I think I would start with an introduction about the importance of Japanese game developers in the industry. I think I would start talking about Nintendo and Shigeru Miyamoto. Nintendo pretty much made lots of new innovations to the industry. Miyamoto's Donkey Kong was the first video game to actually include some sort of narrative or storyline. Video games before Donkey Kong were basic shooting games or sports titles where the "high score" was the main objective. Donkey Kong changed all that as Mario had to save his girlfriend who got kidnapped by Donkey Kong. Now every game nowadays has some type of single player mode that includes a storyline or narrative of some sort. I would also suggest that if the Japanese game marjket didn't exist, the video game industry would not have been as innovative or successful as it has been for the past 30 years or so. Japanese video game developers have included so many innovative features that other gaem developers often copy and replicate.
Mainly back in the old days when the Atari 2600 was the most popular video game console, but most of the games lacked creativity. There was an abundance of sports titles released at the time plus many game developers were all developing their own version of Pong too.
Next I might talk about how the original Nintendo console pretty much saved the video game industry from dying out. In 1983, there was the infamous video game crash. Unlike today where the only consoles available are from Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft, back then there were heaps of consoles released from several different companies. Supply of video games and video games console were clearly exceeding demand and consumers obviously couldn't afford to buy them all. A lot of video game makers went out of business during this time and it looked like the industry was doomed forever. Thankfully, Nintendo came to the rescue in 1985 to essentially save the entire industry.
I might also delve into the differences between Japanese games and Western ones. I remember reading someone's comment that "shooting" style of video games aren't popular in Japan. This is because the country and strict gun laws. This is a direct contrast to the US where FPS games are the most popular video game genre with the Call of Duty and Halo franchises shooting up the charts. Japanese games usually are more Fantasy based where the characters have big swords or use magic to overcome evil. Games that come to mind include the Final Fantasy series, Devil May Cry series, and the Legend of Zelda series just to name a few. The characters had more meaning and gamers cared about them more than in some Western developed games these days.
I might also look at the character design of Japanese games too. Japanese game developers are more creative with their character design than Western developers. Japanese games tend not to be "realistic" so you can get characters that look outrageous. Here is an example of some wacky characters that have been seen in Japanese video games.
I might also look at the character design of Japanese games too. Japanese game developers are more creative with their character design than Western developers. Japanese games tend not to be "realistic" so you can get characters that look outrageous. Here is an example of some wacky characters that have been seen in Japanese video games.
Western game developers have not been so creative as of late. There has been some controversy about the lack of diversity and creativity recent games have with their main characters. Here's a look at some recent Western developed games and some of their main characters. Most of them look the same and are male. There was controversy in the industry as a whole that most video games are male because having a female main character wouldn't sell as many copies!
Female characters in general are sexualised whether the game is developed in Japan or abroad. All of them are curvey and have big breasts. Tekken is famous for creating Nina Williams while Lara Croft got famous because of her sex appeal back in the '90s.
If I am to conclude my part of the presentation, would be the state of the Japanese gaming industry and how it stands right now. I will obviously do a bit more research on the subject, but as far as I can tell (I'm already a gaming journalist) Japanese video games are not as popular as they used to be. I mean back in the Nintendo era, games like Super Mario and Legend of Zelda were in everyone's homes. Fast forward to the Super Nintendo/Megadrive era and games like Street Fighter and Sonic the Hedgehog were just as popular too. The Sony PlayStation continued to create popular Japanese gaming franchises with Resident Evil, Final Fantasy VII, Gran Turismo, Tekken and Metal Gear Solid. The PS2 was pretty much a sequel to the PSOne with most of those franchises dishing out popular sequels.
I think with the current console generation, the PS3 and Xbox 360 had more popular Western developed video games. With the exception of Gran Turismo 5 and Metal Gear Solid IV, most of the best selling games this generation were developed outside of Japan and Asia. Some of the games that spring to mind include FIFA 13, Battlefield 3, Red Dead Redemption and of course the annual Call of Duty series. Some of the more famous Japanese gaming franchises have underwhelmed gamers recently. New iterations of Final Fantasy and Resident Evil games have disappointed fans because they strayed away from their traditional roots and started to emulate the gameplay of Western developed games instead.
I think with the current console generation, the PS3 and Xbox 360 had more popular Western developed video games. With the exception of Gran Turismo 5 and Metal Gear Solid IV, most of the best selling games this generation were developed outside of Japan and Asia. Some of the games that spring to mind include FIFA 13, Battlefield 3, Red Dead Redemption and of course the annual Call of Duty series. Some of the more famous Japanese gaming franchises have underwhelmed gamers recently. New iterations of Final Fantasy and Resident Evil games have disappointed fans because they strayed away from their traditional roots and started to emulate the gameplay of Western developed games instead.
The PSOne introduced many famous Japanese gaming franchises that are still popular to this day. It is also important to note that the console was the first to be marketed towards adults instead of young kids. Since most kids that grew up playing the original Nintendo and Super Nintendo in the '80s and early '90s respectively, they were now teenagers and/or young adults.
It's also worth noting that the PlayStation used CD-based media that allowed the console to have cutscenes and proper orchestral music. Because of this advancement in technology, games had a more movie like quality to them than ever before. Games like Final Fantasy VII and Metal Gear Solid truly made video games more cinematic and emotional than ever before.
It's also worth noting that the PlayStation used CD-based media that allowed the console to have cutscenes and proper orchestral music. Because of this advancement in technology, games had a more movie like quality to them than ever before. Games like Final Fantasy VII and Metal Gear Solid truly made video games more cinematic and emotional than ever before.
I could also delve into the future of Japanese gaming. Sony has pushed to make the PS4 more successful than the launch of the PS3 back in 2006/2007. Sony plans to make the console more accessible this time around making it more affordable plus making it more focused on video games rather than other apps and features. Sony president Shuhei Yoshida recently noted that he wants to the PS4 to focus more on diverse games that were outsude of the FPS genre. Right now, the Wii U from Nintendo has struggled to appeal to a wider market compared to its previous video game console. This is because the console is underpowered and Nintendo is relying too much on its existing first party titles such as Mario, Pokemon and Legend of Zelda etc.
No comments:
Post a Comment