Japanese game development has had some bumpy spots as of late. The old school game dudes can’t seem to catch much of a break, and some would argue (and by that I mean me) that they are losing touch with gamers outside of their own country. I wouldn’t say that they are getting worse at what they do by any means, but there seems to a part of the industry that’s moving past them. So what about all those classic Japanese franchises?
That’s why CVG has put together a list of 7 Games Japan Should Give to Western Developers. I’m not entirely in agreement with everything they’ve got down on here, especially with Final Fantasy, which is just one title removed from being a really excellent series again. Likewise, they list Resident Evil on here as well, but Resident Evil 5 was a huge hit, a critically acclaimed game and was designed with many Western sensibilities in mind. Also, many racers should be striving to achieve what Mario Kart has done even in recent years. It’s hardly stagnant. Those aside (plus the really ridiculous names they’ve given the titles), I agree with the rest of the list, particularly Legend of Zelda.
Interestingly enough, we did a feature very similar to this last summer. So what do you guys think of this? Would you take those Japanese franchises and give them to Western developers, or leave them where they are? Go!
Source – CVG
Um, yeah I don’t agree with this article at all. Let the Japanese make their games.
On the subject of Japan losing touch with the Western audiences, that’s not really true. There are a ton of Western fans of the Japanese games that reach our shores, but they’re just not as loud a population as the CoD fanboys. Japanese developers are making some excellent games, and yes there are many run-of-the-mill moe RPG’s, but there are also many run-of-the-mill FPS’s over on this side of the Pacific. Both regions of the game industry have pros and cons; both are stagnating or decaying in some aspects, but also improving and innovating.
This article is kind of silly. Resident Evil 5 was great, as we all know. Final Fantasy doesn’t need to be like Mass Effect. And Darksiders being compared to Zelda? Well, that says it all.
[quote comment=”14611″]This article is kind of silly. Resident Evil 5 was great, as we all know. Final Fantasy doesn’t need to be like Mass Effect. And Darksiders being compared to Zelda? Well, that says it all.[/quote]
You said…the word….