Platinum Games: Stop Lumping Japanese Studios Together

[The Wooster]

Platinum Games: Stop Lumping Japanese Studios Together

"There are tons of terrible Western developers, just like there are tons of terrible Japanese developers."

It's fair to say that Japan's dominance over the console game market has slipped over the past two generations. While some argue that most Japanese game companies simply can't afford to compete in the ludicrously expensive AAA market - fueling the mass exodus to handheld and social markets - others claim the nation's developers have lost whatever spark they had during the previous generations. [http://www.destructoid.com/fez-creator-says-japanese-games-suck-223371.phtml] Platinum Games' Atsushi Inaba, once CEO of the now defunct Clover Studio, argues that Japanese developers are being unfairly maligned.

"I don't like it when people lump Japanese game developers all together into one group," he told Edge magazine. "Frankly, I think it's a joke. What do these people know?"

"Think about Western developers," he continued. "There are many Western developers making terrible games, and then you see one like Infinity Ward making a game that sells 20 million and everyone goes, 'hey, Western developers are amazing!'"

"There are tons of terrible Western developers, just like there are tons of terrible Japanese developers. To lump studios together in great masses misses the point."

Platinum Games was founded by former key members of Clover Studio (Viewtiful Joe, Okami, God Hand). Like its predecessor, Platinum has a reputation for producing outlandish critical darlings that don't sell particularly well. Unlike games from the developer's Japanese peers, however, Platinum's titles tend to sell better in the West than they do in Japan.

"I don't think there's a need to be down on Japanese games in general," said Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance director, Kenji Saito. "Platinum is a company that is trying to push to the front and do big things. But I think it's true that some Japanese developers are still making Japanese games, and trying to maintain their status quos - that's their whole strategy."

Source: Edge via CVG [http://www.computerandvideogames.com/369953/platinum-on-japan-dev-decline-there-are-tons-of-terrible-western-studios-too/]

Permalink

 

[Daystar Clarion]

My lord has spoken.

All hail Inaba, Clover forever.

However, since I still don't have the Last Guardian, I'm gonna have to remain disappointed in Japan

 

[BreakfastMan]

My lord has spoken.

All hail Inaba, Clover forever.

However, since I still don't have the Last Guardian, I'm gonna have to remain disappointed in Japan

But you have Okami. How can you be disappointed in japan then?

OT: Eh, makes sense. Yeah, many mainstream franchises are going through a slump, but more obscure devs (Platinum, From) and franchises (SMT) are still going strong. To lump them in together is a bit unfair.

 

[Tanis]

The fact that the games Clover made didn't sell well says a LOT about how shitty Western 'taste' is.

People complain about day 1 DLC, dlc that's still on disc, buggy games...

YET...they by glorified expansion packs/DLC that's being sold as full games like Cod/Madden.

Bah!

 

[Lunar Templar]

to be fair

i don't judge a studio by what side of the water they're on. they are all crap until they can prove other wise by making a game i actually want to play.

so, guilty until proven innocent basically

 

[Daystar Clarion]

My lord has spoken.

All hail Inaba, Clover forever.

However, since I still don't have the Last Guardian, I'm gonna have to remain disappointed in Japan

But you have Okami. How can you be disappointed in japan then?

OT: Eh, makes sense. Yeah, many mainstream franchises are going through a slump, but more obscure devs (Platinum, From) and franchises (SMT) are still going strong. To lump them in together is a bit unfair.

That's why I said 'disappointed' instead of something harsher

Okami has paid their way through many a mistake.

 

[VinLAURiA]

to be fair

i don't judge a studio by what side of the water they're on. they are all crap until they can prove other wise by making a game i actually want to play.

so, guilty until proven innocent basically

I'm against that mentality. I'm the opposite - I give everything a chance until it proves itself junk.

 

[Combustion Kevin]

well, I haven't seen any advertisements or news on these new, groundbreaking, japanese games anywhere, yet the annual sequal parade gets hyped as hell with all kinds of crazy stunts.

I think marketing and coverage is the issue here, the only japanese games that get any real coverage are already established franchises.

 

[gigastar]

My lord has spoken.

All hail Inaba, Clover forever.

However, since I still don't have the Last Guardian, I'm gonna have to remain disappointed in Japan

But you have Okami. How can you be disappointed in japan then?

OT: Eh, makes sense. Yeah, many mainstream franchises are going through a slump, but more obscure devs (Platinum, From) and franchises (SMT) are still going strong. To lump them in together is a bit unfair.

That's why I said 'disappointed' instead of something harsher

Okami has paid their way through many a mistake.

Then what contribution did Viewtiful Joe, God Hand and Bayonetta make to this standing?

Unlike games from the developer's Japanese peers, however, Platnum's titles tend to sell better in the West than they do in Japan.

I found a spelling error, +1 to me.

 

[Twilight_guy]

Reminds me of 'JRPG'. Because all RPGs from Japan are the same. (Yes I'm aware that the connotation means a big hog-pog of various things but the denotation is dumb.)

I wonder if in Japan they have the opposite problem and people tend to lump western developers together?

 

[Daystar Clarion]

My lord has spoken.

All hail Inaba, Clover forever.

However, since I still don't have the Last Guardian, I'm gonna have to remain disappointed in Japan

But you have Okami. How can you be disappointed in japan then?

OT: Eh, makes sense. Yeah, many mainstream franchises are going through a slump, but more obscure devs (Platinum, From) and franchises (SMT) are still going strong. To lump them in together is a bit unfair.

That's why I said 'disappointed' instead of something harsher

Okami has paid their way through many a mistake.

Then what contribution did Viewtiful Joe, God Hand and Bayonetta make to this standing?

Those are also included

Clover needs to come back D:

 

[gigastar]

My lord has spoken.

All hail Inaba, Clover forever.

However, since I still don't have the Last Guardian, I'm gonna have to remain disappointed in Japan

But you have Okami. How can you be disappointed in japan then?

OT: Eh, makes sense. Yeah, many mainstream franchises are going through a slump, but more obscure devs (Platinum, From) and franchises (SMT) are still going strong. To lump them in together is a bit unfair.

That's why I said 'disappointed' instead of something harsher

Okami has paid their way through many a mistake.

Then what contribution did Viewtiful Joe, God Hand and Bayonetta make to this standing?

Those are also included

Clover needs to come back D:

With Capcom's current management regime?

 

[Daystar Clarion]

My lord has spoken.

All hail Inaba, Clover forever.

However, since I still don't have the Last Guardian, I'm gonna have to remain disappointed in Japan

But you have Okami. How can you be disappointed in japan then?

OT: Eh, makes sense. Yeah, many mainstream franchises are going through a slump, but more obscure devs (Platinum, From) and franchises (SMT) are still going strong. To lump them in together is a bit unfair.

That's why I said 'disappointed' instead of something harsher

Okami has paid their way through many a mistake.

Then what contribution did Viewtiful Joe, God Hand and Bayonetta make to this standing?

Those are also included

Clover needs to come back D:

With Capcom's current management regime?

...


Don't even joke about that.

 

[gigastar]

My lord has spoken.

All hail Inaba, Clover forever.

However, since I still don't have the Last Guardian, I'm gonna have to remain disappointed in Japan

But you have Okami. How can you be disappointed in japan then?

OT: Eh, makes sense. Yeah, many mainstream franchises are going through a slump, but more obscure devs (Platinum, From) and franchises (SMT) are still going strong. To lump them in together is a bit unfair.

That's why I said 'disappointed' instead of something harsher

Okami has paid their way through many a mistake.

Then what contribution did Viewtiful Joe, God Hand and Bayonetta make to this standing?

Those are also included

Clover needs to come back D:

With Capcom's current management regime?

...


Don't even joke about that.

Well stepping out of Clover/Platinum's development history, we also have Monster Hunter, Street Fighter and its many children, Demons/Dark Souls and the Persona series. None of those are unknowns either, which helps.

 

[themilo504]

I agree to be honest I think the problem is that a lot of western gamers don?t like Japanese style and sensibilities and will naturally prefer western games more closer to their world.
I wish some other countries gained a foot in the video game market has my homeland Holland ever made a good game?(I believe they had something to do with killzone so that?s something if you like that ip)

 

[Lunar Templar]

to be fair

i don't judge a studio by what side of the water they're on. they are all crap until they can prove other wise by making a game i actually want to play.

so, guilty until proven innocent basically

I'm against that mentality. I'm the opposite - I give everything a chance until it proves itself junk.

given how much out there i see that i have no interest in, its the best way to go for me

 

[Little Gray]

"Think about Western developers," he continued. "There are many Western developers making terrible games, and then you see one like Infinity Ward making a game that sells 20 million and everyone goes, 'hey, Western developers are amazing!'"

Wait, people say what? Did he just argue that the amount of copies sold coincides with the quality of the game and/or amazingness of developers?
I'm rather sure that I've collectively heard that Call of Duty kind of sucks and a lot of games selling a lot less being praised to high heaven...

No he didnt but there is a correlation there. The reason some games sell so well is because surprise surprise a lot of people really like them. The collective you have heard is probably the extremely small minority who would rather ***** and moan about games them shut the fuck up and just play stuff they enjoy.

The fact that the games Clover made didn't sell well says a LOT about how shitty Western 'taste' is.

People complain about day 1 DLC, dlc that's still on disc, buggy games...

YET...they by glorified expansion packs/DLC that's being sold as full games like Cod/Madden.

Bah!

Yep because we all know everybody shares the exact same opinion. Oh wait no different people have different and two different people complaining about two different things means absolutely fuck all.

 

[elilupe]

I'm glad someone seems to have some sense about this whole thing. There are plenty of Japanese developers making great games, and there are plenty making crap games as well, just like the West.