ab: It is now possible to interact with people from all over the world through various games. That is the kind of age that we're currently in. What do you think will happen to the gaming industry in the future? What do you think lies ahead?

Nakashima: I think games that are manufactured for the enjoyment of "players" are popular right now. However, e-sports is becoming a more specialized genre and games are starting to emerge that are easy for spectators to follow. I think this kind of trend will become more and more popular. It doesn't matter if you want to watch a competition at home, at a friend's place or in a stadium... You can view e-sports on almost any electronic device wherever you are! That means that e-sports can easily become a part of your daily life. I think that a time will come when e-sports will be spoken about in daily conversations, providing both adults and children with a shared language. People might start asking each other if they saw yesterday's game!

ab: We're looking forward to finding-out what kind of games will be released! What does the future hold for "FeA?"

Nakashima: This year, "The National e-sports Championships" will take place in Ibaraki, Japan. Gamers will be competing against each other in "Winning Eleven 2019," "Puyo Puyo eSports," and "GRAN TURISMO SPORT." Qualifying rounds for "Puyo Puyo eSports" and "Winning Eleven 2019" will take place in every prefecture throughout the country. I think "FeA" will have some kind of involvement in the Fukuoka preliminaries. I would absolutely love to see a team with links to the FeA compete in the Asian Games at some point in the near future!

We could also try to organize a "Masters" or "Kids' Cup." It would be a lot of fun to create championship that welcome all people, irrespective of their age, sex, country/region, or disability. We believe that the "FeA" should be a reliable and useful database when it comes to issues all things connected to e-sports. For example, we also ran an experimental project that looked at ways to ease people's concerns about gaming addiction. The results we collected could suggest that it is better if games depict things in a slightly more mild manner and that people should use some kind if measures to ensure that they limit the amount of time they play. I think the FeA could provide some suggestions on these topics.

ab: Finally, do you have a message for our readers?

Nakashima: The Fukuoka e-sports Association also welcomes people who like to watch games! It doesn't matter if you like playing games or viewing them... Just participate in our community at your own pace. Please get involved! It doesn't matter what country or region you come from, everyone's welcome to join! We are planning to go to Asia, so we would like people from Asia to come to Fukuoka as well! We would love to get in contact with anyone from Asia or any other part of the world who is involved with e-sports and planning to visit Fukuoka. Don't hesitate to get in touch! The passionate gaming community is waiting to see what happens!