Well, to be fair, Western game doesnt get much attention from Eastern artistsin general (Even more with Overwatch since it's a pay-2-play game, so access to it is even more restricted)
Generally speaking, Western games don't get much attention from the art community at all. The fact that most of it is fairly generic doesn't help, let alone encourage fanart. (Call of Duty has a pitiful <300 pieces of work on Danbooru)
Well, to be fair, Western game doesnt get much attention from Eastern artistsin general (Even more with Overwatch since it's a pay-2-play game, so access to it is even more restricted)
It doesn't help the Japanese have largely checked out of both PC gaming and Console gaming, almost exclusively focusing in on Mobile gaming.
It doesn't help the Japanese have largely checked out of both PC gaming and Console gaming, almost exclusively focusing in on Mobile gaming.
Shame the way the Japanese are heading, this mobile gaming plateform seems to be far more trashy when you think about it in the West. Then again I am but a simple console player.
Shame the way the Japanese are heading, this mobile gaming plateform seems to be far more trashy when you think about it in the West. Then again I am but a simple console player.
It's a cultural and economic thing.
Japanese adults work insane hours and on top of that spend a lot of time that isn't at work in social activities with their co-workers (usually drinking at a bar or karaoke), usually to impress a boss in order to get promotions/raises. They barely spend enough waking time at home to get ready for the day and get ready for bed, never mind play a video game.
Admitting that you play video games is actually more stigmatized over in Japan than it is in the Western world. In a Japanese interview, Capcom noted that one of the more requested features for their mobile Monster Hunter titles was that it worked in portrait mode, so it wasn't obvious to other people that they were playing a game.
Related to the previous point, Japanese society is one that values conformity over individuality - you're expected to fit in and be interested in activities that would be considered "normal". Gaming being stigmatized like it has in Japan makes it something that would make a person stand out if they admitted it was one of their interests.
Japan's economy has been in a generation-long depression that has shown very little, if not non-existent, signs of recovery. This has tightened the pocketbooks of most average Japanese to the point that they don't spend money on luxuries such as video games. This in turn has made the otaku audience the the biggest market for video games and game makers in turn create new games that appeal more to the otaku audience, which creates a vicious cycle that further stigmatizes the appeal of gaming to the general Japanese audience.
All in all, it's a really tough situation. There's so many layers to it that there isn't one simple, straight-forward solution that could revitalize the dedicated gaming market over there outside of a major cultural shift.
Japanese adults work insane hours and on top of that spend a lot of time that isn't at work in social activities with their co-workers (usually drinking at a bar or karaoke), usually to impress a boss in order to get promotions/raises. They barely spend enough waking time at home to get ready for the day and get ready for bed, never mind play a video game.
Admitting that you play video games is actually more stigmatized over in Japan than it is in the Western world. In a Japanese interview, Capcom noted that one of the more requested features for their mobile Monster Hunter titles was that it worked in portrait mode, so it wasn't obvious to other people that they were playing a game.
Related to the previous point, Japanese society is one that values conformity over individuality - you're expected to fit in and be interested in activities that would be considered "normal". Gaming being stigmatized like it has in Japan makes it something that would make a person stand out if they admitted it was one of their interests.
Japan's economy has been in a generation-long depression that has shown very little, if not non-existent, signs of recovery. This has tightened the pocketbooks of most average Japanese to the point that they don't spend money on luxuries such as video games. This in turn has made the otaku audience the the biggest market for video games and game makers in turn create new games that appeal more to the otaku audience, which creates a vicious cycle that further stigmatizes the appeal of gaming to the general Japanese audience.
All in all, it's a really tough situation. There's so many layers to it that there isn't one simple, straight-forward solution that could revitalize the dedicated gaming market over there outside of a major cultural shift.
All good points, thanks for sharing. It's a shame but it certainly understandable.
Although... that said... Touhou isn't mobile so artist that play it would have the ability to play TF or Overwatch at least.
NeoChaos said: It's a cultural and economic thing.
Related to the previous point, Japanese society is one that values conformity over individuality - you're expected to fit in and be interested in activities that would be considered "normal". Gaming being stigmatized like it has in Japan makes it something that would make a person stand out if they admitted it was one of their interests.
I once failed to pass an interview for a major company which I aced every single aspect of, and to this day I think my only misstep was admitting that I loved Battlefield 3 and played it often. It was one of those multi-day group affairs, so I knew I was one of the strongest candidates. My life would have gone very differently, and probably much better, if I hadn't said that.
So, uh, let that be a lesson to you all, I guess. This was in the US, btw.
Japanese adults work insane hours and on top of that spend a lot of time that isn't at work in social activities with their co-workers (usually drinking at a bar or karaoke), usually to impress a boss in order to get promotions/raises. They barely spend enough waking time at home to get ready for the day and get ready for bed, never mind play a video game.
Admitting that you play video games is actually more stigmatized over in Japan than it is in the Western world. In a Japanese interview, Capcom noted that one of the more requested features for their mobile Monster Hunter titles was that it worked in portrait mode, so it wasn't obvious to other people that they were playing a game.
Related to the previous point, Japanese society is one that values conformity over individuality - you're expected to fit in and be interested in activities that would be considered "normal". Gaming being stigmatized like it has in Japan makes it something that would make a person stand out if they admitted it was one of their interests.
Japan's economy has been in a generation-long depression that has shown very little, if not non-existent, signs of recovery. This has tightened the pocketbooks of most average Japanese to the point that they don't spend money on luxuries such as video games. This in turn has made the otaku audience the the biggest market for video games and game makers in turn create new games that appeal more to the otaku audience, which creates a vicious cycle that further stigmatizes the appeal of gaming to the general Japanese audience.
All in all, it's a really tough situation. There's so many layers to it that there isn't one simple, straight-forward solution that could revitalize the dedicated gaming market over there outside of a major cultural shift.
I did understood those after discussing with a Japanese who explain me about the usual life of a person there... Nevertheless I always wonder why "most" Japanese games don't bother exporting their games aboard knowing that in their own country has being stretch to the limit. Not to mention that not all otakus could focus their cash in too many games.
I did understood those after discussing with a Japanese who explain me about the usual life of a person there... Nevertheless I always wonder why "most" Japanese games don't bother exporting their games aboard knowing that in their own country has being stretch to the limit. Not to mention that not all otakus could focus their cash in too many games.
Too many SJWs overseas.
(Okay, maaaybe not really, but there have been a few high profile cases of backlash against Japanese titles, even for non-hentai games. Cultural differences, etc, etc.).
Also the different pricing models is another issue.
(Okay, maaaybe not really, but there have been a few high profile cases of backlash against Japanese titles, even for non-hentai games. Cultural differences, etc, etc.).
Also the different pricing models is another issue.
Have a stroll on Tumblr or FB and you will see how much is "Too much", lol
But yeah, they sure will not have to bother with all the dramatic bs of the "Outside World" (Jokes implied)
Then again, Touhou's going to the West atm (Tks Sony, still hate you tho), so our hope's still there
(Okay, maaaybe not really, but there have been a few high profile cases of backlash against Japanese titles, even for non-hentai games. Cultural differences, etc, etc.).
Also the different pricing models is another issue.
Umm.... no. And lets not go there.
Again, the reason for lack of export is like the reason gaming in Japan is in such a rut, it's really complex.
The "too long, didn't read" version is the Japanese companies have signifcantly lagged behind their Western counterparts in every metric, most notably from the technical standpoint. While the EA's and Ubisoft's were busy figuring out how to make HD games, i.e. wearing how to pipeline, optimizing development, etc., Japan for the most part, didn't. Not helping things here is the large focus shift to portables (especially the PSP), and then later to mobile. If Hiroaki Yura (Project Phoenix's director) is to believed, most Japanese programmers are clueless on how to use modern engines such as Unity and the Unreal Engine. And, from what I'm hearing, most game schools still teach with DX9 and with outdated software.
Japanese games aren't nearly as well polished as their Western counterparts.
Another factor is the massive level of arrogance and insularity Japanese executives (or the market as a whole) have for their own works. One such example was a well-known and high ranking producer at a high profile JRPG company dismissing Bioshock as a "shit game" solely because it was from an American developer.
Japanese companies are often unaware or lags behind where it comes to trends and market shifts.
Another, the aforementioned cultural differences. Idolmaster is a huge franchise in Japan. But no one in the right mind would see it as anything but a niche game outside of Japan. Not helping matters here is the previously mentioned Otaku pandering.
Japanese games are made for a Japanese audience, and these days, it rarely is a global audience too.
Again, the reason for lack of export is like the reason gaming in Japan is in such a rut, it's really complex.
The "too long, didn't read" version is the Japanese companies have signifcantly lagged behind their Western counterparts in every metric, most notably from the technical standpoint. While the EA's and Ubisoft's were busy figuring out how to make HD games, i.e. wearing how to pipeline, optimizing development, etc., Japan for the most part, didn't. Not helping things here is the large focus shift to portables (especially the PSP), and then later to mobile. If Hiroaki Yura (Project Phoenix's director) is to believed, most Japanese programmers are clueless on how to use modern engines such as Unity and the Unreal Engine. And, from what I'm hearing, most game schools still teach with DX9 and with outdated software.
Japanese games aren't nearly as well polished as their Western counterparts.
Another factor is the massive level of arrogance and insularity Japanese executives (or the market as a whole) have for their own works. One such example was a well-known and high ranking producer at a high profile JRPG company dismissing Bioshock as a "shit game" solely because it was from an American developer.
Japanese companies are often unaware or lags behind where it comes to trends and market shifts.
Another, the aforementioned cultural differences. Idolmaster is a huge franchise in Japan. But no one in the right mind would see it as anything but a niche game outside of Japan. Not helping matters here is the previously mentioned Otaku pandering.
Japanese games are made for a Japanese audience, and these days, it rarely is a global audience too.
In addition to the outdated software thing, Internet Explorer is massively the most popular browser there. Technical ineptness, conformity, unwillingness to change what is the "default" in computers shipped to them etc.
Again, the reason for lack of export is like the reason gaming in Japan is in such a rut, it's really complex.
The "too long, didn't read" version is the Japanese companies have signifcantly lagged behind their Western counterparts in every metric, most notably from the technical standpoint. While the EA's and Ubisoft's were busy figuring out how to make HD games, i.e. wearing how to pipeline, optimizing development, etc., Japan for the most part, didn't. Not helping things here is the large focus shift to portables (especially the PSP), and then later to mobile. If Hiroaki Yura (Project Phoenix's director) is to believed, most Japanese programmers are clueless on how to use modern engines such as Unity and the Unreal Engine. And, from what I'm hearing, most game schools still teach with DX9 and with outdated software.
You mention here Hiroaki Yura. What did he say about Japanese programmers?
No, it's not strange. Because Japan was the only country to have a gaming industry back in 80s. For example, the US industry thinks of themselves as an international industry, which I think is the right way of thinking. But Japan still thinks of itself really as the only people who make video games, which is not true. Their rules only apply to Japanese people. So if they find out something, they don't want to share it. It's also because of company property, compliance, company protocol. They're three very different things, but they all mean the same in the end. So you're not allowed to show stuff, you're not allowed to talk about stuff, and you keep whatever the company owns as company property. Therefore you don't share it.
What would you like to see change in the Japanese gaming industry?
The problem is, because of this, the programmers are bad at Unity. They're kind of okay at Unreal [Engine], but they're still not very good. And now they'll say, "Oh, Unity is the shit right now" but in actual fact, Unity's not so hot anymore in the rest of the world. Now Unreal 4 is hotter. And we're just set behind. I think... I don't know. I mean, Japan has very good planning. They're very organised. Also, designing the games, it's very fun. But the problem is the programming doesn't keep up, the animation's not so good. Funny that we have a whole anime industry. But that's based on different technology.
Is that so?
with gender-neutral particles instead of her usual feminine particles