In the interview, Yamauchi is asked about the financial downturn of the industry at the time, around the downfall of the
Sega Dreamcast and a few months before the launch of the GameCube.
‘What I see right now is lots of people who look towards the game business with all these dreams in their minds about how bright the future of the industry is,’ Yamauchi said.
‘When you ask them why, they all say, ‘Oh, all these new systems are coming out that’re even more powerful than the PlayStation 2, we’ll be able to create things that’ll attract even more people to play games,’ and so on.
‘I’ve been consistently saying this is wrong, but most of them look at what I say and respond, ‘No, no, you’re wrong,’ and as a result, this is what’s happening today. There really are just an overwhelmingly huge number of people out there that know nothing about the business of games.
‘The game business is a tough one, and it’s not been around for that long, either, so there are people out there that find this industry incredibly interesting. Venture capitalists, in particular. That’s why these people are pouring money into the field right now.’
Yamauchi goes onto explain how rising development costs stem from the chase for ‘amazing graphics and sound’, which has led to an increasingly volatile industry.