Good article on Japanese game development!

[DBJAY]

http://www.tokyopia.com/articles.asp?articlesid=44

[Alucard]

Now, the Japanese are still making games by these old rulebooks, never innovating too much, just bits and pieces, updating the same tired franchises over and over. People are getting sick of it, especially in Japan where people have been playing only Japanese games for as long as they can remember! And unfortunately (for everybody), Western games -still- don't sell in Japan. People here just aren't interested. I think the Tony Hawk series averaged a 7 in Famitsu and sold only a handful.

So we're stuck in a situation where Western games and all the new ideas and standards that are taking off abroad are not being allowed to take root in Japanese games culture. And while the Japanese continue to do what they've always done, things just grow more and more stagnant. It really is unfortunate for everyone. And I don't see a way out. It's going to be an interesting couple of years -- I mean, look at the last few! Nintendo and Sega in bed? Square and Enix merging? Zelda and Mario both selling record lows?! Something big is going to snap, and soon.

Thats one main reason I play PC games mainly. Theres so much more in their titles for me.

[Sturat]

For the love of god, don't get UGA addicted to American games!! Are you trying to destroy them?

If you are fed up with current games, the solution is to play more games from the 80's and 90's, not to start playing boring games developed in America.

[Alucard]

In my opinion, majority of the best PC games come from Europe, not America.

[ATMA]

Oh well here it goes ..

I shall start with this ...for every Pikmin there are a hundred generic firstperson shooters or derivative driving games (Got this one from Edge magazine)

For every Animal Crossing there's a couple of GTA/Getaway/Driver style of games..

How many MK titles are out there ..true there's more Street Fighter titles out there..but for some odd reason we pick Street Fighter over MK even though we know it's "the same old formula" ("The same old formula" wich also aply for the MK games bytheway).

The article mention GTA alot, why didn't he said something about GTA Vice City?? Isn't it "the same old formula"??!

The article:

Another RPG with the exact same play mechanics as five years ago?

I guess when Capcom unleashed Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter.. someone was sleeping cause what I remember this rpg clearly broke away from the traditional rpg with the excact same play mechanics as five years ago.

The article:

Space Channel 5 and Rez were both the result of one of Japan's leading visionaries trying to break away from the formula, and find new ground. They were huge critical successes, and marketed aggressively. Yet how poorly did they sell?

Clearly you can't blame japanese gamedevelopers for this...it's the gamers that looked the other way and ignore these revolutionary games and went for "the same old formula" (ie GTA Vice city, another sims title, another "lets put this game quickly together so it comes at the same time with the movie", another stealth like game,another war game, another fighting game,another rpg game,another racing game,another rts game,another fps game,another wrestling game, another MMORPG game, another new season of sport games.

Seems like this person thinks that Japan is the only one that brings another the same type of game while clearly he ignores that the same can be aply for the western made games. Yet somehow he didn't talked about Animal Crossing/ Pikmin/Ikaruga/Dead or Alive volleyball/Super Monkey Ball, these were new type of games and yet got ignored from the same gamers who went for "the same old formula".

This guy praise Halo ..while some people on this board who are familiar with the game Tribes can just say ..it's a rippoff from Tribes.

True perhaps too much Mario titles might make some gamers turn away and look in another direction and "discover" a "new" western made game. But there's a difference ..most new western games that people are "discovering" are just a few yrs old ..come back in 20 yrs and we will see how many GTAs/Halos (rippoff) will be outhere.

If gamers get tired of "the same old formula" GET OUT OF THE GAMING WORLD ..don't play a game and turn your back on another.... or on so call "games with the same old formula" ..When most of these type of people answer the question :"what's your alltime favourite game" it's either:
Crono Trigger, Final Fantasy 4,Final Fantasy 6,Grandia, MGS,Mario, FFT, Tactics Ogre,Shin Migami Tensei, Star Ocean 2, Suikoden, Final Fantasy 7, Castlevania,Shinoby,R-Type,Shining Force and the list keeps going.

[insteefy]

good article ^_^

[Username]

That article is completely wrong. tokyopia.com always have been a bunch of amatuers that wouldn't know journalism even if it bit them in the ass.

Japan always has and is the cornerstone of video game innovation. I can tell the person who wrote that just went off on some biase-tangent picking and choosing his way.

[Username]

But I do agree with the article in one point:
The japanese HATE western games. But then again, Japan doesn't care about stealing cars, skateboarding, or shooting aliens. It's a cultural difference. Remember, these people are a world away.

[DBJAY]

Japan is hardly the sole cornerstone of software innovation. For the rest of the world, the great games are coming from Europe and N. America. Some Japanese developers will always be important to gaming, but the western developers are just as important.

[Sturat]

Originally posted by DBJAY
Japan is hardly the sole cornerstone of software innovation. For the rest of the world, the great games are coming from Europe and N. America. Some Japanese developers will always be important to gaming, but the western developers are just as important.

From an international sales perspective, some American companies have become important. However, from the players' perspective, the few dozen good games that have come out since 1996 were all Japanese.

[DBJAY]

Not if your'e into pc gaming...

Plus, I think you would be highly surprised if you check out where some of the developers are from who have the work published by Japanese companies (Nintendo published Rare, Silicon Knights, Retro Studios, Sony & Psygnosis, Team Soho, Naughty Dog, Insomniac, Sega & Visual Concepts), that in fact many of the biggest hits over the last 10 years for the west have been coming from the western developers. GTA3 & Vice City, Tony Hawk series, Tomb Raider/Lara Croft, EA sports dominance is untouched in the US, etc. the list is just literally too huge.

[Drunken Savior]

Western Games + Eastern Games = Games to me. I expect two different things from both. I grew up playing mostly Eastern games, but now I play about half and half, slightly favoring Western games at the momment.

Something big is going to snap, and soon.

This is quite possibly so overused to attempt to portray that a situation is worse than it really is.

[Sturat]

Originally posted by DBJAY
Plus, I think you would be highly surprised if you check out where some of the developers are from who have the work published by Japanese companies (Nintendo published Rare, Silicon Knights, Retro Studios, Sony & Psygnosis, Team Soho, Naughty Dog, Insomniac, Sega & Visual Concepts), that in fact many of the biggest hits over the last 10 years for the west have been coming from the western developers. GTA3 & Vice City, Tony Hawk series, Tomb Raider/Lara Croft, EA sports dominance is untouched in the US, etc. the list is just literally too huge.

I'm not doubting that companies like Naughty Dog are successful. However, why anyone would want to play games like Way of the Warrior is beyond me, and I don't pretend to understand it.