The Japanese game industry has for a long time stood as a giant, in the 80's and 90's being a powerhouse of the developing gaming industry. Many people who claim to be gamers started out with a Game Boy Color or an Nintendo64. As many people have said, "that age is over now."
The report seems to underline how things have CHANGED, but not how things will go. One person keenly pointed out that it's acted as a cycle, with gamin in it's early stages owing large successes to people who could code simply games that did extraordinarily well, along side other more prominent-well funded games from companies like Nintendo who made games for business. We've gone full circle from games that were made solely by multi-million dollar corporations to the iphone games, games made by people who want success,but also want to make games in their spare time.
The Japanese games industry has been hurt by this. Immensely. Recent natural disasters and their effects aside, the Japanese games industry has tried to tick with what it knows how to do, which is make people pay lots for a cartridge or disc with a game on it. with the ipod, people can make games and distribute them for free, the advent of Steam and other distribution sites (excluding Pirate Bay and other torrenting sites) the Japanese tend to try to overprice their sales, with digital copies costing as much as a hard copy, transportation fees and all. Many people above me here have stated that it's because companies like Nintendo respond to efforts like Operation: RAINFALL with a bureaucratic response that doesn't say 'yes' and doesn't say 'no', drop the issue, then still expect people to buy from them. Back in the 1990's if you didn't want to buy a Nintendo game, you'd have to make do with other systems that weren't as nearly as advanced as an N64. Now, with Microsoft and Sony also supplying their own systems and games, the Japanese gaming industry isn't all alone and has to contend with actual opponents to be 'king of the hill'.
As far as appeal goes, JRPGs have long since been very flashy, but predictable, with characters acting as they would in an anime, not expressing their emotions in a more human way. I turn to a personal grievance, knowing it's nit-picking, of Serah in FF XIII-2, many times, if not almost all of them, she will bring her hands to her chest, and fold her hands as if she's begging, or praying (I cannot say for sure), she does this in so many scenes, one could be led to believe she's not very confident. That part aside, another example that can be gleaned from it is her sidekick (for lack of a better word) Mog, who, at one point, at one era, at one time, suddenly tells us he essentially has amnesia, and doesn't remember where he comes from. It's a sudden and irrelevant plot element that seems to only apply to those areas, it's not a factor of character development, and seems only to fascilitate a side-story.
As far as Final Fantasy goes, that cannot be used as a real measuring stick for the entire games industry, I understand, but, what I also want to point out, is that companies like Ninetendo, like Square Enix, and several others big names, tend to keep releasing additions onto a franchise, trying to keep it alive. Yahtzee uses the word 'nostalgia' a lot, and it works, it sells. Pokemon could have died off after Ruby and Sapphire, after the art style and the story became radically different. Zelda has had numerous incarnation with the same feel to them all, but with a new mechanic that justifies it's price. Final Fantasy has had many incarnations, none of which are truly final, because there's bound to be another one waiting next year. It's not good business to not come up with any truly new games. How many brawlers are there? There's Tekken, Street Fighter, Dragon Ball Z and Naruto have their own incarnations--it is a genre, but how many Naruto fighers are there? How many Dragon Ball Z? How many Tekkens or Street Fighters? The Japanese market what sells, and we play a part in what they release to us.
Looking at games, the Japanese have a cultural identity that is completely the opposite of the West. Samurai, I will point out, are not marines. They train to use a weapon, and to understand it, rather than pick up a rifle and defend freedom because 'it's the right thing to do' only to have your CO betray you because he has his own plans and a bigger gun. The Japanese games industry has it's own successes and failures, it follows the industry norms, such as using engines from third parties that they feel will work best with what they want to make, and I for one cannot hold that against them, but I cannot be surprised when they lose money thinking that the old ways are the best ways. I don't like seeing games that don't feature relate-able characters with which we can feel a deep emotional investment in (certainly in the more story-centric games). The Japanese industry isn't doing well because they make games that are sometimes as simple as an iphone game, and would have the consumer pay $60, rather than Apple's $1. Customer alienation, blatant favoritism, and games that are more or less expansion packs and graphics upgrades for each release. A cameo by Freddy does not make Mortal Kombat a whole new game. That's just Freddy in Mortal Kombat.
The report seems to underline how things have CHANGED, but not how things will go. One person keenly pointed out that it's acted as a cycle, with gamin in it's early stages owing large successes to people who could code simply games that did extraordinarily well, along side other more prominent-well funded games from companies like Nintendo who made games for business. We've gone full circle from games that were made solely by multi-million dollar corporations to the iphone games, games made by people who want success,but also want to make games in their spare time.
The Japanese games industry has been hurt by this. Immensely. Recent natural disasters and their effects aside, the Japanese games industry has tried to tick with what it knows how to do, which is make people pay lots for a cartridge or disc with a game on it. with the ipod, people can make games and distribute them for free, the advent of Steam and other distribution sites (excluding Pirate Bay and other torrenting sites) the Japanese tend to try to overprice their sales, with digital copies costing as much as a hard copy, transportation fees and all. Many people above me here have stated that it's because companies like Nintendo respond to efforts like Operation: RAINFALL with a bureaucratic response that doesn't say 'yes' and doesn't say 'no', drop the issue, then still expect people to buy from them. Back in the 1990's if you didn't want to buy a Nintendo game, you'd have to make do with other systems that weren't as nearly as advanced as an N64. Now, with Microsoft and Sony also supplying their own systems and games, the Japanese gaming industry isn't all alone and has to contend with actual opponents to be 'king of the hill'.
As far as appeal goes, JRPGs have long since been very flashy, but predictable, with characters acting as they would in an anime, not expressing their emotions in a more human way. I turn to a personal grievance, knowing it's nit-picking, of Serah in FF XIII-2, many times, if not almost all of them, she will bring her hands to her chest, and fold her hands as if she's begging, or praying (I cannot say for sure), she does this in so many scenes, one could be led to believe she's not very confident. That part aside, another example that can be gleaned from it is her sidekick (for lack of a better word) Mog, who, at one point, at one era, at one time, suddenly tells us he essentially has amnesia, and doesn't remember where he comes from. It's a sudden and irrelevant plot element that seems to only apply to those areas, it's not a factor of character development, and seems only to fascilitate a side-story.
As far as Final Fantasy goes, that cannot be used as a real measuring stick for the entire games industry, I understand, but, what I also want to point out, is that companies like Ninetendo, like Square Enix, and several others big names, tend to keep releasing additions onto a franchise, trying to keep it alive. Yahtzee uses the word 'nostalgia' a lot, and it works, it sells. Pokemon could have died off after Ruby and Sapphire, after the art style and the story became radically different. Zelda has had numerous incarnation with the same feel to them all, but with a new mechanic that justifies it's price. Final Fantasy has had many incarnations, none of which are truly final, because there's bound to be another one waiting next year. It's not good business to not come up with any truly new games. How many brawlers are there? There's Tekken, Street Fighter, Dragon Ball Z and Naruto have their own incarnations--it is a genre, but how many Naruto fighers are there? How many Dragon Ball Z? How many Tekkens or Street Fighters? The Japanese market what sells, and we play a part in what they release to us.
Looking at games, the Japanese have a cultural identity that is completely the opposite of the West. Samurai, I will point out, are not marines. They train to use a weapon, and to understand it, rather than pick up a rifle and defend freedom because 'it's the right thing to do' only to have your CO betray you because he has his own plans and a bigger gun. The Japanese games industry has it's own successes and failures, it follows the industry norms, such as using engines from third parties that they feel will work best with what they want to make, and I for one cannot hold that against them, but I cannot be surprised when they lose money thinking that the old ways are the best ways. I don't like seeing games that don't feature relate-able characters with which we can feel a deep emotional investment in (certainly in the more story-centric games). The Japanese industry isn't doing well because they make games that are sometimes as simple as an iphone game, and would have the consumer pay $60, rather than Apple's $1. Customer alienation, blatant favoritism, and games that are more or less expansion packs and graphics upgrades for each release. A cameo by Freddy does not make Mortal Kombat a whole new game. That's just Freddy in Mortal Kombat.
