Japanese Games Receive Government Backing [Archive]

Varsity

06-02-2005, 02:06 PM

The Japanese government plans to give new backing it's country's highly profitable games industry in order to 'promote anime, games, and martial arts around the world', GameSpot reports (http://www1.gamespot.com/news/2005/06/02/news_6126833.html).

Although the Japanese government has shown relatively little interest in supporting the country's game industry in the past, it appears that change is on the horizon. According to Asashi Journal's Web site, the Democratic Party of Japan plans to establish two federations to promote the country's profitable entertainment businesses.

One of the federations will specialize in the promotion of games, digital content, and popular characters; the latter of these indicates the inclusion of anime in the federation's dealings. The Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association (CESA), the host of the Tokyo Game Show, will be working in tandem with the new federation.

The federation will consist of 34 council members including Yukio Edano, former council chairman of the Democratic Party of Japan. Some of the future projects under consideration include the establishment of theme parks based on characters with worldwide recognition, such as Pokémon and Gundam, and the creation of a "Japanese Las Vegas."

The other federation will specialize in the promotion of martial arts entertainment, including karate, judo, sumo, and pride, which is a mixed-martial-arts format that originated in Japan. The federation will consist of 33 council members.Wonderful, more anime.

MosBen

06-02-2005, 02:45 PM

What, you think it's easy getting that much hair to be that spikey? You think that's free?!

Crabby

06-02-2005, 02:54 PM

I double dare them to make an amusement park with a Gundam theme.

Last of the Red Hot Mamas

06-02-2005, 02:55 PM

This isn't really "government backing," since the DPJ is in opposition. This sounds more like an intra-party pressure group.

president_fred

06-02-2005, 03:14 PM

What, you think it's easy getting that much hair to be that spikey? You think that's free?!
Don't forget monster salaries, tentacle related injuries, etc. Anime isn't cheap. Just imagine the amount of metal which goes into the average weapon although I believe they manage to get some money back by making costumes extra small.

MosBen

06-02-2005, 03:25 PM

Well sure, and don't forget that they also save money by using the same characters and stories in every movie/game. Zing!

Reanimated

06-02-2005, 03:42 PM

Just what the world needs - more metrosexual filled anime and beast tentacle porn.

Rirath

06-02-2005, 03:49 PM

Wonderful, more anime!
(without the sarcasm)

baz

06-02-2005, 03:51 PM

I didn't see any mention of ninjas in that press release, for which I am gravely dissapointed. Dammit, I want the resurgance of the crappy ninja film!

Heretic Machine

06-02-2005, 04:30 PM

I remember back when anime used to be good, and fun... I miss those days.

riposte101

06-02-2005, 04:35 PM

Does anybody else see this as a bad thing? I mean this breaks the rules of a fair market when you have governments backing corporations.

Draft

06-02-2005, 04:39 PM

I remember back when anime used to be good, and fun... I miss those days.There's still good anime, I think.

I don't really buy the stuff anymore, but several of the shows on cartoon network are top notch. I like Full Metal Alchemist, and that Samurai show, and GITS is just boss.

Last of the Red Hot Mamas

06-02-2005, 04:50 PM

I mean this breaks the rules of a fair market when you have governments backing corporations.

What "fair market"? This is a drop in the bucket compared to the usual government-business relationship in Japan.

Stryfe01

06-02-2005, 05:31 PM

Just what the world needs - more metrosexual filled anime and beast tentacle porn.

Don't forget emotionally repressed!

Orphiuchus

06-02-2005, 05:34 PM

Anime is way more cliched than American movies and television, its just that they are Japanese cliches, so it seems fresh the first few times you see it.

Anime sucks.

SMES

06-02-2005, 05:36 PM

What "fair market"? This is a drop in the bucket compared to the usual government-business relationship in Japan.

Yeah, I don't know what dream world truly fair markets exist on, but here on earth the corporate-government relationships of any company in any country vary wildly from one another and have long been a part of international economics.

Mephistopheles

06-02-2005, 05:42 PM

Does anybody else see this as a bad thing? I mean this breaks the rules of a fair market when you have governments backing corporations.

Either that was intended as sarcasm or you're living in a fantasy world. This would be no different than any other government subsidy assisted industry anywhere else in the world. Not to mention that many politicians are also businessmen who are either current or former members on the boards of corporations and hold considerable quantities of stock in corporations.

bobbler

06-02-2005, 05:42 PM

To be fair, most american TV shows/movies are utter garbage also.

The ratio of good japanese TV shows to bad ones is probably the same as in the US. Not all anime is filled with angsty teens that look like a creepy spikey haired freaks -- just like not all american TV shows are filled with stupid people in every day life situations that end up really bad.

*Legion*

06-02-2005, 06:06 PM

Bobbler: Perhaps so, but it's hard to tell when the true-blue fans champion the crap.

Dragon Ball? InuYasha? Wow. Painful.

mister_slim

06-02-2005, 06:10 PM

Does anybody else see this as a bad thing? I mean this breaks the rules of a fair market when you have governments backing corporations.
Maybe you should study economics a little more. The Japanese government already supports the game industry in many ways, as do many European governments, the governments of several Canadian provinces, and some state governments in the US. This is just a different form of support, targeted more at the medium than particular companies, which is good.
Anime is way more cliched than American movies and television, its just that they are Japanese cliches, so it seems fresh the first few times you see it.

Anime sucks.
I don't follow anime very closely, but there's no way manga is as cliched as American comics.

FyrionX

06-02-2005, 06:33 PM

American Comics are just much better. I mean Superman and Batman rock.

Deadend

06-02-2005, 06:57 PM

Draft

06-02-2005, 07:01 PM

Anyone who thinks Japanese comics suck has clearly never read Berserk.

B_Money

06-02-2005, 08:08 PM

American and Japanese comics suck.
Swedish comics are teh shit.

baz

06-02-2005, 08:48 PM

I'll second berserk, the comic kicks ass, even inspired my gaming tag bazerk :D

There is a lot of good anime, and bad anime, and some stuff in between. No point throwing around the "teh suck" allegation.

I see absolutely no problem with a government promoting its countries culture overseas. Every single mofo country does it, in NZ our government does its best to promote a clean green adventure tourism image to the world.

But yeah, like I said, more focus on the ninjas.

Mister Pie

06-02-2005, 09:54 PM

Full Metal Alchemist was a GREAT anime.

Yes there are a lot of crappy animes out there, but then again, there's a lot of crappy everything out there. Most computer games suck... but that doesn't mean they all suck.

riposte101

06-02-2005, 10:18 PM

Maybe you should study economics a little more. The Japanese government already supports the game industry in many ways, as do many European governments, the governments of several Canadian provinces, and some state governments in the US. This is just a different form of support, targeted more at the medium than particular companies, which is good.

I've studied plenty of economics. My personal hero is Paul Pilzer, the man that invented economic alchemy. I'm well aware that many governments back corporations mostly in Asia and Europe and VERY rarely in the modern United States. Government involvment in buoying a corporation is always bad. It creates protection for weak corporations and does not improve the quality of life for the people. If you cannot innovate and survive on your own you shouldn't be in the market place. By having governments support corporations all you are doing is lowing the quality of life for your own people and driving up the cost of living for them. I'm not going to discuss this further with you on a gaming website. If you want to educate yourself about economics go read Fountains of Wealth by Paul Pilzer. I highly recommend the book.

CrysDark

06-02-2005, 10:24 PM

I can't really agree with the "there are crappy anime, and there are good anime" argument.
The evidence that has not been presented is that anime has many different genre's and some of those genre's don't appeal to everyone, people who like shojou typically don't also like shonen style. Some people like series that go on for 100+episodes (kenshin, Inu-Yasha), some people like the shows with fewer episodes (Air).

Passing judgement that all anime sucks, really isn't very fair to anime fans, just because you don't like Anime, does not mean that it sucks, there are alot of people that will disagree, try to present a better argument than. "Anime Sucks."

CrysDark

06-02-2005, 10:27 PM

TrackZero

06-02-2005, 10:40 PM

There's still good anime, I think.

I don't really buy the stuff anymore, but several of the shows on cartoon network are top notch. I like Full Metal Alchemist, and that Samurai show, and GITS is just boss.

You're right, there are still great series coming out. I think the fear is that like anything going mainstream, the content is going to change to reflect that.

For me, personally though, my issue with many series coming out there days are that the inital plot devices and characters are so well designed. Yet there is little story arc to speak of. It's like the designers sit down the producers, hammer out all these great ideas, but yet they don't have any writers actually working out the story, per se.

Example: Wolfs Rain. WTF? Great begining, then it's downhill from there, because they didn't know where they were going with it. You can tell that they just had to start writing up new stuff to do about half-way through because they ran out of story.

"Wait, you mean they actually have to get to paradise? Great, any ideas on what we do now?"

TrackZero

06-02-2005, 10:44 PM

I don't follow anime very closely, but there's no way manga is as cliched as American comics.

No, trust me, they're just as cliched.

Though American comics have created some real gems over the last 15 years. It's not like it was in the 80s. Assuming you're ignoring the mainstream Image comics shit from the early 90s when it was all about art style and the story was lacking after issue #10 of any series. Take a look at anything on the DC/Vertigo line, it's fantastic.

Deadend

06-02-2005, 10:47 PM

TrackZero

06-02-2005, 10:48 PM

American comics kinda suck.

The comics never end, they just keep going, getting worse and worse.

Manga at least has the decency to have character devlopment over long periods of time and endings, as in conclusions.

I really wonder how many people read comics anymore, or are all your memories just from silver age Marvel comics?

Transmetropolitan, V for Vendetta, Hellboy, The Watchmen, Sandman, Books of Magic, HellBlazer, Kingdom Come, The Invisibles.

I mean, goddamnit people. Don't generalize on something you obviously are out of the loop on. Comics are so much better than they were when I was a kid, it's just scary.

TrackZero

06-02-2005, 10:54 PM

TrackZero, Anime has been mainstream for over 10 years in japan.

Now... if anime series started being created with the goal of appealing to the western audience, I think the show would be worse, as it would feel like its patronizing.

Wolfs Rain was good, even though I stoped watching once it hit the 4 filler eps in a row.

I like alot of diffrent anime series, but my god there are alot of crappy ones.

Thank god for fansubs, as if there is a new series that isnt being fansube or schudled to come out in the US, that means it's REALLLLLLLY bad.

That point wasn't for me, I was expressing a generalized fear. And yes, video games have also been mainstream for over 10 years, it doesn't mean the industry doesn't continue to put out more shitty clone titles because the market is there for it. Same can be said for Anime.

Like I was saying though, I've no problems with any design for any anime series. It's the writing that I'm noticing is becoming more of an issue, as they're not properly setting story arcs for an entire season/series. It's only being planned ahead enough that the character designs and general concepts are enough to launch a series these days.

Now, if I was going to go listing titles, there's TONS of great Anime out now. FLCL, FMA, Gantz, GITS, Witch Hunter Robin, Samurai Champloo, etc. Don't get me wrong at all. I'm merely pointing out a growing problem I've been seeing over the years.

Hack//sign was another example of merely being some nicely designed characters and setting, with ZERO story to work with (which was dragged out over so many episodes, it was just crazy).

Heretic Machine

06-03-2005, 12:22 AM

American comics are probably the best form of entertainment available in the world today.

Rommel

06-03-2005, 12:56 AM

More anime = Neutral
More good anime = Good
More bad anime = Bad

Seems simple enough to me.

Buddha Lotus

06-03-2005, 01:19 AM

1st of all .. Anime has been "mainstream" in Japan for over 40 years.. not 10.

There is great anime out there.. you just have to BUY it. The card game crap that FOX KIDS plays in the afternoons is shit.. everyone knows it.

It is kinda intresting however. Anime has now gotten so big that its "fashionable" to dislike it.

I remember back when anime used to be good, and fun... I miss those days.

Its still there.. but there is much MUCH more shit to weed through to get to it.

bobbler

06-03-2005, 01:32 AM

Anime! (http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail57.html)

:rolleyes:

Rirath

06-03-2005, 03:06 AM

Wolfs Rain was good, even though I stoped watching once it hit the 4 filler eps in a row.

For the record, far as I know, the studio hit hard times and that was the reason for the 4 fillers. A true ending to Wolf's Rain was released later. And TrackZero, as for the ending, you've got to realize the Japanese are OK with open ended endings. I thought they wrapped it up very nicely with the OVA though.

Thank god for fansubs

Amen. DVD > Fansub > Adult Swim > Fox
The dubbed stuff we get on TV should hardly be called anime.

I've reviewed 86 anime (70 here (http://animenfo.com/userstats.php?id=8168&s=anime)) so far, and seen hundreds of series. The thing is, people always expect anime to be what they like. Anime is far, far more diverse than that. There's going to be entire genres of it you'll hate.

I disagree wth you about .Hack//Sign TrackZero, personally I thought it was a great show, especially the music. If you honestly call 26 epsiodes a lot, I don't know how you sit through any of the nearly 150+ episode series.

Kermit

06-03-2005, 03:20 AM

Most anime is just an adaption of popular manga series (to get more money out of it I guess or reach a bigger audience). It all depends on the budget and animation studio if the adaption is going to be any good. The Beserk manga is one of the best series out there but I completely hate the anime version for example. Anime also tends to add a lot of filler eps. which usualy suck (Naruto comes to mind) or cut out stuff like entire characters (and that's just before US companies start cutting and adding crappy voices.)
I usualy just stick to the manga versions to avoid dissapointment. I think some of the best anime series were anime before they got manga adaptations (FLCL, Cowboy Bebop)

Heretic Machine

06-03-2005, 05:42 AM

My big problem with anime is that a lot of it's "sub-genres" have stopped being sub-genres... They're now just shows that get copied repeatedly. Same characters, same situations, same plot, possibly right down to the character designs. These are even worse than what you find on American television, because there is absolutely -no- creativity in making these things. It's formualic in the very purist sence. Plenty of these get fansubbed, and then get rave reviews by people because so many people believe that anything fansubbed -must- be good... <.<

There is still good anime out there, yes, but it's few and far between. Paranoia Agent, Fullmetal Alchemists, Gantz, these are all very good. I watched two of them subbed (not Gantz) and found them to be quite awesome, and I'm glad to see them on American television. But that doesn't change the fact that most manga/anime is recycled garbage, just as bad if not worse than the sitcoms we see in prime-time American television.

Eon

06-03-2005, 06:39 AM

Bullshit Perigon. This is the same rose-tinted spectacled crap that would have us believe that "No good games get released anymore", "All music is crap these days", "Lord of the Rings was rubbish". One of the things I hate worse than bad entertainment is people who think it makes them look "cool" to not like anything.

Quite frankly I've seen a lot of good/funny shows in the last couple of years. Azumanga, FLCL, Fullmetal Alchemist, Genshiken, Fullmetal Panic, Chobits, Witch Hunter Robin, Kero Gunsou, Naruto... I mean, how much good quality entertainment do you expect?

Rirath

06-03-2005, 08:15 AM

Quite frankly I've seen a lot of good/funny shows in the last couple of years. Azumanga, FLCL, Fullmetal Alchemist, Genshiken, Fullmetal Panic, Chobits, Witch Hunter Robin, Kero Gunsou, Naruto...

Let me add to that, based on my own opinions:

Samurai Champloo, Planet ES, One Piece, Ikkitousen, Re: Cutie Honey, GunGrave, Midori no Hibi, Bakuretsu Tenshi, Wolf's Rain, Gunslinger Girl, Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu, LastEXILE, .Hack//Sign, .Hack//Dusk, Saikano, Haibane Renme, School Rumble, RahXephon, Ah! My Goddess TV, Macross Zero, Basilisk, and Bleach.

All within the last couple of years.

mister_slim

06-03-2005, 01:41 PM

I've studied plenty of economics. My personal hero is Paul Pilzer, the man that invented economic alchemy. I'm well aware that many governments back corporations mostly in Asia and Europe and VERY rarely in the modern United States. Government involvment in buoying a corporation is always bad. It creates protection for weak corporations and does not improve the quality of life for the people. If you cannot innovate and survive on your own you shouldn't be in the market place. By having governments support corporations all you are doing is lowing the quality of life for your own people and driving up the cost of living for them. I'm not going to discuss this further with you on a gaming website. If you want to educate yourself about economics go read Fountains of Wealth by Paul Pilzer. I highly recommend the book.
Then you should understand the difference between supporting a corporation and supporting an industry.
I really wonder how many people read comics anymore, or are all your memories just from silver age Marvel comics?

Transmetropolitan, V for Vendetta, Hellboy, The Watchmen, Sandman, Books of Magic, HellBlazer, Kingdom Come, The Invisibles.

I mean, goddamnit people. Don't generalize on something you obviously are out of the loop on. Comics are so much better than they were when I was a kid, it's just scary.
I've read almost all of those. I hope you just forgot the ABC Comics line. There are some very good comics out there. But every time I go to a comic store the shelves are filled with X-Men spin-offs and mainstream crap.

Oh, and Haibane Renmei? Fucking awesome. Noir is also good, though the ending is poor.

Heretic Machine

06-03-2005, 03:28 PM

Let me add to that, based on my own opinions:

Samurai Champloo, Planet ES, One Piece, Ikkitousen, Re: Cutie Honey, GunGrave, Midori no Hibi, Bakuretsu Tenshi, Wolf's Rain, Gunslinger Girl, Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu, LastEXILE, .Hack//Sign, .Hack//Dusk, Saikano, Haibane Renme, School Rumble, RahXephon, Ah! My Goddess TV, Macross Zero, Basilisk, and Bleach.

All within the last couple of years.

Compared to the thousands, upon thousands of crappy animes that got released in the same time period.

EDIT: BTW, both Bleach, and .hack//Dusk sucked... <.<

riposte101

06-04-2005, 01:43 AM

Then you should understand the difference between supporting a corporation and supporting an industry.

No, what's the difference between supporting an industry and supporting a corporation? In your vast reservoir of ignorance why don't you enlighten me? Because the last time I checked an industry is supported by corporations and to support an industry you must support the corporations in that industry.

mister_slim

06-04-2005, 02:32 PM

No, what's the difference between supporting an industry and supporting a corporation? In your vast reservoir of ignorance why don't you enlighten me? Because the last time I checked an industry is supported by corporations and to support an industry you must support the corporations in that industry.
So you don't understand the difference between, say, investing in university research in user-interface design to be published in professional journals and simply writing a check to Microsoft? You haven't noticed that the Japanese cellphone industry is far ahead of the US because the government has invested both money and time into standards and technology? (How many different protocols do US cell companies use?) You haven't noticed, say, how government funded broadband in Korea is helping Xbox sales?

I'm guessing you didn't get an A in Riposte 101.

riposte101

06-05-2005, 02:02 AM

So you don't understand the difference between, say, investing in university research in user-interface design to be published in professional journals and simply writing a check to Microsoft? You haven't noticed that the Japanese cellphone industry is far ahead of the US because the government has invested both money and time into standards and technology? (How many different protocols do US cell companies use?) You haven't noticed, say, how government funded broadband in Korea is helping Xbox sales?

I'm guessing you didn't get an A in Riposte 101.

This is a check directly to corporations you retard. This is about attempting to push anime on an international market to get money. That is hardly the same as investing in a university. You bring up Japan. Well let's take Japan as an example: You haven't noticed that the Japanese economy is going to shit because of their government backing of their economy? You haven't noticed that the Japanese yen as well as the real estate is deflating? Economists determine quality of life by the percentage of the population that has public sewage. Only 60% of Japan has a public sewage system. Compare that to 85% of Americans. The average Japanese makes only $20k/year, slightly more than the average American. However their 20k/year buys them a whole lot less. Have you noticed that a camera sells in Japan for $2000 while the same camera sells in America for $850. DVDs that cost the American consumer $20 or less costs $40 to the Japanese consumer. The Japanese go so far as to fly to the US to buy the same cameras that they export here. The Japanese economy is on the verge of a collapse because the government is in bed with its corporations.

Congratulations Japan you've won a fucked up economy.

You make inane comments without studying any facts and claim them as valid points while attacking me personally. That is pathetic.

This would describe you much better than me, "Maybe you should study economics a little more."

I'm guessing you got an A in being a retard.

I know because I took you to school on the short bus.

Eon

06-09-2005, 01:09 AM

Compared to the thousands, upon thousands of crappy animes that got released in the same time period.

EDIT: BTW, both Bleach, and .hack//Dusk sucked... <.<

I quite liked what I've seen of Bleach, but haven't really got into the whole dot hack thing myself. And I'm not even a hardcore Narutard, but that doesn't mean I don't like the show.

And I don't quite know where these thousands upon thousands of crappy animes come from or go to. In my opinoin there are sufficient totally excellent series being produced for me to keep it as a hobby. And there are FAR too many for you to claim that the hobby is in a state of decadence compared to where it was when it was endlessly milking Macross. Sorry buddy.

MasterKwan

07-13-2005, 09:55 AM

Well, if Japan wants to sell more anime, they need to shutdown BitTorrent. If bitorrent does nothing, it lets you separate the crap from the good stuff when it's time to put your money down.

I watch inordinate amounts of fansubed anime. I buy some, I'll ONLY buy box sets though. Picked up RahXephon box set the other day even though I already have it on my file server. Kids don't want to watch it on a PC. The packaging of Anime here in the US is why I don't buy more. There's no way I want shelf after shelf of 3 episode DVD's when I know they can easily fit 8 on on DVD. If it's good, I always buy the box set.

Also, US releases can be so damn slow. Put it all out at once. Initial D is still just starting season 2 when, in Japan it's almost finishing season 4.

Bleach has turned into Dragon Ball Z lately. Looks like it has about another 20 episodes to go so, the plot devel has stalled almost completely.