Pride clouds vision for Japanese devs, says Inafune

Well considering Western has outdone the Japanese market in quality and sales in the last decade (not to say Western is always amazing and Japan always sucks, there is good and bad from both) by Westerm developers taking elements from Japanese games and using them to improve their games, maybe Japan can start taking Western concepts and use them to improve their games. They each have something to give to eachother, and until Japanese developers learn that they won't be getting much better any time soon without taking ideas from westen devleopers they aren't going to progress much in the way of making great games and not to mention almost all of the best modern Japanese studios have been taking some ques from Western developers and they have gotten better because of it. Kingdom Hearts combat system, for example, is a more western style of play that was thrown into a eastern game and people ate that shit up). So yes, just as the west learnt from the east, the east can learn from the west.

I agree that pride can cloud one's vision, BUT I don't think Japanese devs should try to be more like western devs. Instead they should be learning from Japanese gaming's past, and recapturing what made them great in the first place. Then they can improve and grow from there.

If I want games from Naughty Dog, I buy games from Naughty Dog... I want my Japanese games to feel Japanese, and I prefer them that way for the most part.

Noo I like my Japaneses style games, specially the jRPG's which are non existent on consoles these days.

I'm not sure what Japan thinks it needs to learn from the West about games.

Dark Souls is the masterpiece of this gen.

So they want a game that sells like CoD?

We have already learned that graphics does not make a good game and now people need to learn that sales do not make a good game.

I'm a white, Westerner and pretty much every game I own is Japanese...as most have them have been since the 80s. I don't see this trend reversing any time soon.

What a great idea...to hell with Dark Souls2, Japan should just try and flood the market with burnt out FPS titles like the rest of us.

Let me give you an example.

of KONAMI.

PES series which was once thee greatest soccer/footie title on the market on PS2. Come PS3 the western devs such as EA innovated with new engine, and bringing us FIFA. PES was reduced to second with its out of date gameplay and last gen mechanics.

KONAMI didn not once ! try to change even tho the fans in the west were in rage! Only after poor sales, and alot of bashing did konami try to change. Their pride was soo deep that they would not implement needed next gen features that EA had.

Konami didnt listen to fans. Instead their game became arcady and very cater towards domestic market. It was laughable.

We wanted 360 movement and organic animations. Konami did not fully implement this system until the latest installment, while animations are still bad.

Konamis pride tattered the series reputation.

And then they implemented horrid JRPG elements into a soccer game on the ML mode, where boots give you extra stats ........ please.

And yes Japanese pride has allowed them to fall behind and even try to copy the west in certain themes.

I mean yakuza 3 was great, but then yakuza 4 felt the same ? hardly a move up.

MGS-MGS2-MGS3-MGS4-MGS peace walker-MGR Revengeance-MGS The phantom pain.

If you look at all those game, while similar are very different from each other they stand alone as their own original game. There is something about Kojima's ways of changing things up that the west obviously has no clue of

Let western developers make games for western market and japanese developer for japanese/asia market. I don't see a problem with that, each to its own. Everyone prides their craft. Not let one kill the other.

He's doing the right thing by saying what he's saying in this article. I have to remember that during the 80s. most of there games really hit into the market in both arcades and home, before the Internet came out into the public. It's funny because everyone during this time was TRYING really hard to get into the mainstream. It's nice knowing that Inafune is standing up saying all of that in this day of age.

@TrueGB It's closer to monster hunter than dark souls...and he's not saying anything derogatory...he just thinks people need to pay more attention.

And no, I don't think they need to be more western but I understand his point...he admits they've failed in the past trying to merge east and west, but that doesn't mean it's not possible with more effort.

The Man I respected The Most and one of the main reason Capcom become CRAPCOM, these transformation begin in 2008. Now Master inafune is gone and Crapcom doesnt LEARN and is more crappy than before. Also Japaneses Produceer really are blind.

STRONGLY disagree, why would you try to do something a lot of others are already doing? Especially in a market where it's important to differentiate yourselves from the competition. Sure Japanese games aren't as popular as they were a decade ago, but that doesn't mean the developers should stop being true to themselves and selling out just to appeal to a group of people that wouldn't care either way. Look at what happened to Resident Evil, although it wasn't obviously Japanese (in it's feel), it was very successful because it had it's own style of horror survival, Resident Evil 4 polished up the mechanics, pushing the series forward while still be true to the series but with Resident Evil 5 and especially 6, Capcom tried to appeal to the masses and look what happened. RE5 was still a fine game but RE6 tried too hard to offer everything that the mainstream western gamer wants, losing almost everything that made Resident Evil a Resident Evil game.

Even Final Fantasy has been getting like this and reviewers and gamers alike aren't responding well to this, while developers who've focused on making their games more modern without trying to appeal to the masses (like Namco-Bandai, Nintendo, Atlus) have found great reception both critically and in sales.

I love this guy.

Honestly, I feel that both America and Japan have had stagnation. Most American studios are releasing the same old FPS and sports games while Japan are releasing the same old wacky Japanese-esque titles that never get ported to America. I think the problem, also, is the fact that new IPs aren't being developed as much. Yeah, I understand that it takes a lot more money to develop games these days, but new IPs are essential to progressing. It's hard to get excited for another generation of gaming when we know we're going to get the same franchises releasing new titles. Granted, there are some franchises I'm glad that are still trucking along, but also, I don't mind trying out new IPs if they're good games.

America hasn't really improved that much in their game-making skills, it's their GAME SELLING tactics that has given them the edge over Japan. Japan releases games and just sits there expecting people to buy them. That's just not going to work on 2013. Other thing, I'm sure that Japan has no problem sharing the market with everyone else, but can you realistically see Americans willing to do the same? Let's be realistic here, companies like Activision and EA are the kind of company that want ALL. OF. THE. CAKE. Just for them. If we KNOW that companies have paid for positive reviews before, I wouldn't doubt for a second that american companies haven't been playing fair all along..

@Pyerun We are all equal genetically. Maybe their education blows, in that case a global effort has to be made.

Humanity needs to learn to think as one species united, not instead to bicker over which color/nationality is superior. That crap doesn't mean anything, there's good and bad people in every human breed.

If there's anything u should learn then it is that games which only provide endless amounts of cutscenes with bad dialogue , bland ,somewhat annoying characters even and occasional quick time events to spicen things up in a VERY restrictive environment (Final Fantasy) aren't good.

Most of the above mentioned is present in most modern Japanese games which i'm sure you will just love if you are an anime fan but that's really the only thing the above mentioned is good for - a bloody anime ,not a game that decides that it now wishes to compete with western games.

I can't express how relieved i was while watching Totalbiscuit's little gameplay of the newest final fantasy title because he pointed these very same mistakes + the oxymoron storyline out very well to finally see that i was not alone in having such an opinion.

Also ,if you aren't able to see more in western titles than "hurr durr derpa derpa FPS" when discussing such a subject then please don't comment.

@Pyerun With Americans leading the pack

@Pyerun shut up

...Not that I actually mind this...lol. To be honest, not many Western-made games come to mind that I thoroughly enjoy. I couldn't care less for Rockstar's products for example, and Halo's story mode is too disengaging for me personally, etc, but again, that's just me. I like the rift in gaming styles and cultures as is, and I don't want them to cross over to each other really. I may not enjoy the Japanese style of games I like so much if they pick up too many Western sensibilities. Besides, Western gaming is riddled with problems, and we don't Japan following the same route. Especially not with things like Call of Duty which is recycled crap with a different coat of paint each time and simply a means of conformity, instilling a sense of superficial pride and acceptance to be part of the populace of "cool" people when in truth they are just becoming slaves to the creators and losing their individuality and drive for gaming. Bottom line, CoD is more of a stupid clique item that is not purchased for the gameplay and as a game itself but more of a dumb accessory as part of a trend that some feel they need to assimilate into.

His latest game, a monster hunter rip off, will never be in the top 10 global. Hes involved in a ninja gaiden rip off.

Before he alienates any more people,

He should focus on himself

I say hes an idiot, and his own vision is clouded