But the book doesn't suck. It's 95% fantastic.
And that brings up some questions.
Is it the writing style?
The interviews themselves?
How much do you attribute the content to the writer creater and how much to the interpreters and their contacts from with in the gaming circles in Japan?
What's it the writer who came up with all the questions or were some of them given by the people interviewed or the interpreters?
Well, the DVD has actual evidence of the interviews, so I'd say it was John who came up with the questions, and I believe he e-mailed them to his subjects before the interview.
Anyway, the book is great thanks specifically to John's interview style, with large helpings from interesting people being interviewed and a great translation job.
Look around the 'net for other interviews of Japanese developers (or public figures in general). By and large, Japanese interview subjects are not forthcoming with information, and their answers tend to be overly vague (even when well-translated) by English standards. They often appear self-congratulatory PR at the worst of times. I often get fed up with curt, short, uninformative interviews. Us crazy gamers want details about how some game or feature came into existence, but when the typical interviewee is asked "How did you think of
such-and-such?" and they reply "I thought of that idea, and then I asked my supervisor for permission to develop it." they're missing the point of the interview and the question by a country mile.
John's book contains the exact opposite of these interviews, by and large. It might just be how he frames the interview in the book only, but he asks the right questions and prods incessantly for extra information.
Incidentally, the interview series for
SEGA's 3DS Classics are another example of interviewees who really
want to tell their story, and go into great detail.
Anyhow, the best short review of the book that I have seen is this one:
linky
