Inafune: Japanese games dev “5 years behind,” Capcom “barely keeping up”

He mustn’t step out of Capcom booth then. Look harder Inafune. Look harder (Ni No Kuni, The Last Guardian, MGS: Rising, Vanquish), but seriously,

This guy is on the ball and it is his fault that games like DMC are turned to the pile of shit.

and yes, holywar about Japanese devs starts in 3…2….1….

West is owning this generation. I mean, there are too many american, european titles against too few Japanese ones. I say “here comes Vanquish to rise Japanese industry again…” but then I remember “here comes Deus Ex: Human Revolution”. Then I think “ok, here comes MGS: Rising…” and then “Arkham City, anyone?”… I miss more good Japanese games.

I think a lot of them could do a lot better by concentrating more on accessibility issues. Many of the Japanese games I’ve tried this gen have had wonky controls, super-long cut-scenes, very-spaced out save points, etc. etc. Pretty much all of this stuff has been completely ironed out of Western releases and absolutely for the better.

Maybe Japan can’t compete technically in some areas at the minute, but they could quite easily stop pissing me off quite so much in a lot of cases.

@3 Man, you definitely never played Valkyria Chronicles. You don’t give an F about new Castlevania, Vanquish, MGS: Rising and e.t.c., e.t.c. and e.t.c. Not to mention about The Last Guardian or Gran turismo 5.

They are not behind the technology, the real question here is about the budget ONLY. Technologically you can’t beat Japan never.
Even if Crytek or ID kicks ass with their engines, you look at the MGS: Rising or The Last Guardian and you can’t say something like: Well, JP sucks at tech! Yah!

It’s just Inafune and he is on the ball.

The new Castlevania isn’t Japanese-developed.

I pretty much disagree with everything you said, btw. On the whole, Western games have progressed in scope much more than Japanese games this generation. Yes, there are some very pretty-looking Japanese games and yes there are always exceptions to the rule. But the majority of stuff arriving on the HD twins still “feels” like a PS2 game with extra shinies, and I’d absolutely count Inafune’s own games into that category.

I’d very much like Japan to stage a come-back and kick some Western arse, btw. I just don’t see it happening any time soon.

I completely and totally agree with everything Blerk just said there.

+1.

@3

You hit the nail square on the head.

The problem with Japanese devs right now is that they are attempting to appeal to western gamers, but they have picked up on exactly the wrong qualities that make western games appealing.

Jap games have been generally very awkward to play but have great design and quirky charm. They need to take the controls, save schemes and accessibility from western game design but keep the things that make Jap games good like art and settings, rather than keeping thier poor game interfaces and making lots of grim violent games.

“The new Castlevania isn’t Japanese-developed”

My big mistake sir Blerk, it’s just everything that is with Castlevania for me it’s always Japanese

“I’d absolutely count Inafune’s own games into that category.”

Because he suck balls, thats it. This is his opinion and only. If Capcom sucks, it is their problems.

“But the majority of stuff arriving on the HD twins still “feels” like a PS2 game with extra shinies”

Thats not true at all. Even if Final Fantasy XIII sucked donkey Balls they did really great engine that looks next gen (except of some locations). Gran Turismo 5 or Rising, Ni No Kuni… Oh man there are a lot of JP games that kicks Western Games in visuals. In both art and Technology.

Western Developers = Unreal Engine 3 in most cases (Modern Warfare still uses Id Tech 3 that looks like SHIT for the 2010). Man, there are not a lot of Western devs that made so much progression in tech. ID, Crytek, Naughty Dog, Santa Monica and few are exceptions. EXCEPTIONS. Seriously.

But again, Erth – visuals. I’m not really interested in visuals. Yes, it’s nice if it looks gorgeous, but ultimately it’s the game underneath that I want to fall in love with.

Your FFXIII example is perfect – such finely crafted visuals bolted onto a NES-level game. Western equivalents like Mass Effect and Fallout 3 might not’ve been up to that visual standard, but they kicked its fucking arse in terms of actual game.

That’s where Japan is lacking. They’re still in that ‘I must take 15 months detailing this rock’ stage and then forgetting that we might want to be able to actually control our character or save our game sometime this year.

@9 Again, MGS: Rising, Vanquish, The Last guardian, Gran Turismo 5, Ni No Kuni, Bayonetta, Nintendo GAMES proves that you are wrong again.

It’s just Inafune. Look at the SMG2 scores, i’m not in to Mario thing, but that thing kicked ASS. Kicked GOW3, ME2 and other Arses with gameplay. (+ metacritic). Next year is Zelda and e.t.c.

FFXIII is a bit of an ironic title to pick on, it’s streamlined to within an inch of its life. It’s accessible to a fault.

Heh – let’s not get onto Nintendo. I find their games even more irritatingly-and-needlessly-retro-for-the-sake-of-it than stuff for the hi-defs.

Half of the games you’re talking about aren’t even out, though. All we’ve seen of Rising is a chopping tech-demo, for instance. The game itself might turn out to be balls.

Valkryia chronicles, Demon Souls, MGS 4, Bayonetta, SSF 4. These games kick anything that the west can come up with. I think hes being a bit melodramatic.

@9
Disagree with the comments on FFXIII as the “game” in FFXIII was just in a different place to where you may have expected it. The game was the battle system and that was it’s strongest part – initially accessible but there was a lot of complexity and depth to the system too. Very much the best battle system in a FF main game for quite some time.

Clearly he’s never worked with the guys from Platinum Games…

…oh wait!

A game needs more than just a rock-solid battle system though, Doc? Surely?

Regardless, I’m not saying anyone’s ‘wrong’ here because it’s all just opinion and we all know that that varies greatly from one person to the next.

All I’m saying is that for the last two generations pretty much all of my favourite games have been Japanese. This generation I hardly own any Japan-developed titles.

Partly this is because there are just fewer of them due to the platform situation, partly because Western games just seem so much more interesting and exciting (to me, again), and partly because many of the Japanese games that I have tried have been rather disappointing – and often needlessly so.

@16
Sure, but the very core of any FF game is it’s battle system. It was more the NES level I took exception to – it was complex and in very progressive. As a whole it lacked a lot of what you come to expect from a FF game – but the core was great.

As usual, I agree with Blerk

Japanese developers have the visuals tied down but some games themselves often feel like they’re still structured to saving to memory cards.

Example: Auto-save? Fine. Just do it, don’t prompt me to say you’re doing it and then definitely don’t prompt me to say you’ve finished doing it.

Ni No Kuni is looking pretty excellent btw, had some positive previews.

@17 I thought that the very core of each FF game is supposed to be it’s story, based by it’s original creator of the franchise Hironobu Sakaguchi which goes by his personal motto:
“I don’t think I have what it takes to make an action game. I think I’m better at telling a story”

We are talking about “game” though, not game. I.e. what you play. The story is set, you just play through it in FF games. It’s a big part of the game, but not the “game”.

i see this as pot kettle black more than anything >_>

he’s ruining his franchises too just by trying to westernise them -_-

as far as i am concered inafune is a total c***

and yea if you want to see japanese gaming done right look at bayonetta, demon’s souls and vanquish

IMO if you want to “save” the jap game industry overhaul your jrpgs entirely they need to evolve and they haven’t since the PS1 days. The only different one was FF13 and it only got WORSE not better

Pretty much everything Blerk said.

Infact pretty much everything Blerk ever says on anything. Level headed, not clouded, honest, to the point.

I do think it is funny tho, everytime one of these type of posts come up the same old folks jump in there to defend the JP games.

I think the writting has been on the wall for a long time tbh.

I can’t beleive how the fuck FFXII got all those high marks. Years later and most FFXIII reviews read like what the FXII ones should have.

BUT

RE4 is still the best game ever made. Why couldn’t they keep barging down that path?

@21 it is the biggest part when it comes to an FF game.If the narrative doesn’t appeal the game itself can’t motivate to play it through 40-50 hours till the end no matter how interesting the gameplay is.XII for example had one the most interesting battle systems yet most fans of the series were disappointed by it’s narrative which for them makes it one of the worst FF’s in the franchise.

bottom line is when it comes to an FF game most fans expect a good narrative first which is the very core of the franchise…everything else comes second

@24 “Why couldn’t they keep barging down that path?”

See my original post (#15) for the answer to that one.

@25 Sad thing being that FFXII had the most mature, well written, character crafted story the franchise has ever seen, bar maybe FF Tactics.

@23 The same goes for those who bash JP games OG

@27 O.G. has never bashed Japanese games. Numerous times he’s even defended them. He’s only ever said they don’t appeal to his tastes.

@26 I agree,the story was good but it didn’t had that “fantasy” feel to it plus the characters where not developed properly.They were like ornaments in the game.

@26 Final Fantasy has barely had any fantasy in in since VII. FFXII was probably the most “fantasy” Final Fantasy since VI, even more so than IX.

I completely disagree on the characters. Everyone seems to overlook just how much development most of them get throughout the story simply because it isn’t spelt out to them in angst-ridden tears and angst and they’re isn’t a contrived plot twist every 10 minutes.

FFXII was where the Final Fantasy franchise finally grew up. Unfortunately, they completely reversed all that hard work with XIII. What a mess of a game.

@28 Criticising the JP indunstry if you will.He thinks that the JP industry is a loss cause this generation and as much some of the same old folks jump up to “defend” that(believing that things aren’t so bad and would turn around for the best at some point) he also jumps up to criticize specificaly the JP industry once more.

@31 For the most part, it *is* a loss cause.

There are a few developers that shine through (Platinum Games, Square Enix’s PSP offerings, Team Ninja, Atlus and Nippon Ichi), but they’re very much the minority.

If things don’t turn around, some of these companies are going to end up getting dissolved or merged into other, bigger companies.

Japan used to *rule* gaming.

“Final Fantasy has barely had any fantasy in in since VII. FFXII was probably the most “fantasy” Final Fantasy since VI, even more so than IX.”

The majority of fans strongly disagree with that.

“I completely disagree on the characters. Everyone seems to overlook just how much development most of them get throughout the story simply because it isn’t spelt out to them in angst-ridden tears and angst and they’re isn’t a contrived plot twist every 10 minutes.”

But that’s what almost every FF was all about up until XII.

“FFXII was where the Final Fantasy franchise finally grew up. Unfortunately, they completely reversed all that hard work with XIII. What a mess of a game.”

Exactly,grew up, changed.But you see FF’s are primarily targeted for the younger audience too which they don’t really care about political affairs in a narrative of a game.

@33 “The majority of fans strongly disagree with that.”

And I strongly disagree with the majority of fans. FFVII, FFVIII, and FFX did not having fantasy settings. FFIX and FFXII did. That’s not even opinion, it’s fact.

“But that’s what almost every FF was all about up until XII.”

And it’s old, trite, outdated and no longer capable of sustaining the company.

“Exactly,grew up, changed.But you see FF’s are primarily targeted for the younger audience too which they don’t really care about political affairs in a narrative of a game.”

This has nothing to do with the political elements of the story. It has to do with intelligent writing and subtle, well constructed character development.

I was a 17 year old fan of Final Fantasy too, once. Even back then I though Squall was a whiny and obnoxious dick. When Tidus came around… oh god. Vaan was bearable because he wasn’t the main focus of the story and he didn’t spend all his time feeling sorry for himself.

The fans grew up, and FFXII was the first Final Fantasy that actually bothered to grow up with me. It’s clear that the franchise is barely capable of sustaining itself at this point, and the fact that people are tired of all the teen angst is only part of that problem.

I want quality, maturity and depth in my franchises. A 17 year old feeling sorry for themselves while the world is ending no longer cuts it for most of us.

@32 Indeed.Bigger developer companies like Capcom,SE e.t.c have lost it this gen.Some smaller developer companies really shine through though.
But this is natural what goes around comes around,they’ll come around at some point.
Just because we see at this point the Western industry evolve doesn’t mean that at some point they will not follow the same JP route.which they too will sooner or later.

@35 The technology is only going to get more advanced, and the games more expensive, so I don’t know exactly *how* they’re going to come around without a miracle.

Even Capcom is capable of magnificence when they try though. You just have to look at Street Fighter IV for that.

@28

Thank you Michael.

I think it is just a classic example of those folks that are fans don’t want to hear anything except praise often times.

Its like being a football(soccer) fan. Your not going to want to hear that your goalie lacks focus and because of it finds himself out of potion and unable to stop shots he should be able to. It might not be flatering, but if it is true, even if the fans won’t want to admit it, they shouldn’t get ticked when other people see it. Even if they don’t want to see it for themself.

I wonder if we went back to the 90s, peaked into a western dev studio, might we have found at least a couple of game devs saying exactly the same kind of stuff Inafune(and others) have been saying now? I bet we would have.

I think in both cases it is just an understanding that and acknowledgement that there is another king in the court and that they need to step up stay in contention for the throne.

@37 Quite welcome, O.G.

I think true fans are the ones willing to criticise something when criticism is deserved, instead of just blindly supporting it. Otherwise the devs will just get lazy.

Which in the case of Japan, is exactly what they’re doing. The Final Fantasy franchise is losing its strength *because* it’s stuck to the same trite premise for over 10 years.

Japanese devs aren’t willing to step out of their safety zones and try something different. *Any* industry that refuses to innovate stagnates and dies.

Just look at the music industry if you want prove of that. People eventually get tired of being spoon-fed the same old thing over and over again.

I think both territories push gaming forwards in different ways. Both have stand out successes and failures with a sea of average output in the middle.

If I’m honest, I think a lot of this is PR speak. The west likes to be flattered and the east knows it. I don’t think an western developer can capture the essence of a game like Bayonetta and I feel the same way about the east with a game like Gears of War.

The great thing is that we’re spoiled for choice either way.

@39 The problem is that games like Bayonetta are very much the exception, not the rule, in this generation.

But yeah, we’re definitely spoilt for choice nowadays. I remember when every second game used to be a movie licence, or just plain crap.

“And I strongly disagree with the majority of fans. FFVII, FFVIII, and FFX did not having fantasy settings. FFIX and FFXII did. That’s not even opinion, it’s fact.”

please do elaborate what defines a “fantasy” setting to you?

“And it’s old, trite, outdated and no longer capable of sustaining the company.”

then they should drop the franchise all together and present new Ip’s

“The fans grew up, and FFXII was the first Final Fantasy that actually bothered to grow up with me. It’s clear that the franchise is barely capable of sustaining itself at this point, and the fact that people are tired of all the teen angst is only part of that problem.

I want quality, maturity and depth in my franchises. A 17 year old feeling sorry for themselves while the world is ending no longer cuts it for most of us.”

You see as Wada said in one of it’s recent interviews about XIII.They’re trying to present the franchise to a new audience which is the younger audience.Not so much targeted for the old fans.
On the other hand just because many of the older fanbase grew up doesn’t mean that they don’t want from new games to reminisce the old ones.
Zelda as an example didn’t really evolve,or grew up,it sustained the same “formula”over and over and yet fans are pleased no matter how they grow old.

@40 – I found Bayonetta to be a standout title which puts it to game of the year status for me. There was so much unexpected content and riffs on Sega history that made me smile. The spirit of that game is exquisite.

In that regard, it’s certainly an exception – but I find very few games, regardless of origin, make that sort of impact on me.

I find a lot of triple-A western stuff to be dross and uninspiring. I don’t think that one territory has an edge over the other overall – but that’s a personal view. I happen to like the structure of JRPGs over WRPGs, for example, so that’s going to skew my particular view in favour of that region. And that’s why I find some blanket statement about the two territories to be a bit silly. It’s only true to the people that want it to be true. It’s not quantifiable or tangible. It’s just a bit of talk to tell a group of people the sort of thing they like to hear.

It’s all good though:

Would I have preferred Capcom to have made Portal? No.
Would I have preferred Valve to make Street Fighter? No.

Do I enjoy them both? Absolutely!

@38, quite. The games industry needs more fans who are willing to point out the stuff that should’ve been better even in games which they actually liked. I can’t remember the last time I played a game where I didn’t have at least a handful of niggles and I’d love to talk about that kind of thing more, but the internet still has that ‘if you don’t love it completely then you obviously hate it’ thing going on.

The trouble with many classic series (of which Japan has many) is that I don’t feel they get “fair” reviews. Too often a review of the latest game in a well-loved series will list a number of flaws but ultimately not mark the game down for them – so MGS4 has 20 hour cut-scenes “but it’s MGS!”, FFXIII has a linear, simplistic world “but it’s FF!”, Resi 5 has controls based on how a Dalek moves “but it’s Resi!”. If a new IP had committed similar sins then they’d have absolutely been marked down. With so much Japanese output being based on these strong, well-loved IPs, it’d be nice to feel that they were getting a proper, fair appraisal on release rather than the usual don’t-want-to-offend-the-fans whitewash.

It’s amazing the kind of great discussion we can get going on here when the likes of TEA, BDH and itsucks aren’t around. =P

Will reply to everyone’s posts individually later. By right I should be working right now!

@37
Classic example?I do not fall in that category i assure you. The JP industry is falling apart this generation of gaming we all know that.But there are exceptions even if they’re in the minority we can’t just put the whole JP industry in the same “trash can”
Sorry OG but your obsession on the subject in many articles doesn’t show the least of concern.It actually shows a bit of “hate” even if that’s not your true feelings on the matter

@45 Having an informed and well constructed opinion does not equal “obsessive”.

@46 I have informed and well constructed opinion on many other subjects as well as other users here.But i do not let it become an obsession.If i want to i’ll express my thoughts on the subject one time only.Repeating something over and over again which pretty much says the same thing over and over is an Obsession.
Anyhow is this a faction here or something

How exactly is the JPN industery in decline, is it in terms of making money or quality? Fair enough if you dont like Japanese games but thier industery is far from in decline. I think its only Capcom that are in trouble hence Inafune saying these things.

I mean isnt FF still the highest selling RPG in the market, isnt MGS 4 the highest selling stealth game of this gen, Mario Galaxy contender for the best game of this gen? JPN isnt going anywhere.

I get the feeling the likes of OG or Blerk have not even tried some of the best JPN games this generation.

And Id rather play Ni No Kuni then the next COD any day of the week.

@44 O’Connor I would sink low as you and make you look like the jackass you are but I have come to realize that you take internet forums way too seriously. Its sad because in real life (you know the life that really counts) you are a sad fuck that no one probably wants to be around. You live on the fucking net and I pity you and your pathetic life.

I don’t see BDH going around calling the 360 or PS3 names like itsucks. For that matter neither do I. But even after you sat here and had a nice lengthy discussion on a topic that has been debated for the past 5 years over and over (I’m sure the great talent of VG247 will post a similar article next month) you take the time and actually mention me (someone you see as negative) in the mist of one of your great holy video game discussions.

WHATS WRONG WITH YOU MAN? Don’t you have a girlfriend? (not the blow up doll under your bed) Why on Earth would you open that gate to start some shit by posting something like that. Its not us who ruin the comments its you by starting shit and trying to provoke other users of this site. You’re taking this video game news shit way too serious dude and if you think you can censor the internet to your likening then more power to you man….you’re fighting a losing battle

but do me a favor and add me to your ignore list when Garratt finally gets his shit together. I don’t need the guilt on my conscience that you hung yourself one night over something I said to you over the wonderful world of the internet…..where getting laid for you is a click away

@48

Thats not fair my friend, I have FF achievies on my profile, take a look. I even bought FFonline for xb360. I have ALL of the achievies for Phantasy Star Universe excluding one(I even bought and earned the DLC ones too).

I have not enjoyed a MGS after the NES one, so I passed on MGS for PS3.

I own a fully BC PS3, because I wanted to be able to play my libary(of very JP heavy) of PS2 games on my PS3/HD Upscaled.

IMO, one of my fav games this entire gen is Super Mario. But not Galaxy, I liked the retooled 2D 4P co-op one for Wii.

I am not some KKK card toten anti JP Hick from the deep south. You would prolly be impressed with my Dreamcast Capcom collection. My JP modded Sega Saturn. My JP Dreamcast. My JP PS2.

But this gen?

I feel it is a different ballgame.

We(Respected VG247 regulars) need to just agree to disagree. Stating an opinion is not the same as trolling or being obsessed. If the subject pops up often in news stories from around the web/game industry … maybe there is something to it.

I wouldn’t ask you, or anyone else to not post their two cents(or a nickles worth of pennies) on a thread. Even if that subject matter gets reported twice a week, every week.

The same is all I ask.