Jump to the full interview below!

How's it been working with Apple in the development and distribution of PAC-MAN on iTunes?

SR: It's been great. They're a very, very good partner. We're very proud to be one of their launch partners on Games for iTunes. The iPod is the perfect device for games because of just the mass market appeal and that everyone uses them for entertainment. So to go from music to video to games as the next extension makes complete sense.

How has PAC-MAN been performing in sales on iTunes in comparison to sales on other mobile platforms?

SR: It's been doing really well. Clearly the sales are growing along with the promotions that Apple puts around, such as during emails promotions. The one thing that is different between the iPod and cellphone is that on the cellphone you have the ease of buying and downloading the games over the air, which makes that a very easy way to access games. On the iPod you have to go to your PC and purchase it and then sync it with your iPod, but the iPod users are trained to do that. Everyone that has an iPod knows you have to go to iTunes to buy content. To have to go to a PC is not a barrier at all. There's a lot of information you can't get if you are just browsing on the phone. Descriptions, features, screenshots and preview video demos are available which makes things better for consumers in the sense that they can be educated about the product more.

So, you released Ms. PAC-MAN for the 25th Anniversary (this year), what do you think is the appeal of Ms. PAC-MAN on the iPod?

SR: PAC-MAN and Ms. PAC-MAN are both top sellers across all the carriers in the US. Most people that are a fan of one is a fan of the other, so they are buying both. There's definitely not just the fun game play, but the nostalgia around it. The one thing about PAC-MAN and Ms. PAC-MAN is everybody knows. You know, everyone knows how you play, what it's supposed to look like and there's no false advertising. It looks exactly like the arcade game 25 years ago. All the authentic sounds are in the iPod versions. You can play with the retro sounds behind it or you could play the game while listening to your library of music.

One of the things that we did differently with Ms. PAC-MAN that we did not do with PAC-MAN is, this is going to sound funny until I kind of explain it, is that we basically put a tutorial in there. Not about how to play Ms. PAC-MAN, but just to get people use to the controls. It sounds so simple, "just tap down, up, left and right," but because that wheel also controls your music list, if you press it, if you don't tap it, you go into your music list. So we have a little tutorial, it takes 30 seconds, to get people used to the game.

What about porting over Ms. PAC-MAN compared to the development time on the mobile platform, is it similar on the iPod?

SR: It's definitely not the same. For the first game, PAC-MAN, we definitely had a learning curve because we've never done a game for the iPod before, and then when we did the second game, it went a lot smoother than the first one. We've been putting games on mobile phones for years, so we definitely know what we are doing at this stage on mobile phones. Without a question, Ms. PAC-MAN and all the other games we will launch over our long partnership with Apple will be much easier than the first one. That's the same as when years ago we did the first game on a Java phone.

Since the debut of iPod Games last year, there's only been about 12 games released to date, so I was wondering are there any plans from Namco Networks to distribute any titles like Galaga, Pole Position, Ridge Racer or even Taiko Drum Master, which you have available for cellphones, that might lend itself well for something like the iPod? Why did Namco Networks decide to go with Ms. PAC-MAN, being that it has similar features to one of the games already out?

SR: A couple of things. It lends itself well to the platform. We're definitely exploring or are in development of other titles, but we just haven't announced them yet. But one of the things we are looking at is which ones lends themselves well to the platform. The only limitation to think about are the controls. We want to make sure the consumer experience is a great one. Why Ms. PAC-MAN? In the United States launch on the Java phones over 4 1/2 years ago, the first two games we launched were PAC-MAN and Ms. PAC-MAN. They're just icons in the industry.

With the upcoming iPhone, is Namco Networks looking into that platform as well? Do you think there may be some other opportunities there with the larger screen and different interaction?

SR: We are without a question one of the handful of game publishers that Apple has chosen to work with and we're also a top partner of Cingular, who will be selling the device. At this time, there hasn't been too much information in terms of games. Our whole thing is mobile entertainment on wireless devices. We're one of the few publishers that directly publishes games on almost every wireless platform. Not just Java phones, but iPods, Sidekicks, Palm, Windows Mobile. If the opportunity is there, we will put our games on the iPhone. It's our mission.

What about any other original titles or unique titles besides arcade ports? Are there plans to release any?

SR: No, we are not just bringing out arcade classics. We're Namco, we've been doing video games for years and we have a library that we're fortunate enough to be able to chose from like Dig Dug and Galaga. But we have two titles that we just launched that are very unique. Scene It? Movies for Mobile, which is very unique because of all the network components in it. We launched with 1,000 questions, but it's all server based, so we're going to continually add more and more questions. It is the first mobile game ever to incorporate video into the game play, so you could get video questions. You watch a little clip of the video and then answer questions about it. Another title is Pool Pro Online II. It has network features such as swapping messages with each other, sort who you're playing by their skill and bet in-game money against people. It's the first kind-of casual online community experience. The first version had over 4 million games played online.

I don't want it to sound like we don't do the arcade classics anymore. We did announce partnering with some of the other publishers out there to bring their arcade classics to mobile. We'll be doing the arcade classic Mr.Do. We've also partnered with G-Mode, a publisher in Japan. We haven't announced which title yet. We're also doing some original games tied to licenses like Snoopy and The Red Baron and a Dilbert title as well.

Can consumers try any of the games before they purchase them from NamcoGames? Are they available for demoing?

SR: Most of the carriers that we are as a top tier partner, we preload on the phone demos of PAC-MAN or Ms. PAC-MAN. Recently, with Sprint, we offer demos of PAC-MAN, Ms. PAC-MAN, Galaga, Dig Dug and a demo of Scene-It? Movies.

How do you keep up with the different mobile gaming devices?

SR: We continually port to every device that comes out in the market. It's a very complicated process. There's probably hundreds and hundreds of handsets that we cover. Handset coverage is one of the challenges of the industry. Every handset is a different port and everyone has to be tuned, q/a'ed and submitted to the carrier. It's a big deal.

How have sales been going overall with Namco in the mobile and/or casual gaming market?

SR: We're doing very, very well. We're the number two mobile game publisher. In general, the industry is slowly growing. At the same time we still have a lot of work to do. We're still in sort-of the education phase, where 5% to 7% of the consumers even know they can download games. It will grow even more and more. I also compare it to Japan, because it's like looking into the future. They've basically created a mobile culture there.

What are your thoughts on Hovr? They just recently announced an offering of free mobile games, but with advertising in the front and at the end of the game play. What are your thoughts on that distribution method of mobile games? Has Namco considered such an approach?

SR: To be honest with you, we do not support this. From the consumer side, if the consumer is paying for the game, definitely we do not want to have advertising in a video game. It would be like paying for HBO and then having ads in HBO. One of the trends in the industry is that the quality of the games have been getting better and better, which we feel is so important. Again, only 5% of the consumers have downloaded a game and when the other 95% do it, we want to make sure they have the best experience possible so they come back and do it again. "Free" is always better than paying for something, but with this type of model the quality control won't be there anymore and we're going to be showing consumers something we don't want them to see. We should really be showing the best of the best.

On the business side, honestly, in our market we've really done a great job in educating our consumers to pay for games, intellectual properties. Think of 1999 and the internet and we completely didn't do a good job and everything was free on the internet. But for mobile related stuff, we've done a great job of saying "look if you want entertainment, you pay a couple of bucks for it," and people do. It's not best for the business. I don't see any games on Hovr's web site that are in the industry or are well known or quality games. I don't see anything on this web site, which makes me nervous, as someone in the industry. We want to keep the message very simple for consumers. Pay a couple of bucks and get really fun quality games.

[end]

Visit Namco Games for a listing of games available for the mobile gaming platform.

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