It is a fact that the generation of today has witnessed the Japanese games business fall further compared to that of the European and American gaming commerce. This is similar to Pro Evolution Soccer which is beaten by FIFA yearly in terms of quality and sales. With this scenario, should Japanese video game developers begin to worry about their industry?
The decline of the Japanese video games industry does not stop there. Almost all of the major role playing games (RPGs), which are once the specialty of the Japanese video games developers are now developed either in North America or Europe. Huge portion of the RPG market is mostly composed of European or North American made RPGs such as Oblivion, Fable, Dragon Age, Mass Effect and Fallout. When it comes to the aspect of raw authority, Japanese video games developers are once again losing their very grip compared to their counterpart. All of the best graphical presentations on video games consoles are entirely designed by Western games developers such as Unchartered, Killzone and Gears of War. Some of the video games that have the capacity to compete include Gran Turismo 5 and Metal Gear Solid 4.
The problem behind the decline of the Japanese video games industry is that developers are struggling to create video games for those modern and Western gamers. Final Fantasy XIII was developed by the Japanese for the western gamers, but it seems less appealing for them as it was embraced with lackluster reviews. Quantum Theory which is a clone of the Gears of War game turned out being diabolical. Gran Turismo 5 is another game with the same outcome and although it sold well, it has failed to adapt with the time. Its GT mode, aged menus and an online mode which is poorly executed meant that Forza has already overtaken it.
Hideo Kojima stated in an interview about the Japanese video games industry, that Japanese audiences don’t only target games but anything that is made in the country such as novels or movies. He defined the situation as a curse about them Japanese. Today’s generation of Japanese audience is now exposed to a lot of influences and it is the reason why Kojima wants to create video games that are in tune to the wants and requirements of the Western world. Hideo Kojima also added that he really want things that are Western made.
Shinji Mikami, PSM3 was also asked about his comment on a statement by Phil Fish of independent games developer Polytron that Japanese video games suck. Mikami mentioned that he hadn’t heard about it but he admits that the statement is harsh, but he also admitted that 80 percent of the video games he is playing are not made in Japan. He finds Batman and Skyrim as interesting games. He added that Japanese video games developers should make games that are appealing to a lot of gamers in order to reverse their attitudes toward Japanese games.
With these statements from two Japanese video games industry, it seems that the industry have to adapt to the current tide to prevent further decline.