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[Dragmire]

Maybe it's heathenistic bias, but I find a lot more originality in videogames comes from Japan than anywhere else. Yes, there's a lot of rehashing, too. It's definitely an arguable point, but at the very least, Japanese devs seem much more interested in trying new kinds of games on the DS. Other than obviously Nintendo, with Nintendogs, Jam with the Band, Kirby, Yoshi, etc., the only third parties that are trying new kinds of games on the system seem to be Japanese.

First, there was Sega's Feel the Magic. Today a new Konami game was previewed on PGC, Dragon Booster. It seems to use the touch screen to edit dragons, and then you can race them. There's Pac-n-Roll and Pac-Pix from Namco, though the former may be little more than a Marble Madness clone. Lost in Blue (Konami's new Survival Kids type game) could stand to be very original, at least more than most Western DS games. Obviously, you have a lot of established franchises trying new kinds of gameplay on the DS, like Harvest Moon, Advance Wars and Castlevania, but at least it's better than Urbz-style minigames being incorporated into a port.

Meanwhile, you have the overseas developers making Rayman DS, Ridge Racer DS, Spiderman 2, The Urbz, Madden, Tiger Woods, etc. There are a couple of original ideas in there (Spiderman 2), but it's still far from what Japanese devs are doing. Of course, there are exceptions to that rule, like Frogger from Konami. But what is with videogame publishing in the US that lends itself to less risk-taking? I'm sure EA knows that a risk can lead to the next big thing (The Sims), but for the most part their line-up is devoid of imagination... a sea of licenses. Plus, they followed up The Sims with rehashes that are ruining the property's reputation and sales.

This trend fits pretty well with what developers are doing on consoles. Again, my bias/opinion may be at work here, but imagination in American videogames comes almost entirely from licenses. Otherwise, it's inspired by Dungeons and Dragons, generic sci-fi, or mascot games. I don't really consider war FPS's, realistic racing, or the pop culture of GTA to be imaginitive. Perhaps Japan is a country that encourages more creativity? It seems to be a cultural thing to me, but I'd really like to hear differing opinions or suggestions as to the reasons for these cultural differences.

 

[Virgin Wii]

American developers have always been more about originality and finding new gameplay ideas, where Japan has traditionally taken known concepts and refined them to perfection. You have a strange view.

EDIT: I think I know what it is. Do you play PC games?

 

[ZeMMiK]

Well I agree with the starter of this thread.
American games are more about graphics...(exceptions not counted off course) and do not forget European games..almost the same...Low Risk projects.

So I do not find his view very strange to me. Do not see it as a offense to American or European people....but look at the new original games that are produced.

 

[lexy]

NOJ has done a better job of courting Japanese developers to use the unique features of the DS than NOA has with western developers.

To be fair, most of what we consider unique about Japanese games is a result of cultural differences between our culture and theirs.

I think you are selling western developers a bit short here. How can you expect to have any kind of meaningful discussion on the topic when you dismiss entire genres and series of games that are arguably more important to western developers?

Also, it's quite a big jump in reasoning to conclude that Japan as a country is more creative than America based on what you've observed in the videogame industry.

 

[Bebpo]

Here's what I think. It's not that Japanese people are more original than say Americans, but rather if you are an American growing up on American products your whole life than when you experience something from a culture that has a very different way of creative expression then it seems very original since it's different from what you've grown up on.

I used to be a huge film buff/reviewer with a few friends when I was in high school. Concentrated mainly on American films and only saw the mainstream foreign stuff like Kurosawa's works. As I became more interested in Japan as a culture I began watching a lot of Japanese films, dramas, anime and I was intruiged. This was mainly because they were dealing with themes and doing things that no one in the US film business was touching on. I thought "wow, Japanese directors/writers take a lot more chances and are more creative than their US counterparts!". But over the years as I watch more and more films (or play more and more games) I realize that while they will touch on subjects and themes that Americans don't deal with, they keep touching on the same things over and over.

So I think both sides (western/eastern) do a few things and stick to them, but what they both do are quite different from each other. So coming from whichever side you've grown up on, the other side seems refreshing and original.

Just my thoughts from growing up in life.

 

[john tv]

Very interesting point. Thanks!

 

[Vark]

On Thematic stuff in general:

Yea, I mean when you start looking at Japanese art (woodblock printings etc) and go forward to film, games, etc, you start to see a certain trend in it all.

A lot of it has to do with cultural trends as a whole. Japan is based primarily around the Shinto Religion. Which in general, is a lot more 'earthy' than western religions. It's nature worship, divination, hero / ancestor worship, and in general promotes a 'oneness' with nature and a respect for the environment and the people that have come before you. It's not as organized as western religions and remains as more of a philosophy that you can see in a lot of Japanese society even if people don't practice it (which a lot of people still do as it isn't a strict religion per say).

In western society the closest thing we had to Shinto was Paganism (which is primarily nature worship and divination and doesn't really have any hero / ancestor worship except in small parts). Since the rise of christanity paganism ideals have been more or less repressed, and while christianity absorbed some of the tradition (christmas being the prime example) paganistic practices are still frowned upon (even today you're seen as a 'new age hippy' and not in a good way.)

You'll notice a lot of Japanese games and films tend to be very much in line with these philosophies (man communing with nature, samurais and heros, fielty and respect) I mean if you look at Miyazaki's body of work, the most obvious would be Princess Mononoke but there's always this 'twinge' of a theme where technology and man's attempt to control nature is man's downfall. (people pollute the land, demons come forth, a hero must rise up and stop it, etc, etc, etc).

Now hero worship isn't limited to Eastern civilization obviously, we have that sort of thing in America but it sort of tends towards Idol worship. Japanese Heros seem to be doing their duty with a reluctancy for fame while Western Heros want their name in every household.

Villians are along the same nature line. Eastern Villians tend to want power and control over nature and the world, Western Villians want control over people and money. (again this is all 'in general' there's been a lot of cross pollination in the last couple thousand years.) I mean when was the last time an Eastern villian kidnapped a princess and asked for a million dollar ransom?

As far as creative use of the DS specifically. Western developers are more technology based. Its about pushing it further, making it prettier, new lighting effects, neat stuff here. And while there is originality interspersed in that, very few publishers are willing to pay for something thats a 'shot in the dark'. I highly doubt a US publisher would foster a project like ICO just to foster it, especially after dismal sales results. Critical acclaim buys you nothing here if you can't turn a profit (ie, Looking Glass). Safe projects are projects that look pretty, sound a lot like something thats already on the shelf and selling well somewhere else, and can be made quickly and under budget for maximum profit.

Time = money.

 

[callous]

While Bebpo makes a good point, and a point that goes some way towards explaining things, my impression is still similar to that of the thread starter. There is much more variety in Japanese game ideas these days. Back in the 80s it was the other way around. Western devs came up with one crazy idea after another, especially for the home computers - C64, Spectrum, Amiga, ST, etc. - while the Japanese churned out arcade game after arcade game. I'm polarizing, yes, but try not to take offense.

 

[Azih]

Well in one sense I think it is true. Since while both Western and Japanese companies are very very driven by profit. Japanese companies let creative talent do whatever they want far far far more often then Western companies do. Games like Animal Crossing, Pikmin, Katamari Damacy, Cubivore, The Sims etc come out far more often from across the Pacific.

To get the same stuff in the West you have to go to Indie developers which have become very low profile as gaming has become larger business. Alien Hominid is a breath of fresh western air and it's very much a garage development effort. So is Gish, and that's a PC only platformer sold exclusively through the net.

 

[jarrod]

I'm not sure JP devs are all that more original on DS going by released games. Feel the Magic might be novel in theme/aesthetics but really that's it for 3rd party stuff. All the truly original DS games seem to be coming from Nintendo actually, and then it's mainly just Band Bros and Yoshi so far. DS does have some interesting stuff on the horizon from Japan (Pac-Pix, Kirby, etc) but I'd like to see how it actually works out first.