Why PC gaming is at the forefront of the industry

The main reason why Japan has become irrelevant today is because they are not into PC gaming. These are what they lacked by ditching the PC platform.

1. Game Engines - In Japan, the use of engines like Unreal, Unity, etc. is fairly recent. What they usually do is create a game engine for every game. As technology advanced, using game engines like Unreal and Unity has become more cost efficient. But as they turn to these engines, they are already very behind in the technological know-how as the West have been using these for a long time and they aren't adept at English.

2. Mods and map editors - These tools are the hallmarks of PC gaming. It is how MOBA was born and so is Counter Strike. The Japanese aren't exposed to these tools because they do not game on PC hence their lack of knowledge of using such tools. And without these freely available tools, there's no creation of content. Again, the inability to understand English is going to make it harder for them without any attempt of localization.

3. Digital Distribution - It is because of this format that indie games became widespread and with it the desire to create games independently. In Japan, DD is unpopular. They are stuck in the past with the traditional publisher-developer relationship. Indie games from the West have to be published over there. Strange, considering the very definition of indie is being independent (lack of publisher).

So you see? It is PC gaming that is at the forefront of the industry. It is where the ripples of change start. Consoles this gen are just PC wannabees.

Okay.

Also, Japan is not irrelevant.

What if i have a PS3 and PC?

Don't I win because i have the best of both worlds?:-\

PS4 is selling terribly over there. And their market is dominated by mobile. What's happening over there doesn't really affect the world that much anymore. PC doesn't even need Blu-ray for gaming.

actually, PC gaming is at the ass end of the industry. Due to lack of quality games.it's a common mistake made by some gamers to think that it's in the forefront.

This is the dumbest claim I've heard in a long while. It is consoles. It will continue to be consoles until the mindless fanboys put their money where their mouth is and stop supporting all the bullshit practices that are going on. PC was at the forefront for awhile, but not at the moment. There was a period where the PC had a Neo Geo like status.

If PC is at the forskin of the industry, why are they getting GTA V a year late, and either no Destiny or a year later for that as well?

Face it, consoles are more popular.

Those three things I listed started on PC and catapulted the industry to what it is today. Imagine if there were no game engines like Source, Unreal, Unity,etc., no mods and map editors, and no Steam.

PC is becoming mobile/tablet bejewel style games. Hardcore pc gamers are a small minority mostly ignored by the industry. With good reason.

Japan doesn't care for consoles. They want mobile games.

That was just a sad pathetic attempt. You have seriously got to try and improve your trolling. That just plain sucked.

I'm one of the biggest proponents of PC gaming on this forum, but even I find this post to be completely off base. Your conclusions are all wrong.

People understimate how vibrant pc gaming developers community is in Japan. Their biggest problem is lack of DD popularity, but even that is changing and more and more games are getting english releases.

Read my above post, it applies to you as well.

People understimate how vibrant pc gaming developers community is in Japan. Their biggest problem is lack of DD popularity, but even that is changing and more and more games are getting english releases.

And the industry is a MESS today. DLC has almost reached a point where I don't even like thinking that it started from expansion backs, back in the day. It did, but back then you were really getting something ALL of the time. Not only that but the idea of the expansion backs was to extend the length of a games life out of fan demand.

Now in regards to game engines. There's obviously a positive to licensed engines. However, look at the amount of crap and mediocrity that comes from them. Yes i'm aware there are good games, but having such easy to use engines also gives the ability for studios to just throw stuff together very quickly, market it to death, and sell sell sell.

***I've stated numerous times that I do think PC gaming will be back in the limelight in the near future, btw. These two consoles--xbox and ps4--are the worst consoles ever released.

Japan is not irrelevant. .

Just ignore him. Its because people like you bite that he keeps coming back.

Lolololololololoololololol

They probably are to most North American and European devs.

I doubt there are a lot of japanese gamers playing Divinity:Original Sin or The Witcher right. Devs don't expect them to either.

And looking at famitsu, it seems like most gamers are very young and play mostly on portable systems like the 3DS and PS Vita.

Because we are getting the improved version along with the current-gen systems ?

And TWO freaking examples instantly changes 25+ years of computer gaming history ?

I didn't bite. Do you even know what that means? In order for me to bite, I would have had to of been stupid enough to take him seriously and not know he was trolling. You can clearly tell by my reply to him that I knew he was trolling.

MESS? You're just being pessimistic and blind. Because of game engines, mods and editors, and DD, new genres were born and indie games flourished. This is the democratic age of game development where anyone can make games and put them on the internet for people to play. Why do you care so much about DLC and mediocre and bad games?

This ^^

No, I'm not. Look at what MS attempted to pull of with the Xbox One. People finally saw something that was so obviously not good and they spoke with their wallets. MS, by the looks of it, killed the xbox brand with such an act. The problem with the amount of mediocrity is that all these games get pushed, there's tons of ad money involved, and all these games will at least recieve decent reviews. Perhaps let me rephrase: The console arena is a mess, which is part of the reason I think PC will gain popularity over the next few years--from former console gamers.

Self-contradiction will always be the downfall of you Lemmings. You talk about PC gaming like it's the greatest thing ever and yet you're constantly trying to reassure yourselves and others by shoving it down people's throats. It's pathetic.

Although PC is the most innovative platform because it's open source, (Oculus, Kick started games, experimental hardware, indies, mods, entirely new genres ect, as opposed to the same 5 genres in every console game and 5sequels to every game), I don't think it's fair to say Japan is irrelevant due to the lack of PC

Just like cows were last gen.

Stop.

http://www.vg247.com/2014/07/12/pc-gaming-hardware-worth-double-console-gaming-market-value-report/

http://www.maximumpc.com/%E2%80%9Cpc_games_have_surpassed_console_games%E2%80%9D_says_dfc_intelligence_owner_2014

http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1503/15036700/2514944-0729074495-wiNSE.jpg

http://systemwarsmagazine.com/gamespot-reviews-spreadsheet/

Why is it not fair? Them ditching the PC platform is what led to their downfall.

a cow that doesn't worship PlayStation is not a cow and that's why your statement is void.

If you were around at the start of the last gen which I think you were, you Cows were playing all your multiplats on the PC because the PS3 sucked.

@RoboCopISJesus: but youre not a pc gamer. :-\

Who cares, why bother telling people how amazing PC is? It's for them to decide. We don't need more morons as it is anyways :P

It's a different market, with different people, who like different things. The Japanese are not really into PC gaming because the platform doesn't offer the gaming experience that they want.

Underage girlfriend (with adult bodies) simulators, on handhelds, may not be my cup of tea but that doesn't mean it's irrelevant to someone else, from a different culture.

1. Consoles get late ports too. Unlike PC however, those ports are the worse version.

2. Consoles don't get all games either. Infact, consoles miss out on more aaa-aa-a games than PC. (Citation: metacritic and gs)

3. PC is almost as popular as all 6 consoles combined, making it the single most popular system and factually at the forefront of the industry:

http://www.vg247.com/2014/07/12/pc-gaming-hardware-worth-double-console-gaming-market-value-report/

http://www.maximumpc.com/%E2%80%9Cpc_games_have_surpassed_console_games%E2%80%9D_says_dfc_intelligence_owner_2014

http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/1503/15036700/2514944-0729074495-wiNSE.jpg

I do not expect a response. You got decimated badly. Ouch.

With 'Powah' and resolution being somhyped this gen, PC will garner more exposure as it trumps the consoles. I absolutely hate trying to find a fix in order to get games running on steam. But when I get them to its awesome.

Really depends on what you think irrelevant means. Japan has a unique industry, and in some ways that is more positive than negative.

Japan isn't irrelevant because of that.

They just simply tend to focus all their efforts on the Japanese market alone which is its own thing.

It's different from the Western markets where America shares pretty similar tastes with Europe with both being the biggest markets for games.

The only thing I remember about early last gen was how the ps3 was struggling with only resistance and motorstorm for games and how the lems wouldn't let us hear the end of it.

It's not about tastes. It's about technology and information sharing. Those three things I listed were born from the PC platform which they largely ignored. Their failure to adopt English made them behind as English is the language of science and technology. Japan isn't advanced in technology as people tend to believe.

@amazonangry: Even if only 1% of the games on the PC platform are quality titles, that's still a larger number of quality games compared to consoles which may have a selection of 50% quality titles.

If by unique you mean cut off from the rest of the world, yes. Creativity flourishes through sharing and experiencing arts and culture outside of your own world.