Itagaki Describes Japanese Games Market As 'Sakoku'

Oh dear, former Team Ninja head Tomonobu Itagaki has described the Japanese game market as Sakoku, which references back 400 years ago when Japan closed itself off to the rest of the world:

“I think that, in time, [the games market] will end up much like the Japanese film industry, you know? I mean it will become similar in terms of its competitiveness in mass markets, its ability to raise funds, and its technological prowess. I mean, Kojima-san at Konami has been talking about the technological side of the issue for quite some time now, hasn’t he?"

“Whether it goes into a major decline or not will depend on the publishers and game creators here in Japan. There’s no point in travelling the same path that Japan did 400 years ago, after all. I’m talking about sakoku, the policy in which Japan closed its borders to the outside world. What the industry is doing right now is just a modern form of sakoku."

“What I’m trying to get at is that you’ve got to be an Earthling first, and a Japanese second."

Source: Kotaku