The Efficiency and Creativity of Product Development: Lessons from the Game Software Industry in Japan

Description

This is the first book that comprehensively describes the history of the game software industry in Japan. A major objective here is to identify the key determinants of the emergence of the business, the maturing of the market, and the changes brought about by innovations, based on the history of the Japanese industry. To date, similar books have focused only on particular topics of the game software industry, such as the success of Nintendo and Sony and the uniqueness of the Japanese industry. There are no books that interpret the development process of this industry from the point of view of innovation. To fully understand the business and derive insightful lessons from it, however, requires a careful and thorough examination of its development process. Currently, many companies aim to improve efficiency by using information and communications technology (ICT), but it is difficult to maintain a balance between the pursuit of efficiency and the encouragement of creativity. In the case of Japan’s game software industry, firms have pursued higher efficiency in product development to build competitive advantage, resulting in a low rate of radical innovation and causing the slow growth of the industry.  In certain situations, the development activities that target the creation of new products may, in themselves, hinder the creation of truly new products. This book conceptualizes this phenomenon as a “development productivity dilemma” and clarifies the mechanisms behind it.  The dilemma, like the productivity dilemma in the manufacturing industry, evokes a certain innovation pattern and prevents potential growth. Understanding the lessons from the game software business presented in this book, managers, researchers, and policymakers can gain insight into the mechanisms leading to industrial maturity and clues to avoid the development productivity dilemma. Preface Acknowledgments Contents About the Author List of Figures List of Tables 1 A Fundamental Dilemma: Efficiency Versus Creativity 1.1 A Fundamental Dilemma: Efficiency Versus Creativity 1.2 Game Software as a Research Subject for Considering the Relationship Between Efficiency and Creativity 1.3 Objectives of the Study and Reasons for Selection of Cases 1.3.1 Reasons for Choosing Game Software as a Research Subject 1.3.2 Overview of the Game Software Business: The Emergence of the Console Game Software Business and its Industrial Structure 1.3.3 Product Characteristics of Game Software 1.3.4 Game Software Development Activities 1.3.5 Characteristics of Game Software Development Activities 1.4 Aims and Messages of This Book 1.5 Structure of This Book References 2 Literature Review: Innovation Patterns and Evolution of the Industry 2.1 Literature Review of the Innovation Research 2.1.1 Changes in Innovation Over Time 2.1.2 Existing Research on the Impact of Complementary goods 2.1.3 Problems Left by Existing Research on Innovation Patterns 2.2 Literature Review of the Game Studies 2.3 Positioning of This Book References 3 Analytical Framework and Research Design: Definition of Innovations, Types of Innovations and the Methods of Empirical Research 3.1 Definition of Innovation in Game Software 3.2 Categories of Innovation 3.2.1 Two Types of Innovation in Game Software 3.2.2 Measuring Innovation: Product Classification Axis and Operational Definition 3.3 Analytical Framework 3.3.1 The Analytical Framework of This Study 3.3.2 A Framework for Analyzing Innovation Patterns in the Game Software Industry 3.3.3 Foresight on Innovation in Game Software 3.4 Data to Be Used for Analysis 3.4.1 Unit of Analysis for This Study 3.4.2 Survey Contents and Data Used References 4 The Origins of the Game Software Business in Japan: Phase 1: 1983–1989 4.1 Early days of the Video Game Business 4.1.1 A Brief History of Nintendo 4.1.2 The Success of the Family Computer 4.1.3 Success Factors of Nintendo and the Family Computer 4.1.4 Market Formation by Nintendo 4.1.5 Changes in the Medium in the Family Computer 4.2 Game Software Market in the First Phase 4.2.1 Overview of the First Phase 4.2.2 Major Products in the First Phase 4.2.3 Trends in the Game Software Market in the First Phase 4.3 Discussion: Platform Effect on Demand Creation 4.4 Creating New Demand: The Start-Up of a New Industry in the 1980s References 5 The Transition of the Industry: Phase 2: 1990–1993 5.1 The Platform for Phase 2 5.1.1 NEC-HE’s New Entry and Sega’s New Product Launch 5.1.2 Strategies of Platform Companies 5.1.3 Nintendo’s Market Domination, Again 5.2 Game Software Market in the 2nd Phase 5.2.1 Overview of the Second Phase 5.2.2 Major Products in the 2nd Phase 5.2.3 Trends in the Game Software Market in the 2nd Phase 5.3 Discussion: The Market Expansion and Establishment of Major Firms After the Late 1980s 5.3.1 Interfirm Competition in the RPG Submarket 5.3.2 Similarity in Differentiation: Competition as Interlocution Revisited 5.3.3 Coexistence of Multiple Dominant Designs References 6 The Impasse of Industry in the Late 1990s: Phase 3: 1994–1999 6.1 The Platform for the Third Phase 6.1.1 New Technologies Introduced in the Third Phase 6.1.2 New Entrants and Nintendo’s Products and Business Model 6.1.3 Results of Inter-platform Competition in the Third Phase 6.2 The Game Software Industry in the Third Phase 6.2.1 Overview of the Third Phase 6.2.2 Major Products in the Third Phase 6.2.3 The Trend of the Game Software Industry in the Third Phase 6.3 Decline in Demand Creation 6.3.1 Where Has Demand Gone? 6.3.2 The Industry as a Unit of Analysis 6.3.3 The Future of Industry Research References 7 The Innovation Pattern in the Digital Age: The Case of the Game Software 7.1 Quantitative Understanding of the Transition of Game Software 7.1.1 Changes in the Game Software by Series Classification 7.1.2 Establishment of Genres in the Game Software 7.1.3 The Transition of Million-Sellers in the Game Software Industry 7.2 Innovation Patterns of Game Software 7.3 Summary of This Chapter: The Innovation Pattern of the Game Software References 8 Factors Behind the Innovation Pattern 8.1 Factors Originating from Manufacturing Process and Platform 8.1.1 Media Adopted by the Console Game and Manufacturing Process of Game Software 8.1.2 Performance Improvement of the Console Game Machines 8.1.3 Strategies of Platform Folders 8.2 Market and User-Derived Factors 8.2.1 Accumulation of Users’ Consumption Experiences and Changes in Users’ Needs 8.2.2 Factors Originating in the Distribution Process 8.3 Factors Originating from Game Software Companies 8.3.1 Product Strategies of Game Software Companies 8.3.2 Changes in Product Strategy and Product Development Activities 8.3.3 The Development Productivity Dilemma 8.4 Changes in the Industry as a Whole: The Consequence of the Development Productivity Dilemma 8.5 Summary of This Chapter: The Critical Factor of Innovation Pattern References 9 The Development Productivity Dilemma and Its Consequences: Effects on Firm, Industry, and Innovation 9.1 Development Productivity Dilemma 9.1.1 Algorithm and Data Diversion 9.1.2 Simplifying the Development Process 9.1.3 Organization of the Project Team 9.2 Case Study of the Development Productivity Dilemma 9.2.1 Overview of the X Series 9.2.2 The Development Process of the X Series 9.2.3 Case Interpretation of Company A X Series 9.3 Development Productivity Dilemma and Changes in Corporate Behavior 9.4 Industry-Level “Unintended Consequences” that Gave Rise to Innovation Patterns 9.5 Impact of Digitization on the Development Productivity Dilemma 9.6 Consequences of the Development Productivity Dilemma 9.7 Implications of the Development Productivity Dilemma References 10 Conclusion 10.1 Summary of Findings: Efficiency and Creativity 10.1.1 Innovation Patterns and Factors of Game Software 10.1.2 Reconsideration of Innovation Patterns and Their Factors 10.2 Implications of the Findings of This Book 10.2.1 Creativity and Social Cost of Cultural Industries 10.2.2 Implications for Other Industries 10.2.3 The Paradigm of Accumulation, the Paradigm of Prioritizing Growth 10.3 For Future Research References Data Name Index Index Subject Index