Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto has provoked the ire of Japanese gamers by complaining that it is their inability to stomach the challenge of difficult action games which has led to the genre’s decline in Japan, even as challenge-loving American gamers happily lap them up.
Miyamoto’s comments came during an otherwise uninteresting interview discussing Nintendo’s latest Pikmin remake:
I’ve been making action games for some 30 years, and I’ve been thinking about the difference evident in how their popularity has been gradually declining in Japan whilst in America it has been maintained.
The issue is that Japanese who cannot overcome the level of difficulty in an action game no longer want to play them. This perception then spreads to all games as a whole, and people avoid them because they see them as difficult.
In the case of America, there are a lot more people who enjoy a challenge and will stick with it for you and try to overcome the initial hurdle.
Yes, it’s action games which really demand a certain level of skill.
Right, some players just enjoy playing, some prefer to finish it, and some prefer greater challenge. People looking for a challenge will dismiss an easily cleared game as “easy.”
But by making things too difficult, the people who just want to play get driven off. I always wanted to accommodate both types.
His comments have not been well received by Japanese gamers – although with the topic of the difficulty of Japanese games being so controversial overseas it seems he may have some sympathisers there at least:
“Yes, yes. It’s all the fault of the Japanese.”
“The reason they declined was because of idiots like this blaming everything on their customers.”
“It’s because they only know how to make games for children now.”
“Nintendo, the reason you’ve declined is because of your endless remakes, that’s all.”
“Certainly, you need perseverance to play on the Wii U. Holding that horribly heavy pad was just too much for me.”
“I suppose all this is why pay-to-win social games are all the rage now.”
“If you are a kid with no money but lots of free time taking your time on a difficult game makes sense, but if you are an adult with money but no free time the opposite is true.”
“Games recently are too simple. You should die if you make one slight mistake.”
“Who wants to play a game where if you miss one pixel on the screen it is an instant game over.”
“Now things are split between lots of casuals and a few hardcore gamers. You can’t meet their requirements at the same time.”
“The gaming audience has aged and no longer has time for the hassle of difficult action games.”
“People talk like difficulty determines how much fun a game is. It is the other way around really – a game has to be fun to make you keep playing and enjoying the challenge.”
“The real issue is not the difficulty but the level of effort you have to consider investing to overcome a given level of difficulty.”
“Japanese just get bored of them more easily.
“I seem to recall a lot of western games used to be very difficult. Then they got dumbed down and sold more as a result. Really I think the Japanese games aren’t selling because of a lack of ideas though.”
“Wait, if what he is saying about Japanese being quitters is true how come Monster Hunter is so popular still? Don’t overseas players moan about it being too difficult?”
“I don’t get him at all. He’s blaming the fact their action games sell like hot cakes in America but not in Japan on the Japanese? Blaming your customers is hardly a good business strategy…”
“Well, you rarely see western games so difficult nobody can complete them…”
“Gaming demographics just differ in the US and Japan, and the ones in the US tend to be more committed?”
“Games are supposed to be fun. Playing them needn’t be treated as an act of self-mortification.”
Listen up, noobs. I’ve been playing video games since mid-80’s and my experience starts with Pong. Back then video games were seen as yet another toy for the children. Parents (at least my parents) didn’t want to pay too much for it, and they didn’t play either. Also games were more expensive: if I make currency conversion right (€ didn’t exist yet), console cartridge cost equal to 80 €. 80 € for ONE game! And people complain Nintendo’s recent NES and SNES replicas with 20-30 built-in games are too expensive!
This all means that games available for use were very limited. Reason why I played, died, and started all over again is because I didn’t have many other games to play with. Also some of the hardest games were short: If Contra and Probotector (Contra’s censored PAL version) had been easy, I would have played through them in a week or less. Because the game is (used to be) hard, I had to start it all over again repeatedly until I had memorized the levels and boss fights. With all the accumulated experience and knowledge about the game, I can now play it through in less than ½ hour. Game that cost 80 €.
Now we can buy games cheap. Last month with just 10 € I got 5 Heroes of Might & Magic games with all the expansions. 5 games and all the DLC with 10 €! If one game feels too hard and I don’t feel like playing the same thing repeatedly, I can just buy another game with few € and keep on playing just for variety’s sake.
this issue is whats hapening in other US games. one is destiny 2. bungie made that game to apppease to the casuals, driving away the hardcore fanbase in the process.
whether its japan or us , its a real difficult for companies to find that perfect middle ground.
BUT WHAT CANT BE ALLOWED ARE BLATANT CENSORSHIPS! i mean even an M rating game like darksiders 2 had the clevage for some women in the us version blurred which didnt make sense AT ALL! GTA i can understand but its dumbass censorships, not challenging difficulties are what gaming companies needs to address!
Monster Hunter: Huge success in japan that basically carried the PSP there and is starting to gain popularity here.
Fire Emblem: Long running super successful game in japan more than the states and it can be very difficult.
(The 2 above series had a direct impact on the successful sales of 3DS and Wii U units)
Dark Souls: Learn from death type game that’s popular in both Japan and America both financially and critically.
Shin Megami Tensei Games and the extremely numerous spin offs: Critically successful, Financially the companies that own the series failed but the games were a success… difficult on easy difficulties.
He’s just a close minded idiot honestly speaking, I haven’t liked Nintendo’s direction for a long time but some of their 1st party games are still good.
Alright, this comment is gonna get so many haters but here it goes. THANK YOU MIYAMOTO FOR TELLING IT AS IT IS! One of Americans worst traits is also one that makes them so good at gaming. Americans are stubborn, that is putting it lightly, so when they are presented with something like a game with a difficulty setting they will often choose the “nightmare mode” or hardest setting available to them and then they will continue to play until they feel like they have beaten it. To that intense puzzle solving games that require a specific strategy to get through don’t seem to be as well liked in the states unless the graphics and storyline are amazing. If intense puzzle solving games are more popular in Japan than it might suggest that the Japanese are better equipped as tacticians and problems solvers rather than just games where you fight powerful bosses or have a lot of annoying button combos. Miyamoto has a choice with action games, either sell to the US with difficult games or focus on the Japanese gamers and make the game easier. He can focus on one audience but not all of them. Of course, Nintendo could just make a difficulty option for every game they make.
While not a action game, Catherine seems fit this bill rather well.