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Games Entertainment

A Salute to Japanese Game Designers 49

Posted by Zonk from the that's-/salute dept.
thegamebiz writes "Amped IGO has a great tribute to Japanese game designers. From the article: 'In an industry where so much is owed to our friends across the Pacific it seems almost blasphemous to forget about the contributions of those that inhabit the Land of the Rising Sun. If it weren't for them, not only would we not have a lot of the franchises we love, but the industry as a whole would certainly not be as lively as it is today.'"
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A Salute to Japanese Game Designers More

A Salute to Japanese Game Designers

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  • but the industry as a whole would certainly not be as lively as it is today. Other than the NES bringing the industry back from the brink, what do we owe Japanese developers? Personally I owe them a good bit. Most of my favorite games are from Japanese studios, but there are nearly an equal amount of western developed games that Ive enjoyed as well. Maybe even more. Salute to them for doing a good job, sure, but dont give them most of the credit.
    • I don't think Western designers would've ever made DOA: Volleyball. That's what makes Japanese designers so great, the attention to detail. .....Or maybe not.

    • Re:Im not so sure... (Score:3, Interesting)

      by badasscat ( 563442 )
      Salute to them for doing a good job, sure, but dont give them most of the credit.

      Well, it depends on what you're giving them most of the credit for.

      Arcade games were invented by Americans. Most people also say home consoles were as well, although they developed basically independently in Japan at around the same time (maybe slightly later). For the first decade or so of the console industry, Americans and Japanese gamers played their own systems basically unaware of what was going on on the other side of
      • Ok, I agree with much of your post, but...

        We would not have a game industry these days without Nintendo, Sega and yes, Sony, along with the developers that went along with them (and they were mainly Japanese as well).

        Whaaaaa? You honestly think that if Nintendo/Sega hadn't existed, NO OTHER COMPANY in America would have produced a video game console between 1984 and 2006? Seriously?

        Frankly, I prefer American games and American consoles.
        • Maybe it's not entirely accurate, but there is no doubt the market would be considerably different and way far behind.
          Alot of people thought gaming was over after the crash, and it would certainly have taken many years for someone to reinvent the market as Nintendo did.
          If the Japanese influence really wasn't substancial, it wouldn't be dominated by them now.

          BTW, at the moment there is a grand total of one American console on the market, and it doesn't look like that's going to change too soon.
          So your "Ameri
      • Arcade games were invented by Americans. Most people also say home consoles were as well, although they developed basically independently in Japan at around the same time (maybe slightly later) Console games were invented by a man in the U.S. military as a side project, he also invented the lightgun and the console later became the Magnavox Odyssey.
      • "We would not have a game industry these days without Nintendo, Sega and yes, Sony, along with the developers that went along with them (and they were mainly Japanese as well)."

        No, not Sony. Sony was a late comer. By 1995, it was pretty damn obvious that gaming was here to stay (having been back in vogue for 12 years) and also was moving to the point where, with the help of optical media, you could really cram some interesting stuff on. Sony only came because it smelt money, not because it was (at its co
    • Amen! There are Japanese games that I love but also whole genre's that I just cant stand. Final Fantasy, any fighting game, any virtual pet, any dancing game, especially those with songs about butterflies; all of these just make me want to curl up in a ball with my hands over my ears.

      I hear a lot about how the Xbox does poorly in Japan because the games aren't designed with the taste of the Japanese consumer in mind. Well what about the tastes of the American consumer? I like first person shooters and r
      • Trucks! Muscle cars! Planes! World-War II! Vietnam!

        It took me a long time to puzzle out whether or not you're joking. I've decided "not joking," but you could've made it more explicit.

        • I happen to have games in all these genres. Really.

          -Monster Truck Madness
          -Midtown Madness
          -Crimson Sky
          -Return to Castle Wolfenstien
          -I forget the name of the Vietnam game

          Although none of these games is actually offensive to the Japanese people, it would be easy to think the last two items were meant as an off color joke. Even if it were, I'm sure it wouldn't be quite as off-color as EA games pitting Americans against the Chinese and all Arab nations in Battlefield two (which I actually enjoy, even as I crin
      • There are Japanese games that I love but also whole genre's that I just cant stand. Final Fantasy, any fighting game, any virtual pet, any dancing game, especially those with songs about butterflies...

        Hey, Crazy Town's Butterfly was All-American, unfortunetly.

  • they've done a lot (Score:5, Interesting)

    by joe 155 ( 937621 ) on Monday February 06, 2006 @06:59PM (#14655191) Journal
    The japaneese have done a lot with inovation in games, they also make interesting game which challenge you in different ways, and sometimes they just push the envolope in weird.

    Electroplankton for the DS seems really inovative and i'm looking forward to being able to buy it, its nice to see an inovative take on something like that, using the microphone and it being a game where you don't have to go through levels, its more just for fun, no begining, no end, just fun.
  • Japan really influenced the west in many ways. It's not only the games that are not quite like the western ones, it's also anime vs. cartoons, hentai vs. porn, japanese horrors vs. western horrors, karate/judo/aikido vs. box/wrestling, sushi vs. steak...

    Even if Japan woulnt produce their own games there's tons of stuff that penetrated to the west that made our games cooler..

  • Itagaki (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Jongpil Yun ( 950511 ) on Monday February 06, 2006 @08:04PM (#14655679)
    Can kiss my ass. The man is immature and a loudmouth. DOA is the worst fighter out there, and he has the gall to say the things he's said about the Namco fighters? How he can make a game that sucks as much as DOA:Ultimate and then make something like Ninja Gaiden is beyond me. It seems to me that he needs to stop dissing other designers in his press releases and spend more time working on Ninja Gaiden 2.
    • Oh thank god. Every time I try to talk about fighters people keep telling me about how much they love DOA, but it is Trash. Its a game for kiddies to look at teh b00bies. Staying on topic with the story, I whole heartedly thank the Japanese for SFZ3, CvS2, VF4e, TTT, SoulEdge through to Soul Caliber 3, 3s, hell even MvC2 and Super Turbo.

  • How about indie games? Cave Story springs to mind. (Score:1, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    "Pixel" is his handle--now here is a completely unknown japanese guy who definitely deserves some acclaim. He single-handedly created Cave Story [gameflaws.com] over the course of five years, and it's often described as being a "perfect" game. Think Castlevania, Metroid, and Yoshi's Island, among others--some great old-fashioned platforming gameplay to be found here. It has some amazing 8-bit era graphics and chiptunes, charming characters and plot, really fun boss battles; it appeals greatly to any nostalgic gamer out the

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