Japan: Culturally Biased?

Japan Culturally Biased from Gametrailers

I don't think they understand thing about Japan's Culture and gaming life. What do you guys think about this?

Really I think the guy makes a lot of sense.

Its a proven fact, trying to get them to embrace something from us is like trying to feed a crocodile tomato's, if its hungry enough it might take a bite every now and then. The generally try to stay away from alot of our stuff, while we embrace what we like. If its good itll do well if its not it won't.

I also agree with the fan boy thing if all of us could afford all 3 consoles we would talk less trash about the other.I've noticed that my friends that have all 3, don't ever talk trah about any of them, instead they get to enjoy the best of the best! How lucky can you get. By the time I can save up for a ps 3 hopefully the price will drop again and I'll be happy too!

I've already watched this and it's pretty obvious that both of the guys have no idea what they are talking about. They pretty much missed the biggest issue, the lack of Western Publishers in Japan.

I mean the fact that they claimed that San Andreas wasn't published in Japan pretty much explains how much thought they put into this. I mean many of the times the guy *the import site owner* literally couldn't answer simple questions he was asked.

The reason Need for Speed bombed in Japan was because EA didn't advertise it....at all. Heck they put out less then 10,000 copies.

I could go on but as you can see I left a ridiculously long comment about the video.

Not to come off sounding anti Japan or anything as i have many friends of diffrent cultures but even talking to the few i play StarCraft with will say. Its just many Japanese gamers don't like to think to much when it comes to games which is why you don't see RTS or FPS to big there. JRPG's and 2d-Fighters which are not as big here in America like they use to be are still two of my favorite genres although at my older age i cannot get the time anymore to really play a RPG Japanese or Western much. I did just pick up Eternal Sonata though. Anyways they like linear games mostly and games that kind of lead them into direction on what to do whereas maybe a Western Rpg leaves it up to the player and ther eown imagination. Its not coming off racist or stuff i hope as im not trying to sound or be, but its just these days personally to me the Japanese gaming market is beginning to shrink a bit which sucks to me cause man during the Super Nes, Saturn, PLaystaion 1 days it was soo amazing. Actually i have to praise Sony for the PS1 days bringing Rpgs here that did not get all downgraded or not as bad as the Super Nes Final Fantasy 2(4) was severly tainted with.

Just seeing Xenogears in America was huge. I have a Nintendo Wii that mostly is used more when the younger cousins come around but i gotta say its fun and all, but man i miss the old days of Nintendo very much so. Sony i will not bash either as i'm sure in a few years the PS3 will prob be top again. Well i just got Halo 3 and even though im ready to play it i rather go play StarCraft...shows how much StarCraft still has me hooked haha. Night All.

I believe Japan is biased towards their own products when it comes to gaming, but I believe a lot of US gamers are biased against Japanese games. Personally, I believe the latter is worse if you look at it this way.

They're playing what they want to play; many gamers here won't play certain Japanese titles just because of the stigma or stereotypes that come with them. I think the Japanese could certainly be a little more open-minded when it comes to Western-developed games, but for the most part, I believe the vast majority simply play what they like. Here, I think they do the same thing, but there's more of the inaccurate "oh, Japanese games have all the same style" assumption (and that's just one of many), which is a little more embarrassing.

Which country is not culturally biased?Atrus

Exactly. Even though sometimes, a country's culture tends to get fashionable worldwide. Japanese culture seems to be very popular right now, while classic Hollywood used to be a major influence in Japan.

Which country is not culturally biased?Atrus

this is true.

They need violence for a reason look at some of their animes people exploding in to blood without a reason.

It was a bit rude for that japaneese guy behind the counter to say westren dogS*** the west make great games but their just closed minded to our clever games bias.

I believe Japan is biased towards their own products when it comes to gaming, but I believe a lot of US gamers are biased against Japanese games. Personally, I believe the latter is worse if you look at it this way.

They're playing what they want to play; many gamers here won't play certain Japanese titles just because of the stigma or stereotypes that come with them. I think the Japanese could certainly be a little more open-minded when it comes to Western-developed games, but for the most part, I believe the vast majority simply play what they like. Here, I think they do the same thing, but there's more of the inaccurate "oh, Japanese games have all the same ****" assumption (and that's just one of many), which is a little more embarrassing.

fathoms_basic

Why can't that same thought be applied over here? The gamers here are playing what they want to. I also don't agree that gamers don't play certain games because of a stigma or stereotype because they are Japanese games. A lot of those Japanese titles are very niche and come off too sugary cute in their presentation. These too cute games are seen as something for children and if anything, that is what stops a majority of people over here from playing those games you're referring to.

[QUOTE="fathoms_basic"]

I believe Japan is biased towards their own products when it comes to gaming, but I believe a lot of US gamers are biased against Japanese games. Personally, I believe the latter is worse if you look at it this way.

They're playing what they want to play; many gamers here won't play certain Japanese titles just because of the stigma or stereotypes that come with them. I think the Japanese could certainly be a little more open-minded when it comes to Western-developed games, but for the most part, I believe the vast majority simply play what they like. Here, I think they do the same thing, but there's more of the inaccurate "oh, Japanese games have all the same ****" assumption (and that's just one of many), which is a little more embarrassing.

Ghost_Face

Why can't that same thought be applied over here? The gamers here are playing what they want to. I also don't agree that gamers don't play certain games because of a stigma or stereotype because they are Japanese games. A lot of those Japanese titles are very niche and come off too sugary cute in their presentation. These too cute games are seen as something for children and if anything, that is what stops a majority of people over here from playing those games you're referring to.

I'm just going by personal experience. There are many people - especially in the GameSpot forums - who harbor inaccurate assumptions about Japanese games. Many believe ALL Japanese titles are exactly the way you describe certain "sugary" ones here. They have difficulty comprehending that the same country can produce something like Chulip and Katamari Damacy and at the same time provide Metal Gear Solid, Devil May Cry, and Resident Evil.

I'm sure Japanese gamers may have similar misconceptions about Western titles, but from everything I've seen in the gaming community over the past decade or so, it seems that Western gamers are more hellbent on being negative about Japanese games, while Japanese gamers are more hellbent on supporting their own products. One is negative and one is positive. That's just how I see things.

I'm just going by personal experience. There are many people - especially in the GameSpot forums - who harbor inaccurate assumptions about Japanese games. Many believe ALL Japanese titles are exactly the way you describe certain "sugary" ones here. They have difficulty comprehending that the same country can produce something like Chulip and Katamari Damacy and at the same time provide Metal Gear Solid, Devil May Cry, and Resident Evil.

I'm sure Japanese gamers may have similar misconceptions about Western titles, but from everything I've seen in the gaming community over the past decade or so, it seems that Western gamers are more hellbent on being negative about Japanese games, while Japanese gamers are more hellbent on supporting their own products. One is negative and one is positive. That's just how I see things.

fathoms_basic

I definitely don't believe that many on the GS forums believe all Japanese titles are sugary. I'm almost certain that the overall majority of forumites here know that Konami and Capcom are Japanese devs and that MGS, Devil May Cry, Resident Evil, Dead Rising, Lost Planet, Castelvania, Silent Hill, etc are anything but sugary.

Your negative seems little more than holding the American public to task over not liking some of the games or genres that the Eastern region adores. If people over here don't get dating sims or the like, how is that any different than the Japanese market not getting first person shooters?

After watching that video, I can see why American developers can't have success in Japan.

When this supposely analyist says he can't understand why Harry Potter game have great success in Japan but not Lord of the Rings, that just tells me they are really clueless.

If American developers know what "moe" means, then they will see what it is they need to be successful in Japan.

Another thing is American developers are stuck with limitation due to knowledge. They cannot free thier imagination due to their knowledge. Japanese games are just too full of imagination compared to American games. Just look at Bioshock. It is the most imaginative world created by American developers, but it is still stuck with their knowledge. Knowledge of all scientific facts and their world has to be related to their knowledge. They cannot just let their mind be free and create a world that is just far beyond imagination.

That's the difference.

[QUOTE="fathoms_basic"]

I'm just going by personal experience. There are many people - especially in the GameSpot forums - who harbor inaccurate assumptions about Japanese games. Many believe ALL Japanese titles are exactly the way you describe certain "sugary" ones here. They have difficulty comprehending that the same country can produce something like Chulip and Katamari Damacy and at the same time provide Metal Gear Solid, Devil May Cry, and Resident Evil.

I'm sure Japanese gamers may have similar misconceptions about Western titles, but from everything I've seen in the gaming community over the past decade or so, it seems that Western gamers are more hellbent on being negative about Japanese games, while Japanese gamers are more hellbent on supporting their own products. One is negative and one is positive. That's just how I see things.

Ghost_Face

I definitely don't believe that many on the GS forums believe all Japanese titles are sugary. I'm almost certain that the overall majority of forumites here know that Konami and Capcom are Japanese devs and that MGS, Devil May Cry, Resident Evil, Dead Rising, Lost Planet, Castelvania, Silent Hill, etc are anything but sugary.

Your negative seems little more than holding the American public to task over not liking some of the games or genres that the Eastern region adores. If people over here don't get dating sims or the like, how is that any different than the Japanese market not getting first person shooters?

You can believe what you want. I'm just telling you what I see. You seem to think there's nothing in between Resident Evil and dating sims or "sugary" titles, but that's just plain obtuse and exlusionary. No, JRPGs don't hold a certain stigma around here...of course not.

I wouldn't defend the American gaming public so ardently. I saw the Halo fankids down at the game store today. It was pretty effing embarrassing.

I think there's bias towards Western games from both Japanese and Western gamers alike. People are always quick to point out the lack of innovation and franchise milking in Western games, but no one would dare criticize the milking of the Mario franchise with Mario Party, Mario Kart, Mario Tennis, Mario Golf, etc. No one criticizes the Japanese style of anime or manga, even though it's one of the most repetitive and fabricated styles of art in the modern world.

I think there's bias towards Western games from both Japanese and Western gamers alike. People are always quick to point out the lack of innovation and franchise milking in Western games, but no one would dare criticize the milking of the Mario franchise with Mario Party, Mario Kart, Mario Tennis, Mario Golf, etc. No one criticizes the Japanese style of anime or manga, even though it's one of the most repetitive and fabricated styles of art in the modern world.

IndianaJosh

I definitely don't believe that many on the GS forums believe all Japanese titles are sugary. I'm almost certain that the overall majority of forumites here know that Konami and Capcom are Japanese devs and that MGS, Devil May Cry, Resident Evil, Dead Rising, Lost Planet, Castelvania, Silent Hill, etc are anything but sugary.Ghost_Face

And those aren't even some of the more questionable titles. There are some Japanese SIMs built on non-consensual sexual activitiesand other questionable subject matter that would bring afat AO rating if released here in the States. Japanese is a land of extreme "variety" on both sides of the spectrum.

You can believe what you want. I'm just telling you what I see.

fathoms_basic

Vice versa. You don't have any evidence other than what you call your experience and opinion to say that American gamers buying habits are perceived as a negative while Japanese gamers are perceived as a positive. I think it's hogwash and I've explained exactly why.

You seem to think there's nothing between Resident Evil and dating sims or "sugary" titles, but that's just plain obtuse and exlusionary. No, JRPGs don't hold certain stigma around here...of course not.

fathoms_basic

No, I think there probably are titles in between the two extremes, but I certainly can't think of any off the top of my head. I never have nor will ever claim to be an authority on the Japanese culture. If you have some of these titles, bring them up in the conversation instead of resorting to demagoguery. I brought the titles up that you mentioned along with a few others as an example of Japanese franchises that have done quite well over here. And I did not think we were limiting the discussion to those on this forum or JRPGs, hence the mention of the other titles that were not RPGs.

I wouldn't defend the American gaming public so ardently. I saw the Halo fankids down at the game store today. It was pretty effing embarrassing.

fathoms_basic

This isn't a very passionate defense of the American gaming public, but I think something should be said when you take a very small section of the American gaming public and use it to stereotype the majority. Maybe I'm being idealistic again, but I should hope you and others would not allow a few bad experiences to cloud your perceptions in thinking the whole are exactly the same.

I've already watched this and it's pretty obvious that both of the guys have no idea what they are talking about. They pretty much missed the biggest issue, the lack of Western Publishers in Japan.

I mean the fact that they claimed that San Andreas wasn't published in Japan pretty much explains how much thought they put into this. I mean many of the times the guy *the import site owner* literally couldn't answer simple questions he was asked.

The reason Need for Speed bombed in Japan was because EA didn't advertise it....at all. Heck they put out less then 10,000 copies.

I could go on but as you can see I left a ridiculously long comment about the video.Dencore

Agreed, the entire video is rife with broad generalizations that don't even come close to the real issues, the realization that these people actually work in the game industry is painful - especially the guy in the middle who is so disgustingly infatuated with Japanese gaming that he does nothing but spout off extreme biased idiocy and ridiculous factual errors.

Well Prince of Persia SOT sold like crap in Japan and they even tried to market it as a Japanese game and make it seem more Japanese. They still failed. Oh well who cares? Life goes on.Nifty_Shark

Sands of Time sold like crap everywhere. That's why Ubisoft decided to turn the Prince into a ridiculous, teenage angst-ridden, fake badass who fights dominatrix bosses and listens to crappy metal music.

[QUOTE="Nifty_Shark"]Well Prince of Persia SOT sold like crap in Japan and they even tried to market it as a Japanese game and make it seem more Japanese. They still failed. Oh well who cares? Life goes on.UpInFlames

Sands of Time sold like crap everywhere. That's why Ubisoft decided to turn the Prince into a ridiculous, teenage angst-ridden, fake badass who fights dominatrix bosses and listens to crappy metal music.

Lol. From that perspective. I'm happy I didn't play that one.

Agreed, the entire video is rife with broad generalizations that don't even come close to the real issues, the realization that these people actually work in the game industry is painful - especially the guy in the middle who is so disgustingly infatuated with Japanese gaming that he does nothing but spout off extreme biased idiocy and ridiculous factual errors.

UpInFlames

See and this is what makes me mad. This is why ta high amount of these "new generation" of gamers think that Japan is "werid" or "racist". Because when they have questions they turn to videos and interviews like these and well you see the comments about the video. They think to themselves "Oh he couldn't give out a straight answer. Japan MUST be racist!".

See unlike 99% of the human race I actually did the best thing *besides actually going to Japan* to get my answers to my questions.

I remember a thread were many users posted some things about the Japanese having laws restricitng foreigners to attend events or go into certain stores.

Curiously I went to a Japanese forum solely for foreigners living in Japan *most who have been living there for 5+ years*. And let me tell you something from those 39 posts I made in that forum I learned more about that country in that forum then ANY of these crud washed interviews. *And before someone in this thread asks, no Japan has ZERO problem with buying foreign products*

Finally, yes I didn't know what was worse. How clueless Patcher was *San Andreas not published in Japan? Harry Potter = Lord of the Rings?*

or how biased and ridiculous that import site owner was.

All Western Games nothing but senseless killing? All Japanese Games take place in a fantasy world?

Well Prince of Persia SOT sold like crap in Japan and they even tried to market it as a Japanese game and make it seem more Japanese. They still failed. Oh well who cares? Life goes on.Nifty_Shark

Not to attack or offend but how was that game even slightly Japanese? I mean when I played it it was Japanese in neither sty1e or gameplay.

Oh and just for laughs, Microsoft's Japanese Gears of War Advertisements!

All cultures are biased to some extent. You say Japanese gamers don't enjoy Western games. Well, it's not like Western gamers play a tonne of Japanese games (and yes there are more to Japanese games then JRPG). What's the difference?

I bet there's probably a Japanese version of GameTrailer.com were they discuss the topic "Are American Gamers Biased". One of the biggest title in Japan right now is Monster Hunter 2 (in fact it's huge in Japan). But how is it fairing in the States? With review scores like 5.0 out of 10.0 from GameSpot, it ain't going to help sell the game.

P.S. GameTrailers.com suck anyways. I come for the HD trailers, NOT biased (oh, the f'ing irony) opinions and discussions.

[QUOTE="UpInFlames"]

Agreed, the entire video is rife with broad generalizations that don't even come close to the real issues, the realization that these people actually work in the game industry is painful - especially the guy in the middle who is so disgustingly infatuated with Japanese gaming that he does nothing but spout off extreme biased idiocy and ridiculous factual errors.

Dencore

See and this is what makes me mad. This is why ta high amount of these "new generation" of gamers think that Japan is "werid" or "racist". Because when they have questions they turn to videos and interviews like these and well you see the comments about the video. They think to themselves "Oh he couldn't give out a straight answer. Japan MUST be racist!".

See unlike 99% of the human race I actually did the best thing *besides actually going to Japan* to get my answers to my questions.

I remember a thread were many users posted some things about the Japanese having laws restricitng foreigners to attend events or go into certain stores.

Curiously I went to a Japanese forum solely for foreigners living in Japan *most who have been living there for 5+ years*. And let me tell you something from those 39 posts I made in that forum I learned more about that country in that forum then ANY of these crud washed interviews. *And before someone in this thread asks, no Japan has ZERO problem with buying foreign products*

Finally, yes I didn't know what was worse. How clueless Patcher was *San Andreas not published in Japan? Harry Potter = Lord of the Rings?*

or how biased and ridiculous that import site owner was.

All Western Games nothing but senseless killing? All Japanese Games take place in a fantasy world?

Well Prince of Persia SOT sold like crap in Japan and they even tried to market it as a Japanese game and make it seem more Japanese. They still failed. Oh well who cares? Life goes on.Nifty_Shark

Not to attack or offend but how was that game even slightly Japanese? I mean when I played it it was Japanese in neither sty1e or gameplay.

Oh and just for laughs, Microsoft's Japanese Gears of War Advertisements!

I agree with a lot of what you and UpInFlames wrote. I'm so sick of broad generalizations as answers, but one broad generalization is true and that is that Japanese gamers in general do not buy Western games or consoles. And I USED to be the same way!

Western games used to stink to me. I loved the NES and many arcade games, and kept finding out that these games were developed by the Japanese. And invariably the Western produced games were lousy. This lasted for quite awhile, maybe until the PS1 when things started to get better. But, as I realized that the quality was getting better, I adjusted my attitude and gave more western games a try and now I can say that I enjoy Japanese AND Western developed games about equally.

But the Japanese game consumers have not opened themselves up to the fact that western games NOW are truly quality products. Why not? That is the question that needs to be answered. But, in all honesty, I wouldn't be surprised if its the similar to how gamers in the US feel about certain things now ('kiddie' games, in particular). A misconception because a reality in the court of popular opinion and things just get stuck.

Oh, and as for Nifty_Shark's comments about Prince of Persia, he's referring to the efforts of Ubisoft to sell the game to the Japanese market by promoting the Japanese members of the games development staff, as well as other artistic marketing adjustments, to attempt to sell the game as something that would appeal to them. Didn't work.

After watching that video, I can see why American developers can't have success in Japan.

When this supposely analyist says he can't understand why Harry Potter game have great success in Japan but not Lord of the Rings, that just tells me they are really clueless.

If American developers know what "moe" means, then they will see what it is they need to be successful in Japan.

Another thing is American developers are stuck with limitation due to knowledge. They cannot free thier imagination due to their knowledge. Japanese games are just too full of imagination compared to American games. Just look at Bioshock. It is the most imaginative world created by American developers, but it is still stuck with their knowledge. Knowledge of all scientific facts and their world has to be related to their knowledge. They cannot just let their mind be free and create a world that is just far beyond imagination.

That's the difference.

TriangleHard

Sorry, but I can't fully agree with you here. So I hope we can agree to disagree.

With that said, let me say that the imagination in Japanese games (and manga/anime for that matter)also have a lot of pros and cons. I can go on and on about the cons, but there's a lot of negative aspects about them. I don't want to get into it here.

I think both Japanese and western games have pros and cons. But I don't think it's fair to claim that Japanese developers have more imagination, because that's simply not true. You think Japanese developers have better imagination, I won't agree or disagree with you there since that's your own opinion.But let me personally say that I think Japanese developers' idea of imagination borders on insanity sometimes. I don't know, sometimes it seems like their philosophy is "the crazier the better," or "the more confusing it is, is better story telling it is." IMO, that's not good story telling. My Neighbor Torturo, Whisper of the Heart, or Grave of the Fireflies is good storytelling...and sane, for example.

So I think both developers do great and wonderful things in their own way. Both have pros and cons and both are imaginitive in their own way. If you prefer Japanese games, to each his/her own but I don't think it's right or fair to say one's better than the other.

[QUOTE="Nifty_Shark"]Well Prince of Persia SOT sold like crap in Japan and they even tried to market it as a Japanese game and make it seem more Japanese. They still failed. Oh well who cares? Life goes on.UpInFlames

Sands of Time sold like crap everywhere. That's why Ubisoft decided to turn the Prince into a ridiculous, teenage angst-ridden, fake badass who fights dominatrix bosses and listens to crappy metal music.

Sorry but the music in pop games isn't justmetal...it's a mixture of the music of the setting and metal. I lliked the beat.

Interesting interview, but flawed since they're asking two people who only have a working relationships with gaming rather than people who are a 'part of' the gaming scene. If they'd had a relatively well known member of a leading Japanese publishing house and a western equivalent, then it would have been more accurate. But I can see how planning and arranging that would be difficult so I don't blame GT!

As for the topic? Different stroke fer different folks. Culturally biased? Perhaps to a certain degree. After all we all are biased towards certain things, whether you'll admit it or not, and I don't see why Japanese gamers would be any different. Nevertheless to exclude an entire market based on the reactions of the majority is foolish. I'm sure there's a market, even if it's a smaller one, for more western styled games. It's just not every blockbuster can have mass global appeal! As a matter of fact, I can't really think of many, if any, that 'do' have global appeal. Mario perhaps? People are just different! We poor humans are influenced our entire lives by where we grow up, who we interact with and what we're exposed to, so it's only natural vast majorities of people in certain areas of the world would would think alike when it comes to some things. If everyone everywhere agreed uppon everything it'd be a pretty damn boring world.

And just for the record, would people please stop saying that Japanese developers are so creative and intelligent while western developers are not! It's simply not true, and by saying that right there you're revealing your own bias. Just remember that for every Okami or Metal Gear or Final Fantasy, there are a dozen cheaply produced unimmaginative copycat just like here in North America and our waves of bad FPS. The only difference is that those cheap clones don't usually make it across the border, so we're getting exposed to just the creme of the crop of Japanese games while also being drowned in our own markets equivalent derivative crap.

I can honestly tell you that Japanese games look much more appealing when I was back in Taiwan.

One of the main issue is the megazine printing. Western game is usually darker and high contrast, this make the printing really dark and unappealing. I can barely see what's in the game. And it looks really boring with all those "poor" 3D visual. Note, "poor" because it looks bad on the megazine and the game style just don't look interesting at all.

Japanese art style is really low contrast with soft colors. Which makes it really to read on megazine. Everything is clearly visible. It looks much better on paper.

Second is the character model. Western game has really ugly close up character model. It gives really bad impression. Of course gamer will realize it is not noticeable when you play it, but most time he won't try it. Japanese games always has those really cool CGI characters renders to attract gamers. And they looks kick ass.

3RD. Totally different art approach. Trust me, Asian prefer dreamy fantacy world. Western dark age, dark future, WWII are not interesting for them, especially WWII is fighting Nazi which has little to do with Asia, fighting Japan invadors are more like it.

4Th, different game style. FPS has this motion sickness fear. Most people watching FPS video ends up feeling dizzy in few minuts. I took me awhile to play it without dizzy, and for years to watch other people playing without gettng sick. Japanese game has slow camera movement, makes it less intimidating.

I would say best game on US is usually don't look the best, like CS. I totally has no interest until my high school friends keeps talking about it. It actually takes me a lot of courage to do it because it requires a 3D acceleration card. The graphics is not appealing at all. But the game is just so addictive. And once I get hooked, the graphics becomes nice. It is not easy to take the first step because Western game is totally opposite of Japan gamming.

magicalclick

You know ur generlising here too. Western games aren't all about nice andphoto-real graphics and all you have to do is blow heads up. I've played many western games that didn't have blood and gore in them. They might have been violent but Japanese games would look more violent compared to them. Japanese do play FPS in fact, the Korean games market makes nothing but mmorpgs and fps games!

[QUOTE="Atrus"]Which country is not culturally biased?bob_geldof221

this is true.

/thread

You know ur generlising here too. Western games aren't all about nice andphoto-real graphics and all you have to do is blow heads up. I've played many western games that didn't have blood and gore in them. They might have been violent but Japanese games would look more violent compared to them. Japanese do play FPS in fact, the Korean games market makes nothing but mmorpgs and fps games!

gamingqueen

I agree with most of your points, but that last one I am not so sure. What does the gaming market in South Korea have to do with Japan? Japanese games and other cultural entertainments were illegal in South Korea until they were gradually phased out between 1998 and 2003. This gave Western games an edge in popular entertainment. While that doesn't mean they were non-existent in South Korea, it doesn't seem reasonable to me to compare the trends that developed from a country under such a ban with the trends from Japan itself.

I agree with a lot of what you and UpInFlames wrote. I'm so sick of broad generalizations as answers, but one broad generalization is true and that is that Japanese gamers in general do not buy Western games or consoles. And I USED to be the same way!

Western games used to stink to me. I loved the NES and many arcade games, and kept finding out that these games were developed by the Japanese. And invariably the Western produced games were lousy. This lasted for quite awhile, maybe until the PS1 when things started to get better. But, as I realized that the quality was getting better, I adjusted my attitude and gave more western games a try and now I can say that I enjoy Japanese AND Western developed games about equally.

But the Japanese game consumers have not opened themselves up to the fact that western games NOW are truly quality products. Why not? That is the question that needs to be answered. But, in all honesty, I wouldn't be surprised if its the similar to how gamers in the US feel about certain things now ('kiddie' games, in particular). A misconception because a reality in the court of popular opinion and things just get stuck.

Darth_Tigris

It's the fact that Western publishers do not market these games at all since most of them do not publish games in Japan. That's the main reason. For example Oblivion wasn't published by T2K Games in Japan *since they don't publish games there* but Spike.

2K Games is a very well known publisher in the U.S. with big pockets for advertising. Oblivion was all over magazines, interview sites, etc. in the West.

Spike however is LITERALLY what Atlus of America is to America. They are solely on niche and don't have alot of money so Oblivion was no where to be seen there.

People in Japan didn't buy Oblvion because they hated it, but because they didn't even know it exists. The same goes with EVER SINGLE big third party game in the West. As been said many times the only BIG *meaning if it was adjusted to American population ratio it would exceed 1 million copies* third party Western game in Japan of recent years is the GTA series. Why? Because Capcom knows how to market the game.

Oh, and as for Nifty_Shark's comments about Prince of Persia, he's referring to the efforts of Ubisoft to sell the game to the Japanese market by promoting the Japanese members of the games development staff, as well as other artistic marketing adjustments, to attempt to sell the game as something that would appeal to them. Didn't work.

Darth_Tigris

Well they forgot the most important thing.....good marketing. I mean just saying that "This game was made by Japanese developers" *I have no idea why anyone would care*, and "artistic" marketing doesn't really gurantee the game will sell good.

For example the game didn't do well in America or infact anywhere else either.

[QUOTE="gamingqueen"]

You know ur generlising here too. Western games aren't all about nice andphoto-real graphics and all you have to do is blow heads up. I've played many western games that didn't have blood and gore in them. They might have been violent but Japanese games would look more violent compared to them. Japanese do play FPS in fact, the Korean games market makes nothing but mmorpgs and fps games!

m0zart

I agree with most of your points, but that last one I am not so sure. What does the gaming market in South Korea have to do with Japan? Japanese games and other cultural entertainments were illegal in South Korea until they were gradually phased out between 1998 and 2003. This gave Western games an edge in popular entertainment. While that doesn't mean they were non-existent in South Korea, it doesn't seem reasonable to me to compare the trends that developed from a country under such a ban with the trends from Japan itself.

This interview is bashing their choice of games rather than showing how culturally biased they are. The fact is that mgs1 didn't do well or be at top 1 in Japanese sales charts proves it.

This interview is bashing their choice of games rather than showing how culturally biased they are. The fact is that mgs1 didn't do well or be at top 1 in Japanese sales charts proves it.

gamingqueen

Ok you've lost me here. Which interview are you talking about? The one that started this topic or some interview material in the article I posted to you? I don't see how your comeback point is makingyour use of South Korean gaming tastesas indication of what the Japanese do. They are not corrolated as much as you implied, the latter being heavily restricted in the former's territory for a long period of time.

[QUOTE="gamingqueen"]

This interview is bashing their choice of games rather than showing how culturally biased they are. The fact is that mgs1 didn't do well or be at top 1 in Japanese sales charts proves it.

m0zart

Ok you've lost me here. Which interview are you talking about? The one that started this topic or some interview material in the article I posted to you? I don't see how your comeback point is makingyour use of South Korean gaming tastesas indication of what the Japanese do. They are not corrolated as much as you implied, the latter being heavily restricted in the former's territory for a long period of time.

Oops sorry I haven't checked ur link. I'm talking about the main topic...GT's inerview.

I know about Korean games because our neighbours are Korean and we have a korean channel which shows a weekly gaming show. They show nothing in that show but mmorpgs and fps.