Japanese Gamers Getting More Interested In Western Games

[vansau]

Japanese Gamers Getting More Interested In Western Games

Based on the most popular pre-ordered games for the PlayStation Vita, the president of Sony Worldwide Studios is claiming that Japanese gamers' tastes are starting to change.

While Western gamers often have to fight for certain publishers to release games outside of Japan, the opposite isn't always true; games created outside of Japan often have a tough time doing well in the country. According to Shuhei Yoshida, president of SCE Worldwide Studios, this is starting to change.

Yoshida's viewpoint extends from his observation that Everybody's Golf (known as <a href=http://www.amazon.com/Hot-Shots-Golf-playstation-vita/dp/B0050SW4OC/ref=sr_1_3?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1324519317&sr=1-3>Hot Shots Golf here in the West) and <a href=http://www.amazon.com/Uncharted-Golden-Abyss-playstation-vita/dp/B0050SW8OS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1324519234&sr=8-1>Uncharted: Golden Abyss were the most pre-ordered games corresponding with the Japanese launch of the PlayStation Vita. For Yoshida, speaking to the European PlayStation Blog, the fact that a US-developed game like Uncharted is so popular with Japanese gamers has larger indications:

"Japanese people traditionally have a strong local preference, particularly with the Manga style look of characters that they love. But as technology and presentation advances in games like Uncharted and Call of Duty, they are rightly seeing their quality."

Of course, it remains to be seen whether or not Yoshida's predictions turn out to be true. It'll certainly be interesting to see just which Vita games prove to be the most popular in Japan over the next few months.

Source: PlayStation Blog via <a href=http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2011-12-21-yoshida-japanese-gamers-now-open-to-western-releases>GamesIndustry.biz


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[Daggedawg]

Or it might just be that most of the launch titles are being developed by western developers, and nothing else is available yet. (My guess.)
I think this is going to go pretty much the same way as the Psp, meaning it will die out in America and Europe pretty fast, while keeping strong in Japan with heaps of Japan-exclusive games. Then again, you never know.

 

[AbstractStream]

Tastes change. It's kind of refreshing to see something like this though. Well then again, Uncharted is a pretty good game, so it's not THAT surprising. (Not to toot our own horn or anything.)

 

[ckam]

I like animanga stuff, so I hope they don't abandon the style when all this is supposed to do is increase variability in game...styles.

 

[AquaDestruix]

Or it might just be that most of the launch titles are being developed by western developers, and nothing else is available yet. (My guess.)
I think this is going to go pretty much the same way as the Psp, meaning it will die out in America and Europe pretty fast, while keeping strong in Japan with heaps of Japan-exclusive games. Then again, you never know.

No, on both counts. On the first, the Japanese launch titles had offerings from Nippon Ichi, Sega, Namco, Arc Systems, Capcom, Square Enix...ifyo u were looking for the lineup of Japanese developers, this was it.

For the second, that would require that the 3DS not be completely shit. Considering the offerings this thing will do brilliantly in the west.

Lol! That haterade made my day. :] This is definitely looking like PSP vs. DS all over again, considering Uncharted only sold around 60,000 units at launch and the "inferior" 3DS outsold Vita hardware numbers...in Japan.

 

[Neverhoodian]

In all honesty, I'm not that surprised. Japan has been fascinated with such things like Disney cartoons and the American West for quite some time, so it's a reasonable assumption that they'd become interested in our video games as well. We've certainly embraced what they have had to offer in this regard, after all.

 

[Baresark]

This is hardly conclusive proof of any such thing. Nice speculation though. It's fun to speculate, that is why people do it so much. Most pre-ordered games doesn't mean anything actually at all. There is such a thing as a "law of small numbers", but it's not remotely the same thing as the law of large numbers. It basically states that you can expect an extreme, either one way or the other, when you measure in small numbers. It's not representative of the majority by any stretch of the imagination. The only way to even begin to make such a statement is to have a lot of numbers to go by. Now, if a year after launch, the most bought games are from western developers, you may have something. But this doesn't indicate any such thing.

 

[Rad Party God]

I think that's maybe because there aren't many launch titles for the Vita, I don't think it's an indication of anything.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

Why is a fucking golf game the most pre-ordered? What madness is this?

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

Why is a fucking golf game the most pre-ordered? What madness is this?

Its actually really good.

For what it is, sure. But there has to be better games to order.

 

[I forgot]

Why is Japanese gamers interest in Western games considered news? What use is that information. Do we care if the French are into Korean games or that British are interested in Spanish games.

IMO, a better question isn't if Jap audiences are into Western games (people from any nation are into any games that are good/interesting, period.) but why don't Western games sell in japan. My assumption is the lack of presence. It's hard for the Japanese to buy games they don't know about which is a similar problem I have here. It's hard for me to buy games of Japanese origin like Okami or El Shaddai, when I've never heard of it and continue to be bombarded by Skyrim and MW3 commercials.

 

[Ragnarok185]

now if only the western market could do the same for Japanese games.

I hope don't they end up making their games more westernized, I like a variety of games.

 

[VanQ]

As long as they don't start turning games like Persona and iDOLM@STER into first person shooters, I could care less what's popular and where.
I just want my steady stream of JRPGs to keep coming, I don't want to feel like I wasted all that time learning Japanese just to get Call of Duty: Japanese Warfare.

 

[Quellist]

The cynic in me says the Japanese want Uncharted because by now the series is as much 'lead you by the nose' as a typical JRPG.

 

[Snotnarok]

I'm not sure what's to see in current japanese RPGs as it is, not since PSOne (minus a few loose gems) I haven't seen a really amazing JRPG. And I really can't stand anime mixed with real (Final Fantasy games) it just looks weird and off putting. What's wrong with straight up anime/cell shading?