The decline and fall of western game development

[Fightersmegamix]

Have games developed in the west got that much better or has the world changed around them? Ten years ago western games were technical good, artistically poor and were dominated by FPs's and racers. Now.. well it's not that different Ok, there has been some diversification, especially with downloadble stuff, but it's still a few small genres that dominate.

Online gaming this gen has given western games a big boost, but can they continue, or is the idea of western dominance a false idea perpetuated by magazines?

Will japanese developers begin to dominate again next gen with a more powerful wii and development of their own middleware engines? Will the likes of activision plough money into new genres or will the bubble burst?

[theantmeister]

I hate to tell you this, but japan's game development isn't looking too hot these days either...

[mandelbrot78]

Japanese game development is in dire straights. The West currently dominates gaming. Here's an interview with Kenji Inafune about the state of Japanese gaming. Western gaming may be in better shape financially, but it most certainly lacks innovation, flare and imagination. Still when it comes to AAA titles and top technology, the West trumps Japan entirely.

Not that I care, since I have given up on modern gaming altogether.

BTW, Japanese games were always overrated...We have seen far better games throughout the years from Western developers, yet the masses of attention deficit gamers whose only experience with gaming was the NES and the Gameboy have largely defined trends in gaming.

[theantmeister]

BTW, Japanese games were always overrated...We have seen far better games throughout the years from Western developers, yet the masses of attention deficit gamers whose only experience with gaming was the NES and the Gameboy have largely defined trends in gaming.

While I agree Japanese games are basically all a bit rubbish these days, to say they've always been overrated is pushing it a bit I think. Some of the best games ever made have come out of Japan. Konami, Capcom, Nintendo, Square, Enix, Hudson, Irem, Taito these are all once great names that produced pure gold for most of the 90s.

[crusto]

BTW, Japanese games were always overrated...We have seen far better games throughout the years from Western developers, yet the masses of attention deficit gamers whose only experience with gaming was the NES and the Gameboy have largely defined trends in gaming.

While I agree Japanese games are basically all a bit rubbish these days, to say they've always been overrated is pushing it a bit I think. Some of the best games ever made have come out of Japan. Konami, Capcom, Nintendo, Square, Enix, Hudson, Irem, Taito these are all once great names that produced pure gold for most of the 90s.

Agreed, also, From software is a Japanese developer and their stuff is none too shabby, so there is still hope.

[mandelbrot78]

Sure, but Japanese games have been celebrated over and over, while we don't see the same kind of appreciation for western developers. Thing is that most Japanese games (with many notable exceptions of course) were simpler, thus easier to appeal to the masses, while many western games had far deeper gameplay or were too complex for younger audiences, thus failing to sell multimillion copies or reach mainstream recognition. They were (if not better) certainly more intelligent than their japanese counterparts.

[joefish]

My deep-seated, unfounded and prejudicial opinion is that the XBox killed off gaming.
All was fine with great consoles coming out of Japan and great games coming out of Europe, while the PC market in the US went off and did its thing.
Then Microsoft released a console and suddenly all those developers releasing squad/army/D&D/strategy games on PCs (you know, the really boring stuff) found a new outlet on consoles and just wouldn't leave us alone.
That and EA.

[theantmeister]

My deep-seated, unfounded and prejudicial opinion is that the XBox killed off gaming.
All was fine with great consoles coming out of Japan and great games coming out of Europe, while the PC market in the US went off and did its thing.
Then Microsoft released a console and suddenly all those developers releasing squad/army/D&D/strategy games on PCs (you know, the really boring stuff) found a new outlet on consoles and just wouldn't leave us alone.
That and EA.

And PC gamers blame console gamers for stealing our genres. FFFFUUU you console guys! Come in here, ruining our FPSs. Take your controllers and bugger off!

[SomeScrub]

Will japanese developers begin to dominate again next gen with a more powerful wii and development of their own middleware engines?

No

What are some big European studious? There has to be a ton of note ables. Namco and Capcom are the only two japanese companies I care about at this point. Last gen Konami was in that list, but their output post 2007 has been dismal. Can you make a castlevania on a console that isn't censored god of war or terrible? Please.

[thebear]

Call of Duty (Infinity Ward)
Elder Scrolls (Bethesda)
GTA (Rockstar)
Uncharted (Naughty Dog)
Assassins Creed (Ubisoft)

etc etc will all still likely to be among the biggest franchises around next gen

And I'm sure I've missed many (bioware etc etc etc etc)

[pratty]

Call of Duty (Infinity Ward)
Elder Scrolls (Bethesda)
GTA (Rockstar)
Uncharted (Naughty Dog)
Assassins Creed (Ubisoft)

etc etc will all still likely to be among the biggest franchises around next gen

And I'm sure I've missed many (bioware etc etc etc etc)

The trouble is someone could easily say all the games above are garbage based on their tastes, and therefore Western development sucks. I think this discussion is a bit too generalised and subjective to reach a definitive conclusion.

Maybe when comparing Western and Japanese development perhaps it's best to break things down into smaller more quanitifyable battlegrounds. In doing so we can see in some cases Western developers are either ahead or agressively chasing their Japaese counterparts. (Though of course even then we are still dealing with general perceptions.)

Compare Fifa to Pro Evo and the prevailing perception is that Western developed Fifa has reclaimed it's crown, not just with having more bells and whistles, but also in the basic gameplay stakes where it really counts.

Also this gen we have seen Western developed platformers such as Donkey Kong Country Retuns and Rayman Origins give Nintendo's Japanese in-house developers a good run for their money, when previously it could be said that Nintendo set the benchmark for platformers. I've heard a few people say there prefered those two games to the Galaxy and NSMB games.

Even in genres where perhaps Japan arguably still dominates such as RPGS, any Western improvement can hardly constitute a decline and fall. That said we could probably think of genres where Japan wipes the floor with the West, but that's why I say it's problematic to generalise.

[thebear]

Call of Duty (Infinity Ward)
Elder Scrolls (Bethesda)
GTA (Rockstar)
Uncharted (Naughty Dog)
Assassins Creed (Ubisoft)

etc etc will all still likely to be among the biggest franchises around next gen

And I'm sure I've missed many (bioware etc etc etc etc)

The trouble is someone could easily say all the games above are garbage based on their tastes, and therefore Western development sucks. I think this discussion is a bit too generalised and subjective to reach a definitive conclusion.

Maybe when comparing Western and Japanese development perhaps it's best to break things down into smaller more quanitifyable battlegrounds. In doing so we can see in some cases Western developers are either ahead or agressively chasing their Japaese counterparts. (Though of course even then we are still dealing with general perceptions.)

Compare Fifa to Pro Evo and the prevailing perception is that Western developed Fifa has reclaimed it's crown, not just with having more bells and whistles, but also in the basic gameplay stakes where it really counts.

Also this gen we have seen Western developed platformers such as Donkey Kong Country Retuns and Rayman Origins give Nintendo's Japanese in-house developers a good run for their money, when previously it could be said that Nintendo set the benchmark for platformers. I've heard a few people say there prefered those two games to the Galaxy and NSMB games.

Even in genres where perhaps Japan arguably still dominates such as RPGS, any Western improvement can hardly constitute a decline and fall. That said we could probably think of genres where Japan wipes the floor with the West, but that's why I say it's problematic to generalise.

Agree but if we start critically analysing then of course it taste

We can't hold a candle to their train sim, dating and pretty much rapey stalking games

[Fightersmegamix]

I was thinking more sales and market share than personal preference. I just don't see the West dominating next gen. They've had some good times but the money has not been re-invested. The FPS boom will come to and end sooner or later.

Japanese developers are soul searching and looking to improve, Western developers are paying for the new angry birds game to be launched into the internationational space station. It's like a lazy Balboa thats got used to being champ compared to a hungry Mr T.

[crusto]

He'll knock you to tomorrow Rock!

[nakamura]

Hasn't the FPS boom been around since 1993?

Personally though I do think it will die out eventually. I think the majority of CoD players will tire of the whole thing and move on to a new hobby. I may be wrong mind.