Quick Jump Daily Digest

Thank you for your interest in the Quick Jump Daily Digest. Get notified of all new content on QJ in our free Daily Digest. To subscribe, enter your email address below and click the subscribe button.

Cancel and Return to page

Bonus Round: on cultural bias, Japanese fantasy, American rockets

Posted Oct 2, 2007 at 2:56PM EST by QJ Staff

Listed in: Wii, PS3, Nintendo DS, Xbox 360, PSP, PC Gaming Tags: Capcom, Geoff Keighley, Koji Kondo, Michael Pachter, NES, Sony

Japanese games are odd? Not at all... - Image 1

Geoff Keighley, host of Gametrailers' special feature Bonus Round, is back as Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter and Japanese games importer Pink Godzilla co-owner Nathan Paine discuss what's hot in Japan, and why American games have never been big in the land of the rising sun. You'll find a lot of interesting bits, much Nintendo love, and the secret of Japanese developers in making games that explode worldwide.

Pachter believes western developers, American or European, know how to please their respective audiences, and there's no reason to snatch an idea or two from Japanese game creators. Publishers in the west follow effective formulas to sell, he said.

He went on, saying only odd or Americanized Japanese games will sell outside Japan. Another worth noting is how, according to Pachter, gamers think of Sony and Microsoft when talking about games, and Nintendo is just an afterthought.

Paine, however, expressed his confidence in Japanese games right off the bat. He doesn't think there'll be any gaming industry in the U.S. today if it wasn't for Japan, particularly Nintendo which revitalized gaming after the 1983 crash. With the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) synonymous to fun back in the day, and Mario being the first widely popular superstar from a video game, it's difficult not to agree.

Paine mentioned other Japanese game franchises that have been successful worldwide, like Metal Gear, Resident Evil, Final Fantasy, and the likes. After naming Square Enix, Konami, and Capcom as the big three developers and publishers, he pointed at the three F's that make their titles hit: fun, fantasy, and freedom. By freedom, he meant how Japanese developers are able to be creative and are not obligated to make movie tie-ins or yearly football games.

For the U.S., the three R's come into play: rockets, realism, and rights. Realism is all about how Americans love their games oozing with detail in eye-bleeding graphics, while rights concern acquiring copyrights or licenses.

Rockets symbolize the hunger of American gamers to shoot things and cause big explosions, something that the Japanese don't like. Simply put, as Paine learned from Nintendo's Koji Kondo, gamers in Japan don't like mindless violence. Metal Gear Solid games, for example, pits players in the shoes of a super agent involved in political affairs. Good and evil forces battling each other like in Gundam games are also more attractive to Japanese gamers than murdering the covenant en masse.

To find out more, check out the Bonus Round by clicking on the Read link below.

This story sucks? This story rocks!

Vote Now!

(0)

(0)

the Japanese games...

and he's right about the mindless violent comment, there should be a purpose to all the madness... you hear Western developers talking about how everything is destructible, how many freakin weapons there are, how you'll be able to shoot this and shoot that... and you hear fanboys saying "this is fuc*kin cool!!! i'm getting this!!! look at the texture and it runs at 60fps!!! this is a AAA title" without even knowing what the damn story would be!!

they put in something new once in a while like that Nectar in Haze and people go "wow!! that's innovation!!! this is a must buy!!!" and that goes to all other games but the really is it's all the same...

japanese developers are more creative... and Pachter is wrong, western developers have a lot to learn from them and the entire gaming community will be very well-served if they do infact learn from the Japanese.

and let's not even talk about movie games.

# Cultural Bias — PSP_Trekster 2007-10-02 16:41

I think there is a Bias the japs think there games are all so superior, thats such a load of crap. Both Japan and the US create great games. That guy in the above link said that all we (america) pretty much only likes mindless shootemps thats such a FRKING load of crap, I love a great story and I also love innovative gameplay I also love top notch graphics which the Wii cannot give me. He puts japan (which is where his money comes from) on some kind of pedestal compared to the US like there standards for a game are such more evolved, if this is so why do Japs love a mindless stupid horror movie with senseless death as much as the US???

There is a Bias and it is in Japan, the USA accepts great game no matter where they are developed and this is not true in Japan.

# you make a good point — Quixand 2007-10-02 17:02

buddy but there is a reason for that...

the japanese make games that cater to the taste of the japanese market and also could be enticing to the western market... it is in the game not the consumers.

now you say that the japanese don't accept great games from the west? well how many of such games are there that the japanese market would call "great"... you can't force people to like something which doesn't appeal to them, it doesn't make them bias... they just have their preferences... you can't force them to like Bioshock or Halo if they're not into that no matter how many A's you put in front of those titles... the japanese just has a different standard that doesn't make them biased... it is not because Gears Of War was developed in the west... it is because they don't like the game, i don't think that's hard to understand.

Americans diss them for liking pokemon and cutsey games and all those mecha games... now do i think Americans are biased cause they think that? No. They just have their own preferences.

and those movies you're talking about... they are being remade by hollywood studios...

# Quixand — Turismo20 2007-10-02 17:18

Quixand what do u mean American games are just shooting games with everything the same. Same as japanes games

Lit of what every game has/ Gay looking character with long grey emo hair/Sword/Spells/wizards/trolls of some sort. all those games are the same. Final Fantasy,ninja gaiden,kingdom hearts,god of war,Zelda,Assas sins creed,Heavenly sword they are all pretty much the same. One thing most of them have in common that i hate in games is swords. I saw a video of MGS4 and one of them had a sword.My favorite game is MGS3 and that video was giving me second thoughts about how good 4 was is going to be. Also in the video the person with the sword has that gay Grey emo hair.

# that's the thing — Quixand 2007-10-02 17:34

you think that way but i wouldn't call you biased... i'd just say you have you're own preference.

and i wouldn't fault you for not wanting to get all those games you just mentioned above as much as i wouldn't fault the japanese for not getting Halo, Bioshock, Call Of Dut, Gears of War, Resistance, Haze etc...

now some japanese games sell well in the west (as we all know) cause the taste in games of gamers in the western market are more diversed but the japanese has more of a singular standard and it is not their task to adjust their likings to what the western developers produce (cause in the first place they have loads of japanese developers quenching their thirst anyway) but it is the developers who should make the adjustment if they want to sell to the japanese... they're the ones trying to sell their games anyway!!

so unless they do that let's not say that the Japanese are biased over western games.

and about my comments above such as this:

you hear Western developers talking about how everything is destructible, how many freakin weapons there are, how you'll be able to shoot this and shoot that... and you hear fanboys saying "this is fuc*kin cool!!! i'm getting this!!! look at the texture and it runs at 60fps!!! this is a AAA title" without even knowing what the damn story would be!!

you can't deny that THAT is true.

# meh — rawrskies 2007-10-02 17:49

As is everything, it's all a matter of personal opinion. So what if they have 'gay emo' hair ? If 1000 people like it and 20 hate it, should they stop? Swords ? What's so bad about it ? 'Oh my god, all FPS have GUNS WTFBORINGCLICHE HAX'.

At the end of the day, Japanese games are selling well in and out of Japan, while Western games don't. It could be due to Japanese superiority complex, or not. Personally I find the KotOR series far more superior than many JRPGs. It's their loss. Or maybe it's their gain ? The more popularity for Nintendo/Sony over Microsoft in Japan, the stronger the home companies are. And the stronger they are at home, the stronger they are internationally . Which means us as 'western' gamers get to choose freely from great western games, and just as great Japanese games.

# I think american & European developers are better — Brakkos 2007-10-03 00:46

In the beginning the japanese were the force that drove the video game industry, but at this moment , I think europeans and americans are designing better games, Even Kojima & others japanese developers are accepting that. There is a niche market in Japan, and the consumers protect their local industry, but in most games the western counterparts are getting better results and innovating, and I mean in software. Even the rpg's, I beging to like more the western ones, (Kotor, Oblivion and the incoming Mass Effect are prove of this). In the end I think the market is going to separated, we are going to see only the really big ones of japan here, and Japan, because they tend to boycot anything western they will get only a few westen topsellers.

# Eh — Mooshywooshy 2007-10-03 01:34

I am Japanese and I find that generally Western made games tend to be on the more realistic side which is cool and all but not my cup of tea.

I'd rather play an RPG of a plumber jumping around Mushroom Kingdom hitting things with a hammer instead of running around realistic camelot with a sword stabbing horses and stacking bodies in HD.

Japan can strive on Pokemon and Deweys Adventure type games because they dont have as much of an audience that is biased against 'cutesy' games or 'gay gray haired emo boys with swords' Thats called bigotry and is completely erratic.

And then aside from that I find First person shooters to be just kinda boring, and that is a majority of what becomes 'popular' in America.

Japanese games cater to some peoples taste, and American games cater to the rest in America, but American games just dont really cater to Japanese tastes. Its not like they are non-existant in Japan, its just they dont sell like hotcakes.

# matter of preference — aerischan 2007-10-03 02:47

Interesting. When someone mentions video games, I think of Sony, Nintendo and Sega. Microsoft is an afterthought. It's probably because during the time I was into video games, the consoles were Playstation, Nintendo 64 and Dreamcast. Playstation 2 was released around that time, too. I also grew up with the NES, SNES, Genesis and Gameboy.

Personally, I like Japanese games more than I do western ones. For one thing, I'm not into sports so any game beginning with 'N' and ending with a year is an automatic no. While I do like my fair share of gratuitous violence, I'm not into FPS which seems to be what most US studios are producing.

Either way, there's a market for both. Game makers don't have to cater to just one set of tastes. Let them continue creating different games. It's the consumer who benefits from game diversity in the end.

# Rockets are cool — Sr_Moska 2007-10-03 03:32

don't be a f4g

# Good games can be found anywhere — Bandock 2007-10-03 04:53

In my honest opinion, I really go by quality of games and not where they come from. I find some American games really bad (though I'm American), but there are also good ones. Same applies to Japanese games; you'll find rotten apples along with good apples.

One of the games I played from Germany called "Games Tycoon", was pretty buggy and poorly executed (its for the PC). Another game I played from Germany, however, is very good. Anyone heard of "Darkstar One" for the PC?

Back on topic: No one should really be bias to their country. Just because most Japanese don't like a particular genre doesn't mean some of Japanese hate it. Its not by country, but rather by person who gets interested into the games or particular genres. There are also rotten apples in any genre. I've seen pretty bad strategy games or even first person shooters for that matter. Also seen poorly done simulation games (like "Games Tycoon" for the PC I mentioned above).

Remember folks, its personal preference counts and not where if it was made in your country or not. Besides, I like Japanese games as well as American games, German games, British games, and other places on earth.

# none — ktm101xxx 2007-10-03 04:57

That may be true in the past, but i will have to dissagree with you now. Not much has been coming out of japan that is worth recognition lately, everything is coming out of europe or usa.

# yeah — Nevers 2007-10-03 05:31

Historically and culturally I can see why the Japanese aren't interested in giant explosions and ultra realistic violence. The biggest explosions that have killed real human beings happened on their soil. And most of their population knows someone who actually remembers it.

# wow — Kingofdaberbz 2007-10-03 22:23

nobody say nothing about all the mindless Dynasty Warriors game and clones wow all gamers like mindless games i mean all those type of games have no story n they release by the dozens n they still sell like hot cakes every year like madden n all these games are excatly the same also nobody chat bout jp hentai n how they luv 2 buy evry single naruto game no matter how bad it is jap ppl will buy any kind of samaria/ninja game no matter how awful the game might b n don't forget they come out with mario year after year n pokemon but nobody say nothin bout jap crap games n they do have alot of them more then north america n europe we both ahve good n bad games n we both sometimes buy crap games period.

Refresh comments list

Add comment

JComments

HOT GAMING NEWS | LATEST GAMING SEARCHES | FORUMS

QUICK JUMP DAILY DIGEST

Welcome to QJ.Net!

If you want your comments to go live without waiting for moderation, you need to be logged in. Being logged in has its benefits:

Logged in members do not wait for their comments to be approved.
Logged in members can create Profiles to be seen by other users.

So why wait? Create an account or login now! It's easy, quick, and free.

To get started, use the LOGIN boxes, or the REGISTER link below!

Want to learn more about the team who brings you the QJ news?

Read about them now!

HOT FLASH GAMES

QJ.NET Categories
• Apple • E3 • Featured Articles • Gadgets • Games for Windows • iPad • iPhone • MMORPG • Mobile • News • Nintendo 3DS • Nintendo DS • Opinions & Analysis	• Photography • PlayStation 3 • PoV • PS Vita • PSP • Rumors • Science • Site News • Tabula Rasa • Wii • Wii U • World of Warcraft • Xbox 360

Sitemap

Newest Downloads

05/22/2012 - 05/29/2012

RGLoader 0v290 Beta	05/27/2012
WiiMod 3.2	05/27/2012
WiiMC v1.2.7	05/25/2012
True Blue Firmeware v2.7	05/24/2012
3DS Video Converter v2.3	05/24/2012
Mobile Assault 1.8.2	05/24/2012
PSP Tools Alpha 0.1	05/22/2012
Newton War	05/22/2012
DaedalusX64 r766	05/22/2012
PSPMarble	05/22/2012
The Undead 4 - Nazi Zombies	05/21/2012
3DSExplorer v1.2.1	05/21/2012
J-Runner v0.2 Beta 275	05/19/2012
Priiloader 0.8 Beta 3	05/19/2012
Quake Rev PAK release 4	05/19/2012

Most Comments this Month
Sound Off: On Game Expirat..	(57)
Say Goodbye to the Xbox 36..	(30)
EA Blames iOS Rock Band Ex..	(28)
Flash0 Contents Of Vita's..	(27)
Sony Had a Rough Year; Vit..	(26)
PlayStation 3: Now Featuri..	(22)
Sound Off: Toughest Game C..	(20)
Apparently You Can Pre-Ord..	(19)
Love It or Hate It, It's A..	(16)
PoV: This Collectors Editi..	(15)
You've Been Up in Arms Abo..	(15)
Pre-Order Generic Shooter..	(15)
PoV: You Are Wrong about C..	(14)
Get Off Xbox Live, You Ped..	(14)
This is Next Gen?	(14)
Metal Gear Solid For Vita..	(14)
PoV: Paid MMOs are Dead	(14)
Stop Your Whining, Start C..	(13)
Pokemon Liquid Crystal! K..	(12)
OK, So Maybe Microsoft Can..	(12)
Does Microsoft Ever Have a..	(12)
Operation Raccoon City Pro..	(12)
Diablo III Getting Mauled..	(12)
Blizzard is Really Sorry a..	(11)
Update: EA Drops Free BF3..	(11)

Top Jumps this Month
Naruto Shippuden: Ul..	(163)
neur0n Knocks Out An..	(97)
Pokemon Liquid Cryst..	(91)
Bust Out Your PSP Fo..	(86)
PSP homebrew - LameC..	(66)
PSP Comics Reader v2..	(50)
Wii homebrew - WAD M..	(50)
PSP Homebrew: 6.xx P..	(43)
Hellcat Working On R..	(41)
PSP Homebrew - PSPDi..	(41)
PSP homebrew - DSonP..	(38)
neur0n Gives You Mor..	(37)
Sound Off: On Game E..	(35)
PSP GBA v1.2: Gamebo..	(33)
Latest Left 4 Dead 2..	(31)
Another CFW Goodie F..	(30)
GTA IV patch 1.0.6.0..	(29)
Download full Sid Me..	(28)
Sound Off: Should Ap..	(27)
Soywiz Releases PSP..	(27)
Homebrew - PSP/PS3 P..	(24)
DS homebrew game - S..	(21)
Brian Lara Internati..	(21)
Metal Gear Solid For..	(21)
PSP homebrew - Mario..	(21)

HOT GAMING NEWS TOPICS

Quick Jump Daily Digest

Bonus Round: on cultural bias, Japanese fantasy, American rockets

Related Stories:

Comments

Add comment

Newest Downloads