State of Japan's Games Currently

This is just something I wanted to get off my chest.

Why do people consider Japan's games to be failing just because they haven't put out as many strong ones as the West? Yeah they have launched a few stinkers this gen, but so has the West. Final Fantasy XIII and Metroid Other M do not encompass the entirety of the East's games.

Think about it. This gen, Japan gave us Super Mario Galaxy, Bayonetta, Kid Icarus Uprising, No More Heroes, Demons Souls and Dark Souls, Blazblue, Metal Gear Solid 4, Dead Rising, Binary Domain, Xenoblade Chronicles, Asuras Wrath, Catherine, Tales Of Vesperia, Devil May Cry 4, Vanquish, and Skyward Sword.

Granted, not all of those are up to the same quality as, say the Mass Effect games, which are hailed as one of the premier reasons as to why the West is dominating (I find the series a bit overrated, but that's just me). But to say that Japan is dying in terms of games? I'm sorry, but I call BS on that.

Maybe it's just due to the fact that they haven't sold as well as, say, Call Of Duty. But that is another flaw I find in this argument. Not every game needs to sell millions of units to be a success (though with the way the game industry is headed now...). Besides, just because something is a hit commercially, doesn't mean it isn't sh**.

This all makes the whole idea that Japan needs to start taking cues from the West to be successful really depressing, at least to me. It's as though we want every single game to be like the ones here, and are unable to embrace the many different styles that each culture has to offer. Isn't it much more refreshing to play games that know exactly where they come from, and just roll with it, instead of playing ones that are awkwardly trying to be something they aren't?

Now I'm not saying that they shouldn't draw inspiration from Western games. After all, the West has indeed been inspired by Japan in terms of game mechanics, and some of the best games from Japan this gen have, in turn, been inspired by the West, like Xenoblade Chronicles. However, they shouldn't strive to be exactly like Western games, as that simply doesn't work.

I fear for the day in which Japan bows out of the gaming industry. While some see this as proof that we will then get only "quality Western games", I see this as a loss of a distinct style. If all we have are games were there is little color, shooting shooting shooting, and realism over fantasy, then I may as well stop playing.

What are your thoughts? Does Japan need to change its ways drastically to survive? Is the East's games truly dead like what people such as Keiji Inafune think, or are they doing good still? What are some of your favorite games from Japan this generation?

And please, no Flame Wars.

edited 15th Jul '12 7:00:57 PM by LDragon2

*looks at shelf of 90% Japanese games, including games I like that have been ravaged by reviewers that are among my favourites*

...Yeah, I'm gonna have to bow out of this thread.

Why? I'd love to hear your opinion on the matter.

Its matter of 99% of everything is crap(both in west and east) and people love to pick on Japan since its that "weird" country faraway Its like people assume that Japanese consider weird stuff that happens in their country normal and I'm completely not derailing from this conversation on purpose

edited 14th Jul '12 12:41:15 AM by SpookyMask

Values Dissonance maybe?

i kinda agree with that thought. game like grace and atlier series get 7-6 while game like diablo 3 get 9 -_-

edited 14th Jul '12 12:45:21 AM by rrw

The World Ends With You was last gen.

Just saying.

Ah, my bad. Still doesn't change the fact that Japan has put out some great games this gen though.

^^^^Nah, its people wanting to make their own "side" more superior Plus backlash at anime fad when it was fad, people just direct their backlash at whole country.

edited 14th Jul '12 12:48:37 AM by SpookyMask

I don't think the Japanese gaming industry is dead. It's just being hit especially hard by the wave of military mediocrity that seems to be all the rage nowadays.

If the Japanese gaming industry wants to prosper next gen, it's gonna have to pull out all the stops to get people to refuse the Call of Duty crap that's infested gaming since Co D 4.

To me, the best way to do this is simple: hire doujin developers, give them a large budget, let them go nuts and create the games they want to make, and release the results to the public with advertisement and publicity stunts on par with or better than those of the Generic Action Shooter^TM.

Lampshade Hanging: It's a lifestyle.

^Ya know that most doujin games that aren't porn seem to be doing game of some of their favourite genres not done in long time, except with little girls as playable chars?

Seriously though, one refreshing thing about indie developers is that they create games for genres that are "dead" by mainstream standards. But those kind of games aren't really "innovative".

I don't know. I think that Japan and the West are putting out about the same quantity and quality of games. But for some reason, Japanese games have gotten less popular in the West, and made more noticeable because Western games have gotten a bit better a lot more popular than they were 2 or 3 console generations ago.

And for some reason, there's a lot of people who insist that Japanese games are inferior now.

I think both Western and Japanese developers could learn some stuff from each other, other than just generally getting better and smarter without taking off someone in particular, but in the macro, can just keep doing what they're doing.

And before that, it was World War 2 shooters and space shooters. Before that, it was generic jrpgs and games mimicking Tomb Raider (Remember when Tomb Raider was popular?). Before that, it was overly long collectathon platformers. Before that...

edited 14th Jul '12 1:06:37 AM by Scardoll

Fight. Struggle. Endure. Suffer. LIVE.

^Adventure games?

Do you mean modifications (i.e. ripoffs) of games in "dead" genres, or games in those genres in general?

Yeah, but this monotony takes the cake. I bet there are some upcoming games that will truly innovate in the genre, but until they are revealed and released, people are going to settle for purchasing Generic Space Shooter 73, or worse, not getting anything because nothing catches their interest. The market is oversaturated with shooters, so why not flush them out with a dose of the uniqueness that comes with doujin gaming? Heck, people who aren't tropers or internet hounds could end up fans of stuff like Touhou and Bunny Must Die.

Lampshade Hanging: It's a lifestyle.

I think the Japanese and Western industries are really quite similar in terms of the distribution of quality. Per Sturgeon's Law, 90% is crud on both sides. Westerners just tend to disregard or overlook the other 10% of Japanese games. I think it's some combination of Misplaced Nationalism and the better Japanese games constantly suffering from No Export for You or Bad Export for You, since they're usually more intricate and involve much, MUCH more time and investment to produce a good translation. I think only 10% of that 10% which isn't crud (i.e. 1% overall) ever gets a good English translation - for every Professor Layton or Disgaea or Kid Icarus Uprising, there's 9 more perfectly good games which either never get translated or get a crappy half-baked translation.

As for the idea that Japan needs to take cues from the West, I think Keiji Inafune might be responsible for that - he's made quite a few public statements about the Japanese game industry which really only apply to Capcom. He seems to have the mistaken idea that Capcom is representative of the entire Japanese game industry, when they've actually become more or less the laughingstock of it. (Although I can't really blame him for thinking that after working there for over 20 years, especially when 2 years working at Capcom would probably drive most people insane these days.)

edited 14th Jul '12 2:25:43 AM by PoochyEXE

Extra 1: Poochy Ain't Stupid

I think it's just because the 'premiere' genre of this generation is a genre that the Japanese just can't do well... the First-Person Shooter. The Japanese don't like the genre because they are more prone to getting motion sick. This was not a problem with Mascot Platformers, Fighting Games, or JRP Gs. In addition, many of the great games from Japan this generation have been indie games, handheld games, or Wii games... Namely games that are seen as 'inferior' because they don't fit the AAA Mainstream Game mold.

Japan is fine if you aren't focusing exclusively on the PS 3 & Xbox 360. The problem is that most everyone in the industry from the game players to the editors of gaming websites are almost completely focused on the PS 3 & Xbox 360

edited 14th Jul '12 3:19:14 AM by GameGuruGG

Wizard Needs Food Badly

Thanks to a Bias Steamroller, it's difficult to find fans who are still optimistic about video games created in Japan. If you have felt this way, then You Are Not Alone. I have also struggled to avoid pessimism.

I don't know what happened to the import game scene. There are still some quality fighting games and shmups which need no translation, and a few crossover games which will likely never be licensed. Has the import game scene become Deader Than Disco, or has it segued into digital distribution? (Personally, I have found a couple gems on XBLA and iTunes in the recent past. Kairosoft has become my go-to company for quality games. But I haven't ordered a boxed copy of an import game in at least a year. To be more specific, I found Remember11 for a reasonable price on J-List after a full fan translation patch was released.)

edited 14th Jul '12 3:26:27 AM by dorkatlarge

You've really answered your own question here.

This post has been powered by avenging fury and a balanced diet.

Honestly, the question is a bit flawed itself.

Umbran Climax◊

I'd agree.

This post has been powered by avenging fury and a balanced diet.

The state of Japan's game industry, like every industry out there, is now on the brink of collapse. The reason I'm saying this is because Japan's economy has failed to provide a beneficial surge in net profit and job supply, and the increasing numbers of otaku / parent parasites don't help (notice that parent parasites here means people who are past 18 who are not employed and live off of family wealth)

This does NOT mean the gamer/customer base will be secure in years to come

Unless Japan's game devs start to build offices in other nations and keep themselves solvent, they will be dragged down by the national debt. Entertainment, after all, does not provide food on the table

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

I'm not sure if I could find that article again or not, but I have heard that the Japanese developers develop games for Japan only, and any western following is bonus...this, though, leads to a problem: Galapagos syndrome...just read that and you'll get some idea why...and do remember that normally Japanese games exported to us are in the 10% of Sturgeon's Law...

@Poochy EXE: Here's the thing: Inafune is not the only person to say that...people like Yoichi Wada and Akira Yamaoka does speak out as well...

Give me cute or give me...something?

Xenophiles, Xenophobes and the fact Japan used to be the undisputed dictator of the game industry's pace puts a disproportionate amount of focus on what it does. A lot of the best selling games still come from them, but every corner of the industry has seen better days(except Germany, Russia and Korea) but Japan had a nuclear disaster and an earthquake that dumped a lot of their property into the pacific, so they've been hit particularly hard.

Modified Ura-nage, Torture Rack

One painful fact: Galapagos here also applies to most other Japanese people and their jobs. Only the power tools, cars and some other things made a firm footing outside of Japan

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