A Salute to Japanese Game Designers 49
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.'"
Im not so sure... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Im not so sure... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Im not so sure... (Score:1)
Re:Im not so sure... (Score:2)
Re:Im not so sure... (Score:2)
blech, what dreck.
Re:Im not so sure... (Score:2)
Re:Im not so sure... (Score:3, Interesting)
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
Re:Im not so sure... (Score:3)
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.
Re:Im not so sure... (Score:1)
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
Re:Im not so sure... (Score:1)
I'm forgoing moderating you down to reply. (Score:2)
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
Re:Im not so sure... (Score:2, Insightful)
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
Re:Im not so sure... (Score:2)
It wasn't meant to be nationalistic so much as an expression that, just as Japanese games have a flavor, American games also have a flavor and that flavor needs it's own saluting.
Slashdotters often comment on how much they love things Japanese. Great. No, really, I'm glad you're happy with your choices. But I think the flavor of American games should b
America is steak, Japan is sushi. (Score:2)
There's a point to it, though. While I happen to like some of the typical American game types you listed, it might be worth to mention that most of them come down to being brute and trying to mimic reality, if in the sense of winning the war after all, or crashing foreign cars. Of course, Japan has these types of games as well, albeit with a twist here and there, but those are marginal at best.
In contrast, Japan
Re:Im not so sure... (Score:2)
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.
Re:Im not so sure... (Score:2)
-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
Re:Im not so sure... (Score:1)
Hey, Crazy Town's Butterfly was All-American, unfortunetly.
This is not the song you are looking for. (Score:1)
I'm your little butterfly
Green, black and blue
Make the colors in the sky
*shakes fist angrily*
DAMN YOU, GRANDPARENT!
DAMN YOUUUUUU!
Re:It's rigged (Score:2, Interesting)
they've done a lot (Score:5, Interesting)
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.
Re:they've done a lot (Score:2)
For about an hour, I hear. No save feature!
Very Mature (Score:1)
Re:All your base are belong to us! (Score:1)
Re:All your base are belong to us! (Score:3, Interesting)
A better example is Dragon Quest; wildly popular there but doesn't sell much here. DQ is to America what Halo is to Japan.
Re:All your base are belong to us! (Score:1)
Re:strange games (Score:2)
Yeah, there are a lot of weird, sexually-theme games in Japan. After all, it's home to many hentai games (hentai is the rough equivalent to porn in the US, although it's in animated form). When I spent some time in Japan as part of a school trip, I often ran into hentai games on the same shelf space as other games. You definately get the feeling that Americans are pru
Re:strange games (Score:1)
Re:strange games (Score:1)
not a mainstream game... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:not a mainstream game... (Score:1)
If you're looking for unlicensed examples, I'd suggest Eternal Fighter Zero [wikipedia.org], that seems to be unlicensed.
Thanks, Japan (Score:1)
Even if Japan woulnt produce their own games there's tons of stuff that penetrated to the west that made our games cooler..
Re:Thanks, Japan (Score:1)
Itagaki (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Itagaki (Score:1)
How about indie games? Cave Story springs to mind. (Score:1, Informative)