State of Japan's Games Currently

I was commenting on Interview, I dunno why I wrote "@Onyhow" ^_^;

2 more articles from Gamasutra...

Here's an interesting tibit from the comments section of the first article:

[[quoteblock]] I asked some guys this question once! The answer was, pretty unanimously - when you pressurize something hard enough, it can become a gemstone. most of the time you just get dirt and rubble, but sometimes you get a diamond.

Essentially they're under so much crazy pressure that they sometimes create something amazing as an outlet for that pressure.

the last time I was in japan, I went out for drinks with a couple heads of two japanese companies that are both quite popular in the west. one of them invited us to visit his studio, since we were relatively nearby. He had to *move his bed out of the way* for us to get in the door. This says several things:

1) this is an office, and he was definitely planning on sleeping there and working more when he worke up, even as he was talking about his publisher not having paid his milestones *for a year.*

2) his entire staff was still working there, at 1 am when we went in. His bed being in front of the only entrance meant that employees would have to leave before the boss, which is frowned upon without an excuse, or literally step over his prone body in order to leave.

To talk about your Suda example, he is a business man primarily. In creating odd, unique content, he knew what he was doing there - it was a bid to make people notice his company, and it was a rare risk for a business man. But it was a calculated business decision that drove creative decisions.

With Team Ico, that really was a team that was able to do something different, but it's incredibly rare for that to happen. Consider Keita Takahashi talking about making Noby Noby Boy, as he did at GDC two years ago. He was talking about how executives were glaring at him as he walked down the hall because he wasn't producing something that people could identify - he was experimenting and trying new things because he had generated a hit product in Katamari Damashii, but then once he got to do what he wanted again, resentment abounded, and he ultimately left the company.

The crazy pressure of their environment, which is comparable to AAA crunch in the west *but all the time* can create some interesting things sometimes, but generally it squashes creativity and gets people to just do their jobs, or gets people to totally lose it, as Matsuno did after FFXII, or as you see in Ono (of street fighter)'s interview with simon parkin. And when you combine that with the fact that japanese game companies are still independently solving the same problems western companies have collectively solved long ago, you see why the AAA industry there might decline. [[quoteblock/]]

edited 26th Sep '12 5:53:34 AM by SgtRicko

For every slack-jawed asshole who insists the Wii isn't counted as a factor in the Console Wars, there will be a gamer playing Infinite Space (or Blaz Blue, whatever).

And that's all I have to say. I don't want to go spewing out verhement nerd-rage tonight.

^ Infinite Space is on DS, Blaz Blue is also on other console as well...just saying...

Then, they'll be playing New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Kirby's Epic Yarn, and Metroid Prime 3.

People probably aren't playing Kirby's Epic Yarn or Metroid Prime 3. Which is sad, because they're both good games. It's just that Prime 3 was only a middling success, and Epic Yarn was tepid at best.

edited 26th Sep '12 3:09:48 PM by Scardoll

Seriously, everyone looks at FFXIII getting mixed reviews, and automatically thinks that it is the sign of Japan's decline in gaming. >_>

On a side note, I am finding smaller Japanese development teams such as Platinum Games, Arc System Works, Cyber Connect 2, Monolith Software, and Grasshopper Manufacture to be some of the best game teams out there. So while the big name companies aside from Nintendo aren't doing so hot, the smaller ones are doing better than ever, IMO.

edited 6th Oct '12 11:53:17 PM by LDragon2

Indeed: Guilty Gear is the bomb diggity, and Infinite Space is just... holy crap. Seriously, a 30-hour space exploration RPG with over 150 ships to find? on the Nintendo DS?

This is the same crap that's been happening for years: something does a little badly in sales and suddenly everyone's like "ermahgerd another games crash like 1986".

While it's true those games have some innovative ideas and definately deserved more attention than they received, the problem is that the Japanese market seems to be pushing the wrong stuff instead. Most of the videogame stores I found in Japan usually sell the same big-name stuff, yet many of the games mentioned on this thread are quite difficult to find in them. And like I said earlier, it might also be because the Japanese market is slowly changing and growing to like different forms of gaming instead, such as the arcades or I-Phone games.

Being someone who loves arcades, and who has parents that grew up on arcades, I would really like to go to one of these Japanese arcades. They sound really cool.

I don't get why you're even talking about Guilty Gear, considering that the series hasn't gotten a new game in a long time.

Depends on the arcade. Some have a bunch of machines, but only 4-5 different choices of games to play total. Others have a good choice of games, plenty of machines to play on, and a lot of players too. Best part is that some of the games allow you to save your progress, unlock new stuff, and customize your appearance. All of them are in cramped spaces, and will have you constantly squeezing through crowds and bumping shoulders.

Not, but it did receive a Spiritual Successor in Blaz Blue, which *has* gotten numerous sequels lately.

Thought I'd revive this topic, since IGN just recently made a surprisingly balanced article showing how Japan and the West have progressed over the years in therms of gaming.

I like that it concluded that both sides of the Pacific are doing good.

Well that toys r us security guard was a straight up racist POS. Can't stand these so called patriots who are little more than bigot scumbags that just look for somebody to hate for whatever reason.

I dislike how the mobile market is becomingly increasingly focused though.

I haven't checked back here in two freakin' years. And no, it's not a surprise that there's Middle Eastern game companies. Ever heard of Taleworlds? They're the Turks who made the Mountand Blade games. Which are published by a Swedish company named Paradox Interactive.

Globalization is awesome, ain't it?

"I dislike how the mobile market is becomingly increasingly focused though. " What?

^ Or company from Chile that got game published by an American company that's subsidiary from Japanese company? ^note I'm talking about ACE Team btw

edited 1st Jul '14 7:46:22 PM by onyhow