[Ripeer]

Looking through the threads on this here board, and my own collection of games. It would seem us AV'sers just don't care about Japanese games or whats going on over there.....


Am I alone in that? Are Japanese gamers irrelevant to xbox users? On the xbox? (As in you get your fix of Japanese games on your Wii/ds/psp/ps3? )







I played some today and man, compared to mass effect not only is boring but damn is it slow. It takes half an hour to progress one screen.... Sure the battles may not be random but there pitifully repetitive.


And then the dialog.....


My two least played games are both jrp the other being star ocean. My only japanes game I play at all is bomberman .

 

[whiskey > work]

better than canada

 

[eatenbacktolife]

I care about Capcom, they're one of the best this gen. Sega's pretty much irrelevant, which is a shame.


I'd rather slit my wrists than play an emo japanese rpg with turn based battles.

 

[fjtorres]

Japanese developers are, by their own admission, behind the curve this generation.


Essentially, the games they're making are the same old games they ever made, with prettier graphics. With a few exceptions (Dead Rising) they haven't really cooked up anything terribly interesting or unique on 360.


Contrasted with the output of the brits, canadians, even the germans and poles, Japanese companies haven't really offered up much to appeal to HD gamers. And it shows in their sales numbers and even come award time. Anybody notice that not even the (relatively) high-sales Japanese games get considered for GOTY awards?


When even Two Worlds outsells the bulk of the JRPGs...

Not sure why, but I suspect it is a management/process failure on their behalf.


Some of the interviews I've seen from their devs suggest they build their games backwards to the way the more successful western games are going; that is, they focus on the gaming mechanics first and slap the story on last. Contrasting with games like Fallout, Gears, L4D, etc, that start out with a clear game environment/story in mind and then find gameplay/mechanics to fit.


The poster child of this is, of course Halo which, as its well-known, started as an RTS and switched to FPS because it better fit the story. And all indications are that the same will be true of ODST, with the change in gameplay designed to fit the story of the more mortal ODSTs.


Its a trend that goes back a while, too.

And the Japanese studios have taken note; witness their recent efforts to set-up and/or buy western studios.


Should be interesting to see if the trend continues or not.

Next big test: FFXIII.

How will it perform compared to the likes of Fable, ME2, or FALLOUT 3?

 

[TonyDP]

I used to be a fan of Japanese developed games back in the 8bit and 16bit days, but over time I've come to prefer the western style of gameplay. I think Japan has really failed to evolve their games to the level that western developers have, preferring instead to continually tweak existing gameplay mechanisms until the franchises themselves are driven into the ground.


These days I find games developed in Japan to be too derivative and just too similar to one another. Many high profile Japanese games also seem to depend way too much on cinematics (MGS & FF come to mind) and exhibit unbalanced gameplay with standard enemies that are often pushovers followed by bosses who are inordinately difficult (Capcom games are notorious in this regard in my opinion as are Itagaki's Tecmo offerings). The storylines are also often quirky to the point of being bizarre.


To my way of thinking, western developers have overtaken Japanese developers on many of their best genres. To me, Dead Space was a far better survival game than any of the Resident Evil games, with a more intelligent storyline and much more fluid control. Likewise, I'll take the Splinter Cell stealth games over Kojima's bizarre MGS games; the focus is on the gameplay and the storylines are far more grounded in reality and less convoluted. In the realm of RPGs, I far prefer the real-time combat and more open-ended gamplay of Mass Effect, Oblivion and Fallout to the turn-based and largely linear Japanese RPGs.


Its been years since I've played a game developed in Japan and I really don't see anything on the horizon that will change that.

 

[lynesjc]

Good post Tony, pretty much echoes my sentiments.

 

[HeadRusch]

The problem with Japanese games is that they are, inevitably, Japanese.....this means storylines that are bizarre and that don't always cross cultural stereotypes once translated into english, and sometimes gameplay elements that we don't understand...or controls that are..."unique"


We like our games to all play the same way so we can pick up and run with them.."What this doesn't control like CoD:MW? IT SUCKS!".....the japanese gamer, as a whole, seems to be far more open minded to a new game experience, but sometimes those quirks make for a more frustrating western experience.


Imagine if a Western Developer could have gotten his hands on the control scheme for DEAD RISING......the game would have doubled its sales, because the frustrating controls are one thing that turned alot of people off. JRPG's? Don't even get me started......

 

[mproper]

As others pointed out, Japanese games have not kept up with the times (and even the devs admit it).


Of course, the storylines also have not improved. How many "an unlikely hero and 3 friends join forces to calm the planet's gaia" games do they think they need to make? Yes, I get it...that planet is angry!

 

[ENiGmA1987]

Japanese electronics may be great, but their software development (at least in the gaming department) is rather lacking.

 

[Daekwan]

no.

 

[number1laing]



Quote:
Essentially, the games they're making are the same old games they ever made, with prettier graphics.

How is this any different from the FPS after FPS we are seeing from most any Western developer these days?

Quote:
Anybody notice that not even the (relatively) high-sales Japanese games get considered for GOTY awards?

GOTY from who? IGN and GameSpot? Why are they the arbiters of quality? I don't see any American games tearing up the charts in Arcadia.

Quote:
Some of the interviews I've seen from their devs suggest they build their games backwards to the way the more successful western games are going; that is, they focus on the gaming mechanics first and slap the story on last.

Why is this bad, exactly? Mechanics are what matter in a game.


A game with great mechanics but a bad story is still a great game (see the original DMC when it came out), but a game with a great story and crap mechanics is a crap game (see Advent Rising).

 

[mboojigga]

"How is this any different from the FPS after FPS we are seeing from most any Western developer these days?"



It isn't but this isn't about western games going to Japan and how they do over there. We all know how Western games do in Japan. Here in the U.S. FPS is the flavor of games most played just like Japan RPGs are they favorite genre.

 

[number1laing]

What does that have to do with anything. If making the same game over and over with prettier graphics is a flaw, its a flaw that is worldwide. It's not exclusive to Japan.

 

[mboojigga]



Quote:
Originally Posted by number1laing /forum/post/16936351


What does that have to do with anything. If making the same game over and over with prettier graphics is a flaw, its a flaw that is worldwide. It's not exclusive to Japan.

What does Western developed games have to do with a thread about Japan games?

 

[tronn]

i dont care much for a great many japanese developed games on my 360. they've controlled the western and european markets for way too long. granted they have gotten us to where we are at now, but in this current state of games, the tables have turned and the majority of games i buy are western and/or european in flavor.


there are still major players in the japanese development community. im not doubting that. like how everyone goes googly-eyed when the next final fantasy is announced (to some degree the next dragon warrior), or buys everything Miyamoto makes, or go nuts for everything metal gear solid.


i've found, however, the japanese taste in games has alway been about finding the next quirky game. finding gimmicks. there are hits, but there a definite misses. i had enough quirkiness back in the 90's. i want solid online gameplay against multiple opponents (another issue the japanese development community has shunned). i dont want another pantsu/voyouer/demon-catching game (THATS ENOUGH JAPAN! THERES SOMETHING WRONG WITH YOU!!).


japanese games are also about being cute. i'm done being cute

 

[mbeiler]

Looking at metacritics top 50 games for the 360, you would think that the Japanese dont even develop for the platform. Compared to my ps3 and wii collections, which are nearly 100% Japanese games, I only have two Japenese 360 titles... Ninja Gaiden and Ace Combat

 

[tronn]

one more thing...


the reason why microsoft needs to even just get a foothold (a tiny one) in japan, is so they can court the major japanese developers for those major games i've mentioned. why else you think the US is getting Final Fantasy 13 (or whatever number they're at) and Metal Gear Solid? its because the wii is number 1 (sales wise) in the US, but not powerful enough for those titles, and the PS3 (being frank) is not the number 2 system in the US. its powerful as ****, but where are the games?

the 360.

 

[brentsg]

I had to buy a Japanese 360 to get my fill of 2D shmups... At least the Raiden games, and a few on Xbox live are making the way stateside.

 

[randalthor]

I sure care about Japanese games on the 360. I originally bought a PS3, thinking that the majority of RPG's would be on that system.

I later bought a 360 primarily to play all the JRPG's that aren't on the PS3. I like inovation in gameplay, but to me the most important thing is story and character development. Does the game hook me and pull me into it's world. I want to care about the characters and what happens to them. Fallout 3 has been the 1st shooter game that I actually care what happens in it. Besides Fallout 3, RPGs are usually what help me forget about my world and get lost in a fantasy world.


I'm playing Lost Odyssey right now, and I think in terms of story and characters, it breaks alot of conventions. (Not so much gameplay wise though.) Now Blu Dragon, I didn't even finish the first disk before giving up on it. The plot felt recycled, so I couldn't get into it.


In the interest of full discloser, I am a huge anime nerd

and Japanophile. So you guys will probably discount my opinions for that reason.


I do agree that Japanese developers are falling behind the curve, but I still care about their games and I'm rooting for them to make a comeback.

 

[Sorax]

Like almost everyone else here, I grew up playing Japanese games and have no history of apathy towards their developers. Just lately they haven't been doing anything to entice me and I have more choices than ever.


I have Dead Rising and Lost Odyssey both good games but I didn't finish either of them. Dead Rising was fun and had amazing potential but had lots of small things about it that got in the way. Lost Odyssey confirmed JRPGs have just run their course with me. Random encounters, turn based combat, an immortal amnesic protagonist and androgynous characters. Not sure why Japan's culture is so in love with these conventions but they have started to bore me. However, I loved the stories that were total elegantly through text. By the time I stopped playing I was only enduring to see the next story.


And I understand and appreciate why Final Fantasy is a beloved series but everytime I see the new installment I just shake my head. What is there to be so excited about? I just don't understand why so many people can't wait to play another 120 hours of the same game they played 4 or 5 times before. Square Enix should just make CG movies and forget the interactive parts.


Metal Gear was a favorite of mine on the NES. I enjoyed Snake's Revenge. And Metal Gear Solid was great. But then the series started losing me. When I was trying to hype myself up for MGS4 I watched Gametrailers Retrospective on the series and I realized why. The story is nonsense. Which may have always been the case but as the series went along it become more and more pretentious nonsense. I have very little interest in experiencing Kojima's musing about the Military Industrial Complex at this point in my life. And his game design is eccentric and self-indulgent which clearly works for many people but not me.


All that said, I don't know how to answer the poll question. I think I care about Japan as much as I ever did, maybe they stopped caring about me?