Capcom's director for Dead Rising 2, Keiji Inafune, was disappointed with the Tokyo Game Show last week. So much so, that he's said the Japanese games industry "is finished".
"Personally when I looked around [at] all the different games at the TGS floor, I said 'Man, Japan is over. We're done. Our game industry is finished,'" said a disgruntled Inafune.
Dead Rising 2
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1:29A multiplayer movie
Dead Rising 2
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But there was a point to his ranting, going on to cite Capcom's upcoming games, including the US-developed Dead Rising 2, as games that are truly "kick-ass".
Dogging on your home turf for the sake of self promotion, Inafune-san?
I think as videogame concepts & budgets increase and become closer to that of movies, it's only natural that movie making countries will be more adept at that style of game.
Hollywood style games (Splinter Cell, Call of Duty, Uncharted and Halo etc), needs Hollywood style designers.... oh, and Hollywood style money.
I buy Japanese games because of the Japanese style, though. The Japanese games industry is far from 'finished', and here are are a list of reasons why: I find that the stories in Japanese games are simply a lot better than those in many western games, and I enjoy that. I also find that the experience is more tactical, where in a western game you can run and gun/hack too much. The graphical style in Japanese games is far more imaginative, I find, where many western games are too rooted in real life for my tastes. In many respects the PS360 and their photorealistic graphics do not lend themselves well to Japanese art styles, which worked really well in the past when realism just simply wasn't possible. I don't want Japan to change/stop developing because westerners can't appreciate a foreign way of doing things and/or have masculinity issues. It's almost we are saying that their way of doing things is inferior and they should change because our way is better, and some Japanese developers seem to be buckling under western scrutiny.
Or, to sum up, Inafune and others citing the doom of the Japanese gaming industry need to STFU.
Yep, i much prefer the Japanese method of storytelling to the recent...attempts in the west. Mass Effect aside, most of the recent western games released have very little storywise to offer.
I buy Japanese games because of the Japanese style, though. The Japanese games industry is far from 'finished', and here are are a list of reasons why: I find that the stories in Japanese games are simply a lot better than those in many western games, and I enjoy that. I also find that the experience is more tactical, where in a western game you can run and gun/hack too much. The graphical style in Japanese games is far more imaginative, I find, where many western games are too rooted in real life for my tastes. In many respects the PS360 and their photorealistic graphics do not lend themselves well to Japanese art styles, which worked really well in the past when realism just simply wasn't possible. I don't want Japan to change/stop developing because westerners can't appreciate a foreign way of doing things and/or have masculinity issues. It's almost we are saying that their way of doing things is inferior and they should change because our way is better, and some Japanese developers seem to be buckling under western scrutiny.
Or, to sum up, Inafune and others citing the doom of the Japanese gaming industry need to STFU.
Or maybe you just have an unhealthy obsession with Japanese school girls?
While I do not particularly desire to see the Japanese games industry disappear, let's be brutally honest here: Some of the world's most f*cked up, inane, convoluted, nonsensical and just plain bizarre so-called "plots" have been hatched in the Japanese creative games laboratory. While taste is to some extent subjective, I find it entirely plausible that one could present a salient argument as to how and why the world may have been a better place if some of those plots, concepts, ideas, etc. were never shown the light of day and unleashed upon an unsuspecting world.
If the japanese gaming industry is finished then I hate to admit it but I will be finished with gaming, I play games for imagination and creativity, most western games are indeed like hollywood movies, and I tend to avoid movies as I find them dull. In short I completely agree with lordirongut.
I don't know about finished, but the Japanese developers (Square Enix being the most obvious culprit) need a real kick up the jacksie. The Final Fantasy series has become so stale it's untrue. I hope that doesn't include the new one- but pretty graphics aside, it looks as generic as the rest.
Mass Effect/Half Life/Bioshock all have shown how to do story telling in a far superior way without the cliche characters or lady boy designs. Personally, I grew out of "15 year old boy gets super powers and big sword and saves the world whilst also overcoming his problem with talking to girls" scenario a loooong time ago. It's not just with games though- it goes for anime and manga too. If you're prepared to really delve deep there are some classics to be found- but they're few and far between.
And the world would indeed have been a better place without MGS 2...
I wouldn't have thought this ten years back... but things have really changed
I think his comments were a little extreame. Sure, in this global recession things are bound to be a little quieter, but when they are producing games like Tekken 6, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 and the next Mgs game to name but a few, not to mention all the great 2d HD shoot-em-ups they churn out and their various Jrpgs, I'd say the Japanese market is far from finished.
I don't know about finished, but the Japanese developers (Square Enix being the most obvious culprit) need a real kick up the jacksie. The Final Fantasy series has become so stale it's untrue. I hope that doesn't include the new one- but pretty graphics aside, it looks as generic as the rest.
Mass Effect/Half Life/Bioshock all have shown how to do story telling in a far superior way without the cliche characters or lady boy designs. Personally, I grew out of "15 year old boy gets super powers and big sword and saves the world whilst also overcoming his problem with talking to girls" scenario a loooong time ago. It's not just with games though- it goes for anime and manga too. If you're prepared to really delve deep there are some classics to be found- but they're few and far between.
And the world would indeed have been a better place without MGS 2...
I wouldn't have thought this ten years back... but things have really changed
I think his comments were a little extreame. Sure, in this global recession things are bound to be a little quieter, but when they are producing games like Tekken 6, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 and the next Mgs game to name but a few, not to mention all the great 2d HD shoot-em-ups they churn out and their various Jrpgs, I'd say the Japanese market is far from finished.
That said, where's the next generation of Japanese creativity and inspiration? It's gotten to the point that if you were to look up the word "Stale" in the dictionary you'd find company logos of such Japanese stalwarts as Square Enix, Capcom, etc.
I think his comments were a little extreame. Sure, in this global recession things are bound to be a little quieter, but when they are producing games like Tekken 6, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 and the next Mgs game to name but a few, not to mention all the great 2d HD shoot-em-ups they churn out and their various Jrpgs, I'd say the Japanese market is far from finished.
That said, where's the next generation of Japanese creativity and inspiration? It's gotten to the point that if you were to look up the word "Stale" in the dictionary you'd find company logos of such Japanese stalwarts as Square Enix, Capcom, etc.
It's only the same as me saying that FPSs have gotten stale, though. Japan produces an insane amount of anime-styled RPGs, but us in the west produce an insane amount of the same reskinned FPS games with Gruff Sergeant #X1228 as the main character. I suppose at the end of the day it does come down to taste, and while I agree that Square Enix have been far from the best developer this generation, neither have most western companies. Some genuinely innovative gems come from Japan if you look past the Squareotype (since all JRPGs are somehow labeled as Square Enix). You only have to look as far as MGS, Katamari and Demon's Souls. Atlus games, as well, while being anime styled have far darker and more occult themes than most games, in fact the Shin Megami Tensei series is all about demons. It isn't just RPGs as well, like I said about Katamari earlier and it isn't just that.
Also, imagination doesn't have to be reimagining the gameplay mechanics. For Japan it has always been about beauty, I don't remember seeing any console games as beautiful on the PS2 as the Final Fantasies, Rogue Galaxy or Dark Chronicle, same with the PS1, and it is looking like it might apply this generation as well with the likes of MGS4, FFXIII, FFvsXIII and White Knight Chronicles. This is in contradiction western concepts of World War 2, desert, jungle or alien world, which are reused over and over again.
Also, not all Japanese stories feature a teenager as the main character. Look at Hellsing, for example, which has an ancient vampire as it's lead character. Then look at MGS, I'd hardly call Solid Snake a teen.
But, as has been said before, it all comes down to personal taste. Personally, I would defend the Japanese games industry to the death, but fair enough if you don't like this style of game.
I was teetering between posting this and not bothering, but I felt that these points needed to be raised in the end.
As far a MGS goes- I haven't played the fourth one- so fair enough. But Raiden was very much a generic anime character- and justas irritating if I recall... But as you say, it's all to do with taste.
I started my course at De Montfort today (Game art)... they warned us that anyone who wants to do anything resembling Warcraft or Manga will be launched out the window
Is it me or is this generation of gamers/gaming industry more prone to whining, moaning, trolling, messing up reviews than ever before?
Back in the days of the magazine, it was about spreading gaming love, honest reviews and reader's qeries. I use to love picking up the monthly mag and get excited about the next big thing.
Nowadays it's just plain gloom and doom. It's like watching the bloody BBC news channel. Is that what we gamers want to hear or be subjected too? Do we want depressing information or do we just want to play the games?! Last few years, especially since the arrival of the xbox, 360 and social internetting new words have crept in plaguing the gaming hobby I loved as a boy. But now stinking topics like 'fanboyism', ps3 vs 360 gfx, failure rates, DLC (some good DLC but paying for a bloody new custome is justtaking the p***), trolls, spam, unprofessional 'blog-type' reviewers and now our industry 'leaders' spreading doom and gloom. This year Peter Molyneux expressed his concern for poor outlook of games this year, Bob Kotick expressing no interest in franchises less than a $100million now this! Sorry for the length of this message guys... but as gamers do we want to be part of this stinking miserable industry? Maybe it's time for the youngsters to keep the faith and rid us of these miserable middle to over-aged leaders and reviewers concerned with the 'headline' or 'bottom pocket'. Kick out the troll and stop the hate. Remember it was spotty guys in their early teens with passion, excitement, enthusiam that brought us here. Let's not forget this! So screeeeew you Inaf***y! Phew...
It's only the same as me saying that FPSs have gotten stale, though. Japan produces an insane amount of anime-styled RPGs, but us in the west produce an insane amount of the same reskinned FPS games with Gruff Sergeant #X1228 as the main character. I suppose at the end of the day it does come down to taste, and while I agree that Square Enix have been far from the best developer this generation, neither have most western companies. Some genuinely innovative gems come from Japan if you look past the Squareotype (since all JRPGs are somehow labeled as Square Enix). You only have to look as far as MGS, Katamari and Demon's Souls. Atlus games, as well, while being anime styled have far darker and more occult themes than most games, in fact the Shin Megami Tensei series is all about demons. It isn't just RPGs as well, like I said about Katamari earlier and it isn't just that.
Also, imagination doesn't have to be reimagining the gameplay mechanics. For Japan it has always been about beauty, I don't remember seeing any console games as beautiful on the PS2 as the Final Fantasies, Rogue Galaxy or Dark Chronicle, same with the PS1, and it is looking like it might apply this generation as well with the likes of MGS4, FFXIII, FFvsXIII and White Knight Chronicles. This is in contradiction western concepts of World War 2, desert, jungle or alien world, which are reused over and over again.
Also, not all Japanese stories feature a teenager as the main character. Look at Hellsing, for example, which has an ancient vampire as it's lead character. Then look at MGS, I'd hardly call Solid Snake a teen.
But, as has been said before, it all comes down to personal taste. Personally, I would defend the Japanese games industry to the death, but fair enough if you don't like this style of game.
I was teetering between posting this and not bothering, but I felt that these points needed to be raised in the end.
Some of the FPS games have gone stale. Look at the latest "Wolfenstein" to name one. Big boys such as Raven and ID have continued the style that helped make them household names for gamers since the 1990's (and let's not dwell too long on the fate of 3D Realms *sigh*). At the time their work was setting new standards just as Square Enix's "FFVII" did. While these companies are far from talentless they seem to be stuck in a rut which just doesn't cut it anymore if you want to be at the forefront of games development - be it FPS games or JRPG games.
I like to think many of these companies still have extremely talented staff, and even a couple of game geniuses here and there, yet I should think genuine paradigm thinking might help to catapult them back in to the center of the gaming fray where we are used to them being.
As far a MGS goes- I haven't played the fourth one- so fair enough. But Raiden was very much a generic anime character- and justas irritating if I recall... But as you say, it's all to do with taste.
I started my course at De Montfort today (Game art)... they warned us that anyone who wants to do anything resembling Warcraft or Manga will be launched out the window
Congratulations on commencing with your new course work, Pirtniw. Make us proud!
Is it me or is this generation of gamers/gaming industry more prone to whining, moaning, trolling, messing up reviews than ever before?
Back in the days of the magazine, it was about spreading gaming love, honest reviews and reader's qeries. I use to love picking up the monthly mag and get excited about the next big thing.
Nowadays it's just plain gloom and doom. It's like watching the bloody BBC news channel. Is that what we gamers want to hear or be subjected too? Do we want depressing information or do we just want to play the games?! Last few years, especially since the arrival of the xbox, 360 and social internetting new words have crept in plaguing the gaming hobby I loved as a boy. But now stinking topics like 'fanboyism', ps3 vs 360 gfx, failure rates, DLC (some good DLC but paying for a bloody new custome is justtaking the p***), trolls, spam, unprofessional 'blog-type' reviewers and now our industry 'leaders' spreading doom and gloom. This year Peter Molyneux expressed his concern for poor outlook of games this year, Bob Kotick expressing no interest in franchises less than a $100million now this! Sorry for the length of this message guys... but as gamers do we want to be part of this stinking miserable industry? Maybe it's time for the youngsters to keep the faith and rid us of these miserable middle to over-aged leaders and reviewers concerned with the 'headline' or 'bottom pocket'. Kick out the troll and stop the hate. Remember it was spotty guys in their early teens with passion, excitement, enthusiam that brought us here. Let's not forget this! So screeeeew you Inaf***y! Phew...
Though they do release a lot of RPGs, I wouldn't say it was finished. I see western industry finished. No imgination left at all. Its just the same s**t. Except for Batman (finally getting it tomorrow) and Bioshock 2, there are no western games I am looking forward to..
But for me, gaming on a whole is getting stale as it is and that's why I won't be investing in the next round of consoles....
Is it me or is this generation of gamers/gaming industry more prone to whining, moaning, trolling, messing up reviews than ever before?
Back in the days of the magazine, it was about spreading gaming love, honest reviews and reader's qeries. I use to love picking up the monthly mag and get excited about the next big thing.
Nowadays it's just plain gloom and doom. It's like watching the bloody BBC news channel. Is that what we gamers want to hear or be subjected too? Do we want depressing information or do we just want to play the games?! Last few years, especially since the arrival of the xbox, 360 and social internetting new words have crept in plaguing the gaming hobby I loved as a boy. But now stinking topics like 'fanboyism', ps3 vs 360 gfx, failure rates, DLC (some good DLC but paying for a bloody new custome is justtaking the p***), trolls, spam, unprofessional 'blog-type' reviewers and now our industry 'leaders' spreading doom and gloom. This year Peter Molyneux expressed his concern for poor outlook of games this year, Bob Kotick expressing no interest in franchises less than a $100million now this! Sorry for the length of this message guys... but as gamers do we want to be part of this stinking miserable industry? Maybe it's time for the youngsters to keep the faith and rid us of these miserable middle to over-aged leaders and reviewers concerned with the 'headline' or 'bottom pocket'. Kick out the troll and stop the hate. Remember it was spotty guys in their early teens with passion, excitement, enthusiam that brought us here. Let's not forget this! So screeeeew you Inaf***y! Phew...
You alluded to what may be one of the big differences now compared to then, and what can be considered a direct result of the success some have experienced: The stakes have gotten much bigger. You wrote it yourself, "100 million...", etc. We're now dealing with a multi-billion dollar industry where money men, analysts, etc. have much more control than they did back in the early days where the people who often owned and ran the companies were also the very same people that developed the products. It's similar to what has happened with the music industry; back in the 60's-70's the corporate suits didn't know what the rockstars were up to - they didn't understand the business. Now they do and they control it firmly, not the artists generally speaking.
You see..I've never had a problem with Raiden. Yeah the whole lovey dovey stuff with Rose was annoying, and I went into MGS2 without any knowledge from the media of what to expect. At the time i thought it was awesome. Now the game annoys me post the first level. Nothing to do with Raiden, all to do with the architecture of the big shell and the need to run around it 50 times. Do I find generic Anime dudes annoying..sure. Kira, Sora, Athrun freaking Zala, they all seem to fit the general emo mold..Not everyone can be L...but if the story telling is up to the task then it doesn't really matter..(Apart from Emo Kira that is)
That said MGS3 bored me to death and I cannot stand FFXII...literally. But if anyone can honestly say that Persona 4 is not better than 99% of the western games released this past year or two..i'd say you either havnt played it, or are in denial..or just don't like RPGs...
That said, if your idea of storytelling is Halo or Grand Theft Auto, I can see how MGS could be convoluted. Just don't watch Serial Experiments Lain, Evangelion or Raxpehon whatever you do.
You see..I've never had a problem with Raiden. Yeah the whole lovey dovey stuff with Rose was annoying, and I went into MGS2 without any knowledge from the media of what to expect. At the time i thought it was awesome. Now the game annoys me post the first level. Nothing to do with Raiden, all to do with the architecture of the big shell and the need to run around it 50 times. Do I find generic Anime dudes annoying..sure. Kira, Sora, Athrun freaking Zala, they all seem to fit the general emo mold..Not everyone can be L...but if the story telling is up to the task then it doesn't really matter..(Apart from Emo Kira that is)
That said MGS3 bored me to death and I cannot stand FFXII...literally. But if anyone can honestly say that Persona 4 is not better than 99% of the western games released this past year or two..i'd say you either havnt played it, or are in denial..or just don't like RPGs...
That said, if your idea of storytelling is Halo or Grand Theft Auto, I can see how MGS could be convoluted. Just don't watch Serial Experiments Lain, Evangelion or Raxpehon whatever you do.
I haven't had the pleasure of experiencing "Persona 4". As for "Evangelion", I haven't watched that although I found "Appleseed" and "Appleseed Ex Machina" quite good - not that the story lines were the deepest I've ever encountered but as a visual format I found it very impressive. I'm slowly trying to work my way through the "Ghost In The Shell" series - I have both of them and one of the movies which I suspect will be more entertaining to digest as it'll need to start and more or less finish the narrative all in one setting unlike the seasonal show. I consider "Deus Ex" and "BGII" the pinnacle of story telling and intricate plot for games to this day. Mass Effect wasn't too far off either and we'll see what those crafty storytellers at BioWare have in store with "Dragon Age: Origins" and "Mass Effect 2".
P.S. I don't think "Halo" is the greatest thing since sliced bread though I tremendously enjoyed "Halo" on the PC. "Halo 3" on the Xbox 360 was ok but I miss the M&K setup; that said MC is one of those characters that is just so easy to "get behind" and like - maybe not for everyone, but for many and I think it's because he encapsulates some of the traits that we as humans often find admirable and wish to emulate from within ourselves. The music, environmental visuals and background story are extremely impressive for the Halo universe, IMO.
I don't buy japanese games BECAUSE of the Japanese style. How many watermellon mouthed spikey haired characters can one tolerate over the past 30 years! Their games are predictable looking along with their cars and don't even get me started on 99% of their films. Even their current gen fighting games stink of 1995 STILL.
99% of thier films it seems are winging thier way stateside to be bastardised by the americans into utter s**te.
First it was thier classic horror series, now its live action versions of anime. Akira, ghost In the Shell and Cowboy bebop are all getting the treatment, and i beg you all to just go to the source. reguardless of spielburgs involvments in Ghost in the shell its still going to be a poor mans version.
As far as Japans games industry i think he was right to an extent. the years of Japan being The place for games development is over, Its not like the 80s and early 90s where 90% of games came out of japan, now its the US and UK.
I was going to get into a rant about cliches and traditions in games, but I decided that'd be hypocritical since I've covered that base a few times already
Safe to say, people don't want to buy the same game over and over, particularly with the way the global economy is right now.
But just because the sales are down a bit doesn't mean their entire industry is in trouble, it just means people are looking elsewhere right now. All eyes are on western releases right now - MW2, ME2, Heavy Rain, Mafia 2, etc. It's likely that once this burst is over people will go back to watching the Far East for new releases just as much.
People may well feel miserable or depressed at the current economic or environmental state of the planet, but the world of video games is pretty amazing right now. I would even go as far to say we're in a golden era of gaming.
We have many platforms to choose from. We have more ways to control our games than ever before (with new technology on the way). We have bigger and better TVs and monitors on which to view our games. Sound systems are incredible today. And while the production values have increased the general cost of gaming is still relatively cheap. Whatever our favourite game genre or however we like to play, we have more choice than ever before.
Perhaps we are quick to make derogatory comments about games these days. As the industry has matured, so has our experience and taste and we're unashamedly fussier than ever. We know what we want and refuse to accept anything less.
We spend more money on the games industry than we've ever done. If industry insiders want to complain, that's their prerogative. When things go right they do very nicely, and when it goes wrong, tough luck. That's business.
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