Western devs/pubs VS Japanese devs/pubs

I notice that more and more western devs are getting into games as a service adding multiplayer into every game and making progression in games that much more complicated to even grasp. (sales and profits are def in favor of west) (exception of Bethesda and Sony)

On the other hand Japanese devs are putting out more singleplayer/rpgs, I'd say more hardcore games.

At the end of the day, gaming is a business, looks like greed is taking over the industry. This is my opinion, but after putting hours into games like CoD, Destiny, Division, Ghost Recon, etc and games like Zelda, Neir Automata, Bloodbourne, Nioh, Last Guardian, Hellblade etc Games as a service just lacks that memorable experience that single player story driven games gives you.

GaaS games are almost forgettable just a few days after finishing. Even when you've played with friends.

Anyways, looks like future will be a mix of both of these worlds. I think every AAA game that'll come out after 2020 will be GaaS with drop-in/out coop. I only hope they can somehow improve story telling in those games. Like somehow making it multiplayer and have the story telling structure of Sony first party titles. One can only hope ;D

@nishanth12: How is Sony a western dev or publisher? They are founded, incorporated and headquartered in Japan. Having branches in other countries doesn't changes that.

I made a thread teasing with the title that Amy Henning (formerly of Naughty Dog and Visceral) hates Single Player games because she recently did an interview in which she pointed out how gamers cry scream they want linear, story based games but they aren't buying them as often with the propensity to watch games online.

Nobody jumped on her amazingly. People don't want to accept this is not a non profit industry. And nobody goes into business to make the amount of profit the customers say is enough.

@cainetao11: I get it.

All i'm asking is for some good story element to Gaas games. I mean they could make games like destiny or division and also have an interesting story. why not? (I mean story telling like in God of War and Last of us )

That's what's bothering me. My complain is the current Gaas based games are completely forgettable once you finish it. And on top of that they are making progression in games soo freaking complicated, we have books to explain it.

Yeah it's such a shame gaming is about profit and greed these. I wish we could go back to the good ole days where publisher were altruistic and only really cared about putting smiles on gamers faces.

Back on topic I can't wait for MG: Survive.

@nishanth12: I don't agree. Some of my most fun gaming memories are epic games of NHL, Halo MP, Horde mode and now PUBG. A story isn't required because the drama is created by the real players engaged with each other.

You're talking to a generation that is all about story, gamers these days think that a story they will remember 10yrs from now makes the games memorable.

Like you the most fun I've had in games tell no stories (my favourite genre is racing) and by playing in co-op/MP for FUN, but that doesn't rate in today's baby gaming culture.

Its like a guy on here once said, its babyballbagbullshit :)

@i_p_daily: Lmao!!

One of my earliest memories was when I was about 8 years old and my older brother had to watch me. So I hung out with the teenagers at the pizza place playing Pac man. They would root me on while I stood on a chair and held my own with a few of them. That is the story. The one I created with other human beings.

I enjoy a great sp campaign as much as the next person. But if you can't see how mp games can be memorable then I dare say you've never competed in a sport or worked as a team with others.

So a video game story makes the game memorable? Your standards for good story must be crazy high

Games-as-a-service sounds like some horrible re-branding concocted by marketing graduates to justify their employment.

It's all about passing risk on to the consumer without them realizing it. First they brought in episodic releases, then they brought in early access and/or crowd-sourcing, now they want subscriptions...

Has average enjoyment increased? Are you spending less than you were before?

Western all the way. Not interested in over sexualized teenage heroins.

Any game with an action, real time focus: Japan all the way. Their games actually have depth and expression for skillful players.

The western stuff I like is usually independent stuff, or strategy games. And the former rarely matches up favorably in terms of depth to the best Japanese games.

West is superior overall.

This gen, Japanese devs have been better overall. Last gen, Western devs were better overall.

I agree

**** Western games

LETS GO METAL GEAR SURVIVE!!! awwwwwwwwwwwww yeaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!

I prefer western pubs. In them, you can grab a balsa chair, smash it over someone's head, and have an old skool bar room brawl!

Japanese pubs, in comparison, are bit of a joke. I mean I ordered some food in one, and they did not even cook it for me! I mean what's up with that???

http://n4g.com/news/2142187/marvel-teases-new-details-on-the-avengers-project

New Marvel/ Crystal Dynamics game in works is GaaS based and heavily focuses on multiplayer.

Downplay this all you want, looks like all AAA games we'll get from west will be multiplayer focused with micro-transaction, payed loot, etc.

This comment sums up my problem "Sounds awesome until you get 10-20 hours into it and realize the only way to get anything worthwhile without grinding for hours on end is to whip out the credit card. This has money grab written all over it."

Kind of off-topic, but...

"Games as a Service" scares the shit out of me. Not only is it a trend--and the game industry loves to take trends as gospel and to their death, and beyond--but it just seems like a bad idea.

Publishers are too greedy to provide a service properly, and developers too immature and/or incapable of doing it.

When Microsoft, Ubisoft, EA, or whomever can provide a game with a service, and if I have a problem with this service I can call them to talk to a real live human being and converse in my native tongue, then I might start to consider it. Until that day, just give us a quality product, support it until it works for everyone, and move on to the next product.

If anyone has doubts, let's look at MMO's as an example of service-based games: now I played and play a bunch of MMO's and enjoy them, but if they are currently the standard for service-based gameplay, we have a low standard. Most don't work well right out the door, publishers are never prepared for the crowd they get, they're down for maintenance and patches constantly, and if you have an issue they are rarely immediately helpful.

I don't want my gaming pleasure to rely on anything but the product installed on my hard-drive, and at times, the speed of my internet connection.

-------

Anyway, as for the topic, not a big fan of Japanese games. Not since quite a few years ago, like Nintendo years haha.

I love most Japanese forms of entertainment and aesthetic--film, art, architecture, food, etc--but I absolutely loathe the general appearance and/or presentation of things in their games. Terrible music, over the top action (more numbers! These fiery sword strikes NEED MOAR NUMBERS popping out of the air!), and terrible plot lines. Also character designs are pretty awful and cliche, and when they're not, the character design is still cliche.

I mean I just played Vanquish which is supposed to be this incredible experience from the incredible developer and it was not all it is cracked up to be.

Western developers just make games that are more modest, better grounded in reality (even when they are not), and take more risks. Though it is not really fair, because Japan is just...Japan. The West is like, half the world haha :D

I wouldn't call that a service, I'd call that "value-added product". You're not paying for a service, you are just paying for more product.