West vs East - who has better developers?

This is a tough one I think. MGS is my favorite series. I also grew up on JRPGs,Zelda, Pokemon, and Mega Man. I'm leaning towards East. You, SW?

How is this even close, its been done to death? If you just count JRPG's and Pokemon the East might be in the running.

Just make good games... But I prefer europe.

Because they all clearly make for the same genres.

Like all these racing, first person shooter and wrpg games from the east

And all those fighting, hack and slash and jrpgs from the west

In general, the east hasn't been very great since the 90s. Since the start of the 2000s, I've definitely prefered western games overall.

East. Almost every Nintendo game comes from there. People from the west, and even everyone else in the east try to match their standards.

I'm biased towards the western market. It's more familiar, easy to appreciate.

East, west, north, south... doesn't matter to me...

Great games is all I want !!

this stupid topic again.

I enjoy both equally

East and it isn't even close.

As others have said, done to death..... West by a light year or two.

Games from japan are games. Games from the west are "experiences" for the most part. However, a lot of classics came from Atari and Midway which are genuinely great games.

YOU MAKING THREAD WITHOUT POLL? JESUS

GTA 5, Red Dead Redamption, Battlefield, Mirror Edge, STALKER, Burnout Paradise, Hitman, The Witcher, Call of Duty, Halo, Uncharted, Diablo, Forza, Elder Scrolls, Tomb Raider, The Sims, Half Life, Portal, Left 4 Dead, The Last of us, Fallout, Mass Effect, Batman, Team Fortress, The Walking Dead, Journey, Goldeneye 007, Dragon Age, Minecraft, Far Cry, God of War, Gears of War, LittleBigPlanet, Braid, Assassins Creed, Fifa, Boarderlands, Killzone, Rayman, Killzone, DeusEx, Dead Space, Max Payne, Heavy Rain

ITS ALL WEST ALONE.

Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Valkyria Chronicles, Ninja Gaiden, Street Fighter, Virtua Fighter, Tekken, Soul Calibur, Dead or Alive, Donkey Kong, Devil May Cry, Bayonetta, Metal Gear Solid, The Last Remnant, Ni No Kuni, Xenoblade, Monster Hunter, Mario Kart, Sonic All Star Racing, The Wonderful 101, Vanquish, Ys, Pikmin, Fire Emblem, Persona, Shin Megami Tensei, No More Heroes, Captain Toad, etc.

There are more interesting games that come out of the west in any given year, but the very best games typically come from the east.

All I know is that I'm fighting with the blacks.

Dude. I added franchies, you added solo games. Leave Wii U games out and there is nothing letft. Most games you added are dead now or just Wii U exclusive. TALK ABOUT BIG GAMES

I'm the same way.

Can't go wrong with ether (both have the good and the bad devs)

That's not true. I only listed franchises, and why would I leave out the Wii U? The best games are from the East and if you can't handle that, then tough.

Lets see game sale and top scores. West wins. Mario and Zelda milking has gone too far. Leave all those characters out. Metal Gear? Look how badly last 2 games failed.

I only listed quality games. You listed a 17 year old game in Goldeneye, and the Assassin's Creed series that gives us two crappy games per year now.

Meh, both are fine choices.

Both have their own strengths and weaknesses but I prefer West.

They're so different..... I can't really say I prefer one over the other.

I agree dude, it is a tough one. MGS is among my favorites, and I love me some Zelda!! But I love my Halo, God of War, Gears, Fable, Uncharted as well. Oh snap!! Arkham tips the scales, and where would CD Projekt red fall?

IMO, eastern developers are much better at making action games. Just compare a game like Batman or Assassin's Creed where you only use one or two buttons for combat with a game like Bayonetta or Devil May Cry. God of War pales in comparison to those games, too. I could see how a hardcore shooter or RTS fan would say west and not give the east a fair shake, but if you like all genres or just the more action-oriented ones, the east seems like the clear pick.

I think it depends on the genre, I generally prefer eastern developers.

Poland is part of the EU :|

Donkey Kong? lol How far back are you going?

Easy game. Put a game thats scored 80 or more on MC and see who runs out first. My guess is games from the west wrap around well over times the number from the east.

Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze is a game of the year nominee on this site. It's not about the total number of games. More games come out of the west than the east. The question is which region has the best developers, and the East consistently delivers with quality in a number of genres.

Would you consider GTA or RDR an action game or TLOU or Uncharted, because unless you are going to get very specific to win in genres action is most definitely a sprawling genre? Strategy, sports, action, FPS's, TPS's, , MMO's, RPG's, Simulation and pretty ever one I can think of except fighters are a landslide to the west. What genres are you thinking?

Both the east and west have an incredible selection of amazing games. No need to fight you two. :P

On average the West, because it has more good developers (plus that amazing indie scene). But the best of the best group, I would take Japan's offering: Nintendo, Platinum, From Software, Atlus, Koji Pro over whatever would be argued as the best western developers.

Metacritic, that's cute, I didn't know parenthood made it impossible for you to have your own opinion.

Yes, GTA, RDR, and Uncharted are action games, and they are good, solid titles. TLOU is more of a survival horror. GTA, RDR, and Uncharted are all clunky messes in comparison to games like Ninja Gaiden, Devil May Cry, Bayonetta, and Vanquish, though. Western games just feel loose with a controller. Eastern games in comparison play very tight. They require a lot more twitch and reflex skill. Of course all of this is generally speaking. Both regions have their exceptions.

Well I did this because my guess is that GS didn't review alot of the Eastern games ... was trying to be fair :P

I never liked this comparison because "West vs East" really means World vs Japan. You can't even compare it country by country?

And what of the size and scope of GTA or RDR to any of those games? If you wish to boil it down they are far greater technical achievements from a developer standpoint and we can argue semantics over the specifics of each game and how they play til the cows come home. They are entirely different styles of action games. Shooters (basically) vs beat em ups.

If the argument you are going to make is superficial bullshit or fluff like "omg the scale of their game was so big" to make up for the fact that from a gameplay standpoint it's fundamentally mediocre (red dead redemption) then you really don't have much of an argument.

That said comparing Bayonetta to RDR is hilariously stupid. Not just because of course Bayonetta plays better (you know, unless you suck or something), but it's a shooter vs beat-em up. The vanquish comparison is on point, because outside of Max Payne 3, nothing in that genre is in Vanquish's ball park on a mechanical level. That game makes Uncharted, Gears, and Womb Raider look old, stale, and slow. And Red Dead? shit marston is clunky as hell.

west imho

West wins then.

Vanquish is a shooter. I had to force myself to finish RDR and quit GTA at some point during BOGT. I can appreciate that the games have huge worlds with "lots to do" but those games just bore me to tears anymore. At some point "lots to do" turns into "the same few things I have already done 100 times" and you are really only just playing the game to finish the story, which usually is lacking. RDR is so clunky that the game had to implement a slow motion mechanic to make the shootouts playable. The only western games that I find a lot of enjoyment in anymore are strategy (and I get a ton of enjoyment here), the occasional platformer, and the occasional RPG.

I realize that this isn't really an apples to apples comparison. The new Legend of Zelda game looks more like a Red Dead style of game (it even appears to have a slow motion auto-win mechanic), and I doubt I like it, either. It just seems like most of the boring, stale franchises that don't do anything new come from western developers and most of the action-packed, challenging games come from the east. Again, there are exceptions of course.

@PurpleMan5000: Really it all comes down to taste, but at least we can all agree that @jg4xchamp has none :)

I'm sorry I play games about getting good at them, and not interactive slavery.

Western games nearly always interest me more often, Eastern games deliver more often.

Both have their moments. When it comes to world building, storytelling, that sorta stuff, the West is more familiar and interesting for me. There's exceptions like Dark Souls and 999 of course.

When it comes to pure refinement of gameplay and the ability to innovate over a genre, the East has almost always been more consistent for me. Of course, exceptions. Indie scene, Uncharted, Halo, etc.

Resident Evil 6? - 4.5

Dead Rising 3? - 7

Sonic Lost World - 5

Final Fantasy XIII-2 - 7.5

Action games on east more? lol? like which games???

I don't even think about it; I just buy what I like.

Bayonetta 2 - 10

Dark Souls 2- 9

Super Smash Bros. Brawl - 9

Super Mario World -9

Ni Nu Kuni - 9

Vanquish - 9

Metal Gear Rising -8

Wonderful 101- 8

and lets be real if we flip this, that has Destiny at 6 and LBP3 at a 7, Alien Isolation at 6, Stronghold Crusader 2 at a 6, Ryse: Son of Rome at a 5,