Stagnation of Japanese video game development

[SineSwiper]

Is it just me, or has the mantle of creative and polished video games moved from the Japanese to the US? It seems like more and more games that I really like or am looking forward to are US games. I mean, look at the number of Japanese games I've bought in the last few years:

Devil May Cry 4
Culcept Saga (an older game anyway)
Ninja Gaiden 2

Even with the XBL, it's maybe only a few Japanese games, like Crystal Defenders. Yet, I play stuff like Fallout 3, Defense Grid, Bioshock, Half-Life 2, Portal, Left 4 Dead, Braid, World of Goo, Bionic Commando Rearmed (actually made in Sweden), Prototype, Dead Space, etc., etc.

Even the RPGs are US. I'm still playing through Fallout 3 and Shellie's been playing Fable 2. I don't see a lot of Japanese RPGs out there to begin with. It's like everybody is afraid to make one except Square Enix, and their quality is faltering rather quickly.

[Don]

And MMORPGs are not made in Japan with the exception of FF11, and for all their faults, most of them are quality titles.

I don't know if creativity is a factor, but polish certainly is.

[Julius Seeker]

look at the number of Japanese games I've bought in the last few years:

Devil May Cry 4
Culcept Saga (an older game anyway)
Ninja Gaiden 2

There could be your problem. Your picks are far too few, and not exactly among the quality games out quality or creative stocks of games out of Japan recently. Whereas your North American picks are among the alltime top rated games from the continent.

[SineSwiper]

Yeah, but where are they hiding? Are they all on the Wii now? I know there's MGS4 on the PS3, but that's just one game. Even with the Wii, it seems like the biggest games out there are from Nintendo proper and Clover.

[Anarky]

Yeah, but where are they hiding? Are they all on the Wii now? I know there's MGS4 on the PS3, but that's just one game. Even with the Wii, it seems like the biggest games out there are from Nintendo proper and Clover.

Even Hideo Kojima has stated he's liking Western Style games and development. I wouldn't be surprised if he came to the west and made a game.

[Zeus]

Yeah, but where are they hiding? Are they all on the Wii now? I know there's MGS4 on the PS3, but that's just one game. Even with the Wii, it seems like the biggest games out there are from Nintendo proper and Clover.

Even Hideo Kojima has stated he's liking Western Style games and development. I wouldn't be surprised if he came to the west and made a game.

He has visited a number of Western development houses. I remember reading an article about that. He doesn't make "traditional" Jap games either. His games have always had a more Western feel to them anyways.

I'm really curious what he does with the Castlevania franchise

[Blotus]

OLD NEWS!

[SineSwiper]

Is it? Actually, I haven't really seen any gaming articles talk about it.

[RentCavalier]

One of EGM's last issues was a HUGE story on just this, actually. The basic consensus is that the best minds of the industry are looking westward for new ideas--it's mostly a matter of getting past the xenophobic producers, but as more and more avant-garde designers become more well-known and respected, we're going to see--probably most pronounced at the end of this current console generation and maybe by next E3--an all-new lineup of Japanese games utilizing high-end technology and open-ended ideas akin to their Western counterparts.

[SineSwiper]

Well, even the quirky ideas that the Japanese came up with, like Katamari, just isn't there much any more.

[Julius Seeker]

I find that the DS has had some of the most refreshing and original games I have played in years. Every single one of them is Japanese. There is Scribblenauts coming out though that is in that pile; that's not Japanese. On Wii there is Rune Factory Frontier which has for the first time been a game that has kept my interest in a single playthrough more than 65 hours. My theory is that the Japanese market trend is towards handheld systems mostly; and so that is where there developers are looking. I anticipate FF13 being huge though.

For North American titles: SPORE was interesting; but it totally missed the whole ability to let the game play itself and evolve on its own that Will Wright's games in the past always had. Civilization 4 is my favourite NA game of late; but Starcraft 2 is my most anticipated.

[Flip]

Well, even the quirky ideas that the Japanese came up with, like Katamari, just isn't there much any more.

The PSP (yes yes, all i talk about as its the only sorta next gen i own) has come out with some quirky fun titles like Loco Roco and Patapon. This newer one i recently got, Echechrome, i would also put in the 'unusual' category.

Also, what about Little Big Planet? Did it not make as big a splash as people thought it would?