Japanese Developers aren't given enough respect, says Keiji Inafune

http://www.siliconera.com/2011/10/23/japanese-developers-arent-respected-by-their-companies-says-keiji-inafune/

Hmmm....

edited 23rd Oct '11 3:21:27 PM by Demongodofchaos2

Watch Symphogear

Inafune picked the wrong game to say that developers are respected by their employers.

Sorry, I can't hear you from my FLYING METAL BOX!

Eh, then again. It really Isn't as bad here, in the fact that only Activision and EA really tend to stand out in that regard.

Watch Symphogear

Is it really this way in Japan though? I don't know about other companies but I thought Nintendo tended to respect it's people.

The only companies that make games I play and stand out as doing this are Sega and Capcom.

I can't really think of anything that Konami even makes. If there's something I have that's made by them I don't know it.

edited 23rd Oct '11 3:52:24 PM by Kostya

Konami's Higher Ups are said to be even worse than both of them, from what I hear.

edited 23rd Oct '11 3:45:29 PM by Demongodofchaos2

Watch Symphogear

I respect Megaman and a lot of Inafune's works, but... why do I feel like all he does lately is whine whine whine and complain about his home country?

edited 23rd Oct '11 4:18:39 PM by ChrisX

Tell this to this so called Inafune : What do you make games for? Entertainment, or respect? If you want respect, go and be a thug, do a shit, make a split, take a hit, be a man

How long have we, as gamers, respected game devs for what they did, and for why? Entertainment. Nowadays developers abroad, no matter east or west, are deluded into thinking customers will have no choice in what they want to buy. Well, guess what. I FIND YOUR LATEST CHAIN OF PRODUCTS DISTURBING. And so do some other people. How can we respect you if you don't offer us what we really want?

I suppose the truth behind his words is mostly about Executive Meddling, which is much worse than my beef above. The truly bad ones are the ones at the top seats, who think they can manipulate people via salary cut

edited 23rd Oct '11 4:47:40 PM by Cassie

What profit is it to a man, when he gains his money, but loses his internet? Anonymous 16:26 I believe...

Well, you cant please everyone, those who are pleased, they just shut up, and those who arent pleased always have something to say, unless they are please, wich means that others will not be please again, and so on, the cycle never ends,

http://steamcommunity.com/id/Xan-Xan/

Wasn't Inafune also the one who said that Japanese developers were lacking in innovation, thus Capcom outsourcing its IPs to Western developers?

"Oh no, Sanji's Chronic Simprosis!" - Kou The Mad

Yes, Inafune. Western companies absolutely value their employees so much more. Just ask EA Spouse. Or Team Bondi.

Actually, that's just the high profile cases. Seriously, the guy must be living in a bubble to think that the Western industry is a paradise where workers are valued. It's quite well known in the industry that it's a meat grinder. He's in the industry, he has contacts in the Western industry, he has no excuse.

As for the Japanese industry? Well, seeing how outside the game industry, twelve hour days and massive burnout are an accepted aspect of Japanese work life, I'm going to guess it's at least as bad as ours is and possibly worse. If someone in the Western press wanted to take some actual effort to write a good story, I'll bet there's a crapton of horror stories that just don't get out due to the segregation of the Japanese and Western industries (and thus, their press).

EDIT: Whoa, he used Call Of Duty as an example!? How ignorant can you get?! That's the anti-thesis of his argument!

edited 23rd Oct '11 6:45:02 PM by Rebochan

While I think Inafune has the wrong perception about Western developers, the whole thing about Japanese companies not respecting their developers seems totally believable. This isn't the first time I've heard this and given Japan's social structure plus working expectations, it definitely seems like it'd be more of a problem there then here, or at least more rampant.

It's easy to get sided by his call of duty praising and think Inafune's being a west jockey, but don't lose sight of the bigger issue here, which is that he feels Japanese developers being mistreated by their companies is a problem. I would probably have to agree with him on that.

Also, I'm glad someone's out calling the J-game industry on its bull. If there's an issue going on there and no one brings it to attention, it'll never get solved and may even get worse.

edited 23rd Oct '11 7:05:51 PM by VertigoHigh

Eh, Inafune has been pissed at Capcom for a long time. This is just continuing the trend.

"So-called"? His name is Inafune. I'm also confused as to why you think his recent games are "disturbing."

Fight. Struggle. Endure. Suffer. LIVE.

I guess the words "Infinity Ward" never crossed his mind.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.

This seems to be case of grass greener on other side of fence o-o Inafune has probably heard some western developer getting more respect somehow, so he has assumed that everyone in USA or Europe is respect meanwhile he is getting crap treatment in his opinion from Capcom and assumes same of all japanese higher ups.

Anyhoo, I hope someone tells him how things really are

edited 23rd Oct '11 8:33:22 PM by SpookyMask

I don't doubt there are problems in the industry that need to be addressed, but claiming the West has zero problems and holding up as an example two franchises that are notorious for having the very problems he cites the Japanese industry as having doesn't make his point very well.

I mean, there's a reason Valve is so well respected. It's because they're one of the only companies, period, that doesn't do this. And they still have plenty of horror stories from the Half-Life 2 development process that made them act to change their development process.

Yeah, I don't quite think it works that way here.

edited 23rd Oct '11 8:41:44 PM by X2X

"Oh no, Sanji's Chronic Simprosis!" - Kou The Mad

I think we can all agree he used a bad example for his point, as right as it may be.

@Kostya: I think Nintendo does respect the people and companies under their control. In fact, I think any of the Big 3 tend to treat each other and the various companies with more respect than any of the third parties do on average.

Nintendo did have some issues in the past like the whole Gunpei Yokoi affair, but they have since mostly taken a turn for the better.

And in the present, Gunpei is still treated as a major figure in Nintendo history by both fans and Nintendo themselves so...

edited 23rd Oct '11 9:30:04 PM by Folt

Fantastic Supreme Überkaiser Emperor Folt of The Infinity and Beyond" ... "The First"!

Who are the big 3? Cause I thought Microsoft was notorious for being a pain in the ass?

Okay, maybe not Microsoft. But Nintendo and Sony, at least in the present, have treated their companies and others with much more respect than third parties do on average.

And yeah, Inafune used a pretty bad example.

edited 23rd Oct '11 9:12:57 PM by Folt

Fantastic Supreme Überkaiser Emperor Folt of The Infinity and Beyond" ... "The First"!

Japanese developers?◊

@Rebochan: Hell, Gabe Newell says that nobody does one specific thing at Valve.

"Hipsters: the most dangerous gang in the US." - Pacific Mackerel

As with non-videogaming companies, it all depends on how big a cash cow or sacred cow said developer is. Most companies that chose to wipe the floor with their biggest stars have either lost them or folded but lower profile devs and folk with particularly niche followings can be wrung dry with little consequence, at least from a business perspective.

Unless you're Nintendo (or Square Enix), in which case you'll get complaints and loud wonderings when the next game in established Cash-Cow Franchise will come out if a new IP ever gets the greenlight! =P

Fantastic Supreme Überkaiser Emperor Folt of The Infinity and Beyond" ... "The First"!

While I sympathize with Inafune's opinion, I'm disturbed by these stories of developers being abused over here in the West too, like Team Bondi. There was a story on Game Informer's site when a designer on Red Dead Redemption spilled his guts about the less-than-ideal conditions that himself and others had to work for, where they were denied some payment, if memory serves.

This is hardly a recent phenomenon, though. It would seem that, while some projects rise above the horrible constraints handed to the grunt workers, others don't. It's a screwed-up industry like that (and I doubt that Video Games are exempt from this kind of toxic combination of Executive Meddling and pressure).

@Demongodofchaos: I'm personally not surprised to hear that Konami has... unpleasant higher-ups. They clearly have deeper issues at hand, though, and I think that the Western outsourcing is a part of it. While outsourcing to Western developers has worked out better for other Japanese companies, it really, really hasn't in their case.

I liked it better when Questionable Casting was called WTH Casting Agency