LP2 will appeal to West, reckons Takeuchi

While Capcom may be keen on uniting Japanese and Western development teams, star creator Jun Takeuchi (Resident Evil, Lost Planet) isn't so sure.

"Cultural differences don't allow for the smooth collaboration between Japan and developers overseas," said Takeuchi in an internal interview on Capcom's website. To that end, only music and language were imported for Lost Planet 2.

However, Takeuchi has created Lost Planet 2 with a Western audience in mind.

"I think [Westerners] really appreciated our familiarity with this Western genre and how we added a Japanese twist to it by incorporating our own ideas and materials, thus setting it apart from normal Western third person shooters," said Takeuchi, who was more concerned that a third-person shooter wouldn't resonate with his native Japanese audience.

He went on to say that Western gamers "prefer" exploring a realistic world and making the hero an "alter-ego" of themselves, which is an element Lost Planet 2 hopes to capture with its new character customisation system.

Takeuchi reckons his team have put "much more" effort into this sequel and had more time to focus on content thanks to the labour-saving advancements made to the new MT Framework engine.

Lost Planet 2 will be released on PS3 and Xbox 360 this winter (early 2010) and follow on PC. Our gamepage below is stuffed with details.