Main Feature: A Popular Japanese Game - El Shaddai / Creator's interview: Makoto Kobayashi, Japanese Mechanic Designer

Main Feature: A Popular Japanese Game - El Shaddai
This week, we feature El Shaddai, an action video game that attracted plenty of attention at E3 - the world's largest video game trade show - in Los Angeles in June last year and the Tokyo Game Show last September. The 3D game software for PlayStation3 and Xbox 360 consoles was inspired by the Book of Enoch, which is held to be canonical by some Christian churches. The mystic story takes place on Earth, in Heaven and in the world of the dead. The player is Enoch, described in Genesis as a great-grandfather of Noah and in the game a priest and clerk of Heaven. Enoch has a mission to capture seven fallen angels in order to prevent a great flood from killing mankind. The game went on sale in Japan in April and surprised both the industry and fans with its unusual sales strategy. In Akihabara, a jeans shop was opened for a limited run in collaboration with Japanese denim maker Edwin, which sells jeans similar to those worn by characters in the game. The El Shaddai café there also became an extremely popular meeting spot. The new PR approach drew the attention of women and casual buyers before the product hit the shelves and paid big dividends in sales. It went on sale in August in the United States and Europe. The game comes from Ignition Entertainment Ltd., which was established in the UK in 2002 and opened its Japan branch in 2004. How did this newcomer to the game scene score such a big hit? Where did the energy come from? Why did the game make such big waves? And what was the initial creative strategy? Join us for the answers! It may even next be turned into a Hollywood movie. We delve into the secrets of a game that is thrilling users of all ages around the world.

Creator's interview: Makoto Kobayashi, Japanese Mechanic Designer
Makoto Kobayashi creates both 2- and 3-dimensional works. Kobayashi became widely known as the designer and builder of "full-scratch" (everything made himself) models that he published in Hobby Japan magazine in the mid-1980s. His mechanical suits and other machines for the 1985 serial TV animation Mobile Suit Z Gundam and 1986 serial Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ were loved by fans of both animation and mechanical design. Kobayashi has since described various popular new models that develop the world of Mobile Suit Gundam in a magazine for plastic model builders. We discover the multi-faceted creative world of Makoto Kobayashi.