This fad, if you can call it as such, boggles my mind.
So let's discuss an area of discussion that is ever so common in recent years.
Most of us grew up playing games made in Japan. Since when has the ability to enjoy Japanese been catered solely to the denizens of "weeaboo-dom"? People don't say it, but they certainly imply that anyone who has a preference for Japanese games is a slobbery Japan freak otaku. Maybe some of us were in another lifetime, also called adolescence, but I think that it's quite unfair to label those who simply have preferences for Japanese games as these freaks of nature who somehow just don't "get" open-worlds, or "freedom", or cinematic gaming.
It seems that these days across not only gaming message boards, but also the gaming press itself, there stands an anti-Japanese game sentiment:
- Whether it's an rpg - "Bioware keeps making the same game since Baldur's Gate but their games are still more refreshing than a Japanese rpg game like Nier or Persona 4 or Resonance of Fate! I'm going to give Nier a 6/10 because it doesn't cater to my tastes!" This has spawned multiple threads on gaf even, where people are so self-disillusioned that they think good and evil choices in games are a new thing.
- Whether it's an action game - "Oh God, Mikami's making another action game? I hope it doesn't have shit controls. Japanese games never seem to have good controls in games, ever. Why are they so behind?" while at the same praising a game like Grand Theft Auto IV five seconds later.
- Most Japanese games period that are not made by Nintendo/Capcom -
I realize that this is most likely a by product of the fact that this console generation doesn't have much Japanese developer support on ps360 (though it definitely slides towards ps3's favor for Japanese oriented gaming), and that most of the Japanese games these days are being relegated to handhelds or the Wii, which as we all know are not viable platforms being that they are relegated to children and women and old people. I also realize that a gigantic bulk of console development now belongs to the west, compared to past generations when it was mostly the Japanese who made all the big hits.
Is it even remotely possible to have a discussion about a Japanese game or have preference for Japanese gaming without some pissant claiming that it's made exclusively for weeaboo's or that you're Japan obsessed? Is Japan really that behind, or are their games just clashing that much with western gaming sensibilities? Why are there any sides to this to begin with? It's definitely possible to enjoy Red Dead Redemption while being pumped for Resonance of Fate or a brand spankin' new Shin Megami Tensei.
So this issue has been mostly been silent yet not openly debated. Let's discuss it.
When did having a preference for Japanese games become a bad thing? Because people certainly act like every single person vested in Japanese gaming is a homojapual of some sort. I can't be the only one who's noticed this.