Japanese and American game designs

[H.Bogard]

"Culturally speaking, Japanese culture is firmly rooted in wet-rice agriculture and its status as an island nation," says Inafune. "Japanese want to be able to plan, they want to have guidance, they want to have focus. To put it simply, Japanese people feel uncomfortable with the unknown and not understanding the future. RPGs illustrate this well -- it is your turn to attack, it is the enemy's turn to attack. You pick a magic spell and you have a predictable result. You progress through the game with clearly defined goals. Japanese enjoy having these clearly-defined goals, and it progresses all the way through to the actual game implementation. Japanese people don't like just being dropped into a sandbox with no guidance. If you tell a Japanese person they are free to go anywhere, often times they will choose to go nowhere. "Westerners, on the other hand, seem to be excited by the unknown. For instance, as a hunting and trapping society, an American may go deer hunting and encounter a bear. Japanese would be scared by this encounter, whereas the American will probably shoot the bear and go back excited that he got a bear instead of a deer. The unknown encounter becomes even better than the known. I feel this is the key difference."



Read the full article. (http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3155815)

[Telefrog]

I just thought they liked tentacles.

[Johan]

I just thought they liked nudie comics, myself...;)

[menage]

they want to have focus. To put it simply, Japanese people feel uncomfortable with the unknown

That's explains Metal Gear 2s storyline. or any other vague japanese manga about kindergarten warriors conquering the other side of the underwater galaxy.

[Kweli]

lol funny... theory sounds true.. but might be stereotypical

I always thought asians were super competitive though.... Always trying to 'one-up' you

[JazGalaxy]

That's largely ridiculous to me. I, afterall, have never been hunting in my life, and am actaully rather opposed to the concept. Now I know that has no bearing on his analogy as it wasna bout America and not me personally, but I feel as though it highlights the concept that american's are VASTLY different from one to another.

I don't think there is any deep social concept that is keeping Japanese away from more broadly focused RPGs... I think they just need to be exposed to some. Afterall, games like King's Field or the original Dragon Warrior are far more open ended than what passes for a JRPG these days.

[NELS]

but I feel as though it highlights the concept that american's are VASTLY different from one to another.

Exactly what I thought when I was reading the article.

[Zaro]

"Westerners, on the other hand, seem to be excited by the unknown"
That's why american movies are so unpredictable :)

[patgas]

I just thought they liked tentacles.

I just thought they liked nudie comics, myself...

Hey, you got your chocolate in my peanut butter! Two great tastes that taste great together!

[if76]

Very cool article and I agree with the majority of their points.

I have some problems with the conclusions in this article. They say that Harvest Moon is popular in Japan because they were an agrarian society. So the USA, the world's breadbasket, isn't?

They say Japan doesn't like open ended games but what about Saga Frontier? Or Sonic Adventures? Mario 64 was made in Japan while Crash Bandicoot was made in the West. You tell me which one's more open.

They talk about how Japanese like nurturing and caring which is why Japanese games involve building up your character's stats. Hello. Do we not have 2 million WoW subscribers? Was Pokemon not hugely popular here too?

[Javi]

Very cool article and I agree with the majority of their points.

I have some problems with the conclusions in this article. They say that Harvest Moon is popular in Japan because they were an agrarian society. So the USA, the world's breadbasket, isn't?

They say Japan doesn't like open ended games but what about Saga Frontier? Or Sonic Adventures? Mario 64 was made in Japan while Crash Bandicoot was made in the West. You tell me which one's more open.

They talk about how Japanese like nurturing and caring which is why Japanese games involve building up your character's stats. Hello. Do we not have 2 million WoW subscribers? Was Pokemon not hugely popular here too?

It's all generalization. Harvest moon comment: When you think of what America is, in terms of food that is, is raising cattle and pigs and chicken. Sorry veggie lovers and vegans, that's the way it is.

Those open-ended games you mention are the exceptions that prove the general rule.

I have no answer to your WoW comment, so I'll leave that alone. Pokemon is huge, I agree. I think Pokemon over there appeals to all ages, whereas over here, they only appeal to kids (mostly).

[Oxonian]

The author apparently developed his understanding of American culture by playing The Oregon Trail.

[Roc Ingersol]

It's all useless generalization.

ZOMG Japanese RPGS are about killing one deity of a pantheon!
wait... that just described Diablo, Baldur's Gate, half the gold-box games, etc, etc.

Japanese gamers don't like freedom!
wait... what's with all these garden sims and dating sims then? what's with their love of Sim games in general?

The only stuff that's worthwhile is where he notes differences in convention. like: Japanese gamers have a rough time with camera controls. that's true, but hardly surprising. if Japanese games usually have fixed cameras, then it'll take the gamers a bit to get used to the controls. But that's not to say that they don't like having or even want to control the camera.

There's alot to be said about most americans preferring games that build off american culture and likewise with the japanese. But to try to abstract those preferences to the genre and game design levels is largely absurd and half his 'evidence' is trivially false.

[eltee38]

this guys a fuckin genius!!!

[Zeal]

I've been saying it for years. The Japanese lack originality and the ability to innovate.

This explains Final Fantasy 13, Mario 562 and Zelda: Again.

"Westerners, on the other hand, seem to be excited by the unknown"
That's why american movies are so unpredictable :)
Then again, it's also why we put a man on the moon and invented the atom bomb.

[Hemalin]

Then again, it's also why we put a man on the moon and invented the atom bomb.
I thought we invented the atom bomb because we stole the scientists away from the Germans?

[OrangePulp]

My main question, after reading this article, is were they too lazy to get an editor to look it over or something? It's filled with simple spelling and grammar mistakes.

[Renting games in illegal in Japan.]

Dammit, there was another one on the last page that I was going to point out, but I can't find it now. Anyways, if you read through the article, you probably know what I mean.

[KamaItachi]

Some interesting points, some horrible attempts at reaching. The ideas/conventions that come from a purely technical standpoint are somewhat hokey, but the cultural references come off more like excuses.

I've head the fact that Japan is an island nation as justification for just about everything. So was the U.K. but I don't dredge that up every time people ask me why we don't like baseball. Why didn't he just base everything Japan does on the fact that Japan has 4 seasons?