Video: How to handle art direction in the Japanese market

Kimberly Unger, CEO of Bushi-go, took to the stage at Pocket Gamer Connects San Francisco 2015 to discuss art direction in Japan based on her own experiences.

When it comes to store pages, Unger recommends using high resolution promotional art, particularly in videos, to draw in potential users, with "maybe 3 to 5 seconds of actual gameplay."

You can never have too many assets

Particularly in terms of free-to-play games, Unger said that "you can never have too many art assets", as these can be used further down the line as IAPs, even if it's simply a palette swap of an existing character model.

Unger also warned against the use of "core" graphics on mobile, saying they "do not translate well", but suggesting that even a hardcore gamer can appreciate "cute" graphics if the design is aimed at a core gamer.

You can see all our videos from Pocket Gamer Connects San Francisco 2015 in this YouTube Playlist.