What is going on in japanese gaming?

[DevilRedeemed]

I've noticed the past 5 years or more gaming has shifted significantly away from Japan. Maybe to some extent Japanese style gaming has become international now, but it wasnt that long ago they where at the forefront dictating where things would go next. Japanese audience would buy into it and the rest of us would too but not as leading markets for their wares.

So the Japanese have stopped leading the way, they don't seem to care anymore. Moved on to mobile and little more.
Do they even play video games as a main passtime over there anymore?

So much coming out un the west tries so hard to immitate the japanese style but it's all pretty redundant in my opinion. Comes off as fanfic.
Maybe the long lasting love affair with gaming over there fell off. Maybe they do other stuff over there.

This is a lazy sunday thread. Si cholo

 

[100proof]

I think it's a confluence of factors.

- Shrinking Japanese youth demographic means the gaming audience there isn't what it is in other parts of the world.

- An extended rough patch in the Japanese economy so a lot of the great developers/publishers have either gone under or gotten swallowed up by larger companies (Hudson, Taito, etc.)

- Worse yet, several companies have either moved on from AA/AAA development to mobile or haven't been able to hack it in the modern landscape (Capcom, Konami, Sega for the most part).

Nintendo still chugs along and does great (the Switch has already outsold the PS4 over there) but they're practically separate from the rest of the gaming industry at this point.

The large portion of Western games are either heavily inspired by classic Japanese gaming (indie stuff largely) or just bloated $100 million dollar sandbox games that borrow elements from everything (everything Rockstar makes, everything Ubi makes, most of the non-sports games EA makes, all of the Bethesda Studios games) and the only difference is whether you're shooting people in a modern setting, stabbing people in a historical setting or shooting people with laser guns in a sci-fi setting. If that's what you're in to, vaya con dios but I got tired of that shit years ago.

 

[sylvie]

I think it's a confluence of factors.

- Shrinking Japanese youth demographic means the gaming audience there isn't what it is in other parts of the world.

- An extended rough patch in the Japanese economy so a lot of the great developers/publishers have either gone under or gotten swallowed up by larger companies (Hudson, Taito, etc.)

- Worse yet, several companies have either moved on from AA/AAA development to mobile or haven't been able to hack it in the modern landscape (Capcom, Konami, Sega for the most part).

Nintendo still chugs along and does great (the Switch has already outsold the PS4 over there) but they're practically separate from the rest of the gaming industry at this point.

The large portion of Western games are either heavily inspired by classic Japanese gaming (indie stuff largely) or just bloated $100 million dollar sandbox games that borrow elements from everything (everything Rockstar makes, everything Ubi makes, most of the non-sports games EA makes, all of the Bethesda Studios games) and the only difference is whether you're shooting people in a modern setting, stabbing people in a historical setting or shooting people with laser guns in a sci-fi setting. If that's what you're in to, vaya con dios but I got tired of that shit years ago.

Love your posts darling. Well-stated!!!

 

[DevilRedeemed]

I think it's a confluence of factors.

- Shrinking Japanese youth demographic means the gaming audience there isn't what it is in other parts of the world.

- An extended rough patch in the Japanese economy so a lot of the great developers/publishers have either gone under or gotten swallowed up by larger companies (Hudson, Taito, etc.)

- Worse yet, several companies have either moved on from AA/AAA development to mobile or haven't been able to hack it in the modern landscape (Capcom, Konami, Sega for the most part).

Nintendo still chugs along and does great (the Switch has already outsold the PS4 over there) but they're practically separate from the rest of the gaming industry at this point.

The large portion of Western games are either heavily inspired by classic Japanese gaming (indie stuff largely) or just bloated $100 million dollar sandbox games that borrow elements from everything (everything Rockstar makes, everything Ubi makes, most of the non-sports games EA makes, all of the Bethesda Studios games) and the only difference is whether you're shooting people in a modern setting, stabbing people in a historical setting or shooting people with laser guns in a sci-fi setting. If that's what you're in to, vaya con dios but I got tired of that shit years ago.

Awesome.
It is sad. There was a cut off point where gaming stopped evolving the way it had and the fundamentals changed as did target audience (western kids by and large). The Japanese cater to western tastes, Nintendo is the only remaining Japanese console gaming company since I believe Sony has relocated to USA.
The flip side is that the gains in graphics and worlds created are becoming ever more wondrous and that can't be a bad thing. Just feel the mistique embued in these worlds is long gone, the grays replaced by matter of fact black and white western/anglo saxon sensibility

Edit: the only thing that will save gaming is strong visionary producers taking the helm as has been the way since the start. And in such a case it really doesn't matter what part of the world they are from. Games with personality and a take on whatever subject is being dealt with. That rather than games that cater to the capricious wants of the spoilt and pampered modern gamer.

And yet. Business is fine the way it is so who cares these days? Very few.

 

[sylvie]

i feel like Japanese gaming has evolved into music/beat based games and weird augmentations aside from Nintendo having a presence in the console world

 

[DevilRedeemed]

i feel like Japanese gaming has evolved into music/beat based games and weird augmentations aside from Nintendo having a presence in the console world

Yeah me toc. Also rpg type games that will always remain roughly within the same bounds.

 

[LoneSage]

Things started getting bad when you had to go to college to learn how to make video games.

edit: just a reminder that Mega Man 2 was a secret, side project that Capcom higher-ups knew nothing about. wild

 

[sylvie]

Also rpg type games that will always remain roughly within the same bounds.

i feel like that is/already largely en route to the mobile gaming craze with gacha gambling systems being sold with really cheap/patronizing franchise or game themes. like its just a bunch of mini roulettes and slot systems and hype .

 

[SpamYouToDeath]

Things started getting bad when you had to go to college to learn how to make video games.

You don't have to do anything to make video games, aside from making video games. There's literally 0 barrier to entry if you want to self-publish games on a PC. Practically nobody could even stop you. There's nearly 0 barrier on other platforms.

 

[NeoSneth]

The Japanese stopped leading the way during the last gen, maybe even further back. Naughty Dog, Bethesda, RockStar, Bioware.... The stuff these studios put out destroyed the repetitious stuff coming out of japan.

JRPG's were killed by Elder Scrolls and Mass Effect. They are relegated to mobile platforms and have a small dying fanbase. The repetitious grind, formulaic story line, useless side quests are all so boring. There's more amnesia plotlines in JRPG's than daytime television.
Final Fantasy hasn't even been relevant since PS2...maybe.

Even the best sprite artists are now from the PC indie scene.

Capcom is hanging in there, but we will see.

Japanese games lack polish and innovation. You ever play a japanese developed game on PC? It's pathetic and broken.

The only company you see putting out consistent quality is Nintendo, and most of those games are simple and not done in-house.

 

[Tripredacus]

Mobile games are the king in Japan now.

 

[DevilRedeemed]

Mobile games are the king in Japan now.

So maybe console gaming as a national passtime over there is a thing of the past. Arcades are slowly dying there too. It is all understandable, I just wonder if any of the youth yearn for the days of the great japanese games companies of yesteryear.

 

[Heinz]

The Japanese stopped leading the way during the last gen, maybe even further back. Naughty Dog, Bethesda, RockStar, Bioware.... The stuff these studios put out destroyed the repetitious stuff coming out of japan.

JRPG's were killed by Elder Scrolls and Mass Effect. They are relegated to mobile platforms and have a small dying fanbase. The repetitious grind, formulaic story line, useless side quests are all so boring. There's more amnesia plotlines in JRPG's than daytime television.
Final Fantasy hasn't even been relevant since PS2...maybe.

Even the best sprite artists are now from the PC indie scene.

Capcom is hanging in there, but we will see.

Japanese games lack polish and innovation. You ever play a japanese developed game on PC? It's pathetic and broken.

The only company you see putting out consistent quality is Nintendo, and most of those games are simple and not done in-house.

Long... boring JRPG's for those who seem to have 4 hours a day to waste for the next 6 months, old games with fancy re-releases, just rubbish.

That's not to say there aren't any gems within it's sea of shit but few and far between I'm afraid. Weeb Heaven now...

 

[@M]

They reached the pinnacle of game design with strip mah jong--you can only go downhill from there.

 

[Maury V.]

Things started getting bad when you had to go to college to learn how to make video games.

edit: just a reminder that Mega Man 2 was a secret, side project that Capcom higher-ups knew nothing about. wild

Had no clue Mega Man 2 was a side project.

On everything else, I agree. Back then, making games in the 80s and 90s was something special because a group of dedicated men and women had a love for the art. These days, you got degreed mother fuckers coming into the scene and funking it up with their "knowledge" and "gender studies" junk.

 

[NeoSneth]

Had no clue Mega Man 2 was a side project.

On everything else, I agree. Back then, making games in the 80s and 90s was something special because a group of dedicated men and women had a love for the art. These days, you got degreed mother fuckers coming into the scene and funking it up with their "knowledge" and "gender studies" junk.

There are still plenty of 1-4 man teams in the indie scene. They are making quality games that hold up quite well.
Fez was 1 guy. I mean, he's crazy... but it was 1 guy.
Super meat boy, 2 guys.

 

[Taiso]

Online gaming became a big deal.

The market moved towards FPS and then streaming FPS.

A lot of smart people learned how to make money from playing video games while others watched.

The industry learned how to benefit from all this free advertising.

The hobby went normie.

Not 'Nintendo family-corporate' normie, but 'dudebro' normie.

The Japanese industry has always had a vastly more nuanced and thematic approach to game design. One that dudebro normies don't really respect or appreciate. To them, the subtle context of a quest in Yakuza or Persona is completely lost on them because they can't kill the NPCs mid sentence.

Some single player games that were marketed extremely well found purchase. The Witcher 3 and especially Skyrim.

Gaming culture has evolved into metatextual comedy. japanese games can't get much love except from the niche audience.

I still love Japanese games, though.

 

[oliverclaude]

Motion sickness killed japanese gaming, but they'll be ok, the proportions still rock: Switch leads the sales charts, while all Xboxes are rock bottom. Which also means, that as long as they don't care too much what we think about them, the'll be ok.

 

[StevenK]

Mobile games are the king in Japan now.

How have they managed to sell that shit to such a knowledgeable gaming scene?

Barely games, barely playable.

 

[mr_b]

How have they managed to sell that shit to such a knowledgeable gaming scene?

Barely games, barely playable.

Have you seen their pachinko obsession? The mobile craze makes all the sense to me. Flashy crazy lights and sounds no substance just like pachinko.

 

[Rocko]

I think has been happening for the last 10 years or even more to be honest. Gaming is now completely mainstream in the western world, which it wasn't when most games came out of Japan. The Japanese gaming market is suddenly small in comparison. Japanese game design are sometimes quirky (which I like) but everyone doesn't. It's also very expensive to make the AAA titles that "people" want and they need to sell, a lot. Most companies just couldn't keep up.

 

[DevilRedeemed]

Some really interesting ideas in this thread.

I think it comes down to what was once a main dominant export for Japan that has since dissapeared, the arcade. arcade gaming was the definition of bleeding edge AAA, so along with dazzling state of the art technology (all their gadgetry was more interesting back then) we got their philosophy, their dedication to excellence and their quirkiness. Home console gaming was a sort of offshoot of the arcade bigger brother, and since now big brother is the PC, everything has changed, console gaming pretends something different, more computer like and western.

 

[LoneSage]

Some really interesting ideas in this thread.

I think it comes down to what was once a main dominant export for Japan that has since dissapeared, the arcade. arcade gaming was the definition of bleeding edge AAA, so along with dazzling state of the art technology (all their gadgetry was more interesting back then) we got their philosophy, their dedication to excellence and their quirkiness. Home console gaming was a sort of offshoot of the arcade bigger brother, and since now big brother is the PC, everything has changed, console gaming pretends something different, more computer like and western.

Japan as a whole isn't as strong as they used to be in innovating with new technology, but that's a thread for another day.

 

[DevilRedeemed]

Japan as a whole isn't as strong as they used to be in innovating with new technology, but that's a thread for another day.

Yeah. They kind of opened the gateway for what is now a sector championed by various other regions (USA China Korea). Maybe it's got to with them developing origami from peices of coloured paper whilst elsewhere they used dollar bills for the same purpose.

 

[oliverclaude]

Japan as a whole isn't as strong as they used to be in innovating with new technology, but that's a thread for another day.

I heard that in China... Japanese get a pretty bad rap just for being Japanese, but that's a thread for another day.