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[Petrae]

It's a shame that the Japanese publishers that used to drive my console video game buying interests and playing time are shells of their former selves.

Konami is a Metal Gear house now. Castlevania is on life support, Contra has seen more mobile life than console life. Gradius is dead. Axelay & Cybernator were one-offs.

Capcom fell out of favor with me in the previous generation. Resident Evil 5 & 6 weren't enjoyable, Dead Rising got stale, Marvel vs. Capcom 3 had a shorter lifespan than Rebecca Black's "Friday", and questionable DLC decisions made the company as a whole unlikeable. Mega Man was killed off, too.

Square-Enix tried to force-feed an RPG series in Final Fantasy XIII to fans with multiple sequels when the original wasn't too hot to begin with. It was a big step down from prior generations. SNES had Final Fantasy 4-6; PlayStation had Final Fantasy 7-9. Even PS2 had three numbered FF games... even if I avoided XI because I dislike MMOs. Last gen, we got two-- and the second was very late in coming. The rest of the Square-Enix lost for last gen was mixed at best. In short, the publisher dropped in my eyes from God tier to mid-tier. That's a steep drop.

Namco started last gen out okay. We got numbered Ridge Racer games that weren't too bad. Ace Combat 6 tried to be too epic, but it wasn't awful. Unfortunately, Namco got too DLC-happy. Beautiful Katamari was the prime example of this. Ace Combat 6 had some of this, too. The publisher also went off the rails with disappointing Tekken & SoulCalibur sequels. The coup de grace that killed Namco for me was the wholesale move to F2P for its biggest franchises. New Ace Combat? F2P. New SoulCalibur? F2P. New Ridge Racer? F2P. That was the final straw; I was done with them after hearing that at E3 this year.

Nintendo is still making good-to-great games and doing things its own way. Aside from acute Mario fatigue, the company still has a lot of assets and a big upside.

It's sad to see many of these publishers as shells of their former selves. Times change, I guess, and as console gaming has changed and evolved... not everyone has been able to smoothly change and evolve with it.

 

[Dark Octave]

You mean the GC tech demo? The most generic and predictable look for a Zelda game ever?

I hope we never get it.

Wasn't that pretty much turned into TP?

 

[Clawww]

Capcom is the most baffling to me. They started off the PS3/360 generation so well then it seemed like those insane CoD sales made them lose their minds.

seriously dude. I still love them because they gave me some amazing games this gen including the life-changing SFIV, but goddamn... three lost planets?

 

[IdreamofHIME]

With that said:
Konami is dead without Kojima..

You think it's coincidence they promoted him to vice-president of the whole fucking company?

 

[H_Prestige]

You mean the GC tech demo? The most generic and predictable look for a Zelda game ever?

I hope we never get it.

At this point, toon link is more generic and predictable.

 

[Firemind]

Latch on to Atlus and hold on for dear life.

but atlus is an average developer/publisher

 

[H_Prestige]

From Software made 3D Dot Game Heroes, not Atlus. Also, it was the company that owned Atlus that went under, Atlus was sold to Sega.

I really need to play this game.

 

[akira28]

While many Japanese studios/publishers might be dead to you, a lot of Western studios are actually dead. I find that worse.

native american tear/joni mitchell song

 

[jooey]

From the NES to the PS2 there were so many amazing things coming from Japan.

Where is Contra? Why not bring back some old NES era names like Life Force?

the FF games from the PS1 era that I loved

The point is we have not seen a new Tobal, Einhander, Bushido Blade, Brave Fencer

the days of innovative and ground breaking games like Jet Set Radio and Shenmue are long gone

Make a new Mega Man

Make a new Castlevania and Life Force the same way. Make a new Resident Evil

Nintendo has it working the best out of anyone. Sure, they are retreading the same titles over and over, but at least they are still putting out the games their fans want.

retreading the same titles over and over

the same titles

over and over

.

 

[Yamauchi]

From Software is the only japanese developer who knows what the hell they're doing.

No.

 

[massoluk]

Konami may as well rename their game division to Metal Gear Solid Studio.

 

[Moofers]

Just read the first page of replies. Thanks for all the awesome input, everyone. Just a note though: I'm specifically referring to the studios that I grew up with. Altus, Falcom, and the like aren't being considered for this because they were never on the same level of blockbuster releases like the teams I talked about. I'm not dismissing all of Japan here. I'm very happy with stuff like Catherine, Ys, Dark Souls, etc. I am just bummed to see these once mighty houses of gaming go from setting standards to the sad state they are in now.

 

[RaikuHebi]

Atlus and From will save us.

 

[Crash Station]

Buy a handheld and stop following companies. Follow people that left those companies.

 

[Stike]

Buy a handheld and stop following companies. Follow people that left those companies.

Should read "buy a smartphone" - that's where most of those devs are working on.

SADFACE.

 

[TheJollyCorner]

Japanese devs were significantly impacted this past gen- and not in a good way. We all know that.
What we started seeing was the market being gobbled up by a lower tech fad (the Wii) and a Western-based behemoth (360). Sony made decisions on the PS3 design that frightened a lot of their once loyal Japanese devs- and with the 'luxurious' price tag, the difficult nature of development, & the 360 grabbing a lot of market share, panic started. How many initially announced 'PS3 exclusive that will take advantage of Cell' did we start seeing turn multi-plat? It was a domino effect.

On one side you have the stubborn policies of Nintendo & even with the Wii selling like condoms in a whorehouse Japanese 3rd party devs still didn't seem thrilled with putting the bulk of their dev manpower into the system.
On the other hand you had MS desperately trying to break through & scoop up that PS2/Sony market share in Japan. The Japanese gaming public simply didn't give a shit. Some Japanese devs tried supporting the 360 with exclusives (Capcom, in particular), but in the end you had a development culture whose old ways weren't working anymore & a mobile and handheld market that was exploding.
We also started seeing Japanese companies pay notice to sales from Western designed games. Japan had turned apathetic towards console games, so these companies tried changing their design philosophies to appeal more to the Western market. In one example it broke my heart seeing the man behind my favorite FF games (6, 7, 8, & 10) admit that some design inspiration for FFXIII came from CoD.

We've seen entire corporate structures fold, re-shift, & try to evolve. S-E is a perfect example. Hell, we even saw it happen to Sony after the first failure of a year with the PS3.

PS4 launch in Japan will be telling. Although PS4 & One launches across the globe have been encouraging for an industry with fears of a mobile-domination future, Japan is still critical when it comes to creative minds (& in the spirit of this thread- greatness through well established franchises).
If PS4 hits the ground running in Japan, we might yet see some of that amazing ingenuity come firing back to the console arena... but yeah... who knows?

 

[animus82]

Capcom died with Clover. Things would still be good if Capcom didn't run them out and gave them full creative control. I would guarantee that if a new Okami came out on on home consoles that it would be a hit.

.... No it wouldn't. Okami is a niche game if I ever saw one.

They re released it to little fan fare even.

 

[jgmo870]

but atlus is an average developer/publisher

They were great in the PS2 days. Nocturne and the Persona games are top notch JRPGs but now their best games are "co-developed" with other studios (Dragon's Crown, Gungnir, etc.).

From Software made 3D Dot Game Heroes, not Atlus. Also, it was the company that owned Atlus that went under, Atlus was sold to Sega.

Not a From Soft game. Silicon Studios (Bravely Default guys) made it.

 

[kuroneco]

Face it. All these Japanese companies were once small and barely earn any easy money. The only way to get paid was to produce good games that sale. Nowadays, their companies get bigger and bigger, those company are not investing 100% on gaming anymore. Lots of them get burned doing other things such as real-estate business and other industries, It is very sad to see all those purchase and merges happen.

 

[Clear]

To be fair, the state of the Japanese economy as a whole hasn't helped over the last few years. Its easy to forget how currency exchange rates impact overall business direction when a significant proportion of income comes from overseas sales.

In such circumstances, titles that were formerly mildly profitable become marginal at best, and as development costs rise its hard to justify expenditure on such risky ventures, especially when the overall tastes within the international market have drifted towards much more westernized styles.

 

[Zee-Row]

What? No it isn't. Metal Gear was a blip until the Solid series. Konami flourished just fine before the popularity of that series.

Metal Gear Sold a million copies on the NES in the States. It was popular but the series just went into hibernation until Solid came out.

 

[Moofers]

Got through page 2 now. Excellent discussion going on in here!

A quick note about Street Fighter. Yes, we DO want these updates. However, we want to be able to buy the game once and do DLC, not buy another copy. This is something Capcom failed to get right with both SFIV and Marvel vs Capcom 3. And I wouldn't put it past them to do it again. The gems in SFxT are also a sign that they are still looking for that window to cashing in, which is fine since it's business, but they are going about it the wrong way.

From FFX onwards I've felt like I have to endure character designs and dialogue in almost all JRPGs, rather than actually enjoying them. Eventually I pretty much stopped playing the genre in its entirety.

When their top IPs fail to sell like these games, they think there's a problem with those IPs, but the truth is that only two or three Western IPs are capable of selling like this, and it shouldn't be a goal for anyone. Budget responsibly, and accept the limitations of your IP. But don't simply shelve a popular IP because you're looking for the next CoD, WoW or P&D

Excellent post all around, but I wanted to highlight those particular paragraphs. JRPGs struggle to capture my interest a lot of the time because they can't find a way to make characters that don't wear ridiculous clothes. That's seriously a problem for me.

And your other paragraph just needed to be quoted for truth

namco had tekken and ace combat. both are f2p and crap now...

You know, I forgot about Tekken Revolution. TTT2 was incredible, and I consider that the last real installment for the series. I guess if we count Rev though, the series could be headed downhill. I think we are all expecting TxSF and T7 to be traditional releases though. I hope we're not wrong.

 

[Kagutaba]

You should check out their older games, Shadow Tower Abyss, for example, if the Souls series was your first contact with From. Different perspective, mechanics etc. but similar approach.

Sure, will do, I just thought his comparison between Nintendo and From was a little off.

 

[Zia]

Nintendo and Sega are still pretty great on occasion, and FROM, Atlus and Platinum seem capable of putting out a half-decent game every few years (being generous with Platinum) but yeah, most of the Japanese mega-publishers could shutter and the modern video games landscape wouldn't look all that different. A lot less dated tech, shoddy UIs and archaic design, perhaps.

 

[brinstar]

It's a big part of the reason my interest in games has been cut down. I've tried some of the big western game series that emerged this gen but I just can't get into most of them. I'm just not a fan of the "realistic" style

 

[Moofers]

.

That's clever and all, but a lot of the games I mentioned either haven't had a release in several years, or suffered some kind of IP makeover.

Nintendo fans are always so quick to dismiss the idea that they are playing the same games over and over. It's fine, ok? Just admit it. You don't see Call of Duty fans denying it. Just own up to it already. They're all good games of solid quality so really as long as they stay good it's not a big problem. Like I said in my OP, Nintendo keeps their fans happy, but always wanting to some extent. And yeah, I'm still holding out for "teh mature" Zelda. One with Link on horseback slashing goblins and a couple of licensed Basil Polidoris songs in the OST like the trailer. Seeing fans now decry this look is puzzling to me as that trailer was the game I dreamed of back when I was tracing pictures of Link out of Nintendo Power back in '88. Toon Link can have a place at the table too, but I want the game that was promised.

 

[Kysen]

Namco is the only publisher I care about and they have plenty of franchises I like. Also they are one of the first to jump to new hardware.

 

[Biker19]

I would have to agree with the OP. These companies really needs to get their acts together, especially Capcom, Sega, Square-Enix, & Konami.

I grew up with them starting from the 80's as well, & some of the 3rd party Japanese companies like the ones I mentioned above have gone down the drain in quality after the Dreamcast/PS2/Gamecube/Original Xbox era.

 

[The Abominable Snowman]

Sega's in particular is so freaking depressing. The Dreamcast was the most fresh and organic console I've ever owned. Sega brought their A-game and had some amazing experiences lined up for it. It was a definite shift from the Japanese centric (But still amazing) Saturn and a return of sorts to their Genesis glory.

Now? it's embarrassing to even call myself a Sega fan. Sonic's been reduced to digital arcade games, with low quality and they never even bothered to finish Sonic 4 Episode 2, never mind that it was supposed to be episodic with many episodes. All the retail Sonic games were pretty horrible, outside of Generations. They've left their other franchises in the dust, ignoring how they've basically been assimilated by other franchises, and are ripe for development.

It really seems that they put their own fire out at the end of the PS2/Xbox generation.

 

[Coulomb_Barrier]

You could make this thread about just one of the companies the op lists and it would be enough to make me cry.

I mean just remember how good Namco was way back when, when they were going toe-to-toe with Sega's AM2 team at the arcades with legendary franchises like Time Crisis, Rave Racer and Tekken. Only Tekken has survived.

 

[iMerc]

for the most part, japan has suffered a tonne in terms of the influence and pedigree they used to hold.

once again, nintendo is the exception to this rule, as they always seem to be… and i would even argue they've produced some of the most consistently fantastic games in their entire HISTORY of game developments -just in the last few years alone.

the mario galaxies, land/worlds, pokemon, zeldas, Fire emblems, jrpgs, and platformers they have made very recently are some of the BEST in their genres, and in their i.p. catalog.

to stand there and state they are merely making "the same games over & over & over & over" is not only INCORRECT, it's outright misleading & dishonest; however unsurprising.

it really is no shock that the efforts this company has made has once again deliberately been glossed over & marginalised in an attempt to 'make a point' about an entire market, that they are largely not only the exception to, but are perhaps one of the strongest reasons that said market hasn't collapsed completely.

 

[Porcile]

I'd support Atlus by SMTIV in Europe is some serious bullshit!

 

[Dr. Kitty Muffins]

Sony might have the ability to turn around its Japanese studios but that remains to be seen. I wish they were poaching top tier talent like Naughty Dog is. Of course, Japan isn't as talent rich as the West and talent does move around as much in the West either.

 

[Host Samurai]

Actually, I take some things back. Capcom hasn't been THAT bad, just shit compared to how they were previous generations. We still got some decent stuff from them this gen.

Dead Rising
Lost Planet
DMC 4
Asuras Wrath
Dragons Dogma
Megaman 9&10
Street Fighter 4

Not nearly as good as the PS2 days, but much better than SE & Konami.

Namco has been the best this generation so far

Tales
Ni No Kuni
Dark Souls
Naruto Ninja Storm
Soul Caliber
Tekken 6

Not bad

 

[Dragoon En Regalia]

Sega's in particular is so freaking depressing. The Dreamcast was the most fresh and organic console I've ever owned. Sega brought their A-game and had some amazing experiences lined up for it. It was a definite shift from the Japanese centric (But still amazing) Saturn and a return of sorts to their Genesis glory.

And now you realize that the Dreamcast was their Hail Mary bid for greatness (and it worked).

SEGA's done better than most other big Japanese publishers in recent history, their big competitor (as always) being Namco. For all the atrocious things they've done (targeting western Shining fans for inexplicable reasons), they've compensated with hallmarks in their long company history (M2's recent spate of 3D Classics). Sonic games have been improving and branching in unexpected ways ever since Sonic '06, and the company understands the PC market to a good degree. Not to forget, most folks on NeoGAF would rather play S&AS Transformed than a new Mario Kart, and acquisitions like Atlus and Relic are bound to pay off (provided the part of SEGA managing them doesn't go berserk like the Shining team did). I think SEGA's always going to have trouble because of its chronically-ill internal politics, but to see them survive for so long with so many ups and downs is impressive.

 

[JinjoUnchained]

I look at it in terms of moral hazard. These developers used to be the major players in the industry, back when most gaming content came from Japan. Then two things happened: 1.) Western developers and publishers changed the way the industry works by pushing technology forward too quickly and 2.) Mobile and casual games stratified the market. The result is that AAA game development is too expensive to take risks and also watered-down mobile apps represent the biggest market.

So your Capcoms and Konamis of the world are faced with a moral hazard, should they make challenging and innovative A/AA software for a smaller audience and upset their investors, or use their IPs as skins for clones of AAA games or broken iOS ports/cash-ins a la All The Bravest? With that much money on the line, you can see why they go with Plan B.

They run the risk of wearing out those IPs with all of the cash-ins and bastardizations. There needs to be more balance. Remember a few years ago when Capcom came out with Mega Man 9/10 for WiiWare/XBLA/PSN? Or the recent Duck Tales Remastered? People loved those. They scratched the nostalgia itch, but were fun and ambitious in their own ways. Balance out the AAA and mobile clones with these kind of experiences and things would be better for your favorite Japanese studios.

 

[RM8]

Nintendo fans are always so quick to dismiss the idea that they are playing the same games over and over. It's fine, ok? Just admit it.

Lol, why? People whine that 3D World is not Galaxy 3. That Sticker Star is not TTYD2. That Other M sucked unlike the Prime series and beg for a 2D Metroid. That we don't get more StarFox and F-Zero. But we're playing the same games over and over anyway

 

[Durask]

Everything declines and falls eventually, that's how the world works.

 

[Gartooth]

Capcom, Konami, and Square Enix are dead to me outside the odd game of two. (MGSV for example)

Nintendo has a creativity problem but they still make really good games. SEGA was dead to me until they bought Atlus who was my favorite Japanese publisher prior to the buyout, so I hope they aren't screwed in the west.

I think Namco-Bandai is doing the best at the moment between the Souls IP and localizations but anything can change. (Especially if they dumb down Souls games)

 

[kiriin]

Atlus and Falcom are still around, in fact last year or the year before that was Ys' 25th anniversary and 2014 is Atlus' 25th as well.

 

[abadguy]

seriously dude. I still love them because they gave me some amazing games this gen including the life-changing SFIV, but goddamn... three lost planets?

Three lost Planets are the least of Capcom's bullshit. LP wasn't perfect but it was a fun arcade style shooter in the vein of games like Contra. All they needed to do wad fix a few things and it would have been great. But what do they do? Hand it to a very shit dev who turn it from a fast paced shooter, to fucking Gears of Dead Space. Not even going to get into picking fucking Ninja Theory for a DMC game. Capcom is lucky they still haven't lost their touch with fighters, not to mention gave us Dragon's Dogma.

Still they are a far cry from Capcom of the early 2000's,never mind the godlike publisher/dev that was Capcom in the 90's.

 

[Star Falcon]

Out with the old, in with the new. Platinum and From are making games of the highest quality.

 

[Exile20]

nintendo is even more kiddy than they were with the SNES..

What is this thrash?

Dk on Wii/wiiu is not kiddy, new remix is not kiddy, tw101 is not kiddy, bayonetta 2 is not kiddy, pikmin is not kiddy, metriod is not kiddy, etc.

Stop talking thrash. Nintendo has a wide variety of games for everyone.

 

[nkarafo]

I agree with you OP. Same thing happened with the anime industry for me. I was a huge fan in the late 80's - 90's. I loved the ultra violent/Cyberpunk style, the many different character designs and visual styles, the gore (that was actually gore and not just plain red paint) and the detail to each frame and character. But the last 10 years there were only a couple of movies that i liked and that was it. The industry became mainstream, the visual quality have dropped significantly, the character design is shitty and almost the same in every single title, they also use too much CGI and now its pretty much dead to me.

 

[TheFLYINGManga_Ka]

Nintendo is still alive and Capcom to some degree.

But never thought would see the day Square Enix fall the way they did.

 

[Jinko]

Agreed, I have lost faith in the big names and am supporting the likes of Atlas and NIS instead.

But now Sega have a hold of Atlas I hope their idiocy doesn't rub off on them.

 

[robotzombie]

The problem is that most of the Japanese companies listed are chasing western money and are ending up like Michael Jordan playing baseball. Sure you are overall talented and athletic enough that you can take a crack at it, but you aren't going to be anywhere near the level you are at doing what comes natural to you.

 

[EscapingJail]

Time to move on. Atlus, Falcom, Arc System Works and others carry the torch now.

Atlus is doing god's work.

 

[The_Endgamer]

Everything went downhill after PS3/360 came out. Everything was literally going fine, FFXII + Resident Evil 4 being exemplars at the very end of the GCN/PS2/Xbox/DC gen. Anything that tried from then on struggled immensely (maybe other than Mistwalker? Though they were a startup really).

But, the sky is always darkest before dawn.

*wishes for FFXV to be great*

 

[Jinko]

Everything went downhill after PS3/360 came out. Everything was literally going fine, FFXII + Resident Evil 4 being exemplars at the very end of the GCN/PS2/Xbox/DC gen. Anything that tried from then on struggled immensely (maybe other than Mistwalker? Though they were a startup really).

Yea but the Ps2 era didn't' have mobile gaming to contend with, its had a much bigger effect on developers over there than in the west.

I can imagine SE, Namco, Capcom and Sega are looking at Gungho with eyes of envy.