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[ZealousD]

No...Japanese game maker says all "Japanese games suck...Except ours! Those kick ass!"

Outside of Nintendo? Seems accurate. When it comes to Japanese development, everybody besides Nintendo and Capcom is below where they need to be.

 

[ThatObviousUser]

Just counting my current-gen console games...

Western: 11
Japanese: 15

Eh, don't know about finished. Once you become a fan of their specific genres and gameplay it's pretty hard to just pull out.

 

[Castle Doctrine]

In general, I think western gamers are getting tired of the anime look also*. I watched WKC and Star Ocean vids and they look like every jrpg I've ever seen for years.

*besides Final Fantasy.

 

[Conrad Link]

*Looks up from playing Bowser's Inside Story*

What? Did I miss something? No? Ok.

*Goes back to playing Bowser's Inside Story*

 

[Ardorx]

This attitude is why Capcom is just annihilating other Japanese developers. I honestly overlook 90% of all games coming out of Japan but when a Capcom game is announced, I'm all over it like bees on honey.

 

[Black Rainbow]

Me too. I play more of and tend to heavily prefer japanese developed games (This is more due to the mentality of western developed games more than anything) but you can't deny that there has been a shift recently.

A shift? Sure, but that's a good thing. Healthy competition amongst video game developers from the east and west ensures that there will always be quality games for everyone.

In Capcom's defense, they're probably the most Western-friendly Japanese developer. (Not really counting Nintendo here)

Why discount the most successful video game developer in Japan (and the world for that matter)? Video games would be in big trouble were it not for Nintendo.

 

[Dante]

TGS from a message Board perspective was a sad sad spectacle this year. Gamescon, and E3 both delivered this year, It's a shame TGS can't deliver the same caliber show anymore, what was most disappointing was how out of touch Sony Japan is currently compared to SCEA and SCEE Their 2 biggest japanese teams still didn't have near finished products on the show floor and that's pretty sad.

 

[Lion Heart]

My absolute most awaited games are GT5 and The Last Guardian, with MGS4 being my most awaited game of the gen before those. They still have the talent, they are just in a slump. If Sony was doing Wii numbers, maybe things would be different but you cant sell 100+ mil every gen so they cant just rely on that. I think in time things will balance out.

 

[cosmicblizzard]

In general, I think western gamers are getting tired of the anime look also*. I watched WKC and Star Ocean vids and they look like every jrpg I've ever seen for years.

*besides Final Fantasy.

Not like bald space marines and Unreal engine are much better.

I'm personally getting sick of regional archetypes in general. I want to see a female protagonist with scars all over her face and an eye patch.

 

[Kabouter]

I own two Japanese games this gen (Resident Evil 5, Dead Rising), and I think both are awful. That said, it isn't finished. It's just set to become far less important than the US and Europe in the long run.

 

[tino]

I think we're missing the biggest news of this story - Ben Judd is still an employee of Capcom!

He probably got sent back to do translating and bathroom sweeping work. I love the podcast though. :lol

 

[okenny]

I think you're wrong. Capcom has shown incredible growth and proven that they're a company capable of evolving. The company fearlessly tackled the western market; something most of Japan's major publishers have failed and continue to fail to do. They've shown they have the ability to deliver consistent multiplatform products that maintain a high level of quality across all platforms with reasonable development cycles. They've proven they can deliver products features on par with western developers such as multi-player and community.

I think his condemnation isn't coming from how awesome he thinks Capcom is but rather the unwillingness from other Japanese publishers to change their formula and expand the dominance of the Japanese game industry beyond the home shores YET Epic is setting up shop in their backyard and Square becoming an arm of EA.

Japan needs more then Capcom's effort to survive and from the looks of it, beyond Sony's first party effort, few are doing anything to make this happen.

 

[xfactor]

The only reason TGS is underwhelming is because Nintendo didn't attend.

 

[Kintaro]

I own two Japanese games this gen (Resident Evil 5, Dead Rising), and I think both are awful. That said, it isn't finished. It's just set to become far less important than the US and Europe in the long run.

I hate you.

Anyways, the Japanese have been regulated to portable land. Which is a place that, while sells wonderful, it's not exactly showstopping. The West has certainly adapted much better in the console space than the Japanese, who have made themselves (with the exception of Nintendo obviously with their own platform) irrelevant. Capcom is about the only exception.

 

[drakesfortune]

I definitely don't agree that Japan is "done". I think they've lost their way, and I think the style of Japanese games has become stale like the backstreet boys, stuck in a cultural time warp. I do NOT think that it's all downhill for Japan though. I DO think they need a new strategy, a new style, and a more broadly based focused, meaning a less Japan centric focus, if they want to continue to lead. I think the Japanese style became VERY fashionable in the west for about 10 years or maybe longer, and as the west does, we're moving on to other things now. I just think this is a time where Japan needs to evolve and change in terms of style and substance. It sounds like there are enough people that recognize this that it'll happen at some point.

I hate you.

Anyways, the Japanese have been regulated to portable land. Which is a place that, while sells wonderful, it's not exactly showstopping. The West has certainly adapted much better in the console space than the Japanese, who have made themselves (with the exception of Nintendo obviously with their own platform) irrelevant. Capcom is about the only exception.

Right, and this is a HUUUUGE part of it. The west is much less into Portable, and Japan is thriving and owning that space. To many of us in the west the console space is the fine dining, dinner and movie experience, and the portable space is the McDonald's of the video game world. So I think we generally put much less weight on portable games, when most of the great portable games are coming out of Japan at the moment, and I'd say most of the great console games are coming from the West. Good thing I love them both!

 

[Ether_Snake]

Same for me, of the three PS3 games I bought, two are Japanese. The next ones I want to buy are FFXIII, and The Last Guardian, and maybe FFXIV.

There are Western games I'd like to play just to see the technical aspects, but none I want to spend 60$ on since they are all too short.

I do agree that they have made their situation more difficult for themselves in Japan, and they are a bit stuck in the past. But I don't see a whole lot of good on our side either, at least not for me.

 

[Castle Doctrine]

Not like bald space marines and Unreal engine are much better.

I'm personally getting sick of regional archetypes in general. I want to see a female protagonist with scars all over her face and an eye patch.

Lol believe me I'm no bald space marine lover either. But apparently western gamers still like that style more than anime. That's not to say that is all japan does. Like Lion Heart mentioned, I'm looking forward to The Last Guardian more than anything, and that's the type of game you'll rarely get from a western developer.

 

[Black Rainbow]

Not like bald space marines and Unreal engine are much better.

I'm personally getting sick of regional archetypes in general. I want to see a female protagonist with scars all over her face and an eye patch.

Would the largely male gaming population be able to relate to such a protagonist? Originality is good, but if a game cannot be sold it will not be produced.

 

[mozfan12]

Economy's rough in Japan, well everywhere, so it makes sense it was going to be downsized, but this year was definitely dissapointing. Most of the media Ive seen has come from western devs, and Capcom, which is basically the only japanese company who can sell on a worldwide context.

 

[drakesfortune]

I want to see a female protagonist with scars all over her face and an eye patch.

Hehe, I'm playing Hotel Dusk right now, there's an old lady with an eye patch in the game. She doesn't have scars, but she's old. That ought to do it! :lol

 

[DR2K]

The only reason TGS is underwhelming is because Nintendo didn't attend.

No.

 

[AniHawk]

well, I've lost all interest in nintendo games (what games!?)

Pretty much.

 

[cosmicblizzard]

Would the largely male gaming population be able to relate to such a protagonist? Originality is good, but if a game cannot be sold it will not be produced.

Are you telling me all the blood thirsty male protagonists are relatable? Do you know anyone like Travis Touchdown that rides his pimped out motorcycle to some alleyway to kill assassins with his beam sword so he can buy video games and anime? Relatability is all well and good, but originality should take precedence when most things have been done to death.

And besides, there are plenty of female protagonists. Hell, Bayonetta has the personality of an eyepatch wearing scarred woman.

 

[Why would you do that?]

Me too. I play more of and tend to heavily prefer japanese developed games (This is more due to the mentality of western developed games more than anything) but you can't deny that there has been a shift recently.

Me Thre

Spoiler

i

. Essentially for the same reasons. However, after a comment like Inafune's, I admit, I am a little worried about the future of games in the Japanese industry, but as long as there are popular game systems, there will still be games. It is likely that, coincidentally, everyone hit sort of a slump at once. There were still some nice games shown at TGS, though.

I've been thinking though... I think the current output of popular games is lower than back in the 80s and 90s. Nowadays, things are done slower and with more money. That could have something to do with it. This generation, just thinking of Konami as an example, in those earlier days, they used to be on fiyah. Of course they still make great games, but their hits don't seem to be as numerous.

Downloadable games may be an option, but If someone made only great, 2D games, if they were retail, people may think they're not worth the money, and if they were downloads, it wouldn't reach as many people. Otherwise, Konami would probably be making 2D games out the wazoo, like how they did back then.

 

[Barkley's Justice]

I definitely don't agree that Japan is "done". I think they've lost their way, and I think the style of Japanese games has become stale like the backstreet boys, stuck in a cultural time warp. I do NOT think that it's all downhill for Japan though. I DO think they need a new strategy, a new style, and a more broadly based focused, meaning a less Japan centric focus, if they want to continue to survive.

i fixed that last bit for you.

but seriously, yo. what is japan? dudes is wrapped up in monster hunter and dragon quest. it's pathetic. seriously, man. they are not on the cusp of jack shit anymore. when ds and psp are your primary platforms, something is wrong.

last guardian? probably going to be one of the most amazing games this gen. but you cant justify japanese development with a masterpiece every 4 or 5 years. what else have they done recently? zzzzz

 

[ghostmind]

I think TGS is done for anything but a fan show. I mean there was far more going on at Gamescom.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

At first I was in agreement that not that many great games are coming out of Japan, but then I realized that all of my Wii games are Japanese (unless you consider Metroid American.) Most of them are made by Capcom and Nintendo though, which does support the point that no other Japanese companies are really doing much to help. It really does suck that handhelds have become so popular over there.

 

[140.85]

What's up with this recent rash of self-hating defeatism from whiny Japanese developers this generation? Sheesh, buck up guys. You're not out of the game yet - not even close.

 

[Eaten By A Grue]

In Japan's gaming industry's darkest hour, they will look up and shout "Save Us!"...






...and I'll whisper.......no.

 

[cosmicblizzard]

Okay, you guys are starting to make me paranoid. In the last 2 generations, I've bought maybe 8 western games tops. If Japan goes, my love for the medium goes.

 

[GhaleonQ]

That says more about Tokyo Game Show's recent awfulness than Japanese game development. Ideas: come to show, announce things. We're 2/3 of the way there (step 3: be awesome)!

 

[The Steve]

Less games from the east, the better.

 

[freddy]

when ds and psp are your primary platforms, something is wrong.

Like what?

 

[Night_Trekker]

In Japan's gaming industry's darkest hour, they will look up and shout "Save Us!"...






...and I'll whisper.......no.

:lol

 

[Kai Ozu]

It's true, only a few Japanese developers are making great games anymore.

 

[Epic Tier 3 Engineer]

This gen sucks period, and it's due in large part to Japanese developers not getting anything done. Is it because they are obsessed over details? Is it a waiting game for the PS3 to take off? What?

Capcom has been the only bright spot. Nintendo, of course, is always on the ball, but they seem to be very polarizing. Everybody loves Capcom.

 

[Black Rainbow]

Are you telling me all the blood thirsty male protagonists are relatable? Do you know anyone like Travis Touchdown that rides his pimped out motorcycle to some alleyway to kill assassins with his beam sword so he can buy video games and anime? Relatability is all well and good, but originality should take precedence when most things have been done to death.

And besides, there are plenty of female protagonists. Hell, Bayonetta has the personality of an eyepatch wearing scarred woman.

I'd actually like to see more strong female protagonists in video games. Jade from BG&E comes to mind, but as we all know, BG&E failed to sell. I hope Bayonetta catches on but...

 

[OokieSpookie]

In my opinion the greatest games this gen are all from Japanese developers, and I know many that share my opinion.
It is sad unfortunately that sales do not run even with quality because most of those same games sold for shit. (well they seem to have fantastic post market life... but that does not help the devs does it?)
So what will we see?
Japanese devs starting to dumb their projects down to suit the pea sized attention spans of the typical western gamer?
Kind of a self fulfilling prophecy if that is the case.
All and all though I blame console makers for making it so damned tedious to release localized versions of games limiting the audience that many great games get and also I blame gamers who sit on the interweb spouting off about how great a game is playing the console warrior game but then on release day sitting out and then picking the game up later used.
Many of those are the ones who bitch the loudest when the same dev has problems later...

 

[Regulus Tera]

well, I've lost all interest in nintendo games

Spoiler

(what games!?)

and


my most anticipated game of all time right now is Uncharted 2.


and I want new R+C. The last game I got was Batman Arkhams and the one before that was pacific rift/gears2/killzone2/infamous... all big western games. well... there was RE5...


so...

he might be right.

yeah well the only western game I've bought this gen is Scribblenauts so THERE

 

[Son of Godzilla]

My absolute most awaited games are GT5 and The Last Guardian, with MGS4 being my most awaited game of the gen before those. They still have the talent, they are just in a slump. If Sony was doing Wii numbers, maybe things would be different but you cant sell 100+ mil every gen so they cant just rely on that. I think in time things will balance out.

You do realize that "most awaited" is a ridiculous metric, right?

 

[Scythesurge]

This gen sucks period, and it's due in large part to Japanese developers not getting anything done. Is it because they are obsessed over details? Is it a waiting game for the PS3 to take off? What?

Capcom has been the only bright spot. Nintendo, of course, is always on the ball, but they seem to be very polarizing. Everybody loves Capcom.

I'm not so sure if I like a Capcom without Mikami.

 

[cosmicblizzard]

I'd actually like to see more strong female protagonists in video games. Jade from BG&E comes to mind, but as we all know, BG&E failed to sell. I hope Bayonetta catches on but...

We'll always have Samus.

 

[Black Rainbow]

True.

 

[Regulus Tera]

but seriously, yo. what is japan? dudes is wrapped up in monster hunter and dragon quest. it's pathetic. seriously, man. they are not on the cusp of jack shit anymore. when ds and psp are your primary platforms, something is wrong.

If by "wrong" you mean "awesome" then I agree.

We'll always have Samus.

Watch how Team Ninja fucks her up.

 

[Eaten By A Grue]

I'd actually like to see more strong female protagonists in video games. Jade from BG&E comes to mind, but as we all know, BG&E failed to sell. I hope Bayonetta catches on but...

We'll always have Vaan.

fixed

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Watch how Team Ninja fucks her up.

I think Other M is a joint project for a reason. Nintendo won't let them do just whatever they want.

 

[Aphallatosis]

handhelds have become so popular over there

and everywhere else. DS won the world over, and the consoles are left with table scraps.

 

[cosmicblizzard]

Hehe, I'm playing Hotel Dusk right now, there's an old lady with an eye patch in the game. She doesn't have scars, but she's old. That ought to do it! :lol

Oh yeah, I remember her. Not a protagonist though. My request isn't really that outlandish if we include supporting characters/villains.

fixed

:lol

That pic always cracks me up. Seriously, what the hell were they thinking?

Watch how Team Ninja fucks her up.

I'm less worried with Itagaki gone, but I'm still a little worried.

 

[Error]

Same old bullshit from Inafune every year.

 

[Ardorx]

Same old bullshit from Inafune every year.

Why is it bullshit?