The rise, fall and rebirth of Western Videogames

[Ady]

"Gah! To think I actually played you.... and I enjoyed it! And all that time... you were a... a WESTERN game! ****!"

[Sketcz]

At the end of the day you play the games that suit your own mental culture best.

Bit of everything for me, then.

Well, that might explain why Im pre-disposed to liking Japanese games.
Due to where I grew up, all that was available to me were Japanese games and systems, and some imported US games.
(systems were actually sold pre-modded since technically everything was a grey import and to increase sales, most systems were multiregion)

My first system was a Famicom, and then I played on friends Turbo Duo and NeoGeo systems, and the Japanese megadrive and so forth.

I never got to experience the joys of PAL gaming until around '95

I had a very unusual introduction to gaming in my youth, suffice to say!


So right from the very beginning all I knew was Japanese games.
As for the exact reasons for this happening, that will have to wait for when Marcus updates the "about us" writers page and puts my profile up.


Anyway, I like Pilotwings regardless of who made it. I dont see why Im being painted with an anti-western-games brush. Ive said countless times, I like all games, but simply prefer Japanese games.
I have yet to see a decent Japanese cyberpunk RPG to rival those of the west. That alone is enough to keep me interested in Western games.

[Azelpds]

In the end, all this tired "war" between who is best, etc or not, ends on a particular thing, YOU.

Personally, all this discussion who is best or whatever is nonsense, both have good games and i even have the opinion that lately the "best" games are coming more and more from the West and not East like before, in almost all kinds and genres covered.

But, as i said, it all ends in YOUR/OURS personal opinion and not on who does the best, original etc games, because both west and east have them, its all a matter of personal tastes and yes, west is back for sure on gaming.

[Brats]

For ****s sake, neither of those statements contradict each other. You are clutching at straws.

Think about what I meant by 'rarest of cases', 'any innovation at all', and 'truly innovative and ground breaking'. I stand by everything I've said in this thread, you seem to be groping for some kind of childish victory.

Calm down. If my replies seem childish to you, then it's possibly only at the frustration of people who (equally childishly) only have negative points to add to the discussion.

I never said you actually contradicted yourself, I just said that I was after some perspective. You've now added to the discussion rather than just post negative points against it, so let's leave it at that.

[hankwangford]

Otaku - I know what you mean. Back when I was a wee nipper I only got a C64 and an Amiga because my parents were concerned with console game prices; and given that was mostly European software I wasn't interested in Sonic or Mario et al until I hit high school and broadened my gaming knowledge a little more.

If I had to give a preference it would be towards Japanese games - but only for that era of greatness that was the Saturn, and even when I was a Sega fanboy (no longer though - I've grown up!) I could see that Sony's beigey coloured box had some great Japanese developed games. Nostalga rules me. Regardless, Brats' analysis of Western development at the moment is bang on - UbiSoft have no equal atm, IMO

With the exception of a few genres (FPS and RPGs mostly), I think it's more dependent on your developer and art style preference anyway. Ninja Gaiden and Prince of Persia are perfect examples of how action adventure is crafted on both sides of the Pacific.

[Concept]

I've got to say in the last year or so I've noticed that a lot of things videogame-like and Japanese of origin tend to be immediately worshipped by some. In particular, if you examine the Headlines section of this forum, then you'll most likely find a fair bit of negative reaction to Western-based news. When I usually pop in there for a look around, in the past I've not found it hard to come across outright dismissive attitudes towards games or early news from developers over here. Maybe I'm misjudging the overall attitudes around the forum lately, but that's the impression I tend to get...

I don't think the majority at NTSC-uk are what you would call anti-Western, but I do feel some Western titles get unfairly overlooked or ignored in light of a very pro-Japanese vibe.

I don't need to say this as I'm sure all of you know, but games are games... It shouldn't matter where they came from to justify the value they may have.

I won't deny that a few months ago I too used to believe the most interesting and polished examples of game design were mostly coming from Japan, but I've since come to believe it's a rather silly point of view. Personally, I think the West is probably delivering on par to whatever is coming out from Japan right now, and yes that includes imagination and innovation too.

If I honestly look back to some of my favourite genres and games of this generation, then I can name just as many produced in Europe and America as I can from Japan. So.. I do agree with Brat's initial sentiment that the quality of game development over here is at a significantly high level at the moment, even if I am currently a touch disillusioned with the medium overall.