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Japan's game culture has its unique problems, from unsettling virtual-dating escapism

How is this a "problem", exactly? The dating sim games are just a popular genre that the West hasn't taken hold of. Its not a "Problem" that there is a genre that the West doesn't like... its like saying that the West has a problem because they make shooters if you don't like those kinds of games.

There are ridiculous plots in a lot of Japanese games, but there are also ridiculous plots in Western games.

All I know is that I enjoyed the story in Ghost Trick much more than I did the story of Halo or Call of Duty.

And if I were to compare stories I dislike in Japanese games to stories I dislike in Western games, it is more often that I occasionally find a Japanese game with an enjoyable story than a Western game...and I REALLY dislike anime and manga tropes.

RyanSaotome wrote:

How is this a "problem", exactly?

It's not the dating-sim that's the problem, but the "unsettling" and "escapism" descriptors. Many dating-sims that I've seen or, on rare occasions, played leave me with a foul taste in my mouth. Sure, some are relatively staid or inoffensive, but there's an inherent creepiness to these constructed worlds and characters since they are developed and created to act as a romantic proxy for set-upon young men. They're supposed to be "sims", yet there's nothing particularly realistic about them. Instead, they're all about reducing otaku fetishes down to simple characters and/or archetypes and letting players manipulate them without complicated things like "emotions" or "personalities" getting in the way. Also, the dearth of innovation in the genre doesn't help.

As far as the issue of self-seriousness in American AAA titles is concerned, I think a lot of that has to do with Americans in general having a hard time grasping or accepting camp. Sure, it does happen every once in a while, but camp is typically reduced to cult fare. Movies like "Drive Angry 3D" or "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" (just to use two recent examples) have a difficult time finding an audience in America because, I believe, many Americans just don't know how to react to them. Yes, they're silly and ridiculous, but that's because they're supposed to be. So Japanese games with high levels of camp often fail to jive with the sensibilities of a good many American players.

Here is some more East vs West fodder (its a decent little read and I'm glad Gravity Rush wasn't changed too much) - www.siliconera.com/2012/08/21/gravity-rush-creator-was-concerned-kat-was-too-japanese/

Relevant blurb from the article:
During a CEDEC presentation, Sato said having a female protagonist, a fictional city with a made up language, and a toon graphic style were generally negative points for overseas games. A project member from France also asked why do Japanese games have boys and girls as the main character.

Oh Journey... why do you have to be PS3 exclusive [rhetorical question, I know the reasons]? I want to play you more!

really sad to see nintendo power go.. it really is, I will severally miss them. I'm not going to touch the assassin creed issue with 10ft pole since the issue of visual novels was covered.

superdry wrote:

Here is some more East vs West fodder (its a decent little read and I'm glad Gravity Rush wasn't changed too much) - www.siliconera.com/2012/08/21/gravity-rush-creator-was-concerned-kat-was-too-japanese/

Relevant blurb from the article:
During a CEDEC presentation, Sato said having a female protagonist, a fictional city with a made up language, and a toon graphic style were generally negative points for overseas games. A project member from France also asked why do Japanese games have boys and girls as the main character.

Uhhh, gender balance? Anime hyper

Does it weirded them out that there tends to be more female main characters in Japanese games?

darkchibi07 wrote:

superdry wrote:

Here is some more East vs West fodder (its a decent little read and I'm glad Gravity Rush wasn't changed too much) - www.siliconera.com/2012/08/21/gravity-rush-creator-was-concerned-kat-was-too-japanese/

Relevant blurb from the article:
During a CEDEC presentation, Sato said having a female protagonist, a fictional city with a made up language, and a toon graphic style were generally negative points for overseas games. A project member from France also asked why do Japanese games have boys and girls as the main character.

Uhhh, gender balance? Anime hyper

Does it weirded them out that there tends to be more female main characters in Japanese games?

I'll go with the old stereotype that games are meant for boys only, no girls allowed type attitude.

The Mega Man franchise is not in complete disarray since the Archie comic is doing well.

And Final Fantasy II for the NES? Man, I hope you're not a capper if you know what I mean... Rolling Eyes

Cecilthedarkknight_234 wrote:

darkchibi07 wrote:

superdry wrote:

Here is some more East vs West fodder (its a decent little read and I'm glad Gravity Rush wasn't changed too much) - www.siliconera.com/2012/08/21/gravity-rush-creator-was-concerned-kat-was-too-japanese/

Relevant blurb from the article:
During a CEDEC presentation, Sato said having a female protagonist, a fictional city with a made up language, and a toon graphic style were generally negative points for overseas games. A project member from France also asked why do Japanese games have boys and girls as the main character.

Uhhh, gender balance? Anime hyper

Does it weirded them out that there tends to be more female main characters in Japanese games?

I'll go with the old stereotype that games are meant for boys only, no girls allowed type attitude.

I think the questioner meant to ask why have young kids like boys and girls as the main character instead of adults.

What always upset me about Journey is when my PlayStation network would stop working for some reason, and the person I was playing with and I would have to go OUR SEPARATE WAAAAAAAAAAAYS!!!

..........Sorry.

Mighty Laharls Vassal wrote:

Cecilthedarkknight_234 wrote:

darkchibi07 wrote:

superdry wrote:

Here is some more East vs West fodder (its a decent little read and I'm glad Gravity Rush wasn't changed too much) - www.siliconera.com/2012/08/21/gravity-rush-creator-was-concerned-kat-was-too-japanese/

Relevant blurb from the article:
During a CEDEC presentation, Sato said having a female protagonist, a fictional city with a made up language, and a toon graphic style were generally negative points for overseas games. A project member from France also asked why do Japanese games have boys and girls as the main character.

Uhhh, gender balance? Anime hyper

Does it weirded them out that there tends to be more female main characters in Japanese games?

I'll go with the old stereotype that games are meant for boys only, no girls allowed type attitude.

I think the questioner meant to ask why have young kids like boys and girls as the main character instead of adults.

the same reason anime focuses on teens 13-18 and some over the age 20... escapism. I think zac, bamboo and others covered the issue that most Japanese people are unhappy with their mundane jobs/ routines "day in and day out it's all the same".

Then there is fact most forced to grow up at set age and want some type of escapism for the harsh reality of the world, which is perfectly fine. You just need to balance yourself out and don't become to obsessed.

I'm a fan of unrealistic visual novels/eroge on realtionships because I like them as much as my best friend likes mowing down zombies in COD. Find your stress relief valve and just go with it.... yeah I'm going off topic yet again, I'm sorry about that.

Theres also the fact that adults don't play video games as much as younger people and otaku.

http://www.1up.com/features/japanese-games-breaking-west

"Japanese culture has developed a reputation for being more accepting of traditionally geeky pursuits than the west. Because so many amazing games came from Japan in the past, many imagine Japan to be a place where being a "gamer" is accepted and considered "normal." In reality it's anything but. The west is far more accepting of adults playing games. While people will often play games on their cell phones, and though the DS made major in-roads into the casual market, particularly with women, admitting to playing games still carries a stronger social stigma in Japan than in Europe or North America. As such, many adults willingly give up games, keeping the market much younger overall than elsewhere."

So the market continues to make younger characters to appeal to these demographics.

Nintendo Power: I wasn't a regular subscriber but I owned a few of their magazines from many years back. A sad end indeed for them.

Mega Man Xover: This will not placate any Mega Man fans, I assure you Crapbomb. The idea sounds novel, but it's not good enough.

TWEWY: Here I thought that game was just a one-shot, but considering "reviving" seems to be a common occurrence in RPGs...

FFII Prototype: I wouldn't be surprised in even the most minimal percentage if someone bought this. I know someone bought the Sonic X-treme test engine disc back in 2005 and that must have cost quite a bit considering the anticipation for a cancelled game.

Lighter Side: Don't worry Todd, I'm sure most reviewers don't even know what neologism means, and that's where the irony lies.

I honestly have to rant about this.

When did "Japanese" become such a dirty word to associate a game with? They use young characters, for example, because their market is aimed for younger audiences. Adult heroes don't interest kids over there as much as they would here (to name an anime, Big O was not popular over there because Roger Smith is a grown man and believe it or not, that's a primary reason a lot of Japanese viewers didn't like the show).

Why do these developers assume "mature and dark" storytelling is the best kind of storytelling? Do you narrow-minds think it could be because what you peg as "silly" and "crazy" in Japan is just them having fun, which is what games are supposed to be for? You can't tell me you played Katamari Damacy and didn't smile just once through the whole thing (unless you thought it was really stupid, which was the point of the story).

I play Trinity Universe. My younger brother plays Assassin's Creed. Our tastes are different, but we don't harp on each other's game preferences. He knows I like JRPGs and I know he likes shooter games, and we respect each other's choice. He doesn't say "Tales is stupid anime crap" and I don't say "COD is for insecure wannabes." So I don't see why there needs to be mudslinging like that in the game development world. If the games reach their target audiences, that's what matters, right?

Rant over. Phew.

Journey Collector's Edition: If you ask me, and piggybacking off of what I ranted on about previously, we could use more non-violent art games. It would sure take the wind out of some people's sails, that's for sure.

Henry Jones wrote:

What always upset me about Journey is when my PlayStation network would stop working for some reason, and the person I was playing with and I would have to go OUR SEPARATE WAAAAAAAAAAAYS!!!

Only so many tears you can cry until the heartache is over. I wonder who's crying now.

Wink

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