And vice versa.

I' m talking strictly about game development.

I think Western developers should take notes on how to tell a story. Not to say storylines from American developers are inferior to JP developers. KOTOR had a great plot and an excellent storyline. However, videogames are both an interactive and visual media. And I think JP developers have learned to embrace the visual side of videogames moreso than other countries.

I don' t want American developers to strive for Final Fantasy level cutscenes. That' s not what I' m saying. But when I think of KOTOR I can' t remember a single cutscene I wanted to actually watch. Some would say FF overdoes it, but I would say American developers haven' t learn to do it enough. If you' re going to have cutscenes at least make them short and entertaining. Not short and boring.

And while on the subject on storylines, American developers can make some great storylines, but I also think American developers could learn to be a little bit more creative. I' m talking in regards to both character development and creative storylines.

I didn' t like Squall from Final Fantasy 8, but it' s rare to see a main hero with an obvious character flaw. That' s something you don' t see in most Western games. I wish more American developers could learn to add a layer of depth to their creations. Stop making generic action heroes all with the same, " I' m a badass" ideology.

And I realize there are the exceptions. I' m talking in generals here.

So what about you?

What do you think Western developers could learn from the East?
Or
What do you think Eastern developers could learn from the West?

Ummm...I pretty much agree with all of that.

My biggest complaint with Western devs. has always been a lack of innovation/originality (MUCH more likely to use a template for success than Japanese developers), lack of well-written epic storylines, and an overall lack of creativity.

On the other side, I think Japanese developers could lessen their obsession with anime...they can create some fine characters (FF is a good example), but many Japanese games, especially JRPG' s, seem to be heavily anime-based a lot. It' s not really necessary...a level of realism to the RPG' s, kind of like what KotoR had, is something Japanese developers could work on.

I pretty much agree with 95% of that post.

I' ll say it this way...

American game developers need to work on their story lines, character development, and learn to make those wonderfully rendered, graphically-awesome, environments and/or screens, and produce soundtracks that live up to the graphics and gameplay.

Japanese game developers get a little too cutsie with some of their characters and quite a few of their games appear to be marketed at women or kids. That, and they do not import enough of their games to America.

That, and they do not import enough of their games to America.

Agree 1,000,000%.

Something I think Eastern devs can learn from Western devs is how to let a series lay dormant for a couple years. When it comes to " milk madness" I don' t think anyone would disagree that Eastern devs take the championship. Not just porting (Resident Evil / Street Fighter) but releasing what is essentially the same game each year (Dynasty Warriors). It may be as simple as supply and demand. KOEI is one of the few Japanese devs currently seeing profits. But Capcom did the exact same thing with RE and oversaturated the market. Like Dynasty Warriors now, you couldn' t turn the corner without seeing some kind of Resident Evil game. Once RE stopped being the " in" game, Capcom' s profits dropped. Also, remakes (DOA Ultimate) and variations (Virtua Fighter 4, Street Fighter 3) need to be curbed a little. And lets not even get started on how many different products Sonic and Mario have appeared on. So I wish JP devs would make a game, and then 2-3 years later make a sequel that' s worth being called a sequel.

But real quick, I also have to playa hate on Ubisoft.

Two Splinter Cells in one year? What' s up with that?!

Two Splinter Cells in one year? What' s up with that?!

I' d agree in principle...but I love SC.

I think you' re right on that too, but bear in mind that while Western devs. don' t release such a huge fury of sequels per se, they release games cut of the same mold with a different title.

I mean, let' s face it, Icewindale could' ve been Baldurs Gate II and Neverwinter Nights could' ve been Baldurs Gate III. They' re all virtually identical. Furthermore, remember the expansion packs...they may not be sequels, but HOW many expansion packs has Half-Life, the Sims, various MMORPG' s, and Rainbow Six gone through? Like a half-dozen each? Personally, I find this much more offensive than a slightly lame sequel, simply because it' s not even a new game; just a couple more levels or characters to add to the same game.

I agree with your point, but I also think that the same complaint can be attributed to all developers world-wide.

I agree.

When it comes to " milk madness" I don' t think anyone would disagree that Eastern devs take the championship.

No I think Western developers have Japan beat in that category. We get a new Madden Football every year running on the same old engine with a few tweaks and updated stats. Same goes with just about every other sports game out there. The games are only good for a year. Secondhand shops should not buy back sports games from people, as their bins are reamed with tons and tons of useless, outdated sports games. In fact just about anything EA does is milked forever. Need for Speed? That was a mediocre-at-best game for the 3DO. But they kept goin' and goin' and goin' and goin' . And lets not forget the Army Man games which didn' t need to be milked at all, but they kept making them for some unfathomable reason. And Europe is guilty with their horrible James Pond series, which did its best to show how bad the Genesis could look, sound, and play. Still, year after year we got more James freakin' Pond! Then again, EA did have something to do with that.

I definitely think Western developers can learn alot about LEVEL DESIGNS from Japanese developers.. A great example would be in American platformers vs. Japanese platformers..

Another area I think the west needs Serious work in is in game music. Europe as well..


While some Japanese developers do tend to release sequels quite often, I think a small part of the reason may be that Japanese gamers want that.. I remember reading a Famitsu poll a few years ago where Japanese gamers were asked which would they prefer, new original games or sequels.. And guess what, the majority who took that poll said they preferred sequels.

I think western have lot to learn from Japanese, not only for methods to tell a story, but also on gameplay.

Taken for example Voodoo Vince for Xbox.
With a Voodoo doll as main character, gameplay can earn new ways like hurt his body in various ways to defeat different enemies. (japanese way of thinking)

Indeed, the real game is only a standard platform game, where to defeat enemies you have to punches enemies or use a smart bomb.

This is a western game.

Western games are less creative in deep gameplay.

Here' s a question -- where are America' s mascots?!?

Mario, Sonic, Pac-Man... all the great mascots come from the East. We have a couple now, Mastercheif being a prime example. But in ten years do you think MC' s popularity will grow or fade? Will he have the staying power of Mario? I can' t say for sure, but I' m not holding my breath.

One reason Mario, Sonic, etc, has enjoyed such longevity is because they are kid friendly mascots. After a while Masterchief runs in danger of being just another man with a big gun. Series depend on reaching new demographics, and people who grew up playing a game will likely play it through adulthood. Hence why there exist so many Mario and Sonic fans out there. And why all the old timers get excited over Atari compliations.

But parents look at Masterchief and shy away. Parents don' t want their child growing up watching floors littered with dead covenant bodies. America is great at making charaters " for the now," but it wouldn' t hurt to cut down on the testosterone a little. Make a character everyone can love. Oh, and stop killing our precious few mascots with bad sequels (Crash, Rayman, Spyro).

So basically I would like America to strive for more kid friendly games and more diverse characters.

Why is Japan considered the " far east" ? when you' ll get it is 10 times more quickly by flying to the west?