中文翻譯：

我想在此介紹下部分此次采訪的原文，可惜受限于字數(shù)限制，會有一些修改和刪減，所以不要誤會Bloomberg。

我十分感謝他們的坦誠和愿意同意我在此發(fā)布原采訪內(nèi)容。

請盡情享受這段故事，對我來說這就是遲來的圣誕禮物！

Bloomberg（簡稱B，下略）：您第一次與微軟的接觸是怎樣的呢？

板垣伴信（簡稱I，下略）：時間點應該是緊接著Xbox的原型完成的時候吧，我記得差不多是產(chǎn)品正式公布前13個月吧，同時也是微軟開始與日本工作室接洽的時候，也包括脫褲魔。微軟當時想要見我，可能是他們相信我有最大化展現(xiàn)他們機器功能的能力吧。

B：我敢說在13個月內(nèi)完成一款游戲時間上一定很緊張吧？

I：確實很緊張，但我已經(jīng)習慣這種事了。我作為開發(fā)者的同時也是指揮者，所以我決定要做，那便去做。在Day1那天如果游戲不能準備萬全的話那一切將毫無意義，同時也無法為微軟的第一波宣發(fā)給予援助。所以我把在13個月內(nèi)完成當成是一種使命，為此我傾盡了一切資源。

B：請問您當時得知微軟進軍游戲行業(yè)后的第一想法是？

I：我很歡迎。微軟一直是一家計算機企業(yè)，在那之前有很多公司在做主機，像NEC，世嘉等等。你懂的，主機越多越好。在我的印象里微軟是一家主攻操作系統(tǒng)的公司，因此我對他們在主機和游戲行業(yè)的想法很感興趣。

B：您與Seamus Blackley的初次會晤是怎樣的？

I：當時我在接待室里等著，然后他就走進來了，就他自己。我們交換了名片，但他幾乎沒怎么看我的，而是很快就放在一邊，然后就直接坐在長椅上，接著他就是說了些，什么我們要做一個游戲主機，你加不加入這種。你知道的，他很高大，就像個陸戰(zhàn)隊員。后面我們又談了一些，像是這個機子的功率，其它一些技術(shù)參數(shù)，發(fā)布日期，在發(fā)布方面的分期計劃。全程口頭交流，沒有任何文件。我們談了差不多一小時，我的想法就已經(jīng)確立了。我的小組的任務就是創(chuàng)造出世界上最強的戰(zhàn)斗游戲，而我們需要Xbox去實現(xiàn)這一點。Xbox在性能上比PS2強差不多四到六倍，所以是的，我們加入。

B：如果都是口頭協(xié)議的話，還是和Blackley第一次見，我真不敢相信你能這么信任對方。

I：我曾見過很多人，并且你知道的，如果親自和對方見面的話，你就能對對方有一定的把握。你花了一小時，到時候就能夠?qū)Ψ秸f的是否為真有個不錯的把握了。至于Seamus，他對我提出的每一個問題都能夠回答得很詳盡。并不僅僅是機子的參數(shù)和相關(guān)日期，還有像是些針對一些可能的問題應該去怎么處理。他很直白并且可靠，就算他無法立即回答我的問題，他也會保證在回到美國與他的團隊確認后立刻答復我，而且他真的說到做到了。他真的很可靠，我也是這種人，所以我們相處得很好。

B：盡管如此，像DOA這么寶貴的IP，我很驚訝你盡然能夠賭在一個新平臺上。

I：你知道的，任何事情都有或多或少的風險存在，但你可以通過一系列管控來將它們減少到最低。對于DOA3，只要能夠管控好風險，我很確定我們能夠獲得巨大的成功。通過這個機子，還有那些坐在我面前的那些干勁滿滿的家伙們，加上微軟也說會盡力而為，那我就無所畏懼。

B：我聽說過一些日本公司對于微軟的質(zhì)疑言論，一個之前做軟件的公司開始做硬件？

I：這么說吧，它對于如何構(gòu)建硬件的態(tài)度與任天堂和索尼有著明顯區(qū)別。任天堂和索尼都是基于其獨特的芯片和架構(gòu)來開發(fā)硬件，微軟則是另辟蹊徑，并非花費時間與預算在這上面而是對現(xiàn)有的組件進行組合，并且做出了這些組合里最好的一個。這就讓一些日本公司產(chǎn)生了Xbox只是另一種PC的印象。

B：啊！這聽起來就和現(xiàn)在的PS一樣。

I：沒錯。這么說吧，任天堂還是追求著按它自己的路子在走，并且因此實現(xiàn)了巨大的成功，所以你也不能真的去輕視它。但對于索尼來說，它們換了路子選擇和微軟一開始走的路子一樣。我希望Xbox和PS能夠繼續(xù)保持良好的競爭關(guān)系并且由衷地希望它們都能夠獲得成功。

B：你們和Xbox團隊一起工作是怎樣的呢？

I：你知道的，Seamus是真的很喜歡在每件事上小題大做。他發(fā)郵件給我，打電話給我，每周一次地問我現(xiàn)在什么情況，你還好不，需不需要幫助，如果你需要任何東西請務必告訴我，諸如此類的。有一次，他打電話給我問我情況如何，我差不多就是把一周前說的又說了下，目前為止進度沒什么大變化，然后他就說月底會來我們辦公室一趟，我就說，你來是可以來，但我這目前真沒太多能給你看的，他就說，好，什么時候我能看到些新東西（這邊疑似原文有誤，應該是when而不是then），我回復說應該三個月后，他就說之后會回來檢查，通話就終止了。但之后才一個月，我又收到了他的電話來問狀況如何。然而在每一個他給我的提醒里，結(jié)尾處永遠會有一行如果遇到任何問題請務必告訴他，他會在此幫我結(jié)局這些問題的話。他對承諾真的很上心。有個例子就是他將DOA3排進了審批的快速通道。你知道的，有一些平臺擁有者會因為在一些無關(guān)緊要的小事情上埋怨來埋怨去從而導致進度緩慢，但對于微軟和Seamus來說，不存在這些問題。

B：所以說與Xbox團隊的合作很不錯了？

I：非常不錯。非常舒服。整個主Xbox團隊，包括Seamus Blackley，Ed Fries，Kevin Bachus，還有他們經(jīng)常和我一起玩高爾夫的領(lǐng)頭人Robbie Bach和George Peckman，都給了我全方位的支持。我每兩個月就會去一次Redmond，他們會為我介紹許多工具和支持以幫助加快游戲的開發(fā)。

B：你認為他們能夠理解日本式的游戲制作嗎？

I：我不敢說能夠代表所有的日本工作室，但我的團隊的方式是明顯區(qū)別于Bungie的。Seamus讓我參觀過Halo的開發(fā)兩次，說這個是超級機密。我當時還挺擔心Halo的因為他的幀率真的很低。我和Seamus說Halo很令人擔憂，你確定這樣子沒問題嗎，然后Seamus差不多就是它很好你負責好你的部分就行了。Halo最后的成品是很棒的游戲，所以對我和Bungie來說，如何去創(chuàng)建一個游戲的方式是有很大不同的。Seamus對我的方式展現(xiàn)了足夠的理解了嗎？這么說吧，他其實并不是很在意過程。結(jié)果，結(jié)果，結(jié)果，他所有問的都是這個。你還好嗎，接下來有什么，需要任何幫助嗎--這就是一直以來我們之間相處的循環(huán)，也是我們?nèi)绾瓮瓿傻腄OA3。

B：我聽說微軟對一些日本開發(fā)者并不是那么友好？

I：我倒不這么認為。如果微軟真的有這樣的態(tài)度，那也必定是日本開發(fā)者的態(tài)度造成的微軟如此。我是一個專注于機器的人，但有很多日本開發(fā)者更專注于面向商務。甚至在微軟有機會去介紹他們的機子時，日本工作室會問他們那對我們有什么好處而你們又能給我們什么。我不認為會有任何人能夠從一開始就被以如此態(tài)度對待后，還能感到高興。

B：您對DOA3的銷量滿意嗎？

I：我們在全球賣了超過200萬份，大大超過了公司的預期，因此必然是巨大的成功。但隨之而來一個大問題：日本。微軟先是告訴我們他們將要準備50萬主機作為首發(fā)，所以我們的銷售團隊從零售商那積壓了包含26.2萬份游戲的訂單。我依然清楚地記得這些數(shù)據(jù)。緊接著，就在發(fā)售之前，微軟日本致歉并說他們只能保證25w份。等等，那可比計劃中配備的DOA3份數(shù)要少啊。那時候我們真的什么都做不了，接著發(fā)售日就到來了。必然的，Xbox主機本身很快就賣脫銷了但并非每個買Xbox的玩家喜歡格斗游戲。我想DOA3在日本買了大概17萬到18萬份。后面零售商有一些剩貨，他們只想著抓緊清庫存因為對他們來說那可是個旺季。接下來發(fā)生的就是DOA3開始從熱賣下架而進入促銷區(qū)，然后被標成300日元（當時差不多3美元）的低價，這僅僅在發(fā)售的一個月之后。這個游戲的風評遭受了不公正的對待并且被稱作“一個3美元的游戲”，我對此也是十分傷感。你知道的，當玩家見到促銷區(qū)有個低價游戲，他們便會傾向于覺得這個游戲很糟糕。這很令人沮喪和傷心。而且這也促使其它軟件公司不愿將游戲發(fā)布在Xbox上?？窗桑珼OA3，賭在了Xbox上，現(xiàn)在就賣3美元。日本游戲公司更傾向于被動并且想看看第一個試水作品表現(xiàn)如何，而不是去大膽地第一個嘗試。所以它們離開了，并且當看到?jīng)]有多少日本公司時，日本玩家粉絲團體也開始逐漸散去。如果微軟能夠像當初承諾的一樣準備50萬份地話，事情將很可能有很大的不同，并且Xbox能夠在日本市場獲得完全不同的地位。這真的是Xbox在日本的一個分水嶺，我不得不說Xbox在日本的首發(fā)是一個巨大的失敗。

B：Xbox對游戲行業(yè)的貢獻呢？

I：就像我說的，微軟引入了與PC十分相似的架構(gòu)，并且在實際上讓這種方式成為了行業(yè)的標準。這是一個巨大的貢獻，因為這讓游戲開發(fā)更加簡單。任何人都可以開發(fā)游戲，只要有PC。這促使了獨立游戲開發(fā)者的誕生，并在今天獨立游戲也有著巨大的市場。朕真的是微軟的功勞--實現(xiàn)了使任何人都能用更低地成本更簡單地去開發(fā)游戲。我希望Xbox繼續(xù)保持優(yōu)秀，就像它一直以來那樣，并且我很確定Xbox能夠在接下來的時間里也能夠保持如此。

B：請告訴我你最近的情況。

I：在之前的四年里，我從事教育工作去培訓行業(yè)新人，但現(xiàn)在我覺得我像重新開始游戲制作，并為此剛剛成立了一家公司。

B：噢！真是個好消息，我敢肯定有許多Xbox的粉絲正等著您的作品！

I：我做事你放心，拭目以待吧。不然我也不會接受這個關(guān)于Xbox文章的采訪了。

B：那假如說，微軟說他們想讓你的公司成為他們旗下的工作室之一呢？

I：哈哈，那就讓我從20年前對Seamus的那句提問開始說起吧。那時候，我問他，你有信心打敗PS2嗎？他說有。Xbox被叫做“Project Midway”而我將會和它一同取得霸權(quán)。這就是我為何會相信他并且真的為了微軟創(chuàng)作了Xbox獨占的游戲差不多十年。現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)過去了二十年，我也成立了自己的公司，板垣游戲（Itagaki Games），不是脫褲魔，也不是英靈殿。我知道微軟依然充滿雄心壯志，如果他們通知了我，那將會是我的榮幸。

英文原文：

To those who read the article released by Bloomberg on Jan.6, 2021

(日本語版はコメント欄の方に掲載しています)

I would like to introduce you a part of my interview originally made for this article, but omitted from the official article due to its character limit. Such sort of deletions and modifications could often happen, so please do not think bad things about Bloomberg.

I’d rather thank them for their frankness and willing consent, which allow me to post the following part of my original interview here.

Please enjoy the story - This is a late Christmas gift from me!

Bloomberg: How did you meet with Microsoft first?

Itagaki: The timing was immediately after that prototype of Xbox was complete. I think it was about 13 months prior to the product launch, and that was when Microsoft began talking to Japanese studios, and Tecmo was one of them. Microsoft wanted to meet me, probably they believed I would be able to prepare a game that maximizes the machine’s full capabilities.

Q: I bet 13 months to make a game was very tight in terms of schedule?

A: Yes, was very tight, but I was so used to such things. I am a developer but also a commander, so when I decide to do it, I do it. There’s no meaning not to have a game ready on Day 1 otherwise you can’t help Xbox make the first wave. I took it as a mission to complete the job in 13 months. I thus poured resources to make it happen.

Q: Your first thoughts when you heard about MS coming to the industry?

A: I welcomed it. Microsoft is a computer company after all, and back then, a lot of companies were making hardware...NEC, Sega, and so on. you know, more hardware, it’s better. My image on Microsoft was an OS company, so I was interested in knowing their thoughts on the hardware and the industry.

Q: Your first encounter with Seamus Blackley?

A: I was waiting at a reception room, then he walked in, all by himself. We exchanged business cards, but he barely looked mine, rather put it aside quickly, plumped down on a couch, then he was like, we are making a game console, are you joining or not. you know, he’s big, and was like a marine soldier. Then we talked about a lot of things, like, horsepower of the machine, other technical specifications, launch date, planned installment base at the launch. All verbal, no papers at all. We talked for an hour or so, and my mind was set. My team’s mission was to create the world’s best fighting game, and we needed the Xbox for that. Xbox was four times to six times more powerful than the PS2, and yes, we were on.

Q: If all verbal, and was the first meeting with Blackley, I’m surprised you could believe him that much.

A: I met a lot of people, and you know, you get a good sense of that person if you meet in person. You spend one hour, and by the time you get a good sense of what that person is saying is true or not. As for Seamus, to every question I had, he answered very clearly. Not just machine specifications and dates, but things like, what would you do if this kind of trouble occurs. He was very clear and solid, and even if he couldn’t answer me right away, he promised he would get back to me immediately after he’s back in the U.S. and check with his teams, and he actually did. he was very solid. I am that kind of person as well, so we got along very well quickly.

Q: Still, DOA was such a valuable IP, and I was amazed you made such a bet on a new platform.

A: You know, everything got a risk or two, but you can minimize it by managing them right. As for DOA3, I was so sure we can make this a big success, if we manage risks right. with this machine, and with this passionate guy sitting in front of me, and that Microsoft is saying it would do its best after all, I had no doubt.

Q: I heard some skepticism among Japanese companies about Microsoft, a software company back then, doing hardware?

A: Well, an attitude toward how to build hardware was clearly different from Nintendo and Sony. Nintendo and Sony were both making hardware on their unique chips and unique architecture. Microsoft, on the other hand, didn’t spend time and budget but rather assembled existing components, but made the best possible one out of these components. That made some Japanese game companies an impression that Xbox was just a version of PC.

Q: Ah! That sounds like PlayStation today.

A: Indeed. Well, Nintendo is still pursuing its own way, and has made a big success on it, so you can’t really underestimate that. But as for Sony, they have changed the way and doing a thing like Microsoft was doing from the beginning. I hope Xbox and PlayStation continue to have a good competitive relationship and I wish both to be successful.

Q: How was work was like with Xbox team?

A: You know, Seamus really likes to make a fuss just on anything. He e-mailed me, called me, once every week and asked what’s going on, are you ok, do you need any help, if you need anything do reach me out, that sort. On one occasion, he called me and asked what’s going on, and I was like well it’s just been a week we talked last, no big progress is made since then. So he said, okay I am coming to your office at the end of this month, and I was, you can come, but there’s not much I can show you by then. He then, ok, then I would be able to see something, I replied maybe three months later. He then I would check back then, the call was ended, but only a month later, I get a call from him again and he said what’s going on. But on every note he made to me, at the end was always a line saying do reach out to me if any troubles, I am here to solve your troubles. He was very true to the pledge. One example was he put DOA3 on a fast track in terms of approval process. You know, there are some platform holders that make the process slow by complaining about a tiny thing that no one would care about, but as of Microsoft and Seamus, there was no such thing.

Q: So working with Xbox team was good?

A: Very much. Very comfortable. All the main Xbox team, including Seamus Blackley, Ed Fries, Kevin Bachus, their leader Robbie Bach and George Peckham who often played golf with me, provided me full support on me. I visited Redmond once every two months, and they introduced me a lot of tools and support that would help speed up game development.

Q: Do you think they understood Japanese way of making a game?

A: I can’t speak on behalf of all the Japanese studios, but my team’s approach was clearly different from Bungie. Seamus let me see Halo twice while the game was still in development, saying this is super confidential. I was worried about Halo back then because its frame rate was very low. I told Seamus that the Halo game was really worrisome, are you sure that is going to ok, and Seamus was like it’s fine so you do your own part. Halo ended up very great game, so how to land a game was very different from my style to Bungie’s style. Did Seamus show understanding to my style? Well, he didn’t care much about the process. outcome, outcome, outcome. That’s all he asked. Are you ok, what’s coming, you need any help--that’s the loop we walked through continuously, and that’s how we made the DOA3.

Q: I heard MS was sort not that polite to some Japanese developers?

A: I don’t think so. If there were such attitude by Microsoft, it was Japanese developers’ attitude that made Microsoft act that way. I am very machine-oriented guy, but many other Japanese developers are business-oriented. Even before Microsoft has a chance to explain their machines, Japanese studios would ask them, what’s the benefit for us and what you can do to us. I don’t think anyone would be happy to be given that sort of attitude from the beginning.

Q: What was your impression that a U.S. company is coming into the industry largely occupied by Japanese companies?

A: Very welcome and very natural thing to happen. This is an analogy, but a game console is a fighter jet. Every fighter got unique aspect, like, this is very fast but can’t load up many missiles. Software companies like us can’t build a fighter jet on our own, but we have a choice from many available, and you make a decision based on things like specification and support budget they provide us. What if there’s only one jet available in the world? That’s very bad because you can’t really negotiate. So it was very welcoming, and the Xbox was designed to be more powerful than the PS2 and machine was hitting the market soon, so i had no other options but to bet on.

Q: Any episodes with Seamus?

A: It was two weeks before DOA3’s master is up. Seamus called me suddenly, like he did all the time, and said, I got machineguns on both of my hands and i will go and attack Nvidia right now, you coming with me. I was like wait, what’s going on, I have no time for that as I’m busy finishing up DOA3, what happened. Then he said. Nvidia promised me that the GPU they provide us will be at 250MHz, but just called me and said there would be 10% reduction from that. That’s not what we’ve agreed on, so I am getting into Nvidia, are you with me or not. Then I was like, calm down Seamus, think what we need is to make sure games work at 225MHz. then he was like, yeah you right, ok, please do your part to make the game run at 225MHz, leave Nvidia up to me. You know, this is really typical Seamus. If you were just being apologized and said, sorry, GPU’s clock is going to be 10% lower, nothing is exciting and fun. but he’s really good at making a fuss about and put people on his pace, and when you realize, he make other people work for him to let him accomplish what he wanted to do. He’s really good at it. Oh, I complained Xbox’s first controller is bad. Button was tiny, response wasn’t good--you know, the button doesn’t return to the original position once pressed, and that’s a big headache for us because you can’t mash buttons. Seamus was initially not with me and said the controller was great, so I just passed it on him and ask to hold it and mash a button. Since his hands are also big but buttons are small, he had trouble doing mash too. See? I told you! It was like that. Ah, I also complained the console itself is too big. The Console is too big and cable is too long. I guess that’s a fit to an American house, but for Japanese homes, it was weird.

Q; You happy with DOA3’s sales?

A: We sold more than 2 million copies of the game worldwide, which was a lot better than the company’s projection, so was a big success. But it came with one big problem: Japan. Microsoft first told us they will prepare 500,000 units of the console at the launch, so our sales team piled up orders for 262,000 copies from retailers. I still remember these figures clearly. And then, soon before the launch, Microsoft Japan apologized and said they were only able to secure 250,000 units. Wait a second, that’s fewer than the planned dispatch copies of DOA3. There was nothing we can do by that time, and the launch date had come. Xbox console itself got sold out quickly for sure, but not every gamer that purchased the Xbox likes a fighting game. I think DOA3 in Japan sold 170,000 to 180,000 copies. Then retailers get some leftover, and they just want to clear inventories quickly because it was a busy season for them. What happened was DOA3 went into a wagon from shelf and marked down to as low as 300 yen ($3), just a month after the release. The game got an unfair reputation and called “a $3 game,” and i was so sad about it. You know, when gamers see a cheap game in a wagon, they tend to judge it’s a terrible game. It was frustrating and sad. And that promoted other software companies unwilling to publish games on Xbox. Look, DOA3, which bet on Xbox, is now sold only for $3. Japanese game companies tend to be more passive and want to see how the first penguin would perform, rather than they being first to jump off. So they moved away, and since seeing not many games from Japanese companies, Japanese game fans also faded away. If Microsoft was able to prepare 500,000 units at the launch as they promised, the thing could be much different and Xbox might have gained a whole different market position in Japan. That was a real watershed for Xbox in Japan. I have to say the first Xbox’s launch in Japan was a massive failure.

Q: Xbox’s contribution to game industry?

A: As I said, Microsoft introduced an architecture that is very similar to PCs, and made that style as de-facto standard in the industry. That is a huge contribution because it made game development much easier. Anyone can make a game if they have a PC. That led to the birth of indie creators, and huge indie market we have today. That’s really a Microsoft’s contribution--enabling anyone to make game easily, at low cost. I hope Xbox remains outstanding, as it has always been, and I’m sure Xbox can remain so for time to come.

Q: Tell me your recents.

A: For the past four years, I’ve been teaching job to foster juniors, but now I feel like I want to make a game again and just established a company for that purpose.

Q: Oh! That’s great news. I am sure a lot of Xbox fans are awaiting for your work!

A: You can count me for that. Otherwise I wouldn’t have accepted an interview for this Xbox article.

Q: What if, Microsofts said they want to make your company one of Microsoft studios?

A: Haha, I would start again with questions that I made to Seamus two decades ago. Back then, I asked him, are you confident that you will beat PS2? He said yes. Xbox is called “Project Midway” and I’ll gain the supremacy with it. That’s why I trusted him and actually created Xbox-exclusive games for about 10 years. 20 years have passed since then, and I established my own company, Itagaki Games, which is not Tecmo, nor Valhalla. I know Microsoft is still aggressive. If they reach out to me, it will be an honor for me.