Titanfall Devs Surprised At Japan's Positive Reaction to its Game

[Steven Bogos]

Titanfall Devs Surprised At Japan's Positive Reaction to its Game

"It's probably the biggest compliment you can get, that you take mechs to Japan and they like them."

At this year's Tokyo Game Show, the surprise show-stealer was Respawn Entertainment's Xbox One Magazine [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/127956-Titanfall-Hands-On-Preview-Like-CoD-on-Steroids] "It was crazy."

"We weren't really exactly sure how Titanfall would read with the Japanese audience. It's a first-person shooter and that hasn't always been the biggest genre there, so it was like 'Eh, we'll go to Japan and see what happens' and the coolest thing was that we came away and got a ton of feedback about the Titans from the Japanese audience there, and it was really nice."

Anyone who has delved into Japanese anime or videogames will know that mechs are kind of a big deal to Japanese people [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/features/10472-Metal-Monsters-Mechs-From-Gundam-to-Pacific-Rim]. "It's probably the biggest compliment you can get, that you take mechs to Japan and they like them. That was awesome," commented Heppe.

Heppe says that while Western audiences were most impressed with the speed and velocity of the game, for the Japanese, it was all about the mechs, something she found amusing because "When we were first starting to figure out how we were going to talk about Titanfall it was like 'lets not use the word mech'. Because mech has, especially with Western gamers, an association of slow and heavy, and you have these expectations of gameplay that really wasn't what Titanfall is."

However, going to Japan changed the team's perception. "We really shied away from the word and then we went to Japan and it was really embraced there. 'Ok, so we are going to talk about mech here.'"

Shooters, like Call of Duty and Battlefield are slowly starting to gain traction in Japan in recent times. Maybe it won't be a "big-name Japanese RPG" that sways the Japanese to the Xbox One, but Titanfall.

Source: Xbox One Magazine [http://www.xb1.co.uk/interviews-2/titanfall-we-werent-sure-how-titanfall-would-read-with-the-japanese-audience/]

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[Ken_J]

This is actually kinda cool. I actually want to see a Japanese made FPS just to see how that would work. Maybe Titanfall may convince some Japanese Devs to make one.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

They were surprised that Japan loved the idea of mech based combat? Man are some devs out of touch...

 

[Luminous_Umbra]

They were surprised that Japan loved the idea of mech based combat? Man are some devs out of touch...

I think that it's not that they were surprised that Japan liked mech-based combat in general, more that they liked their mech-based combat. It's like, say, having Spanish friends over for dinner, cooking Spanish food for them, and the friends really liking it. (At least, that's what the Devs seem to be saying)

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

They were surprised that Japan loved the idea of mech based combat? Man are some devs out of touch...

I think it was more the part where the Japanese gamers liked the Western-style mechs. Mechs in Japanese games tend to be a lot more nimble than those we find in games made over here, and the games themselves are often built around them, rather than being a component of an FPS title (that genre not being exceptionally popular in the Land of the Rising Sun).

 

[LysanderNemoinis]

The last thing the world needs is Japan to embrace first-person shooters. Granted, they'll probably make them even better (seeing as Vanquish is easily the best third-person shooter out there), but I just pray that developers don't churn out even more FPSers because of eastern praise. Though being a fan of anime, I'd love to see a game where the Titanfall mechs go up against the mechs from shows like RahXephon, GunXSword, Code Geass, and Escaflowne, because they'd tear the Titanfall mechs new and exciting exhaust pipes in new and exciting places.

 

[mysecondlife]

If Japanese are intrigued by it, its not 1 reason why people should buy Xbox One.

Its millions of reasons why Titanfall should be on PS4.

 

[mysecondlife]

If Japanese are intrigued by it, its not 1 reason why people should buy Xbox One.

Its millions of reason why Titanfall should be on PS4.

Or like, PC, which is popular every where around the world.

Oh look, it is on PC!

Is it though? I have hard time associating Japan and PC together.

I know its really popular in South Korea and China.

 

[Flunk]

If Japanese are intrigued by it, its not 1 reason why people should buy Xbox One.

Its millions of reason why Titanfall should be on PS4.

Or like, PC, which is popular every where around the world.

Oh look, it is on PC!

Is it though? I have hard time associating Japan and PC together.

I know its really popular in South Korea and China.

Yeah... the Japanese like their PCs tiny and underpowered so PC gaming isn't a big thing over there.

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

Japan likes a game that really tries to make Mechs feel awesome?

Color me not surprised.

But yeah, it's great they like it.

 

[Izanagi009_v1legacy]

They were surprised that Japan loved the idea of mech based combat? Man are some devs out of touch...

I think it was more the part where the Japanese gamers liked the Western-style mechs. Mechs in Japanese games tend to be a lot more nimble than those we find in games made over here, and the games themselves are often built around them, rather than being a component of an FPS title (that genre not being exceptionally popular in the Land of the Rising Sun).

I wouldn't exactly say the mechs in Titanfall are all that "Western" though. It may not be Warframe/Hawken levels of mobility, but it isn't slow either.



And, honestly, the author is overlooking one rather massive misstep here. Titanfall ISN'T exclusive. It will never be exclusive. You don't call a game exclusive when it's release is on multiple platforms, and I highly doubt interest in the game is geared towards the 360/Xbox One version (specially considering the lack of room inherent in typical Japanese dwellings). No, more likely interest is on the PC version, which they will likely play elsewhere.


Again, Titanfall =/= Xbone exclusive. It isn't. And one of the single biggest reasons shooters in general don't take off all that well there, is the common issue of motion-sickness from first person perspectives. I know a few people that suffer from it, and in Japan its much more predominant. It happens when movement on the screen is too fast, and considering the bulk of Titanfall? Not gonna work well at all.

I really wish people would just get over this ignorant concept that this game is an exclusive title. It's like saying Kingdom Hearts 3 or Final Fantasy 13 was PS3-Exclusive.

Any idea what the PC market is like in Japan because I know they have a decent arcade, mobile and playstation market. Regardless, this type of attention may be enough for Respawn to try to make a ps4 version; reach a large audience like Japan and make a lot more money for a relatively small amount of money for conversation.

edit: I see one source of competition for Mech combat in Japan: Gundam Extreme Vs. Full Boost. It's an arcade game getting a full console release in Japan


Yeah, Titanfall may be well and good but an FPS is definably going to have problems competing with a 2v2 arena gundam game in Japan.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

They were surprised that Japan loved the idea of mech based combat? Man are some devs out of touch...

I think it was more the part where the Japanese gamers liked the Western-style mechs. Mechs in Japanese games tend to be a lot more nimble than those we find in games made over here, and the games themselves are often built around them, rather than being a component of an FPS title (that genre not being exceptionally popular in the Land of the Rising Sun).

I wouldn't exactly say the mechs in Titanfall are all that "Western" though. It may not be Warframe/Hawken levels of mobility, but it isn't slow either.

I dunno. On a sliding scale I'd say they're closer to Western than Eastern, especially in design; Japanese mechs tend to be mysical suits of armor that ignore the more boring parts of physics like inertia and material stress- Rule of Cool is in full effect.

I do agree that it's unlikely Titanfall will herald some sort of sales surge for Microsoft's consoles. The Xbox line has never really "cracked" the Japanese market, and only in part because of aesthetics. It may, however, pique some interest in FPS games in the PC market.

 

[Kaimax]

I don't think "western mechs = slower, Eastern mechs faster" argument is relevant because Titanfall plays exactly like Gundam Battle Operation and that game was even "slower paced" than Titanfall and people loved that game anyway.

 

[Brian Tams]

I'm going to go against the grain of the thread and say that it is actually surprising that the Japanese like a western studios mechs.

Japanese gamers? They know their mechs, and as such, they are extremely picky when it comes to mechs. So, to have a Western developer make mech-based gameplay that is appealing to them is kind of a big deal.

 

[Flutterguy]

The probably heard the game is getting a PC release then got excited.

 

[laggyteabag]

I think the question should be: Who doesn't get excited about a game with massive battle mechs?

 

[MonkeyPunch]

I keep reading statements in the press that the Japanese aren't big fans of First Person Shooters and that it's "surprising" that they enjoy the genre... but they play and buy them more-or-less as much as Westerners.
In it's debut week Black Ops II was the second best selling game in Japan and only recently Battlefield 4 entered the Japanese gaming charts in the top spot.
It's been like this for quite some years now too, yet every time you'll see surprise at the fact that FPS are popular there too. The surprise of the gaming press is what surprises me, to be honest.

 

[Sigmund Av Volsung]

They were surprised that Japan loved the idea of mech based combat? Man are some devs out of touch...

I think it was more the part where the Japanese gamers liked the Western-style mechs. Mechs in Japanese games tend to be a lot more nimble than those we find in games made over here, and the games themselves are often built around them, rather than being a component of an FPS title (that genre not being exceptionally popular in the Land of the Rising Sun).

I wouldn't exactly say the mechs in Titanfall are all that "Western" though. It may not be Warframe/Hawken levels of mobility, but it isn't slow either.

No, but they do move around with a good sense of weight and spatial awareness: compare that to the sorts of mechs in say, Gundam, and it is quite different.

It's like how the Mechs in Pacific Rim moved about, in that sense, they are western, as Japanese mechs tend to be more agile and quick on their feet, rarely feeling like large mechanisms, but more like an extrapolation of the pilots.

Which come to think of it, reminds of Extra Credit's Myth of The Gun episode: Japanese mechs are like that because they are an extension of the pilot, and not simply a tool to be used for a cause, like say in America.