Koffiepauze: Japanse en Westerse Ontwikkelaars

Japanse en Westerse games zijn anders. Westerse games doen het niet goed in Japan en maar af en toe scoort een Japanse game echt goed in de Westerse wereld. De een vind leuk wat de ander niet leuk vind, maar Japanse games zijn nauwelijks commercieel vergeleken bij Westerse games. Westerse games zijn groot en zitten vol met actie. Japanse games staan bekend om hun schitterde verhalen en originele gameplay.

Stelling: Japanse ontwikkelaars zijn belangrijker voor de game wereld dan Westerse ontwikkelaars.

Wat onderwerpen voor de stelling:

Japanse originaliteit brengt de game wereld tot een hoger niveau

Westerse games zijn te commercieel

Japanse games kennen niet genoeg actie

Japanse games zijn allen voor Japaners

Extra informatie bij de stelling:

Hier een overzicht van een aantal ontwikkelaars:

Westerse:

Crytek

Epic

Dice

Bioware

3D realms

Lion head Studios

Valve

Rockstar

Neversoft

Bungie

Croteam

Monolith Productions

Rare

Vicarious Visions

Bethesda

Japanse

Sega Am2

Cap Com

Square-Enix

Nintendo

Arc System works

Konami

Namco Bandai

Team Ninja

Team Sonic

Smilebit

Interview met Hideo Kojima

GI: We’ve seen Japanese companies like Konami and Square Enix promising major support for the PS3, while western developers like Bioware and Lionhead are working mainly with 360. In addition to being about hardware, does the upcoming console war have an element of eastern games versus western ones?

Kojima: Well, I don’t think that is true. But, as a fact, the 360 is not succeeding in Japan. So, it is difficult for a Japanese developer or publisher to select 360 in the first place. Therefore, they are setting their hopes high for the PS3. On the other hand, for the foreign publishers, since Microsoft is based in the U.S. and succeeding there, it’s more likely they could put more effort on the 360. This is just a fact based on the market situation. If you talk about the war between Japanese devs and those overseas, I acknowledge that we have already lost. The Japanese creators have lost to the European and American creators. Therefore, I always say to my staff, “Don’t look at the Japanese creators. Look toward the Europeans and Americans when looking at development or technical things.”

GI: As a Japanese developer, what do you think about MS’s strategy for penetrating the Japanese market?

Kojima: Of course, the approach is not a mistake. But that’s probably only the truth for the next two years or so. In Japan, Hollywood movies are respected highly and have higher sales than Japanese movies. In the near future, since there are so many great European and American developers, publishers, and creators, we believe that those will be the ones that will be appreciated, even by the Japanese audience. Having said that, there will be games that will be important to keep the Japanese culture in there. However, in the future, it might just end up being a Japanese movie – a niche market. But I believe there is a need for that as well. GI: We’ve seen Japanese companies like Konami and Square Enix promising major support for the PS3, while western developers like Bioware and Lionhead are working mainly with 360. In addition to being about hardware, does the upcoming console war have an element of eastern games versus western ones?

Kojima: Well, I don’t think that is true. But, as a fact, the 360 is not succeeding in Japan. So, it is difficult for a Japanese developer or publisher to select 360 in the first place. Therefore, they are setting their hopes high for the PS3. On the other hand, for the foreign publishers, since Microsoft is based in the U.S. and succeeding there, it’s more likely they could put more effort on the 360. This is just a fact based on the market situation. If you talk about the war between Japanese devs and those overseas, I acknowledge that we have already lost. The Japanese creators have lost to the European and American creators. Therefore, I always say to my staff, “Don’t look at the Japanese creators. Look toward the Europeans and Americans when looking at development or technical things.”

GI: As a Japanese developer, what do you think about MS’s strategy for penetrating the Japanese market?

Kojima: Of course, the approach is not a mistake. But that’s probably only the truth for the next two years or so. In Japan, Hollywood movies are respected highly and have higher sales than Japanese movies. In the near future, since there are so many great European and American developers, publishers, and creators, we believe that those will be the ones that will be appreciated, even by the Japanese audience. Having said that, there will be games that will be important to keep the Japanese culture in there. However, in the future, it might just end up being a Japanese movie – a niche market. But I believe there is a need for that as well.[/b]