Alexander Hutchinson calls journalists' behaviour 'subtle racism'
The press is too soft on Japanese developers, claims the creative director of Assassin's Creed III.
Alexander Hutchinson feels elements of Japan-made games, particularly their narratives, are often flawed but regularly forgiven.
“I think there’s a subtle racism in the business, especially on the journalists’ side, where Japanese developers are forgiven for doing what they do,” he told CVG in an interview.
Hutchinson went on to say that the alleged preferential treatment that Japanese developers receive is “condescending”, as all developers should be treated equally.
He explained: “Just think about how many Japanese games are released where their stories are literally gibberish. Literally gibberish. There’s no way [a western developer] could write it with a straight face, and the journalists say ‘oh, it is brilliant’.
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“Then Gears of War comes out and apparently it’s the worst written narrative in a game ever. I’ll take Gears of War over Bayonetta any time.
“I just think the simple question should be: is the story any good?”
Later in the interview, Hutchinson praised Nintendo for “reinvigorating their franchises, as have other Japanese companies”.
At GDC in March, Phil Fish, the co-founder of Fez developer Polytron, told a Japanese games developer in front of an audience that “your games just suck”.
There has been no shortage of comments proclaiming the decline of the Japanese games industry for the last four years.
However, Square Enix’s Final Fantasy and Capcom’s Resident Evil and Lost Planet franchises are just some examples of Japanese games that have received a lukewarm reception from the specialist press.
It all comes down to how you define great stories, and there are many ways to do so.
I think the lean toward Japanese narratives, if there is one, suggests more about the current culture than outright bias.
I some what agree, the Metal Gear Solid series is the biggest culprit IMO, but pretty much all Japanese games the characters chew the sh!t out of the scenery.
Also the Japanese can't make a FPS to save their lives!
It's not really racism, it's them having different standards and priorities when it comes to games. I remember them praising the game Vampire Rain, which was utterly trashed over here, whilst we praise games that they dislike. Saying that, the level of actual quality in their games is surprisingly low compared to the West - full of bugs and a feeling like they're all made for last-gen consoles.
I'm playing Final Fantasy 12 and the story is pretty bad. However, the mechanics of the game are very solid. I've only run into one tiny bug in 50+ hours. The characters lack real motivation. Maybe that's indicative of Japanese culture, though. In Japan everyone dresses the same in school so finding ones identity is very nuanced. In America we teach our kids to be anyone they want, dress how they want, eat what they want, etc. The priorities of the Japanese culture, and the stories that are popular,are vastly different than our own. America goes for more cool, cinematic flare, whereas Japanese ask big questions and delve into the effects of deeply personal experiences. Or so I've come to understand.
