Squeenix CEO Calls Out Japanese Gamers on Western Bias

[Kaisharga]

Ahahahaha. Vagrant Story and MGS4 made perfect scores. Did you notice most of the perfect scores are not even two years old? Maybe their measurement system needs recalibrated, the metrologist in me says it's out of control.

 

[pneuma08]

After looking at that magazine's top ten list, I think it's pretty safe to say that the radiation from those nukes is still fucking with them. Do we really care what the Japanese think of western games, though? It's not like we really have to worry about us marketing to them.

Probably moreso than you realize. Huge swaths of post-WWII Japanese art, literature, and whatnot involve some sort of ultimate superweapon that must be sealed away or eliminated in order to save the world from destruction.

Other common themes: harmony with nature, community and teamwork over indivuality, untrustworthy government/church. They also love to delve into why people choose fight and where they find their resolve. All of these have their own roots in Japanese culture and history as well.

Oh, and western companies (and Squeenix) do care because if they can tap into that market they get some solid dough (MW2 is super profitable, but it would be significantly more profitable if it was popular in east Asia as well). As a country we should care because it does affect our economic standing in comparison (high imports and low exports mean the money is flowing out of our country and into theirs). As consumers, though, there's not really a reason to give a damn.

 

[paragon1]

Oh, Japan...

You know what? NO! Not "oh, Japan." Not this time. Screw you guys! We're all tired of your xenophobic bullshit.

 

[GamingAwesome1]

There reaction was "Meh" because MW2 isn't really the type of game to resonate with the Japanese audience. You can't really blame them for liking their own culture.

Japanese games seem to cross to the West just fine.
The opposite does not hold true, apparently Crash Bandicoot was one of the best selling western games in Japan, why? Just think about it.....

 

[GestaltEsper]

Anyone else find this amusing?

 

[FBPH]

Thing is, Japan is such a different culture, maybe they just don't enjoy mindless killing.

I wouldn't say that its Japanese culture that dislikes mindless killing, its more of a personal preference than a cultural one. The Japanese, like everyone else on this planet, have their own tastes and preferences. To say that they dislike it as a cultural whole is wrong. The Japanese have a livid market for such things, just like we do. Although i would say the Japanese actually like more grotesque and intense violence and killing. Japanese animation is frequently more graphic than our own(Lots and lots of decapitations and fountains of blood have i witnessed in anime). Hell just google the term "guro" you'll know what i mean.

 

[NeutralDrow]

Kind of a strange reversal, isn't it? Especially considering Japan's all-encompassing meanings of "anime" and "manga," reversed in the West.

Not to sound racist, but ya, I've heard a lot of people say that Japan is xenophobic.
I can point to Mario and Jynx as proof...

Not doubting you on the xenophobia, and I'll give you the benefit of the doubt on Mario, but...

Jynx isn't supposed to be black, she's a ganguro. Japan's had some pretty damn racist depictions of black people, but they weren't quite stupid enough to think black people had straight, blond hair.

 

[GestaltEsper]

Kind of a strange reversal, isn't it? Especially considering Japan's all-encompassing meanings of "anime" and "manga," reversed in the West.

Funny that.

Jynx isn't supposed to be black, she's a ganguro. Japan's had some pretty damn racist depictions of black people, but they weren't quite stupid enough to think black people had straight, blond hair.

Whatever Jynx is, it freaked me right the crap out as a kid.

 

[Booze Zombie]

You'd think the Japanese reponse to MW2 would be more excited, seeing as they seem to have this thing for dull rehashes with small changes, as done by their beloved Nintendo almost monthly.

 

[slopeslider]

So "Ge - mu" is geimu and "Ge i mu" is, well also geimu. Contradiction.

That's not a contradiction, it's just an ambiguity. The English language (and the Japanese language, too) is full of constructs and phrases that are ambiguous, for instance puns exist solely to exploit ambiguity in language for humor. Furthermore, spoken Japanese especially relies greatly on an implied subject, which is many times less clear than anything we're discussing here.

The point being, there's nothing wrong with a little bit of ambiguity. And it's a tradeoff in this case - less ambiguous transcription results in text that is more obnoxious to read. It's possible to have less ambiguity or more readability, but impossible to have both.

(Side note: it's not even possible to eliminate all ambiguity in transcribing the text from Japanese to English. As an example, "hashi" both means "chopsticks" and "bridge" depending on whether an accent is placed on the first syllable or the second. The Japanese reading is clear because kanji are used (箸 and 橋, respectively). This is not even touching on true homonyms, either.)

I use the system where
a=a, e=e, i=i, o=o, and u=u. So ee=ee and not ei bacause when you really do have a japanese 'ei' your translations conflict.
If we started spelling japanese the way it sounded we'd have a bunch of conflicts between Kensuke and Kehnskeiy (bekus dats hao yuu pronowns it)
Nihongo=/=kneehohngow

Firstly, there's some point drift here. The phonetic spellings is a strawman argument. No one is advocating spelling "ni" as "knee"; as I've said the long e is a Japanese convention - "ei" in hiragana (え&#12356 and "e-" in katakana (エ&#65392 (and of course Japanese is written is syllabic pairs so the characters may vary depending on the consonant). In romaji, "e-" and some of its counterparts ("ee", "^e")look weird to native English readers so it's transcribed as "ei". You can transcribe it any way you choose, but that doesn't make any of the other options within acceptable standards any less correct.

Secondly, how do you spell "Tokyo"? In Japanese, all the vowels in that word are long. You're suggesting we transcribe that word to "Tookyoo".

Of course there's going to be some variance in transcription one way or another, as the nature of transcription is trying to fit a round peg (i.e. Japanese words) into a square hole (i.e. English characters). Where the two diverge, something's gotta give, and there's different ways to accomplish this. Meaning, there is no One True Way resolve disputes between the languages.

Japanese is not an ancient, mystical language of great power that needs to be preserved as closely to its natural form as possible. It is merely a language, a set of characters and words that abstract concepts to share understanding, no more important than English is.

I see your well written and expertly presented points. You just PWN3D me without being a douche about it. Well he DID list the kana and anyone who cares enough about grammar can read them just fine, so I concede, there is no problem here.
Looks like you have some XP in the langauge? Did you Live there, or you just studied alot?

 

[Lullabye]

You should not argue with Imperial Hot Yoichi Wada.

I understand what he's saying, but at the same time, I also understand the cultural differences that make a lot of American fare perhaps less than palatable to Japanese gamers. Our fixation with World War II, our reluctance to look beyond Tolkein for fantasy, our overuse of gunmetal and cement as colors in games....

Let's take a look at two characters- Cloud Strife and Marcus Fenix. Cloud is an emotionally damaged supersoldier whose body is much more powerful than it looks, but whose performance suffers until his friends help him overcome his mental blocks and unleash his true potential. Marcus is a grizzled, cynical Space Marine whose abilities don't change, but whose determination strengthens with every successive challenge he overcomes. You can see here how American and Japanese character development vary quite a bit- and I haven't even touched on the worlds these characters occupy, or the others who travel with them.

I'm going to agree with others that it'll more likely be simpler, less character-driven games like World of Goo and Little Big Planet that'll gain mainstream acceptance in Japan. Until opening up to other cultures becomes a really big deal in the Land of the Rising Sun, that'll have to do.

eh, that was a bad comparison. i would go with Master Chief vs Cloud.

 

[Artemicion]

You'd think the Japanese reponse to MW2 would be more excited, seeing as they seem to have this thing for dull rehashes with small changes, as done by their beloved Nintendo almost monthly.

Hahaha. Zing.

And that Fenix/Cloud comparison is fine.
An MC/Cloud comparison would probably be along the lines of:

Cloud is an emotionally damaged supersoldier whose body is much more powerful than it looks, but whose performance suffers until his friends help him overcome his mental blocks and unleash his true potential.

Master Chief is an augmented, badass supersoldier whose body is much more powerful than anyone else's, and whose performance is always top-notch, even if all of the random elites following him take the vehicles and drive off without him as a practical joke, the dicks. Though it is worth remembering that, being an almost silent-protagonist, he has the characterization of a cardboard cutout, but being on a mission to save the galaxy from everything forever, it works.

 

[DayDark]

I guess it's kind of cultural difference. I can't play most Asian games anyway, with exception of Metal gear solid. For example the whole thing where male protagonists are feminized...will never get that. I can watch anime/manga alright though.

 

[Slider2k]

Talking about Monster Hunter "popularity" in the West. Markets are just different.

 

[Iron Mal]

I personally don't buy the whole 'MW2 was too American-focused' and 'culturally relevent' stuff to be honest.

A game doesn't have to be culturally relevent to be a good game or fun and I can provide many examples from my own experience that prove this:

Saint's Row 2- This is a game aimed towards Gangsta and Rap followings (I'm very far removed from both) yet I (a white, metal loving, middle class, neutral good nerd) still found it to be pretty damn fun to play (even when I cock it up it's still funny at least).

Call of Duty: World at War- I am neither American or Russian (nor was I in WWII) yet...I loved the campaign.

Tekken/Mortal Kombat- Both are Japanese fighting games, both had a lot of Japanese characters who were often the best (you do not fuck with Law) but both were still great games and fun to play with friends.

 

[hermes]

So what he is basically crying about is that the Japanese don't really have a market for endless year on year iterations of effectively the same game with new skins and maps being released to massive hype, dubious critical acclaim, and quick dismissal when the Next-Big-Thing(TM) runs through the same mill.

Right, because if there is something that can't be said of the most popular games there is that they are not derivative iterations with small changes and massive hype... I mean, look at Pokemon, Gundam, Dragon Quest or Dinasty Warriors. Those are examples of great innovation and justified success on each chapter of the series.

And that is sad, but the attitude is hardly new. Any of you ever heard of Sakoku? Japan spend over 200 years with their borders shut and very few people could enter or exit (mostly for commerce). It is not a surprise they are a very egocentrist society.

 

[deleted_by_strongbad]

Are you kidding me?!!!

I can see why they group them into two different categories, their games are games, you don't have to think, just play.
Western games are typically very serious and always feel like work of some sort...

...

Are you telling me there was no learning involved in any Final Fantasy game. No figuring out "materia", no experimenting and analysis of the "license board"...

How about Silent Hill or Resident Evil? Those games you could play on autopilot

But maybe your right! Oh if only western developers could make simple fun games...

OH GAWD IF ONLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I did say that as a generalization. Yes it was obvious hyperbole, I was in the wrong I guess. Mostly western based games follow a pattern of drudgery and work, or at least are very dark and serious. Exceptions exist obviously, but they are a minority in the market and they'll be outsold by titles of a more serious nature (even if the serious title is less intelligent or in general an inferior title). Also I agree completely about resident evil on autopilot, serious does not equal smart.
As far as Eastern games go, no I don't feel that I ever used much thought in any Final Fantasy game I have ever played. Though to be extra clear, I don't feel I've "learned" anything from pretty much any video game from the east or west. They are and always have been a series of beautiful short films with interludes of menu navigation. It may take a moment or two to figure out how to utilize the menus at their fullest but even then you just click on random crap to see more movies. The East has produced some amazingly serious, dark, and some really intelligent games that do make you think that ranged from serious to wacky but still smart. That being said, what we normally get over here from the east are final fantasies and cooking mama.
But that's fine, I'm not lambasting the eastern games for their *GENERALLY* more lighthearted tone, or the western games for their *TYPICAL* trait of dull-seriousness. Nor am I saying, there aren't exceptions, they just aren't the average. Nor am I praising either category. Both types of games exist because people like both, the invisible hand has deemed them both worthy, but that doesn't mean each of us needs to consider them equal. But they are two different things, so the titles which classify a generalization (like any title does), are fine in my book. That's what I was saying in my post, but it sounds like it needed clarification, due to the absolute literal interpretation of my use of a logical fallacy, which was poorly chosen.

 

[Artemicion]

I don't feel I've "learned" anything from pretty much any video game from the east or west. They are and always have been a series of beautiful short films with interludes of menu navigation. It may take a moment or two to figure out how to utilize the menus at their fullest but even then you just click on random crap to see more movies.

So, like, what do you play? Pong? PacMan? I really can't think of any game that doesn't require learning. In the Final Fantasies, you have to learn proper tactics to conserve your items while still being effective in combat. In Resident Evil (the first few, anyway) you have to learn to avoid the zombies and collect as much ammo as you can for the bosses. In Call of Duty you have to learn the layout of the maps, the specs on a variety of different weapons, and understand that being out in the open is a bad idea. Every game requires learning on some level or another. Don't you learn new plot developments? Don't you figure out new combos in Street Fighter?

Saying you don't learn anything through any specific form of media is like saying you only breath on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

 

[qbanknight]

japanese culture is a tough market to penetrate for anyone outside of japan. not just videogames, but movies, books, and cars as well. it's getting worse since a large percentage of japan doesn't want anything to do with the outside world. you might call it extreme xenophobia, but there are many people in the US who do the same. difference is, in our culture that sort of thinking is frowned upon, in japan it's reinforced by family, tradition, and the media