TGS 06: Kojima investing in stock-market game

  • By Hirohiko Niizumi, GameSpot
  • Posted Sep 23, 2006 3:11 pm PT

Nintendo DS owners will be taking on a force that's bigger and nastier than soldiers or monsters: the Japanese economy.

Kabushiki Baibai Trainer Kabutore

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TOKYO--Metal Gear series creator Hideo Kojima revealed during the Tokyo Game Show that his development team is working on a new game for the Nintendo DS--but it's not the usual type of game from Kojima Productions.

Following the trend of the many "training games" being released on the DS, Kojima said that his team is working on "Kabushiki Baibai Trainer Kabutore" (Stock Transaction Trainer Kabutore).

The game teaches players the basics of stock trading, using real Tokyo Stock Exchange market data from the past five years. For novice traders, the game features step-by-step lessons in stock-market transactions, including a lecture mode and a story mode. For those well versed in the ups and downs of stocks, there's an expert mode, which lets the game function as a market simulator.

"Video games have been changing during the past one to two years. The recent trend is toward training software, which brings affluence to life rather than drama," said Kojima during his stage appearance. "Although we've been releasing games for the hardcore audiences up until now, we're really about taking on new challenges."

Kabushiki Baibai Trainer Kabutore seems like the type of game that would only come out domestically in Japan. But with games like Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day also selling well across the Pacific, there's always the possibility that a localized version might do well too. Screenshots and a trailer are available from the Japanese-language TGS section of Kojima Production's Web site (click on the "Japanese" link and then select the bottom left beverage in the vending machine).

57 Comments

  • teh_leeto

    Posted Jul 31, 2007 10:09 pm PT

    this would be an interesting multiplayer game, so you can play the stockmarket with other players.

  • _Sam_

    Posted Sep 26, 2006 6:29 pm PT

    why not a US release

  • princeofgames90

    Posted Sep 26, 2006 2:32 pm PT

    Nice i hope there is an english version

  • Dinghy_Dog

    Posted Sep 26, 2006 10:54 am PT

    interesting concept

  • gonzalezj1

    Posted Sep 25, 2006 4:37 pm PT

    Sound's interesting.
    Why not?

  • ImperialPanda

    Posted Sep 25, 2006 4:08 pm PT

    I foresee a lot of hapless Japanese gamers losing a lot of money in their stock market. The only thing this game is going to "teach" is how to lose money fast. Learning about trading doesn't start with, involve, or end with a game.

    The JP money managers must be going ecstatic.

  • hemakm3

    Posted Sep 25, 2006 11:28 am PT

    That's different.

  • kavadias1981

    Posted Sep 25, 2006 9:10 am PT

    It's certainly different. Sure, if it comes out in the UK i'll get it. I admit I am very much into the whole training game genre since buying Dr K.

  • Articuno76

    Posted Sep 25, 2006 7:27 am PT

    Just when you think games can't get any weirder.

  • jakeboudville

    Posted Sep 24, 2006 10:16 pm PT

    cool

  • reipuerto

    Posted Sep 24, 2006 8:42 pm PT

    Wow... this game teaches you on how to "gamble"?...

  • Eviltwin

    Posted Sep 24, 2006 2:48 pm PT

    I want a copy of that >.

  • MrPuzzlez

    Posted Sep 24, 2006 11:16 am PT

    If it's for 20 bucks, sure, I'd get it.

  • synapticflow

    Posted Sep 24, 2006 10:55 am PT

    Could it be a rare DS mis-step?

  • juanfraino

    Posted Sep 24, 2006 10:23 am PT

    im sold!

  • YukoAsho

    Posted Sep 24, 2006 9:40 am PT

    zzzzz....

  • 24dude13

    Posted Sep 24, 2006 6:55 am PT

    Hai ya kojima good job

  • gozyaj

    Posted Sep 24, 2006 5:04 am PT

    Kojima-san arigatou!!!!

  • mithund

    Posted Sep 24, 2006 4:46 am PT

    he he...that's kinda cool ! if they can make gambling games then why not ! Man, Koijma is a genius !

  • mhder

    Posted Sep 24, 2006 3:43 am PT

    Hey why not? Could be fun.. I mean we play games where ingame markets exist and we buy and sell. Online games have its own marketplace .. So this would be something a bit more complex but the concept is generally the same... Give new ideas a chance or we'll be stuck playing the same old crap month after month, year after year... oh wait, that's what the industry has become ....

  • Nico4

    Posted Sep 24, 2006 2:55 am PT

    Wondering how this is going to turn out

  • stubby_01

    Posted Sep 24, 2006 2:39 am PT

    Kojima = brilliant

  • THEYETISTAR74

    Posted Sep 24, 2006 1:39 am PT

    I would buy this if it came out in the U.S. for the U.S. Economy and Stocks.

  • WatsonC

    Posted Sep 23, 2006 10:26 pm PT

    huh

  • yukine

    Posted Sep 23, 2006 10:16 pm PT

    This could be a fun game, if they do it right. Anyone remember "Wall Street Kid" for the NES? For some strange reason, that game was very enjoyable.

  • Nintendo_Man

    Posted Sep 23, 2006 9:10 pm PT

    Imagine they put this on the Wii with 24 hour automatic updates, you could buy shares from any stock market from around the world.
    That would be revolutionary.

  • KirinLime

    Posted Sep 23, 2006 9:02 pm PT

    Even though it's easy to be skeptical with the limited available information on this game, I have full confidence in Hideo Kojima's talent given the incredible experiences many of his previous games provide. It's too early to tell what the actual gameplay is going to be like or whether it'll sport a fun factor that can appeal to just about everyone, so we'll just have to eagerly wait and see.

  • Murpheus007

    Posted Sep 23, 2006 8:07 pm PT

    How exciting!?!?!? Um... no it's not.

  • nintendorocks

    Posted Sep 23, 2006 7:12 pm PT

    Stock Market game? The DS is all about being different huh? But if they gave this a US release date then they'll have to raise the difficulty ALOT. Oh, snap!

  • Kreestas

    Posted Sep 23, 2006 6:44 pm PT

    weird

  • metdevthegamer

    Posted Sep 23, 2006 6:32 pm PT

    Ooh, how riveting.

  • comthitnuong

    Posted Sep 23, 2006 6:15 pm PT

    accually this might be a fun game

  • zeldarooles

    Posted Sep 23, 2006 6:09 pm PT

    Wow, it seems that everybody may wind up following nintendo O_o

  • manapsal

    Posted Sep 23, 2006 6:04 pm PT

    wow sounds cool actually

  • SpareJesus

    Posted Sep 23, 2006 5:25 pm PT

    Technically, this isn't a 'sim' by any means. It's another of Nintendo's 'Touch Generations' games, like Brain Training. As it says, it'll teach you how to successfully play the stock-market. It's a training tool, not a game aimed at fans of GTA, Devil May Cry and Halo.

    So the people that say that it's another 'dumb Nintendo idea for a game' can just shut up now, because for one, it's being produced by Kojima himself (and who doesn't love his games?), and secondly, it's not technically a Nintendo product by those means..

    But thirdly, it isn't a game. It's an educational tool.

  • Max_Fischer

    Posted Sep 23, 2006 5:20 pm PT

    Gamers who say they want more MGS than this from Kojima is pretty spoiled. Kojima is a designer, he has massive creativity, which obviously is being concentrated in a sim game right now...I bet the aforementioned type of gamer are the ones who wanted to or actually sent death threats to HK to write and direct MGS4 or else, which is absurd because he wasn't gonna be a money producer, but a hands-on producer, as he said.

  • _UweBoll

    Posted Sep 23, 2006 4:54 pm PT

    Next up Kojima will make a game that teaches people how to win money in Las Vegas. Craps, blackjack, keno you name it, it will teach it to you. The game will pay for itself in no time.

  • Shtinky

    Posted Sep 23, 2006 4:51 pm PT

    Thanks, but I'd rather play MGS: Portable Ops on PSP.

  • Monstromo

    Posted Sep 23, 2006 4:50 pm PT

    Cancel everything. I am getting this. No wonder Microsoft has not cracked the Japanese market. A stock market game with next gen graphics and an online mode will be the key!

  • Jico

    Posted Sep 23, 2006 4:50 pm PT

    I've been interested in this sort of thing for a couple of years now. In lesser hands, this would probably be mundane as hell, but I'm hopeful since Kojima's at the helm.

  • REVOLUTIONfreak

    Posted Sep 23, 2006 4:48 pm PT

    ummm....ok. Why exactly did Kojima decide to do this of all things? Oh well, Im sure the nongamers will pick up a few million copies of the game

  • A7Xfan

    Posted Sep 23, 2006 4:42 pm PT

    i dont have much use for the Japanese stock market.

  • gamer_10001

    Posted Sep 23, 2006 4:38 pm PT

    Could be interesting as a training tool, but not as a GAME

  • thepeter

    Posted Sep 23, 2006 4:20 pm PT

    Well, i have to buy it now.

  • joeamis

    Posted Sep 23, 2006 4:19 pm PT

    I hope it comes to the US.

  • Generic_Dude

    Posted Sep 23, 2006 4:14 pm PT

    FINALLY -- Wall Street Kid goes next-gen! lol, dumbasses.

  • Paradosis

    Posted Sep 23, 2006 4:12 pm PT

    Actually, I wish they'd release more strategy and business sim games like this on the larger consoles. It's certainly possible that I'm thinking of the enjoyability of computer strategy/business games, and would be let down by console versions. But fwiw, I used to play Wall Street Kid when I was younger, and it wasn't that bad for something on the NES in 1990. The graphics sucked, and the gameplay was kind of repetitive, but I enjoyed it more than 90% of the modern, $60, super-duper-graphics types of games.

  • Lee2000

    Posted Sep 23, 2006 4:09 pm PT

    Do what?

  • sjustememe

    Posted Sep 23, 2006 4:09 pm PT

    if i lose money on that game kojima would have to make mgs4 exclusively for me

  • StrangeForce

    Posted Sep 23, 2006 3:56 pm PT

    I believe this "training" trend in video game development will really catch on. There are plenty of people in this world who are ignorant about how things work in business, science, politics, etc...

    This is not to say these people are stupid. They are simply not exposed to learning these things, like Kojima's stock trainer. Consequently, they are not
    confident in committing themselves into doing any trading, especially where
    money is at stake.

    "Training" games open up a new market, perhaps in the self-improvement adult demographic, that other developers need to jump on or exploit.

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