Japanese game creators>>>>>Western game creators

I think misterpmedia was mistaken to claim there was "no debate", but that's probably because he's just not familiar with the recent string of acclaimed European survival horror games lately.

Anyway, I almost forgot about horror VN's (Visual Novels). Besides the games I've mentioned, there are plenty of positively-rated horror VN's being produced in Japan, very few of which are even being released in English.

I am still laughing at this ignorant thread.

Its fairly off but you are giving off the impression you think Japanese games aren't up to snuff in general which confuses me. The top Japanese games are easily on par with the top games from any other country.

Yea. Japan can make great games, just not as many as other countries.

Ah, fair enough

No, not even close. Even the Japanese developers think western devs are better.

"Japan is over. We're done. Our game industry is finished."

Sauce

MGS4 was terrible. I need to repeat that.

At this point, the only thing keeping Metal Gear alive is Rising. It's a good game that was moderately successful and well-received. The only difference between it and MGS4 is that it is a good game.

I guess I need to repeat that just cause you think its terrible thats ok since its your opinion after all.Doesint mean the series itself was actually dieing at that point.Now if you mean it was dieing or dead to you then thats another story.

mgs 4 was a great game.....

terrible story =/= bad game.....

in fact I would say that mgs 4 had some of the best gameplay mechanics in any stealth game, before and since,

its just the levels were uninteresting,

the multiplayer was a lag fest,

and the story sucked.......but for all intents and purposes,

mgs 4 was designed to be one of the best, the elements of everything just didn't live up to its own expectations.....

and mgr rising? might as well be dmc black ops 2

Pretty much this thread is Japan vs. the world. Kind of a tilted odds there.

but to stay on point

kid Icarus uprising>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

it cannot even be compared fairly against other games,

because most are sequels and by the numbers design,

with no room for growth between franchise iterations,

im sure you guys can use your imaginations accurately and fill in those blanks......

kid Icarus uprising is the peak, the plateau,

if it was on wii u, classic,

but if it was on ps4 or xbox one......it would already be greatest of all time to some people.....

Some Japanese developers think Western devs are better, while others don't. Same goes for some Western developers who think Japanese devs are better, while others don't. You can't take a few devs to represent an entire nation's industry.

Nevertheless, the article has some interesting insights. For example, the following comments kind of echoes some of the stuff we've discussed in this thread:

"They were always really created for the Japanese market - it's only been recently that companies like Capcom and Konami have really focused on the world market, so because their console market is always supported by a certain percentage of a much smaller population, so as the market goes they need to expand overseas.

"They've tried to do that, but traditionally Japan's always made games for its own market, but traditionally we've been infatuated with that style of development and their dedication to detail and the attention to that that made the games somewhat special. The balance and charm of Japanese games is something unique, but it was never meant to be global."

"You take something like Demon's Souls - you think that could have been made in the west, but no one would have the balls to make that in the west. No one would make it that difficult - it's only that Japanese mentality, that old-school sense of clearing the game. And everyone in the west thought that game was awesome."

And something that hasn't yet been discussed in this thread:

"I think the Japanese market hasn't declined - it's just moved," says Greiner. "If you look out there, you'll see who's got the biggest booths - Gree and Dena. We've shifted from a console-dominated market to a mobile-dominated market. That's not necessarily a bad thing - I think there are some great games out there. But it might not be globally oriented games - your RPGs of old that everybody loved, your fighters and things like that doesn't necessarily translate to mobile. Gree is one of the biggest companies in the world now, so to think that the industry went away or died is false - to say that it shifted to another platform and with that platform you have different users is fair."

They're making this change that the Japanese made a few years ago. In a few years, E3 will be dominated by mobile companies and free-to-play companies. Japan's changed, but it's not dead - it's just that it's more the future now than the past."

If this really is the future of gaming, it probably won't be what many core console gamers would want to see.

If your into rape simulators sure

I find it very hard to get behind Japanese development in the same way as western development. The games and companies the TC listed are not, I feel, representative of Japanese development in general (especially Nintendo who is more 'Nintendo' than Japanese). Just like western developers they put out the same properties every year...only without the relatively cutting edge tech/production values or sensible approach to trimming fat.

Yakuza 5 is a great example of typical Japanese game development: a hodgepodge of different game systems that keep getting added to each year until the franchise threatens to collapse in on itself from how obtuse it has become (and again, the game doesn't have the decency to at least be technically impressive).

And it's not just westerners who think this. Although Japanese games are still very popular in Japan there is growing consensus on the (Japanese) internet that Japanese games don't stand up to their western counterparts; so much so that 'Japanese games are finished' has become the go-to phrase of many forum goers in response to trouble in Japanese game development (for example, if a game comes out in heavy need of patching you will often see the comment 'Japanese games are finished' in response to the story).