, anybody can play." "As long as you make something good I think people will notice." "They'll buy it, and the money will follow." "I take it step by step." "Maybe I'll want to make another game by myself." "maybe I'll call my friends." "That's how I see it going." "And I think you'll be able to survive as long as you make good games." "In the 80s and 90s, Japan led the world in game innovation." "Born in France and raised on Japanese games" "I was curious if the creativity and freedom of that era lives on." "From 2013, I began meeting people from the indie game scene in Japan." "Tokyo and Kyoto, a two year journey." "BitSummit was first held in Kyoto in 2013." "That contributed massively to the revitalization of the indie scene here." "Later that year, indies had a presence at Tokyo Game Show." "The show was always about the major companies but now small teams and individual developers can participate." "Gathered on stage are established independent developers famous amateurs and industry veterans." "Yoshiro Kimura is among them a 20 year veteran himself." "He recently formed a small studio." "Indie games are really taking off this year in Japan." "There were sixty indie games from all over the world in the middle of TGS." "We even had a stage." "That was a first for us." "Big publishers announce new games at TGS." "Indie games typically don't have a presence." "It was just one corner of one exhibition hall, but it meant a lot to us." "In Japan, we didn't have any way of reaching Japanese gamers—nobody knew about indie games." "Once they actually play them, though they get really excited." "Indies don't have any publicity." "You don't see them in the news." "We have to be our own PR staff." "I'll happily take any chance to talk about indie games." "The more, the better." "That's why I love events like this." "I get to talk to people about my game." "People see games as something one person—or a tiny team—can't make." "This is especially true of the games at TGS." "I first met Nanmo at Tokyo Game Show in 2013." "He was the first developer to open his door to me." "It's somewhat hard to describe from the inside." "I think people see those of us who go it alone as something of a special case." "Companies have to make what they know will sell." "But I think it's good to have options." "Right now, I'm making a music game called Breaks and a 2D action game called TorqueL." "TorqueL is still a prototype, but it's set to release on PlayStation." "I have to finish Breaks first, though." "TorqueL is a game where you roll a box." "Boxes being square, it won't roll on its own." "You extend its sides to move and climb slopes and such." "It's experimental." "You have to play it to "get" it." "Only people who already know about it visit its website." "There aren't many events or places where people can try it out, either." "Creating those opportunities is the biggest hurdle." "The biggest doujin game event folded about ten years ago." "Comiket is now the only show in town." "That, and some really small events for gaming as a whole." "So I held the Digital Games Expo for doujin games." "The same word was repeated over and over at the show: doujin." "It refers to a work created by an amateur or a fan, and includes games." "I still have trouble distinguishing doujin from indie games." "I get this question a lot from people overseas." "I think doujin and indies are the same at their core." "Both doujin and indie developers want to make something that is truly their own." "I'd say that in general, doujin developers do it more as a hobby." "They aren't necessarily doing it to make money or support themselves." "They're doing it simply because they want to, and they enjoy it." "Doujin culture speaks to us." "It's a space where we can really let loose and express ourselves." "I think it expands the audience for the tons of manga, anime, and games in existence." "And that audience will only continue to grow." "Some fans have made games and books for thirty years." "It's a form of self-expression." "You can feel that passion the second you set foot on the event floor." "There are some doujin developers who have "made it."" "I think the best example of a doujin success story is ZUN of Touhou fame" "but popularity isn't the reason I find ZUN impressive." "It's because he hasn't stopped in— has it been almost twenty years now?" "Year after year, he releases at least one new Touhou game." "Speaking as someone who knows how hard it is to make a game—that's not easy." "His strength and resolve are impressive." "I was a college student when I started." "I had no career." "I had made a game for fun." "I used that game to get a job." "Unsurprisingly, that job was at a game company." "My frustration grew daily." "I couldn't make what I wanted." "So I started making games at night." "My games overtook my work at the company." "I've since quit that job and become a full-time game developer." "The number of fan works that use Touhou characters is tremendous." "So many people use Touhou characters in their own games or music—there are Touhou bands." "People write Touhou manga." "It's everywhere." "Taken as a whole, it might be bigger than the major consoles." "I never thought it'd be popular." "My development process subtly changed as more people became invested." "I now see myself as one of several creators." "It's massive, but it never feels overwhelming." "I still feel I have some control." "The fans have been great about that and I couldn't be happier." "There's been a paradigm shift in how creators see doujin." "It's become less and less about making only what you love and enjoying the process." "People want to succeed." "They want to hit it big." "In that way, I think doujin are turning into indies." "I don't really know if this is a good thing or a bad thing for doujin." "Do you think you are closer to the doujin scene or the indie scene?" "I think I'm more of a doujin developer." "But to me, that distinction doesn't really matter." "I've always wanted to make games but I mostly wanted to be a creator of some sort." "So before games, I wanted to be a writer." "Novels, manga, things like that." "I wanted to tell people stories." ""The House in Fata Morgana" is the tale of a cursed estate." "You wake up there with no memory of arriving." "A suspicious maid appears before you." "You have to investigate four incidents that occurred there in order to regain your memory." "More than anything, I want it to move people as a piece of entertainment." "I designed it with that in mind, but" "I never expected to get such a strong reaction." "More than being happy, or surprised" "I was grateful." "It tackled difficult themes and I put all I had into making it so I was glad that people got the story I was trying to tell." "They laughed, cried, and really connected with the characters." "I was thrilled." "Do you think there's anything to the indie movement right now?" "I'm not really sure." "It's coming together as we speak." "You can really feel the energy behind it and we're trying to help it along." "I think we're reaching a tipping point." "The question is, are we going to make a big splash or a little one?" "That I don't know." "I was surprised by how many non-Japanese indies were active here." "Many were inspired by Japanese games and came to work in games." "Others came to Japan to explore the country and its culture." "Devine is one such person." "I met him as a musician but he creates games too." "We're from Montreal, Quebec." "We've been in Tokyo about a year." "We came last year in October." "We made several trips here before moving." "Like Jessica said, it's been around one year and two months since we came here." "Video games are a good way to work with various mediums." "Combining all this with my music enabled me to create games." "It was like the next logical step." "In May 2013, I made Hiversaires." "It starts with you thrown into this dark, weird universe." "You have to explore this strange alien world." "There's text but it's in an unknown language." "It's like graffiti, hard to notice." "We're currently living in Japan." "It's like being in a place where your only landmarks are colors." "The game is modeled after Tokyo, in a way." "It's like Tokyo's level design." "In Hiversaires, I tried to craft levels that guide the player to explore." "Oquonie is our first game together." "You have to figure out who opens each door." "You have to communicate with the game's characters." "They speak a language almost impossible to understand at first." "You need to learn the language and the universe's rules." "It doesn't work like you'd expect." "The rooms move." "Walk in a circle, you'll end up somewhere different." "People say it's Animal Crossing on cocaine." "We're going to Picotachi, a meetup." "It's a super cool event for indie devs." "About half Japanese, half not." "It's a good way to see other devs' work." "I went to a cherry blossom viewing and spoke with Joseph." "We came up with the idea together." "It's nice to see how the event is growing and changing." "People bring friends of friends." "January, 2014." "Nigoro, one of Japan's most well-known indies launches a Kickstarter for a new game, La Mulana 2." "Playism is helping them with it." "La-Mulana 2 is a huge game so we knew we'd need lots of cash." "Kickstarter was our only option." "We started planning for that early." "It was really challenging running a Kickstarter from Japan" "You had to have a US address, etc." "Communication was tough too." "We took our time getting ready." "We didn't think we'd fail, really but we were still worried." "We didn't know how much we'd raise." "But in the first three days we had more than $80,000." "We were ecstatic." "We thought no one used Kickstarter in Japan." "We planned for it, and targeted the campaign at North America." "But when we broke down the numbers most of the funds we raised in the first three days were from Japanese fans." "We were surprised, and very grateful to the fan base supporting us." "I think we miscalculated overlooking that." "Not having enough money is cruel." "Some musicians sing like "Money can't buy dreams."" "If you want to do Kickstarter I say go ahead and do it." "But the amount you can raise on it has been steadily decreasing." "I think you can't rely just on Kickstarter." "I think it's necessary to consider revenue sources outside of crowdfunding." "I'm pretty sure all indie developers struggle with money problems." "They either work and do it in their free time or stop everything to focus on it." "Me, well, I work, and make games in my free time." "But Wendy got angry at me." ""Stop messing around!" Sorry Wendy!" "I've got to put food on Wendy's table." "EF-12 is a competitive fighting game which lets you design and mod your own fighters." "I've released it as an open source tool." "It's a huge undertaking for an indie." "I plan on finishing in 10 years or so." "I almost feel like Gaudi." "I'm trying to build the Sagrada Familia here." "It's finally almost done but there's still no set date." "I feel like it'd be wrong to finish." "It's fun, so I just keep working." "I'm enjoying myself." "Isn't that the goal?" "I think it'd be hilarious if people called me the Gaudi of the game industry in 10 years." "I'm heading to Kyoto for BitSummit." "Historically, Kyoto has the most firmly established indie scene in Japan." "Led by" "Q-Games, they organized BitSummit." "The first BitSummit is considered a landmark for the indie movement here." "It spread awareness of the term "indie game" in Japan." "I've lived in Kyoto for 14 years and I always wanted to make games." "I kept saying "I want to make a game!" but had no idea how." "So I thought I could meet people who did." "I was excited to meet game programmers but still I knew I couldn't do it alone." "Then a friend invited me to this graphic design company's party." "I met the president of Q-Games, Dylan and told him I wanted to make games." "I don't know why, but he took a liking to me." "He said "Let's work together!"" "Suddenly I'm the art and sound director." "That's how I started." "I did a lot of weird analog things not normal for games" "Things like ink action painting and so on." "The director would call and ask "Are the textures finished?"" "Phone in one hand, dryer in the other drying it." "I'd scan it, turn it into polygons." "It's an unusual way to make games but I think it worked out pretty well." "At IGF, PixelJunk Eden was the first ever Japanese nominee." "Nominated for art, sound and technical excellence." "And I don't know anything about it." "I'm like "Huh, cool."" "I found out how big a deal it was later." "Now Famitsu and other Japanese game media outlets run specials about the IGF awards." "Overseas, it was hugely popular." "But at the time it wasn't a big deal here." "No one knew anything about it." "Looking back I'm really happy we were nominated." "At BitSummit I met with Kimura, who came to show his studio's first game." "Recently I dropped out of the serious game biz." "Now I'm running Onion Games." "There's a lot to think about when making a game: what sort of game who to sell it to, how to market it." "How to make money, should I make it free." "You have a lot to consider." "What BitSummit did for me, hmm..." "It helped me feel like a kid again." "As a kid, when you think about making games you just want to move objects on a screen." "This is really important." "If you can make anything, what do you make?" "Imagine what's on screen is real." "What will it do?" "Stop worrying about systems start thinking about making it fun." "Million Onion Hotel is a small game." "The tiniest thing I've ever made." "But despite how tiny it is I'm struggling to make it." "If I'm spending eight hours a day making a game, which can I pull off better;" "an indie or a consumer game?" "As long as the project's approved there's time to make a consumer game." "So that?" "But still here I am, making indie games." "It's fun." "Truth is we're subcontracting." "Drawing, drafting proposals, trying to pay the bills" "These side jobs are important." "We couldn't survive without them." "Want to do a Kickstarter?" "I'm joking here." "Seriously how do you even run a Kickstarter?" "I mean look at it." "I think just running it'll cost money." "No way, not happening." "Thanks to Kickstarter, we met our goals." "Just the fact our Kickstarter succeeded made headlines which helped our name get out." "This was a victory for us." "We're always desperate for exposure." "When we showed at BitSummit people came up and shook our hands." ""Congrats on your Kickstarter!"" "A Japanese indie never tried a Kickstarter this big." "There are a lot of Japanese indie teams who want to try Kickstarter" "Of course, we'd love to give them advice and do what we can to help them out." "We were in Thailand for two weeks." "My visa was turned down so we had to leave." "It's still not approved but we could leave and come back." "We went diving." "It was inspiring." "We worked a lot on the game." "We almost finished it." "After we released, I woke up at 6 AM and went online to see the comments." "Some were like "I'm lost" or "What do I do?" "!"" "We spent the day on Twitter chatting with people." "It was a day of interaction with players." "We have to leave Japan on March 15th." "Recently, Japanese indie/doujin games are starting to be sold around the world to a small but enthusiastic fan base." "Most are released for the PC, which is still relatively unpopular in Japan." "Japanese devs used to mobile games are now eyeing the global PC market." "Japan's PC market is very small." "The consumer market's big here and now mobile is also doing well." "Even among the pros." "I doubt many would feel justified releasing a PC game only in Japan." "Japanese Indie Games:" "Challenges, Trends, and Future" "I expect you know about Steam." "With about 70 million members it's the biggest PC gaming site in the world." "It's so big that more than 90% of all games downloaded online come from Steam." "It's as popular as the PlayStation or consumer market." "The two most important parts of being an indie are having your own IP and being independent." "Not relying on one platform." "While at CAPCOM, Inafune created many popular titles, such as Megaman" "Resident Evil 2, and Lost Planet." "In 2010 he left the company and founded Comcept." "Up until now, the way we made games at major publishers was to first submit a proposal." "Then, if there was interest, you'd get a budget." "And this was fine." "But the biggest problem with this was that the IP belonged to them." "I've created many games, but I don't have rights to any of them." "These games are my children, and it's sad that I have no control over them." "I decided I had no choice but to get rich and do it myself." "That's when Kickstarter emerged." "It gave us a way to retain the rights to our IP, and raise money." "I knew we had to use it." "In truth I hope crowdfunding in Japan will be able to raise enough money from Japanese users." "I'd love to help make it happen." "However the Japanese only have a vague awareness of crowdfunding." "They don't really understand it." "They'll commit to buying the final game but they won't invest in a developer's skills, or plans." "There are talented developers in Japan in many different genres." "It's peculiar in a lot of ways." "I hope that society will evolve to better acknowledge talent." "Right now I think we value entrepreneurs and those who make it big the most." "People who make amazing movies or anime, or games..." "I don't think Japan values those people that much right now." "I mean, they're more appreciated abroad." "Japanese animators, for one, get more acclaim overseas." "It's bizarre." "I quit the company because about two years ago, I was moved from the consumer to the social division." "So I worked on social games." "But in the end, not a single one I made was released." "Some of my fans started becoming vocal online." "They wanted to play my games." "I found myself in a dilemma." "I didn't know what to do." "It was right then that Inafune achieved his success on Kickstarter." "I'm aware that a consumer business needs a lot of money." "But if it's possible to pool this much money from this many, maybe I could too." "I think the ideal scenario would be to have all of this support and also the backing of a publisher." "I'm not saying I'm against crowdfunding but there's this sense out there." "Can't raise enough?" "It's game over." "I think I need to be cautious." "My name is Ojiro Fumoto." "I'm a fourth year student at Tokyo University of the Arts majoring in classical singing." "But I've always been interested in developing my own games." "I started studying how in March of my fourth year, and I now make them." "Between the ages of 10 and 15 I lived in New Zealand." "So I played a lot of foreign games." "I recently read this article." "It was by Rami Ismail." "He said that if you want to be a game designer you should try to make one game a week." "I really took this to heart." "I'd never made a single game before I'd never even thought about it." "But I thought it might be fun to learn so I made lots of small games." "When I started making a game a week only my close friends ever played them." "The first time other people played my games was at Picotachi." "They enjoyed them, people were lining up to be the next to play." "I was moved." "That was one of the happiest days of my life." "Moppin really blew us away." "We're also active in the indie scene so we go to a lot of events." "We first ran into Moppin at Pico Pico Café when he was presenting his game." "We thought, "What is this?" "!" We knew we just had to try it the three or four of us from Sony." "Straight away we were praising him telling him to go all the way with it." "I hope we helped push him on." "If you're short on gems you can steal but criminals are punished severely." "Japanese players told me that Downwell felt like a foreign game." "When thinking about what I could do with the long screen of a phone" "I thought of a game where the player moves downwards." "This led to the idea of going down a well." "I still plan to add new enemies, items stages, bosses, etc." "I'll do my best." "Until recently, making games was hard." "Without a deep knowledge of programming you just couldn't do it." "But now there are a rich variety of tools out there." "People without this specialized knowledge can now easily make them." "The result is greater variety." "Some are very niche." "They have these very specific themes." "Only a few people might ever play them." "But that's fine." "It takes only one player to justify a game's existence." "So I'm happy these games are out there." "The more games there are, the better." "So, the question was, what is Dreeps?" "As I explained, it's an RPG-like game you can play on an iPhone just by setting an alarm." "It was our first time making something and we learned a lot as we went along." "I expect we could have made the game faster if we'd known from the start what type of game we wanted to make." "We didn't." "Our idea was to make a game for busy people where they feel like they're playing an RPG." "Our starting point was very abstract and the process of deciding what was needed, molding the game as we went is what slowed us down the most." "I didn't have any friends in the game industry a year ago." "No one to ask for advice." "We knew only a few people who could give us interesting ideas." "Now, going to events like these we get feedback." "Seeing what other people are making inspires and motivates us." "Only now do I get the sense that I'm one of them too, that I'm part of it." "It's the end of September and time for Tokyo Game Show." "This year, PlayStation announced they would sponsor a large indie booth located in the middle of the main floor." "I didn't think we'd be put right in the middle." "There was an island of indie games surrounded by big-name companies." "Young gamers were experiencing new things." "I found that kind of moving." "I thought, "Is this a glimpse of the future of gaming?" I hope it is." "Regulars like Nigoro and Kimura are there." "A step away in the PlayStation booth Nanmo was showing TorqueL finally on console." "I was amazed to hear that Nanmo was making the game alone." "It felt as though publishing a game made by an individual on the PlayStation would start a new chapter in gaming." "Nanmo agreed to work with Playism to release it." "I remember when this first domestic game we're calling them J-Indies, came out we were all moved by the accomplishment." "If a student told me that they planned to be an independent developer straight after graduating" "I think, as a teacher I would advise them against it." "Of the indie developers who are now successful in Japan of course some had success while still students." "But the majority worked in big famous companies first." "There, they learn the necessary skills after which they can become independent." "That being said..." "In comparison to at least one or two maybe even five years ago the potential for developers to succeed in the indie scene has grown massively." "Yay!" "Weapons easier to see now colors adjusted!" "After uploading a few videos to Twitter Devolver Digital suddenly messaged me." "They said the game looked interesting." "I was like "No way!"" "When starting out as an indie developer" "I sort of wished I'd become good enough to work with Devolver Digital." "It was one of my dreams." "I never thought they'd be the ones asking me to talk to them." "They asked me to send them a build so I sent them a demo." "They responded by asking if I wanted a contract." "I said "where do I sign?"" "I was really, really happy." "One event I remember vividly is IndieCade 2014." "It looked like a farmer's market but they were selling games." "All the games there were weird!" "They were crazy." "And crazy people had come from all over the world to see these crazy games." "Two important events for indie devs take place at the end of January." "First, the Global Game Jam." "This game-making marathon tasks you with making a game based on a given theme." "Developers of all stripes participate to test their skills." "Then there are the award nominations for the Independent Games Festival." "The IGF is an event that celebrates indie games from across the globe." "An IGF award is the most coveted around." "It was the morning of the Global Game Jam, about 3 a.m." "A friend called me saying "Hey!" "You got an award at IGF!"" "I had a cold, and was half asleep." "So I didn't really register it at first." "But an IGF Student Award finalist, wow!" "I had a lot of people messaging me saying things like "Congrats!"" "The Global Game Jam is 48 hours long so you only need to survive two days." "It feels doable, so I gave it a shot." "It was really, really fun." "I mean it was a challenge, but still." "It was my first time working as a team." "She did graphics." "In the beginning, well..." "I thought it would be fun to make indie games." "Then again" "I figured I needed a proper job, first." "Then maybe I could make games on the side." "I had kind of given up, at first." "Then I met Moppin, who was trying to make a living making games by himself." "That had an impact on me." "I began to think that maybe I could make a living creating my own games." "In Japan, we're taught that you have to go out and find a "proper" job." "Find an office job or something, even if you don't like it." "Just get a salary." "That's happiness." "That's success." "That didn't seem like happiness to me." "I think doing something I love and being poor is far more appealing." "I think this concept is more culturally accepted abroad." "That's why it's more popular there, and why more people actually give it a go." "I'm hoping that this'll be possible here in Japan, too." "Up until March of this year I was a design student." "I was told that unless I produced a graduation piece" "I wouldn't graduate." "So I made this." "These robots live in this shelter." "It's pixel art, and all you do is walk." "Thinking back to Tokyo Indie Fest although some independent creators were my age, I noticed the majority were younger creators, really making the games they want to make." "What this means going forward is I expect we'll see more people without experience making games." "Speaking as a developer?" "Well, I haven't made anything yet." "I'm just pulling up to the starting line." "I began about one month ago." "I have the overall vision already." "Using little apps or mid-sized PC games I want to bring it to life." "Each game will have its own story." "Through them, I want to create a mythos." "At least, that's the plan." "I'm a shut-in by nature." "I realized I should do something so I decided to make games." "And so I was whiling away my time not really getting anywhere" "And then BitSummit came up." "The devs there inspired me." "I saw Moppin, and I saw Downwell..." "It felt like someone blew my head off." "And here I am." "It's a lot of pressure." "And it's not even on sale yet." "All that's out are videos but people are really hyped." "Everyone has all these different expectations, and some might be misplaced." "Still, I feel a lot of pressure to live up to the hype." "I'd rather it hadn't become so famous." "After taking part in events, I realized that I'm not a good speaker." "Someone good at it should be on the podium." "This is probably true for a lot of developers." "It's not easy for us." "Standing...up there..." "It should be..." "Hmm..." "Someone..." "Who belongs up there?" "Shortly after Minecraft, when indies seemed to become really popular abroad many foreign companies contacted me asking me to localize my doujin games." "To sell them overseas." "And not just me." "Astebreed's reviews were far better than I ever expected." "I was really taken by surprise." "What made me most happy was that my game was being accepted." "Far more than I ever thought it would." "The first time I really realized people abroad were playing my game, was when" "I went to PAX East, last year, and met these users for myself." "Some users also told me they'd bought my game." "That's when it hit me." "Honestly, I think succeeding in just Japan is hard." "The biggest markets are still overseas." "Once your game is well rated abroad then it seems Japan pays attention." "I'm still only making doujin games and it's somehow enough to live off." "I never thought that was possible." "Honestly, I can't stay optimistic." "I'm at BitSummit again, and so are all of the familiar faces." "It's the event's third year, and it's matured." "The show floor is smaller now, more compact." "Games were carefully selected to improve the media's image of indies." "The biggest change was the presence of Indie Megabooth." "This US organization hosts games from around the world." "Devs like Moppin act as bridges to promote cultural exchange." "At Kimura's booth, there's a surprise." "Million Onion Hotel, 6 months overdue is missing." "Another game took its place." "Million Onion Hotel is..." "Well, we were making it." "But our team is extremely small." "We were making Yusha Yamada-kun too and although Million Onion Hotel is virtually finished we had no choice but to put it on hold." "But no matter what, I want to go back and finish it." "We don't have the manpower to make two games simultaneously." "First we finish Yusha Yamada-kun, then maybe we'll finish Million Onion Hotel." "What?" "! "Is it still indie to work with a big company?" That's a stupid question." "Look, what's important for indies is that you make the game you want to make." "Whether you use Kickstarter, get funding, or use your own money." "There's only one thing that matters." "Is it what you want to make?" "Is it something only you could make?" "Do you have that confidence?" "Because if you do, all that's left is to knuckle down and get on with it." "To do your best." "A month ago, the ex-producer IGA succeeded in raising 5 million dollars on Kickstarter for his new game." "Yeah, when my Kickstarter succeeded the people around me..." "My industry friends were thrilled." "We got drinks, they called me the "Million Dollar Man." It was fun." "My family were just like "Yeah, good for you."" "Maybe they already knew it'd go well." "Now, when I think about where I'm situated in the indie scene..." "Personally, well..." "I think it'd be disrespectful to those working hard in the indie scene to say that I was an indie developer." "If I'm not indie or mainstream, then I guess I'm somewhere in the middle." "Talking to someone from overseas, they introduced me to the idea of Big Indies." "So if that exists as a category then I guess I'm in it." "My current game, Bloodstained, is of course the game I want to make but I'm thinking about the users while I make it." "How to make them, my fans, happy." "I often wonder if making something for the players is really indie." "Based on that, I don't know if I'm indie or not." "I just hope indies and mainstream can work together." "I think it's hard to draw a line between them, and I don't think we need to." "So I hope everyone can coexist comfortably together." "From industry celebrities to aspiring newcomers" "Japan's indie scene is growing larger." "The change is sudden and uncertain stimulated by media and devs here and abroad." "I predict that over the next few years as we see more indie game developers succeeding and especially when the indie market has had more commercial success then we'll see its following grow." "If we all had a perfect grasp of English, then we'd happily look abroad." "People say that Japanese mainstream games are dead, but we're not part of that scene." "We just make the games we want to make." "I'm sure there are people abroad who'll think our games are fun too." "More than the dream of making it big" "I hope they do it to follow their vision." "2015, and my last Tokyo Game Show." "Console space is now being taken up by mobile." "Game streaming sites, increasingly more popular, are also prominent." "Kimura's new game Yusha Yamada-kun is in a publisher's booth on the main floor." "The indie game area is outside the main hall once again." "I'm often asked which was better, last year or this year." "They were both good." "Last year in the Sony booth we had a lot of visitors who weren't interested in indie gaming." "That's great in a way even though a lot didn't play the games." "This year, in the annex, we had a lot of visitors who were interested in indie games, which was amazing." "I've written about many games, indies too and people often say they're making what they want to make." "This is great." "But I think it's more important that they're making a game only they can." "Then again, I'm not a developer." "If you were building a park for example" "I expect most people would just choose where to put the parts they're given:" "the slide, sand pit, and other apparatus." "This goes here, and so on." "When making a game, designing that apparatus is your job." "Either that or designing a new park concept entirely." "The Japanese indie scene has more structure now, and its advocates." "It's also getting more press." "But it's still waiting for a big hit to bring it into the mainstream both here and abroad." "The future of Japanese indie developers?" "I wonder..." "What'll happen globally?" "Ideally, we'll be able to make games we can be proud of and our games will sell well here in Japan, and abroad." "I'd like to see that." "Japanese indie games haven't yet..." "They aren't many Japanese people who want to play indie games yet." "That's why I think we'll have to be more international." "Look abroad." "I hope the world starts paying attention to Japanese indies." "It'll happen?" "Maybe?" "In September of last year it was here at Picotachi that I presented Downwell only three months into production." "I had worked alone, and it was my first time showing it." "I was nervous." "After playing the game, many people told me how much they liked it." "The motivational boost I received that day was huge." "I'm sure that the confidence it gave me fueled development of Downwell." "I'm truly grateful to Joseph and Natsuko for creating Picotachi." "Thank you both." "I have this really big dream, actually." "I want to make indie games popular in Japan." "I know, it's really ambitious." "But still, it's my dream." "That's why I want to focus my efforts on Japan for the time being." "This really won't..." "Wait!" "I messed up!" "Take that out!"