There is no doubt that this man is a creative genious. He has a high profile at EA, producing such games as Fight Night, and has since joined up with Microsoft Game Studios to help shape Gears of War 2 what it is now. Mr. Tsunoda tells why he chose to go to Microsoft, and not Sony or other game companies.
Kikizo: What does it say about Microsoft’s strategy for Xbox that they hired you, and how does your role fit in with so much creative talent already in place at the studios?
Tsunoda: It says that they really want to focus on taking care of their big properties. I mean, Epic makes great games as it is, so it wasn’t like for Gears 2, “oh my god, Kudo needs to be there”. But it shows the commitment that Microsoft Game Studios has to making sure that those top properties are taken care of. I’m General Manager, so I want to be able to support and enable their creativity. There’s a tonne of creative talent at people like Epic, and at the same time, Microsoft has so much in the way of resources to help them make great games, so I want to be able to give them the best possible access to those resources.
Kikizo: Thinking back to last year’s Halo 3 launch, it was a huge media event. Do you think Gears could ever become the sort of widespread, household name that Halo has achieved?
Tsunoda: The only reason a launch turns into an event like that is because people want the game – if nobody cares about the game, then no matter what you do on the PR and marketing side, it’s not really going to help much. But there’s such a rabid fan base of not only Gears, but games that Epic makes. I mean, Gears 1 was a really engaging title, but Gears 2, it’s not even just an iteration on the first game, they’re blowing Gears 1 and everything else that’s out there in the industry out of the water.
Clap
