Beloved action game developer PlatinumGames recently spoke to the current state of the Japanese and Western video game markets, noting that development styles from either region don’t necessarily dictate a game’s quality.
Speaking on Twitter (via GI International), international co-ordinator and writer at PlatinumGames, Jean Kellams discussed both Japanese and Western development. According to Kellams, it doesn’t matter what the style of the game is or what region it was developed in; a bad game is a bad game regardless.
The problems with Japanese games aren’t that they are JPN games or that they are Westernised games.
The problems with JPN games are simple: Most of them aren’t very good games. People don’t buy those. Most games from anywhere aren’t good. That’s why exceptional means exceptional.
There aren’t many gamers out there who would argue against the fact that quality in Japanese game development has been on the decline over the past few years. While many just chalk it up to the rise of Western development, it doesn’t change the fact that Japanese developers are failing to provide the same level of quality that they delivered in years past.
We need diversity in the market, so it is important that JPN developers don’t lose their identity, but at the same time, evolution and growth is necessary to stay relevant. What do you think about the current state of Japanese game development? Sound off in the comments below.
