Yahoo Article on DDR

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Japan-U.S. Divide Splits Video Game Industry

Sat May 15, 9:22 AM ET

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By Daisuke Wakabayashi and Ben Berkowitz

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - When Konami Corp.'s U.S. sales staff was asked to bring the off-beat, Japanese video game "Dance Dance Revolution" to American homes, they balked at the prospect of a costly flop, out of touch with local tastes.

Kazumi Kitaue, the head of Konami's (9766.T) U.S. operations, says he had no choice but to face down the dissent: "Since there was no other way, I forced them. Reluctantly, they took about 8,000 or 10,000 copies."

Three years later, Kitaue has been vindicated -- the Konami game that challenges players to dance along to thumping music and flashing on-screen instructions has sold over a million units and inspired legions of devoted fans, the "DDR freaks."

Industry observers say Konami's saga is just one example of the difficulties Japanese game publishers face in the U.S. market, and the journey across the Pacific is equally rough for U.S. companies looking to break into Japan.

"To put it simply, cultural differences play a big role," said Hirokazu Hamamura, president of "Famitsu" game magazine publisher EnterBrain.

In the past Japanese business year ending March 31, no U.S. or European publisher was able to crack the top 20 in total titles sold in Japan's $2.6 billion console game software market, according to EnterBrain.

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