Capcom’s Keiji Inafune, the creator of Mega Man, sounded off on the current state of Japan’s videogame business at last week’s Tokyo Game Show.
When asked what he thought of this year’s TGS, Inafune gave a thumb’s down before responding:
Japan is over. We’re done. Our game industry is finished.
Destructoid has the video of Inafune’s remarks. He did attempt a little damage control by noting that Capcom’s games on display at TGS were “kick ass.”
Technogeek: If the developer were male there wouldn't have been a "conversation" in the first place.10/19/2014 - 2:27am
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Monte: trolls are just at their absolute worst when it comes to women and feminist. You could bet good money that if the developer were male the trolls would be silent and the conversation would actually focus on the journalism.10/18/2014 - 9:18pm
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Monte: Papa: Not the first time we've had a journalism scandals before, but the harassment never got close to this level; the difference with this scandal is that feminists are involved. Without the feminist angle, their would be A LOT less harrassment10/18/2014 - 9:15pm
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Papa Midnight: Monte: That's honestly rather short-sighted. As has been proven with other persons who have been targeted, if it wasn't Quinn, it would be someone else.10/18/2014 - 6:26pm
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Avalongod: I think that's part of what gives an esoteric news story like this real life...it taps into a larger narrative about misogyny in society outside of games.10/18/2014 - 3:29pm
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Avalongod: @Monte, well the trolls made death threats that came to police (and media attention). I think this is tapping into a larger issue outside of games about how women are treated in society (like all the "real rape" stuff during the last election)10/18/2014 - 3:28pm
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Wonderkarp: Zippy : Havent tried the PS4 controller. might later.10/18/2014 - 2:37pm
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Monte: Seirously, If Quinn was not involved and GG was instead about something like the Mordor Marketing contracts, the trolling would have never grown so vile and disgusting. There have been plenty of movements in the past that never sufferred from behavior..10/18/2014 - 1:57pm
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Monte: We have seen scandel's before but the trolling has never been as vile as what we see with GG. Trolls usually have such a tiny voice you can barely notice them, but its like moths to a flame whenever femistist are involved.10/18/2014 - 1:53pm
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ZippyDSMlee: Wonderkarp: You might be able to if you had a PS4 controller.10/18/2014 - 1:00pm
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MaskedPixelante: http://store.steampowered.com/app/327940/ Night Dive starts charging for freeware.10/18/2014 - 12:21pm
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Matthew Wilson: the sad thing is there are trolls on both sides of this. people need to stop acting like their side is so pure.10/18/2014 - 12:19pm
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MechaTama31: So, only speak out on a scandal that hasn't attracted trolls? I wouldn't hold my breath...10/18/2014 - 10:49am
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Monte: I feel like GG just needs to die. The movement is FAR to tainted by hatred and BS for it to be useful for any conversation. Let GG die, and then rally behind the NEXT gaming journalism scandal, and start the conversation fresh.10/18/2014 - 10:33am
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quiknkold: and we dont have a Dovakin to call a cease fire10/17/2014 - 7:37pm
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quiknkold: The whole thing is Futile. Both sides are so buried deep in their trenchs that there isnt a conversation. Its just Finger Pointing, Name Calling, Doxxing, Threats. there needs to be a serious conversation, and GG isnt it.10/17/2014 - 7:37pm
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quiknkold: I thought it was a good article. Jeff is right. I feel like GamerGate did destroy its message. I am for Ethics in game journalism, but man. so much hate. and its on both sides. I've seen some awful stuff spewed on twitter. Its a big reason why I exited..10/17/2014 - 7:34pm
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Matthew Wilson: while he focused on gg, he did call out both sides crap.10/17/2014 - 7:18pm
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Papa Midnight: That was a damn good read offered by Jeff Gertsmann.10/17/2014 - 7:17pm
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Matthew Wilson: http://www.giantbomb.com/articles/letter-from-the-editor-10-17-2014/1100-5049/ deferentially a nice write up.10/17/2014 - 6:44pm
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Comments
Re: Capcom’s Inafune: Japanese Game Industry is Finished
The entire industry is stuck in a rut, granted Unreal Engine 3 Shooter #1, Unreal Engine 3 Shhoter #2, Unreal Engine Action Shooter #1, Unreal Engine Shooter #3 all sell well but lack anything that will tell them apart from everyother game out there.
It's not too long before another crash hits and the only ones that will survive will be EA,Nintendo, and Apple.
Re: Capcom’s Inafune: Japanese Game Industry is Finished
Were you being sarcastic by throwing in "Apple" as a gaming industry giant?
Re: Capcom’s Inafune: Japanese Game Industry is Finished
He had to have been.
I see Sony survivng in the video game industry after a crash as well. Their electronics devision isn't doing so hot, but their gaming devision is still strong (even with the shakey start of the PS3 and the, in my opinion, doomed PSP Go).
Re: Capcom’s Inafune: Japanese Game Industry is Finished
(oops - double post)
Re: Capcom’s Inafune: Japanese Game Industry is Finished
Huh... So, if the industry in Japan is crashing... About about Brazil?
You know, there are 60 Brazillian game developers, 600 employed people, and a countless amount of indies, and yet... Someone here ever heard of a brazillian game?
criadordejogos.wordpress.com
Re: Capcom’s Inafune: Japanese Game Industry is Finished
The only thing I know about Brazil is that they have some of the most dedicated gold farmers on the planet.
Re: Capcom’s Inafune: Japanese Game Industry is Finished
Hang on a second, what? 60 developers, but only 600 employees? That would probably explain it. Big development houses can have up to 600 employees on their own in order to have 2-3 teams going on blockbuster titles. A team of 10 people can't compete for shelf space with these juggernauts.
Re: Capcom’s Inafune: Japanese Game Industry is Finished
I remember hearing about when Nintendo during the era of the SNES, they told the developers that they could only make about one or two games for their system because they wanted to keep the flow of quality of games and wanted to make the developers take their time.
Re: Capcom’s Inafune: Japanese Game Industry is Finished
If Japanese Videogame Industry is crashing, then what is up with Canada, America, UK, French, Australia, Middle East and other countries that make videogames?
Other countries are doing ok even though they are not rated highly as the Japanese industry, and many people would rather be in Japan's position than any other country.
Maybe Japan has been on the top for too long that they consider being #2 a Videogame Industry crash,
Re: Capcom’s Inafune: Japanese Game Industry is Finished
This isn't an economics thing, not in the way you're presenting it anyway. In the end Japanese game makers may go out of business, but only because they aren't making good games that people buy. They're not strapped for Yen, they're strapped for innovation and fun.
Saying that Jack Thompson is impotent is an insult to impotent men everywhere. They've got a whole assortment of drugs that can cure their condition; Jack, however...
Re: Capcom’s Inafune: Japanese Game Industry is Finished
Translation:Because Japanese developers refuse to let graphics control every aspect and cater to the western shooter craze we're done.
Re: Capcom’s Inafune: Japanese Game Industry is Finished
Have you seen japanese games? they are basically really shiny movies with the occasional tedious game breaking out.
its all about graphics controlling everything, followed by very shiny cutscenes then repetitive uninspired gameplay
and there may be a western shooter game but all that comes out of japan is jrpg's and fighters (actually jrpgs could be a lot better if they replaced that god awful menu driven combat system witha fighter style system, that there would be a massive japanese and worldwide winner)
and it may be just because I am western but I much prefer to run around shooting and exploding everything then running away from weak monters because I am sick of the menu combat taking way too long just to 1 hit something, you should not be afraid of weak monsters
Re: Capcom’s Inafune: Japanese Game Industry is Finished
Hold on a moment. It isn't about catering to the shooter crowd, but it is about letting games become stale and just taking a new number on the end of the title to sale a product. The Dynasty Warriors series is a prime example. It continues to sell decent despite it being a near exact copy of the game before it. There are a ton of titles that don't get global recognition and fall flat in Japan as well. Games that try to copy the success of another game but fail and just trickle out of existance occur pretty frequently.
Re: Capcom’s Inafune: Japanese Game Industry is Finished
As someone who has played a lot of JRPGs, I would submit that part of the problem is the lack of any real innovation. At least in that genre, it always seems like more of the same. Sure, I loved them in their heyday, but it's so "meh" now. I've been switching back to WRPGs of late. Not only do the Western fare seem a bit more mature, but it seems like they've put more effort into them. Plus, the minor differences in cultural sensibilities were starting to irritate me (the humor, the anime/manga style, the typical doomsday story redressed, overly dramatic villans that can be redeemed by simply losing a battle, teens for heroes, little girls being casually sexualized, etc).
Re: Capcom’s Inafune: Japanese Game Industry is Finished
It seems a bit extreme but I think his comments do have some truth to them. The majority of big games are now made in either North America or Europe. Stuff coming out of Japan is increasingly irrelevant to the overall gaming populace. Almost everything is very niche, the 53636th sequel to a series that has been going on forever (dragon warrior and final fantasy I'm looking at you), or yet another cliched hackneyed JRPG. Let me look what there is.
You've got Arc System Works which pretty much just makes fighting games. Atlus, who does make some good games, but they are fairly niche. I think they are one of the bright spots. Capcom of course. Cave is the nichest of niche developers. From Software also makes very niche games. Grasshopper Manufacture is the same. There's a couple other big ones in there like Koei, Namco, Konami, Sony, and Square Enix.
But you just have to look at the majority of the output of these companies. JRPGs, fighting games, and weird stuff from the minds of Suda51, Kojima, and whoevers at Vanillaware. Obviously there is some good stuff in there, but there's not a whole lot that I personally am interested in. And it's not like I'm against weird games by principle, I imported Demon's Souls.
Re: Capcom’s Inafune: Japanese Game Industry is Finished
"Japans gaming industry sucks. Except for the games the company I'm in makes."
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I LIKE the fence. I get 2 groups to laugh at then.
Re: Capcom’s Inafune: Japanese Game Industry is Finished
To the guys credit, Capcom is an international power house in the video game industry. Against his credit is the fact that they are one of the worlds worst about releasing sequel after sequel of the same game with minimal changes, this action lowers sales and peopel become uninterested in their products.
Still, Lost Planet 2 is a blast with co-op. (at least the demo is)
Re: Capcom’s Inafune: Japanese Game Industry is Finished
I'd say that's more against his credit than for it. Plus you kinda forgot the bit about Capcom paying his wages, meaning his views on their gaming line-up not exactly being impartial.
In point of fact, guess what I just saw in the news ticker "Capcom announces Super Street Fighter 4" the same damn game with 8 new characters, oh how kick-ass and innovative. What's their next killer game "Resident Evil Umbrella Gunman Chronicles Outbreak 6"? Or Megaman 932?
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I LIKE the fence. I get 2 groups to laugh at then.
Re: Capcom’s Inafune: Japanese Game Industry is Finished
As I said, they make some good games, but they also run stuff into the ground with sequels.
Re: Capcom’s Inafune: Japanese Game Industry is Finished
The same was said about the entire industry soemtime ago I believe.
Re: Capcom’s Inafune: Japanese Game Industry is Finished
The Japanese gaming scene has been in decline for years, and Japanese devs are still struggling to appeal to international audiences. I have no doubt Japan will find a better position in an increasingly global industry, but for now they seem to be producing mostly niche games.
I think the path Dragon Quest has taken is an indicator of what's going on. The series hasn't grown much, gameplay & theme wise, since its inception in the 1980's. Its newest iteration is on a handheld- hardly existing at the center of most households...the living room TV.
Re: Capcom’s Inafune: Japanese Game Industry is Finished
It's difficult making a game that would appeal to both Japanese and Western audiences, but the problem lies more in the fickleness of Japanese people. They can whore out more of their creativity if they made games that appeal to Westerners.
Japan has a strange gaming scene- you have the hardcore fans of one series or genre who are not very open to new franchises, like the RPG nerds who won't play anything if it doesn't have "Dragon Quest" in the name. And then in the other end you have the uber-casuals that fuel a market of very quirky simulation or educational games. There's not much of a happy medium for games here.
You could probably say Japanese developers have greatly conditioned gamers into these mindsets. Despite the lack of creativity in the games, most Japanese gamers may actually be very satisfied, but they are starting to bore the hell out of developers that want to take more risks.
Re: Capcom’s Inafune: Japanese Game Industry is Finished
Eh? Dragon Quest VIII was awesome though.