The downfall of Japanese gaming?

[atlien seeko]

If you were a gamer in the 90's, you know how badass Japan was in the video game industry. Some of the best game studios, games and gaming systems were out of Japan and they pretty much had a killer app for every genre out. If you wanted a good adventure game, you looked for Super Mario, Super Metroid, Sonic the Hedgehog, Mega Man, etc. There's no question that Squaresoft (SquareEnix) was the go to studio for a good solid RPG with games like the Final Fantasy series, Xenogears, Parasite Eve, etc. Street Fighter was king of the arcade for a long time until the new challenger, aka Mortal Kombat, arrived.

They had a really solid run until around the turn of the new millennium. That's when everything seemd to go downhill for Japans gaming industry. In 1999, SEGA launched the Dreamcast. A successful, unsuccessful console that had an excellent library of good games and was ahead of its time with being online capable straight out the box. It was short lived and fizzled out int he mist of Sony's Playstation 2, then Microsofts debute XBOX.

Fastforward to today, and almost all the companies that were heavyweights back in the 90's and early 2000's are embarrassments now. Square struggles to crate a good Final Fantasy, or any RPG for that sake. Nintendo makes gimmick hardware and recycles the same characters generation after generation like an old Buggs Bunny cartoon... SEGA is out of the hardware game and rarely creates anything worth mentioning. Sony is the last company from Japan that is really standing it's ground, but even they recently went through hard time with the exposure of their weak Playstation Network security and having it's online gaming community offline for an entire month. What's their future?

The biggest games are coming from American companies like Rockstar, THQ, EA, Blizzard, Microsoft, Infinity Ward, Activision, etc, and Japan is looking like a joke to the majority witht he exception of a few gems like Gran Turismo 5, Street Fighter 4 and Metal Gear Solid 4. If Apple enters the gaming market, I couldnt see Sony and Nintendo competing with giants like Microsoft and Apple. It's sort of depressing to see all the cool Eastern stuff like mechs, weird and obscure Japanese characters and stories disappear from the scene slowly, but honestly, the material they're putting out is sub par to the standards of the average gamer today. What's with the decline in quality gaming material coming from the East?

Do you think they'll ever make a comback, or is it safe to say we can expect a few quality titles from Japan each year with the American market dominating? What about the Japanese market, will American franchises and companies takeover there as well? What's your opinion.

 

[tennhouse2]

IDK if they'll make a comeback, i wish i had the link but a Japanese Game developer was pretty much saying that there a good five years behind the U.S right now

 

[finnns2003]

Far from the golden days. The problem is that gaming has taken a new direction which is really affected by the major consoles. Nintendo and Sega are no longer powerhouses in the console market, the U.S. has made major strides, and stubborn old Japanese execs that don't want to change their ways.


That said, where is my Shenmue 3?

 

[undefinedinc]

I totally agree, I use to be a die hard gamer back in the 90s and I honestly noticed the decline when Sega stopped making systems and got into producing for all systems..It just didn't seem right to have Sonic on Nintendo, they use to be heavy competitors, and to see them merge just lost a lot of the excitement in video games to me. Originality in lead video game characters are non-existent, I mean you had Mario, Zelda, Sonic, Crash Bandicoot, Donkey Kong, Metroid, Laura Croft etc (I know I'm missing a ton) and now there is barely any..I think titles like GTA and all these crime/mafia/shooting games took over the market and thus American gaming took over and Japan decided to stop importing their games as much...If you think about it, the best games from the 90s came from Japan and like OP stated, no matter how much they try to recreate classics and update them, they fail at it miserably...I truly miss 90s video games

 

[mosthated770]

man old final fantasy=my middle school years 7/8/9/10

9 was easily my favorite...

 

[ekon one]

Anyone know the gross revenue or profits that Sony and Nintendo are bringing in vs. the American studios?

I would assume the kickback Sony and Nintendo get from third parties would be large. I think Sony + Nintendo would at least be equal to all American studios combined?
Edit: But yes, I agree the quality of games has gone down. Buuut I'm sure both companies can compete in the long term with both Microsoft and Apple if they choose to enter

 

[mangudai954]

Originally Posted by finnns2003

Far from the golden days. The problem is that gaming has taken a new direction which is really affected by the major consoles. Nintendo and Sega are no longer powerhouses in the console market, the U.S. has made major strides, and stubborn old Japanese execs that don't want to change their ways.


That said, where is my Shenmue 3?

I'd buy a tv if this game was announced.

 

[mitchellicious]

Japanese games nowadays are for lack of a better word, boring.

They just can't compete with the budgets or gameplay advancements of their Western counterparts.

 

[atlien seeko]

finnns2003 wrote:

---

That said, where is my Shenmue 3?


Man, dont hold your breath.

I like the point that undefinedinc brought up about lead video game characters. A lot of people arent really focused on story driven games any more, and it's not just Americans. If you look at games like StarCraft or World of Warcraft, they're huge all over the world, and they're not doing well because of their stories. Multiplayer seems to drive the sales and scene now. I think a lof of it has to do with the shift from multiplayer gaming in the arcade, to the living room. People have always had the multiplayer itch, but you had to go out to an arcade to get that fix, and a lot of the younger crowd simple could not get to the arcade whenever they wanted to game. Now, with an arcade room practically in your living room, you can get online and play almost any game you want with anyone around the world, and it put story driven games, which Japan shines at, on the back burner. It's almost as if story drivin games were the only option to play at home because of the lack of online gaming, so there was a lot more focus and attention on creating a robust experience on stories for home, and multiplayer for the arcade, natrually, but when multiplayer became widely available for home, people jumped all over the new way to game and forgot about the old. So would you call that progress? Evolution? Or do you think multiplayer gaming is hype and good stories will make a comeback at some point?

 

[wawaweewa]

Can you blame them?

The US/Euro market is completely different than their domestic market.

 

[jackel56]

Originally Posted by Mangudai954

Originally Posted by finnns2003

Far from the golden days. The problem is that gaming has taken a new direction which is really affected by the major consoles. Nintendo and Sega are no longer powerhouses in the console market, the U.S. has made major strides, and stubborn old Japanese execs that don't want to change their ways.


That said, where is my Shenmue 3?

I'd buy a tv if this game was announced.

no tv? I couldn't do it, especially since I don't have a job

 

[liltank0206]

i agree man even the final fantasy series started to get out of hands with the whole no aeons and all i mean dont get me wrong they still have some great storylines but nothing like what they use to be. if apple does get into the gaming world it would be UGLY cuz they will buy out all of those japanese companies so that they could be at the top and i dont think any of the japanes games world EVER be the same again

 

[debso]

Nintendo is still a powerhouse. Sales wise they've done well, regardless if they've neglected us hardcore gamers.

All I want is a great final fantasy game that rivals VI or VII.

 

[milestailsprowe]

Japanese gaming is Fine on the MOST part

Nintendo Legacy series SELL!!!!!!!!!!!!
Team Ico
Grasshopper
Square Enix owns alot of places
Koonami
Sega
and a couple other do just fine

They are no where what they used to be because for some reason games about shooting guns is the hotness which is what sells and advances and the Japanese dont do that very often

 

[do work son]

Originally Posted by MOSTHATED770

man old final fantasy=my middle school years 7/8/9/10

9 was easily my favorite...

i only played 10. still goes down as my favorite game ever even though i never beat it. #$%^& jecht

 

[finnns2003]

Originally Posted by ATLien Seeko

finnns2003 wrote:

---

That said, where is my Shenmue 3?

Man, dont hold your breath.

I like the point that undefinedinc brought up about lead video game characters. A lot of people arent really focused on story driven games any more, and it's not just Americans. If you look at games like StarCraft or World of Warcraft, they're huge all over the world, and they're not doing well because of their stories. Multiplayer seems to drive the sales and scene now. I think a lof of it has to do with the shift from multiplayer gaming in the arcade, to the living room. People have always had the multiplayer itch, but you had to go out to an arcade to get that fix, and a lot of the younger crowd simple could not get to the arcade whenever they wanted to game. Now, with an arcade room practically in your living room, you can get online and play almost any game you want with anyone around the world, and it put story driven games, which Japan shines at, on the back burner. It's almost as if story drivin games were the only option to play at home because of the lack of online gaming, so there was a lot more focus and attention on creating a robust experience on stories for home, and multiplayer for the arcade, natrually, but when multiplayer became widely available for home, people jumped all over the new way to game and forgot about the old. So would you call that progress? Evolution? Or do you think multiplayer gaming is hype and good stories will make a comeback at some point?
Yep. +1
I mean Shenmue is a great example by itself. A game where you can pick up ANYTHING, talk to ANYONE, buy collectibles, drinks, food, etc. The storyline developed as you wanted it to. The details of the game were off the charts.

And yet, here we can't even get the first two games ported onto PSN/XBL, despite huge demand.

 

[soltheman]

I think a lot of it has to do with the retention of the incredible originators of those series. The only major players who come to mind that are still working with their franchises are people like Shigeru Miyamoto & Takashi Tezuka (behind Mario, Zelda, Pikmin,) and Hideo Kojima (Metal Gear Solid.) Other outstanding franchises have lost their creators and producers, leaving the development in the hands of new studios and/or people who were under the originators, thus taking the different games in other directions...some of which weren't meant for the series. Take Final Fantasy for example, whose creator Hironobu Sakguchi left Square Enix to found his own studio. Many of the different games which have seen drastic changes eventually begin to falter. While the Mario and Zelda branches have been around for a long time, the games that are published with the direction of their originators tend to be successful. The latest Super Smash Bros was a hit worldwide, as well as many of the latest Zelda titles.

On top of this, the game market is changing. Studios know this and enlist people to take over their old classics in hopes of revamping the games and drawing in new crowds. While it could work, in many cases the new direction loses old hardcore fans while not being enough to draw in new crowds. This dispersion of fans leads people to try other things. And it happens in the US market as well. Take Call of Duty for example. The game play between Modern Warfare 2 and Black Ops wasn't all that different, but they were developed by different studios, and fans of MW2 noticed and complained about the difference, which forced Activision and the new firm to push updates to appease fans before they lost them.

It's a game of give and take, really. Publishers are faced with the challenge of staying true to the fans while at the same time drawing a new crowd in. And without the retention of the staff that once made the series great, it becomes an almost impossible task. That, above all else, is what I believe is hurting the Japanese market. Many of the originators of the classics we know and love have either retired, become fed up with their companies, or simply gotten too old to really lead massive projects like that. This leaves room for new guys in the American market to appeal to American fans that have grown tired of the new Japanese gaming market. But despite the changes, many of these series still see a lot of success in Japan. And as much as they'd like you to believe, the American gaming market isn't really taking over the Japanese one in Japan. Unless Activision plans on making Rapelay like jumps, in which case

 

[chrisphenephom]

They will still come out with gems everynow and then. Im always on the look out for em. Too many good memorys...

 

[chokeonsmoke]

Online connectivity is where it's at now, at the age of 16 I knew where the industry was headin and anyone that didn't follow suite would get rolled over.
As far as the Japan market, the last great rpg was ff10

Bayoneta was dope, but they still got the fighting games on lock
All they need is a great multiplayer shooter and they'll be back on top whoever makes that shooter first will reap that dough too many marketing tips I'm giving away

 

[danger style]

OP did you just read this article?

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/114/1144363p1.html

 

[atlien seeko]

Originally Posted by DangerousG

OP did you just read this article?

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/114/1144363p1.html

Actually, I didnt, but I'm about to now.

 

[notoriouspat]

im still waiting on a horse racing sim (Gallop Racer series or similar) on PSN or XBL

 

[ruxxx]

Maaaaaan Shenmue 3 would bring the kid BACK.I basically gave up my consoles because I just didn't give a $+*% about games anymore.It was like the SAME $+*% was coming out year after year and nothing
was excitig to me.Recently i've had this urge to hunt down old consoles and handhelds I grew up playing with.
**sidenote**
Capcom... *puts up both middle fingers* these are for you.You had cats crazy excited for "Capcom Fighting All Stars" years ago and instead of tweaking/improving it after the negative feedback from the beta tests you canned it.
Again... *puts both middle fingers back up* these are for you.
Fin.

 

[josebronx]

Originally Posted by Mangudai954

Originally Posted by finnns2003

Far from the golden days. The problem is that gaming has taken a new direction which is really affected by the major consoles. Nintendo and Sega are no longer powerhouses in the console market, the U.S. has made major strides, and stubborn old Japanese execs that don't want to change their ways.


That said, where is my Shenmue 3?

I'd buy a tv if this game was announced.

monitor>>

 

[supa vegetto]

yu suzuki was interviewed pretty recently and he said that he would love to make shenmue 3, but there arent enough resources.

if i win the lotto, i promise i'll make this happen.