Lecturer in Programming for the Computer Games and Entertainment Industries
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MadWorld, Okami and Viewtiful Joe creator also affirms importance of original IP
Developers in the West are better than those in Japan, according to the man behind upcoming Wii game MadWorld, plus previous Capcom hits Okami and Viewtiful Joe.
Speaking to Develop in today's interview with Platinum Games about Madworld, executive director Atsushi Inaba confessed that he thinks Japanese developers are lagging behind their Western rivals.
"To be honest, I think that western developers are superior to those in Japan overall," said Inaba.
"So we the Japanese developers should realise that we have to work hard to reach the western level. We’re fast reaching a stage where it’s going to be about individual developers and not about what country they are in, globalisation is coming to our industry too."
Inaba also highlighted the fact that he sees original IP as providing developers with an unrivaled opportunity to succeed: "Our vision has always been to create new IPs. The best way for a developer to make a mark in the industry and secure its future is by creating new and successful IPs. It’s a very hard process but if you succeed, the rewards are massive."
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To read the full interview, click here.
Sorry I beg to differ
Want to bother and give some good examples, xino?
People letting their irrational support of all things Japanese cloud sense.
What Inaba speaks of is the "western" market as a whole. Cut to the quick; Japanese developers make games for Japanese people, first and foremost. It is years of inundation that colors the perception that this isn't so. You grow up playing Japanese games if you played primarily consoles, so what they produce is the "norm".
But that is changing. With the real strength of American and European game development, the various pc and indie developers, producing for consoles, what has been around for years and ignored is gaining the spotlight. Those years of playing games made with similar outlooks are working against Japanese developers now that a real alternative is available.
Also, business practices and customer focus are massively different. Now that the Nintendo generation is grown up with children of their own, Japanese developers need to figure out how to woo a new crowd in an era when there is far more available then what they themselves produce. The video game industry has become a true international business, with the burgeoning strength of Korea, Eastern Europe and Canada, and now Japanese developers, faced with sagging sales in their traditionally powerful home audience, must play catch up to everyone else in making their games globally appealing.
THIS IS GOOD. Real competition means more effort and hopefully, quality per release, rather than a basket full of hit or miss games, like the last generation.
