One thing I can't help but wonder is, when did we forget that all these next-gen on-line titles were supposed to be "platforms"? Remember how there wasn't ever going to be a "Rock Band 2", it was just going to be Rock Band DLC forever on out? Same with stuff like Resistance or Gears; why do we have to have a $50 release every four years? Why not have a $15 map pack every year, plus a free update to add new features every two years?

Japanese games are games from Japan.

Western games are from places West of Japan.

And most people are willing to admit that there's an even-handed distribution of shit across country lines.

I think the only major change these days is in the genres that are gaining more popularity. Music peripheral gaming, for example, is a very hot commodity, and from what I've seen of Miyamoto's designs, Japan can't even begin to compete with what the US has to offer with Guitar Hero and Rock Band (which is odd, given how many peripheral-based games Japan has in its arcades). But they probably will once they adapt the popular formula. Oblivion practically started a new genre of RPG, so of course its the best of its kind; it was the only one of its kind until others began to imitate it. Japan has its own traditional ways of doing an RPG, which is probably why its slow to mimic this style, but I think if Fallout is successful enough internationally, they will.

As far as FPS go, they've never sold well in Japan, and that's why they rarely make them. But I think if there are a few titles developed elsewhere that break from this pattern, we'll see a change in that, too.

It's just that this change will no doubt tae time because the Japanese are very much committed to doing things the Japanese way. They're not as willing to try something new if it came from overseas, and that's why people have a very solid idea in their heads of what constitutes a "Japanese Game."

[quote="Dreg"]
As far as FPS go, they've never sold well in Japan, and that's why they rarely make them. But I think if there are a few titles developed elsewhere that break from this pattern, we'll see a change in that, too.

OUTTRIGGER

[quote="RobotBastard"]why do we have to have a $50 release every year?
Fixed yer post.

[quote="Space Pope 3000"]Ehhh... take series like Devil May Cry and most of the current gen JRPGs we've seen. They are basically the exact same games we saw last generation but with improved graphics and a bit more length in some cases. A lot of games outside of Japan are taking advantage of the new hardware to try new things, but Japan seems to be for the most part sticking with what worked last gen. This isn't true for all the Japanese designers of course. Some of them are doing some really interesting things with the new hardware. Japanese games aren't "Bad", it just seems to me that we haven't seen quite as much innovation from the east as we are with the west.
It seems like a lot of that "new" innovation that we've been seeing with this generation of hardware is actually console gamers getting some of the experiences that PC gamers have been enjoying for a long time. We didn't really see developers cut loose with the PS2 until the system had been out for awhile and it had a pretty large installed base. Innovation comes when it's financially safe to do so. Until then we will be playing Gears of War 2, Fall Out 3, Call of Duty 5, and Final Fantasy XIII

Innovation comes when it's financially safe to do so.

I couldn't agree more. Making generalizations about "East vs. West" makes for comment-heavy threads on blogs eager to fan those flames and get pageviews, but the simple matter is that the more money that goes into making a game, the more risk-averse people become. Gaming, as I see it, is following the Hollywood model with big blockbuster sequels, or car manufacturers with less profitable showy models being the halo-effect publicity grabbers, while the mainstays subsidize them in mass market sales.

I was talking about that whole wiimote thing.

[quote="shaloop"][quote="RobotBastard"]why do we have to have a $50 release every year?
Fixed yer post.

Aka Sports games

Also if call of duty 5 is made by the same guys that made CoD4 I would buy it right now even if it doesnt actually get released for another 2 years.

[quote="exagenous"]Also if call of duty 5 is made by the same guys that made CoD4 I would buy it right now even if it doesnt actually get released for another 2 years.

That's not the case, though. CoD5 is being made by the guys who made 3. But with yearly release schedules, you won't have long to wait for a "real" one.

[quote="Dave"][quote="exagenous"]Also if call of duty 5 is made by the same guys that made CoD4 I would buy it right now even if it doesnt actually get released for another 2 years.

That's not the case, though. CoD5 is being made by the guys who made 3. But with yearly release schedules, you won't have long to wait for a "real" one.

Nertz, looks like I won't be getting CoD5 then.

[quote="VF5SS"][quote="karaokeninja"]I was talking about that whole wiimote thing.

I dunno. Stick wagglin' isn't that innovative when even the best Nintendo games implement it poorly. See Mario Galaxy.

I played Mario Galaxy for 10 minutes, and while I sucked at it, I figured I just needed some practice.

Also, Metroid Prime 3 is great. I LOVE TURNING KNOBS. I'm not even joking.

Yeah, so, Wii Sports and Wii Fit are not innovative, only the controller you use to play them is. Got it.

Andrew is right, but that doesn't mean you can't have a ton of fun playing those games anyway. I loved Mario Galaxy.

I'd argue that Nintendo does new and different things on the software side every now and then, too. Mario Galaxy put a brand new twist on the typical 3D platforming formula that everyone else uses - and let's not forget that they essentially pioneered that formula back in the day with Super Mario 64. So many console action games these days use the "lock-on" mechanism - I still even hear people refer to it as Z-Targeting, harkening back to when Nintendo first introduced it in Ocarina of Time. Mario Kart Double Dash on the Gamecube had a brand new concept for multiplayer racing games, and Brain Age was clever enough that it's since inspired countless imitators.

I don't think they're exclusive in this regard, but I do think that Nintendo has a decent track record of A.) ignoring what the customers say they want, B.) making something that everyone is convinced is a bad idea because they've never seen it before, and C.) proving the naysayers wrong once the product comes out and the game/console turns out to be pretty good after all.

Okay, so "decent track record" doesn't equal "perfect track record."

With regards to the Wii and DS, Nintendo isn't really that innovative, motion controls and multiple screens have been done before. The motion control in the Wii just isn't broken like other companies have done in the past. Back in the day Nintendo did multiple screens with the Game&Watch in the exact same way the DS does it, minus the touch screen. The even had G&Ws that you held "sideways", that is they were styled like books with a 2 vertical screens.

I believe one of the major arguments is that Japanese game makers are reluctant to change the way they do things to accomdate to western tastes.
They basically go, this is the way we've always done it, and will always do it, you must like it!

I'm not going to blame Japanese game makers for making what sells. There was an interview a long time ago with Kojima, I think, where he was a little frustrated that if you innovate and spend a lot of time and energy on gameplay and presentation, your game will do "okay" in Japan. If you focus entirely on graphics, and make a pretty but formulaic JRPG, you game will sell millions in Japan, easy. It's like the Big Dumb Summer Blockbuster movie. We can all bitch about Michael Bay or Jerry Bruckheimer, but can you blame the studios for wanting to sell people things that make a lot of money?