I think everyone can agree that everyone in the games industry, regardless of ethnicity or culture, could stand to improve.
From Aonuma to Zampella, everyone can stand to expand their skillset.
My problem with Inafune is that he has the right idea with terrible reasoning. He thinks Japanese games should be more global. I agree! Not everything needs to be global, but if you're aiming for that kind of game, go full tilt. But he doesn't understand the hows and whys, so he comes off as unintelligent and uninformed.
Inafune: Shadow of Rome didn't do well, you need more than just a Western-looking character.
No one can disagree with that. You do need more than just a western-looking character.
Inafune five minutes later: Resident Evil 5 sold well and it was because Chris was American and spoke english.
Now hold on a second there, Inafune. This misconception is where you go off the rails. This is where it stops being about having a global appeal in your gameplay and more about superficial layers that, more than likely, have no cause or correlation with a title's sales. Inafune seems to think that western development is inherently superior, not inherently different, and any western developer is better than any Japanese one. Which leads to situations like Bionic Commando and DmC.
In his defense, he is far from the only developer that thinks this. D3, as evidenced by the new EDF game, believes that western gamers will only buy games made in the west due to some intangible quality. Meanwhile, all the fans hope for is a game that's as good as the one made b the actual developers of the first game. Suda and Mkami are both huge fans of western culture, but find it fascinating and not necessarily something to emulate at the sacrifice of their own styles.
Who knows, maybe Inafune is right and Japanese development should focus on making their characters more American. In that case, I have to wonder what that says about us?