“10 Reasons Japanese Games Suck”
- Categories: Games, News
- Date: Sep 1, 2013 13:26 JST
- Tags: Comparison, Final Fantasy, Marketing, Muscle, Rankings, RPG, Square Enix, USA
American opinions on just why it is Japanese games are so inferior to the fruits of American ingenuity – ranging from a lack of muscle and creepy anime eyes to insufficiently casual-friendly design and stories too long for their limited attention spans – and presented as the way forward for the Japanese industry, have been proving unsurprisingly incendiary amongst Japanese and others…
The reasons, based on a Japanese developer’s quizzing of “100” American developers at CEDEC 2013:
1. Market shift
The western markets have grown and so the focus has shifted onto them, particularly with the Xbox’s provision of games catering to American tastes, whereas previously there were only Japanese games around.
Japanese games also try too hard to appeal to western consumers and are losing their identity.
2. The cultural gap
Fantasy is perceived differently.
Stories are long: Americans typically finish their lunch in 12 minutes. They want quick gratification.
Nobody can get into the stories – they are too random, superficial and take too long to get into before you can play.
3. They have no good anime eyes
4. Westerners want “Roman proportion” beefcakes rather than effete Asian weaklings
5. The acting tends to be more “theatric” than “cinematic”
6. They have inferior “usability”
Poor pacing, no focus testing, packages which can’t be read from 7m away like American games
7. Japanese games (and anime) are too hardcore
Casuals can’t take them, hardcore gamers are declining
CoD is for casuals
It makes lots of money so it can keep up its “progress”
Japanese games don’t target casuals enough
8. They aren’t making the genres which sell well in North America
Not all genres sell well in the west, although console game sales have been decreasing even outside Japan
9. Japanese games are too old-fashioned
Did they completely stop progressing?
The end result is everyone got bored of them
Their smaller budgets also contributed to technological decline
10. Differences in their racial roots
Americans love guns and blood
Americans hate sex
Whether such helpful American admonitions to emulate the world-renowned greatness of EA are actually intended to help the Japanese gaming industry or instead finish them off for good have been the subject of no small debate amongst Japanese gamers themselves:
“Just which developers did they ask…”
“What do you expect from a society obsessed with murder games.”
“The west just treats any 2D game as retro though.”
“They basically seem to be talking about Final Fantasy, don’t they?”
“They say this stuff like western games are actually any good.”
“Skyrim.”
“I hear FF14 surpassed Skyrim!”
“No western game has surpassed Puzzle Dragon.”
“But gaijin love Final Fantasy! 13 got totally panned in Japan but they lapped it up and Square Enix made a fortune off it. Even an interactive movie like MGS4 did fantastically overseas.”
“And don’t forget FF7…”
“We need an open world samurai game!”
“Japanese games used to have the upper hand when it was package based, US games have it when they can be updated. I guess in a market which rewards developers who shipp half-finished games and patch them up this is the result…”
“Japanese developers really need to stop trying to knock off western hits…”
“The Japanese market is totally centred on producing games for kids. I suspect that explains most of this.”
“The adult market is smaller because Japanese adults just don’t game as much.”
“The story in some games is just so bad you have to stop playing – Dead Space 3 and Yakuza 5 being cases in point.”
“Saying that Japanese games target hardcore gamers – what? Isn’t it the other way around?”
“I think the real difference is that Japanese games are a direct extension of anime and manga whilst those of America are an extension of movies and drama. As such they are less dependent on 3D graphics, whereas these are essential for the realism of film-based games.”
“That seems to be exactly it…”
“What exactly is so advanced about western games? They just churn out endless sequels for the same big franchises. And somehow total linearity is OK if it is western, but if it is Japanese it is a problem. I think it is just simple racism at play.”
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They probably got "they hate sex" from the fact that every western game journalist feels obligated to flip the fuck out whenever there's boobs in videogames anymore.
Those aren't 'journalists', they're first year interns out to make a name through sensationalism, aka yellow journalism.
Seriously. Female representation in games does need to be worked on a bit (the fact that so many western titles have to appeal to frat boy stereotypes is not doing the medium any favors), but after Anita Sarkeesian and her over-inflated views of "oppression" came around, it seems like journalism's been getting more and more uppity over stuff that's complete bullshit (Dragon's Crown comes to mind; the game was announced two fucking years ago, no one even took notice of the Sorceress's design until it was on the verge of being released).
Victim liberalism moves forward by making people worried enough to self censor anything that could potentially offend anyone regardless of whether or not anyone complains. If they complained before release it could have been changed and they wouldn't be worried about losing money, which is the real purpose of causing a top-down, journalist inspired "controversy" like this.
European cars are inferior to Japanese cars. End of discussion.
Upvoted!
Cuz Toyota Recalls.
Yeah interns, they tends to fuk everything up.
LOL wut/
japan only does slutty outfits in console games, american games will show actual nudity, its the japanese that are the real prudes
you have apparently never played a VN before where you can pretty much get hooked up with nearly every girl in it. I think that goes back to the above quotes about the average Americans attention span and patience being to low and small to sit through over ten hours of dialogue to play. As an American I love games that require you to think and make choices and those choices affect future outcomes.
He was referring to big-budget, top-selling games, which is what this article is about. Visual novels are a poor example since they're more of a niche product that only appeals to a select audience. Also, he was referring to console games, where VNs tend to be a lot more modest in terms of content. Plus, most barely classify as a "game", and are more of what their name implies, a "visual novel", so they're not likely to appeal to someone looking for actual interactive gameplay.
As for "thinking and making choices that affect future outcomes", Most VNs don't actually do this particularly well either. The majority are quite linear, with choices few and far between, and often the results of those choices tend to feel pretty random. The visual novel genre has really advanced all that much over the last decade.
Why do Japanese games suck? Because race car.
Yeah, when the hell have there actually been sex scenes in Japanese videogames? Outside of dating sims, that is?
God of War was an international best-seller and fueled Americans' need for violence and over-abundant man-penis, and it had minigames where you fucked the living bajeezus out of Greek sluts in between all the action.
I like a variety of games, none of which include Call of Duty or Halo. I enjoy some tatsucap, God Hand and I'm looking forward to the next Smash Bros. I really hope this isn't how the gaming industry is intending to slant, because these stereotypes reek of trolling and does not apply to American gamers as a whole.
Just the ones that pretend to be gamers.
The real. Qeunstion, what videogames do us canadians like?
there is your answer right there, You're Canadian. your opinion doesn't matter.
"japan only does slutty outfits in console games, american games will show actual nudity, its the japanese that are the real prudes"
Japanese games usually have a colorful enough world or too silly a story such that any nudity they put in their games would be considered "tasteless nudity."
They also usually aren't interested in telling adult stories using an anime inspired medium and Japanese consumers appear less interested in nudity in gaming when they already have so much eroge elsewhere.
Western games on the other hand usually intentionally make themselves appear as adult as possible regardless of context and can much more easily achieve a "tasteful nudity" status if story plays a focus in the product.
All these things combine to form an environment where Japanese developers have more reason to be cautious about nudity in general if they're aiming for an international release.
"Take too long to get into before you can play" sounds like cod and cod-clones to me.
America has double standards for sex. They repress perfectly safe and natural sexual urges. They are sexually repressed so that's why they have such high rates of sexual abuse, assaults, rape and murder. If a group of people are that sexually repressed when they act out, it will be very violent and destructive.
I say sex is far less harmful than violence.
"America has double standards for sex. They repress perfectly safe and natural sexual urges. They are sexually repressed so that's why they have such high rates of sexual abuse, assaults, rape and murder. If a group of people are that sexually repressed when they act out, it will be very violent and destructive."
Total mythological bull$hyte. Look up where in US all the rape occurs asswipe and tell me there's repression.
Sex in games is a very touchy subject. There are alot of people out there that would love to see more of it but a big problem about that is there are always "reviewers" out that that will make a huge deal over it.
Like the "sex" scenes in Mass effect 1, all they really are, are a bunch of snippits with some sexy music, but even with it being so minimal some people managed to make a huge fucking deal over it on the news.
My personal opinion on sex in games is all about how you present it. If it is used as a way to show the intimacy of the relationship between the characters involved it will seem alot more natural and could be seen as a way to get the player to understand the bonds the characters have. Sex after all is completely natural and isn't something to be fussed about, aslong as it is presented properly.
Another example of sex would be in fallout 1 and 2 where the player could pay hookers to have sex with them just for the hell of it or use the player characters sex appeal to leverage favors from npcs such as price drops at shops and secrets info the npc would normally not tell the PC. In these instances the sex is completely voluntary on the part of the player and is actually being used as a tool in the latter example to get things the player wants. To me this is a acceptable way of presenting sex since it is completely up to the player to make use of these methods.
The way I can never stand sex in games is overly sexed females characters (I mean super sluts that jiggle wiggle and do everything with provocative camera angles) and obligatory sex scenes. When the PC has sex with people and the only reason they can do so is because the player character is darn bad-ass that he gets all the bitches, is when the sex seems pointless. The only function of the scene is to show how cool the PC is or the game devs were just trying to piss people off.
A good example of well done sex can be found in Dragon Age Origins. The player has to actively work on getting to know the NPC which ultimately leads to sex. But part of the fun in this is that you get to know the character, you get to learn about their background, their aspirations, what they like and dislike, and how they view the world, Every character in that game is unique and it is enjoyable to learn more about the NPCs.
Sex in a game has to be done properly or it just seems like it was added to make the game edgy which ultimately just makes the game look bad.
As has already been mentioned in part most of the listed crimes happen in specific areas perpetrated by specific demographics.
Don't worry. We express our sexuality perfectly on japanese pussies everyday!
Some yezeik1 said:
"My sex drive..."
You must be fucking yourself because you sound like a pussy. And you are a wanna be redneck too.
You must fucking yourself because you sound like a pussy.
Explain "We express our sexuality perfectly on japanese pussies everyday!"
My sex drive is far greater than any American redneck. My penis is 12 inches long when erect unlike your redneck micropenis.
And I masturbate to anime pornography at least 3 times a day. That's where I get most of my arm exercise. And believe me, my biceps and triceps are very muscular from all the masturbation I do everyday. At least one hours of it everyday lol.
Fuck american and japanese games, people from Europe are waaay more creative this days.
European cars are inferior to Japanese cars. End of discussion.
WTF!????????????????
Man, Japanese cars never will be like Ferrari, Lamborghini, Aston Martin, etc.
Also, European drivers >>>>>>>>>>>> Japanese drivers.
LOL that's why all those high end cars are all ferrari, porsche, mercedes-benz, etc.
Care to bitch more?
11:43 Don't tuck your tails in and run if you can't take the heat bitch ^^
Nissan GT-R is nothing but a wanna-be trash rig that doesn't have the potentials or the design of European made gears. Besides, you sidestepped by point about EU cars being under FAR more scrutiny than wannabe jap garbage that has no future. Care to tell me why all the top winners in all the demonstrations and races were majority EU made?
Typical bitch squealing 'ignorance' when shit doesn't roll 'his' way. Either give concrete facts, or fuck off and delude yourself with ignorance :)
@14:06: You are obviously biased toward European trash.
Nissan GT-R will decimate European cars at half the price. You butthurt?
Anywho, the overwhelming amount of ignorance conveyed by you does not warrant any more of my time.
Japanese cars are clearly superior. End of discussion.
12:53 LOL haha typical response from those who have never driven any of them. The performance and quality on those vehicles is sky and earth compared to jap trash whose 'quality' is nothing but hype based on psychological returns rather than true quality.
No 'overpriced' junk can outlast decades of scrutiny and criticism and attention, far more than those given to inferior jap junks that now use chinese labor. I don't recall those companies recalling millions every other 3 years because of faulty quality. I bet you think 'lexus' is a luxury car lol
@13:47: Bunch of over priced European junk. Have fun with that shit.
Could you give an example? I'm from Europe and a casual hardcore gamer but I don't remember playing a game from Europe. Ever.
To add a few masterpieces (imo) to 08:59's list:
- Gothic (as mentioned above)
- Sacred
- FarCry, Crysis, upcoming Ryse - Son of Rome
- Book of unwritten tales (point&click adventure)
All that aside: You can't push games into a bin and declare it 'Standard' or 'How to look'...
While i love the Disgaea/Star Ocean/Metal Gear series and did love FF (6 to X-2) and Dragon Quest V, i couldn't get into Tales of Graces f.
It was just too damn superficial, too stupid in its dialogues, too fucking foreseeable. Sometimes you knew what nonsense they would spout before they actually did...and THIS is ONE reason SOME (japanese, american, whatever country's) games suck!
@12:16 Since when Assassins Creed is a good "game" ?
Ubisoft Montreal are good at making long repetitive games that abuse the use of collectibles and various other gameplay mechanics. Story and chara design are OK but that's all.
Also, Ubisoft is French, and as such, Assassin's Creed, and Rayman are european games.
wow thats a good game fantasy with mix of SEX!
Seriously? You never heard of 'The Wither' (made in Poland) or the 'Gothic'(made in Germany) series? If so, you miss out on life then ;/ ... and still, I'm just naming just a few of those.
And how the hell can you be a 'Casual Hardcore' gamer? If you meant that you only play 'hard-to-beat' games from time-to-time, that makes you just a casual gamer who likes such games. What you call a 'hardcore gamer' is someone who plays games a lot, usually to a point when he achieves everything achievable and unlocks everything unlockable in a title. Not to mention that a real hardcore gamer ALWAYS finishes a game. That's what means to be a 'hardcore gamer'. I know, because just until 4 years ago I was such a gamer.
Pardon me, I meant 'The Witcher'. Damned keyboard... ;/
@8:37 Ubisoft is French but Ubisoft Montreal, who has made all the main Assassin's Creed games, is Canadian. You don't say McDonald's teriyaki burger served in Japan is fine American cuisine just because the company is American owned, so nor should you try to steal Canada's credit. ;-]
Rare used to be good.... used to be.
PS: But it's cool to know all those games where from Europe. Come to think of it, I never actually cared where a game was from..
Cool... so many games I've never heard anything about...
..except for the ones I already heard about some 5-20 years ago and won't thus classify for "these days".
"What you call a 'hardcore gamer' is someone who plays games a lot"
..yeah.. I watch more anime than I play games, so on time I'm casual. I also blame a lack of good enough games to waste my time on. (Where is Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Redemption? Fucking where?)
Carmageddon - UK
Tomb Raider - England
Lemmings, GTA - Scotland, DMA Design/R* North
Wipeout series - UK
Heavy Rain - France
Rayman, From Dust, Beyond Good & Evil, ZombiU - France - Ubisoft Montpellier
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - Ukraine
Motorstorm, DriveClub - Britain
Fable, Black & White, Populous, Syndicate, Syndicate Wars, Dungeon Keeper
I'm not from Europe, but those are the first few that came to mind.
you have a point, but the videogame censorship in Europe is limiting their creativity badly, this is the reason why European game developers are leaving their countries (i heard Crytek is from Germany and they had to ship to the US because of the horrible censorship German laws has)
@6:52
As an intro http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crytek
headquarters in Frankfurt/Main.
Horrible censorship laws? Can't deny that, although they opened up a little in the last years, giving way to quite brutal games without banning them. Adding to that, there are several stages in "youth protection": Ages the game is meant to be played by range from 6 to 18, then 18+ as in you're not to advertise it openly but can still sell it, and lastly banning it completely.
Albeit i like my games/movies/whatever to be uncut,
i wonder about the brutality some things offer and if there's a need for that.
@20:58 Questioning the holocaust will not get you arrested, but denying it is something frowned upon in this country of mine. We do have a kind of scar in this matter and tend to 'punish' ourselves for the history, although younger generations can't do anything about it...
(That's also the reason for denying active involvement in wars, since it is stated in the constitution: Attacking no, defending yes)
We don't have much censorship laws in the UK, we did invent Boobraider after all. Germany on the other hand.... well you get arrested over their for questioning a certain historical event, so yeah.
that's just feminism at work. Though, I do find sexualized children in skimpy outfits(2d or 3d) distasteful, which is something you see a lot of in Japan based stuff. I really only like Japanese games if played at the arcade.
"that's just feminism at work."
Feminism has become a huge thing that western devs pander to, it isn't something you can just write off. Our side of the industry has been hijacked by those people
No violence and no boobs, those feminists want us to play barbie or what?
War games are fine by feminists, if they don't let you abuse women. Actually, in Europe they have some harsher guidelines there, though my info's brutally out of date. I remember one notable case was the original Fallout game: You could kill anyone... which wasn't ok because women are anyone too! ...so they turned women into talking dogs. (Children are also anyone! Who'd have thought! So they were made invisible.)
Not so much. I know many feminists who keep on whining "WHY ARE THERE SO MANY WAR GAMES!" without realizing that they buy maybe one game a year and the people who like violent war games buy 20 a year!
BARBIE GOT BOOBS
I often see people complaining about 20+ year old characters "looking like children". Fact is, people in Asian countries look younger.
I've seen Westerners who are 7-13 and look 30+. Some even have beards and shit. I suspect it's all the chemicals and other crap people are ingesting nowadays.
Point being, people whining about physical age appearance is ridiculous.
Also, only a few decades ago, young characters were more common in Western media. Books, TV shows, everything. Don't know why or when they shifted towards adulthood being so great (protip: it's not).
Anonymous 23:06, calling it 'pedoshit' kinda exposes your own flawed viewpoint. Calling it lolicon would have been better if you wanted to talk a game of being neutral.
They often look like children not because Japanese often look young, but because they appeal to some taboo.
Anon 01:37 That's the point. "leaving it" means leaving Japanese games on the shelf. The choice is clear these days. Don't like 'moe' character designs designed to appeal to pedophiles? Don't play Japanese games. And a great deal of anime these days is right out for the same reason. And that's the choice people are making.
Perhaps one should consider that the Japanese have a cultural heritage of large age gaps between couples. Westerners used to marry off their daughters at similar ages to older men, but that practice died off long ago; the Japanese are sortof cloistered on their little island and have a strong connection to their traditions.
I'm sure they look at our violent ways in a similar fashion as we see their apparent 'pedophilia'.
I'm realy flexible and oppen minded on a lot of thing but the moe trend is clearly pedophilia and I can't stand it, I miss Trigun, Gits, cowboy bebop and other similar titles. I can't fap to little kids.
So wait... I'm getting confused here. I thought the moral problem with sexually active young people had to do with their mental and emotional maturity? Not their physical appearance and proportions? How is this even a problem? Reverse association?
Anonymous 9:20, get used to it. The scale is coming down on the side of pedosexuality being a totally normal and natural sexuality and there is being some backlash against the "Rail against nature and say that even though children are born with fully functional genitalia, they are not supposed to be sexually active until 18!"
It is past time to get off that insanity.
Its not calling others wrong for not liking, its the simple thing of " you dont like it, you leave it" , the problem here is that, if they dont like it, its crticized to no end by those feminists and immediatly seen has overly sexualized or something along those lines, thats whats wrong.
Yeah, I suppose 7-13 yr olds with progeria could look 30+ but......
Progeria sufferers and kids in cosplay of adult characters don't count.
18+ yr old Asian people rarely ever look like prepubescent kids.
This has nothing to do with characters being young, but characters being children and designed for sexual purposes.
Hiding a prepubescent design behind the idea that she's a supernatural entity that has existed for 200+ years doesn't suddenly change the fact that her child like body and mannerisms are very much designed after an 8 yr old child.
Ha! Canon age doesn't matter when it's clear the game's character is meant to be a little girl walking around in underwear(a la Atelier Totori etc.) Pedoshit is pedoshit, and it's one thing to ask for acceptance of you liking that, but to call others wrong for not liking it is only going to get you more negative reactions.
well yeah, Japan owns the arcade market
cant deny that