For the most part I always wanted to know why Japan has never produced a great samurai game of any sort.America has red dead redemption and red dead revolver .Yet Japan has never created a game as detailed and vibrant to me as a Mass Effect 1 or Red Dead Redemption.Im not asking for Japanese shooters but I’m asking for Them to step it up .I wish they would Just make better games and put some heart and soul into The games.I wish the old fucks would let some youth run the show.
I don’t think a video game is the defining forum for improvements in gaming, particularly in the east. Inafune might as well have said, “Stop being stupid.”
Needs better thinkers and writers.
Way of the Samurai, although the game is either hit or miss. It’s nowhere near the detail of the games you’ve listed but it’s a Samurai game with a cult following.
From Software gave us Metal Wolf Chaos. Looks to me like the rest of the world are the one that needs to step it up! 
America has, though I’m pretty sure name-dropping Weaponlord, various MKs, the upcoming Skullgirls, and even some of the good shit in games like Primal Rage will result in a discussion not worth having, so okay. I’ll “call you.” On my magical phone. Dr. B something something.
I really, really want to like Tales games, because I love the idea behind its battle system. But the games make soooooooo many missteps, gameplay and narrative both. The biggest: despite having multiplayer, the games are never really built around the concept in an intuitive, easy to see and play way.
Examples: in Tales of Eternia (my personal favorite), the screen centers on Player 1 and doesn’t zoom out. In the 3D Tales, the “line” establishes on Player 1, and the others are left trying to figure out how left/right works for them (admittedly Free Run helps, but isn’t the ultimate solution).
… I’m designing, on paper, a 2 player Tales-esque game. Once I’m remarkably rich, I’ll make it a reality.
It didn’t do it for me. Truth be told, I haven’t liked – I mean really liked – a Zelda game since Wind Waker. And Wind Waker is probably the only “non-2D” Zelda I can really stomach, Wii-mote or not.
Though I can replay Zelda 3 and the monstrously underrated Zelda 2 at least once a year, no prob.
Admittedly I didn’t play Minish Cap, but I want to. Looks SNES-ish.
So what? I haven’t made a single game either, and I’ll say it too:
Japanese games suck, for the most part.
Xenophobic? That implies one cannot reject a country’s work for fear of gaining that label. Guess what: I’m also not a huge fan of Japanese culture and hate how many of its people a) disregard politics despite their best interests and 2) buy into bunk (like ghosts and shit) without proper skepticism. (I’m not a big fan of Japanophiles either.) <-- None of that makes me xenophobic or racist.
And I bet you anything there are Japanese people, living in Japan, who actively think “my fucking country sucks. Man I love fish. And Fish.”
Whether or not you think Japanese game are bad is one thing but what this guy said just wasn’t classy and is clearly trying to promote himself and his game by starting some controversy. I don’t think he gives an actual fuck about the Japanese industry one way or the other.
To say Japanese games just suck in front other Japanese designers at a games developers conference when you’re a game developer yourself is not a good look. I brought up the fact that he hasn’t published a game yet because he’s not in a position where he can say shit and that would bring the wrong kind of attention to his game. If he produced an innovative game where he can honestly say ‘this is how you do it guys’ that enhances his argument and offers more credibility to it but he hasn’t. Why should I care about about this guys raw opinion with no argument behind it?
It’s not a matter of what he said it’s how he said that bothers and it vaguely strikes me as xenophobic and not doubt it’s rude and disrespectful to his peers.
Whether or not I agree with what he said is a different story. For example Mr Inafune actually gave a list of VALID reasons as to why he thinks Japanese games are falling behind for the most part (not just ‘because i said so’) and I’m inclined to agree on most accounts. Japanese companies not named Nintendo and Level 5 has been getting their ass whipped all generation. I however feel like these criticism are ignoring the handheld market where they created some fascinating software.
Japanese games have sucked for a LOOOOOOOOOOOONG time. They became either cut scene anime, turn based boredom mixed with flashy pointless animation, or just plain shitty games. They usually have no replay value, I haven’t played a Japanese game with a storyline I cared about (or that made sense) in a LONG time. Look at RPG’s. They’re STILL only focusing on fucking turn based games while other (North American) companies release titles such as Dragon Age, Skyrim, and Fallout.
Sega and Nintendo are shadows of their former selves, and the industry is now finally acknowledging it. Hopefully. They need to stop focusing so much on gimmicks targetting games at otaku, and getting games done around retarded timelines and budgets, and stop fucking up DLC.
[LEFT][/LEFT]
this. Seriously, the only reason I like to play any japanese games, is because I can easily smoke while I play them. Turn based game? Sure, I can smoke the entire time, while i play one handed, jackin off with the other hand.
I think part of the problem is that technology and art styles have progressed in such a way that western gamers have little attraction to the games being made in Japan now.
@Soviet You should try Dark Souls if you like something with replay value and gameplay. I personally liked many aspects better than Skyrim because I felt the level design was better and had pretty innovative ideas since it carried over the Demons Souls multiplayer. Skyrim felt like they were trying to refine the Oblivion and Morrowind formula for the next gen, while I did find it enjoyable, I found Dark Souls to have more, “AHA” moments throughout. There’s many battle systems you should try if you’re interested in jrpgs in general. Dragon Age and FF12 actually share a similar battle system in how tactics and gambits are used, but (I played DA on PC) the tactics were less precise than FF12 so you felt like you had to but in more to control your characters, which is good because of friendly fire and positioning played a huge role, whereas FF12 you can set gambits and go to town and the only input you do is moving.
@Infinite You brought up the handheld market, THEY ARE ABSOLUTELY SHITTING ON THE WHOLE WORLD WITH THEIR HANDHELDS. There are so many good games for the handheld, people should look out for them. Just grab and DS and PSP and you’ll definitely find something you would like. I think a lot of developers are making games for handhelds because it’s cheaper and easier to break in the market than consoles. Soviet if you want some innovative battle systems for jrpgs, you can try The World Ends With You, which I found very fun and the story is quite different than the usual fare. But it may be too, "anime " for you.
I personally think when people are singling out a one side or another, they aren’t looking hard enough or partly, too pessimistic to branch out. This generation of gaming THERE’S SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE EVERYWHERE, I can goddamn guarantee you that.
The ‘problem’ is (if we have to call it that) is the console market has shrunk massively in Japan in the pass decade. Consoles in Japan don’t sell as much as they did before during the PS1/Saturn/64 gen and even the PS2/Cube gen. So to this gen to developer are expensive HD game for current console is a large risk for Japanese designer because a) The install base for those consoles in Japan would not guarantee profit on the game and b) to make more Japanese flavored games in that vein probably won’t resonate with western audiences and flop. The company who has been immune to this for the most part has been Nintendo.
As console sales not being what they were, handheld are actually selling really good. A lot of Japanese designers has concentrated resources to make a ton of handheld games for DS and PSP and we’ve seems some astounding sales and unique content on the. Japanese development is simply shifting more towards handheld gaming and it has been for the past decade.
Muramasa.
I knew you would say this .Reread what I said .
That’s true, a lot of people are saying mobile/portable gaming is booming in the East.
Fuckno. I don’t like jrpg’s. That is my point. They’re all the fucking same crap I played for 2 fucking decades. Make a new game. Make a new genre. I am sick and tired of their shit games.
And don’t gimme the handheld market. Nintendo had to beg people to get a 3DS. I own an iPhone. Any handheld game I wanna play I will just play it on that, and fucking not pay 40-50 bucks for a portable piece of shit game.
No, this is like the umpteenth developer who has said japanese games suck. THEIR OWN DEVELOPERS are saying it’s shit. From what I’ve heard the business model is fucked, and there is too much corporate politics involved now, rather than just letting the developers make a good game. Sure, Western gaming is stupid too,but for different reasons (ie releasing 65% completed games, then charging DLC fees for the other 35% at a later date).
Aside from Street Fighting games, I haven’t bought a single japanese game in a LOOOOONG time. In fact the only japanese game I got this gen, was Bayonetta. Because:
Japanese
Games
Suck
Huge
Black
Dick
Lol iphone.
Pack up your bags and go home people, Jap games are shit and you won’t ever like them.
Japan just doesn’t want to take risks. That’s why every japanese company is shelling out their upteenth port of some game onto some other mobile platform rather than invest in a new IP.
The concept of JRPG’s is also a bit outdated. Games like Tales which give you a more active role are more what a JRPG wants to shoot for, but than you get issues with the layman and non-intuitive controls.Skillfully controlling 4 characters when AI likes to do dumbshit is probably the most aggravating experience in gaming.
Also the target audience of JRPG’s are now younger than myself, so I have a hard time resonating with stories that don’t involve believable character development. I haven’t been able to enjoy Final Fantasy since FFX which is a heart breaker.
Someone just needs to make Skies of Arcadia 2, than I’ll be satisfied with never playing another game for the rest of my life.
Okay so you want Red Dead or Mass Effect with swords. Doesn’t change that Muramasa was a great samurai game that was vivid, vibrant and full of heart and soul. Unless samurai game means open world like Red Dead.
You don’t like JRPGs, that’s all fine and dandy, but if the only thing japanese you got this gen was Bayonetta, you missed out on a lot.
Didn’t know you could play DS and PSP games on Iphones legally. And handheld games are not portable piece of shit. At this point you sound like hating for the sake of hating.
It’s one thing to hate games you’ve tried and genuinely not liked, it’s another to hate games you’ve never tried and automatically categorize as piece of shit.
I see a lot of JP bashing but what is the west doing so right that it’s not getting any flack? More shooters and open world RPGs?
mortal kombat
For a second, I thought you were being facetious.