Future of Japanese games

[scrubbyscum999]

With many of the major Japanese developers going through so much drama like Capcom and Koonami I have started to think lately about the future of the art form that is games and especially Japanese games. I mainly prefer Japanese games and the western titles I do like are from smaller devs like Wayforward or Lab Zero. Now it seems to be the last few years that many of the bigger Japanese developers have been not as good, with really the only exception being Nintendo (who has problems but they have little to do with the actual games being made, which are still good as ever). It seems like many of them are trying to be too Western, without realizing there is always a market for Japanese games in the west. I don't need to name a ton of examples but some include Resident Evil, Castlevania (I know that's debatable), Final Fantasy (also debatable), and Devil May Cry. Now maybe my opinion is in the minority, maybe most people are fine the way things are. I can't help shake the feeling that just something has gone wrong the last few years for bigger developers in Japan, and I think it comes down to them trying to be more like Western games. As someone who doesn't like the big AAA Western titles, I find this saddening. Do you think there is a problem? If so, what is the solution? For me, I just want to play good, deep games again that are fun that are from these big developers.

 

[mooncakes]

I think big Japanese publishers is putting all their eggs into one basket. I feel like they want to put a lot of money into one game and hope to make a massive amount of money back. They are trying to chase dat Call of Duty money..

Platinum Games still makes good quality Japanese games like Bayonetta but their games dont really sell that well. After Bayonetta 2 is release, I hope they aren't bankrupt or anything. They are still some of the most creative devs in gaming and it be a shame if they went out of the gaming industry. If you guys didn't know, PG used to be Clover Studio at Capcom before they were disbanded.

DmC tried to appealed to western gamers but it failed. Nobody asked for a reboot in the first place, its not going to attract the Call of Duty crowd, it alienated the original DMC fans and the new fans since it never getting a sequel because it flopped in sales. The new DmC did way more harm then good imo.


Did anyone catch this article? I find this kinda funny.
http://kotaku.com/see-what-these-japanese-game-developers-resolve-for-201-1489776796

Motohide Eshiro– CapcomP
Key phrase: Communication

Resolution: I think 2014 is going to continue to be a tough year for the home console game market. I believe that live broadcasts on social network services and other opportunities for developers and users to interact will continue to increase, so I'd like to work on making games with my ear to customer opinions and viewpoints.

 

[Squire Grooktook]

An article a friend of mine wrote about this subject. He made some good points imo.

http://catstronaut.wordpress.com/2013/12/20/lets-talk-about-japan/

 

[Balder]

While that article does raise some valid points, I do think there's been a decline in the Japanese gaming industry.
Look no further than the latest TGSs where the amount of titles that are going to stay Japanese exclusive and are for mobile platforms has grown exponentially. It might not have declined in Japan itself but the number of titles with Japanese aesthetics that go global have been decreasing, likely because of developers' obsession with catering to the West (which invariably backfires on them).
Meanwhile, even if they're not top sellers like they are in the West, the Uncharteds and GTAs still sell fairly well in Japan, at least probably fare better than the Ateliers and the Musous in the West.

But I admit I mostly think this as a former Capcom fanboy with a PS2 collection mostly composed of their titles while my PS3 Capcom collection is mostly Sengoku Basara related (a Capcom title that will remain Japan exclusive)...though you could say my P* collection is like indirectly having Capcom games since most of P*'s staff are ex-Capcom employees.
The top dogs at Japan have been putting out less and less in-house developed titles, which leaves mid-tier (resourcewise) developers like Atlus and Platinum Games to make games that are "decidedly Japanese" and have the balls to market them in the West but despite all their talent, they develop one game per decade (hyperbole ftw!) and, let's be honest here, it would be nice if they could have a wee bit bigger budget.


tl;dr - I think there's less high-budget Japanese games of late and the number of Japanese games that stay Japan exclusive is growing as well. When Japanese developers try to go global, they'll usually craft a game that caters to Western audiences. Also, few attempt making new IPs and instead rely on the brand name of their classic franchises (mostly Capcom, Namdai, Konami and Nintendo).

 

[scrubbyscum999]

Interestingly, I am totally a handheld gamer. Since my first system was GBA and moving onto DS those experiences has strongly shaped my gaming habits. I'll spend hours on the couch, 3DS in my hands, occasionally walking around or taking a break. I will always have more handheld titles than consoles. This is interesting to note. I don't play mobile games that much, like on the phones, so I can't say much about that. I think there is a decline in Japanese development, but among the big cats. It seems like the smaller devs are doing fine and I am loving the large amount of localization we are getting this gen on the 3DS so far. Who would've thought a game like PXZ would actually sell much better in the West than its homeland?

 

[Ruin]

vidya is still a relatively young industry, so going through a rough patch might SEEM bad at first, but what this really means is that several companies will need to step up their games and rethink their plans if they want to stay afloat.

It's no different than times in which film went into periods where people just weren't seeing that many.
Shit just needs time to go through the dips and flows