Inafune: Japanese devs have lost desire to win

[Momo]

Japanese game developers have lost their desire to win, according to Comcept boss and former Capcom legend Keiji Inafune.

 Speaking at his Game Developers Conference panel, “The Future of Japanese Games,” Inafune said (via Develop), “There is a conscience and desire to win missing. We, the Japanese, have forgotten all about that. Back in the day we grew used to winning."

“At some point these winners became loosers, and not acknowledging or accepting that has lead to the tragic fate of Japanese games.”

 Inafune believes the Japanese games industry is very “closed minded,” and headlined a solution to re-open it.

“There is something you must do to win,” he said towards Japanese developers. “You must acknowledge your loss, and start over again. We are humans, and have our own pride, but we cannot win if we keep that pride up.

 “We must believe ‘I will win’.”

 Inafune acknowledged the past for what it was – a period of dominance for the Japanese games industry – but lamented they’re now “just great, great memories.”

He argued to succeed, Japanese developers must challenge themselves, be determined, and not simply rely on existing IP, but to push and create new brands.

 “If you pour a lot of effort into a game with a brand what happens?,” Inafune asked the audience. “Easy,” he answered. “You will be that much of a success.

 “Perhaps the folks who are now running the show in the Japanese games industry are those who simply jumped on a bandwagon. The creations that measured up to global standards were crafted by our predecessors.

 Inafune closed his argument with a warning.

“The Japanese video games industry must realise the need to develop our brands, and me must do so now. It will be too late when our brands have no equity left. Time is running out. We should have realised this when I made those statements two years ago.

 “What I know for sure is that I will win. I will take on hardships to win.”

I agree with some points Inafailure makes here. Japan has to get that mentality of "being the best" back and unashamedly make what they are good at instead of aping shitty western games. (not all western games are shitty, but japan tend to want to ape the shittier ones).
Personal observation :Even if he makes good points I still cant take this coniving backstabbing douche seriously. Lmao at the bit "I made those statements two years ago" I recall him wanting to ape and outsource to western devs not what he is talking about here.

[Himu]

Because that's what sells.

[Momo]

why do they have to be the "best"?

trying to be "the best" is causing almost everyone who attempts it to bleed money out their asses.

The way i'm interpreting "being the best" is just to feel confident enough to make the games you want to. Devs shouldn't give a fuck how much their crap will sell, they should just be allowed to make the best they possibly can and something they like themselves. Imo the marketing/business aspect should come in at the start when discussing budget and at the end when deciding how to market it. It should absolutely never have an impact on how the game will play.

[cool breeze]

[maxy]

Bayonetta 2 or bust

[Momo]

Because that's what sells.

If you spend $30 million to sell $20 million, that's a worse business plan than spending $5 million to sell $10 million.  Guess which equation matches which side of the pond?

Im giving Inafailure the benefit of the doubt here and assuming he means "believing your game to be the best and working on it as such" and not "believing it will sell the most" cause the latter is utterly distinguished mentally-challenged and CAPCOM like.

[Momo]

Well, if we take that to be his meaning, then he's a fucking twat. Suggesting that Japanese developers aren't working hard enough or believing in their games is pretty disrespectful and ignorant.  I'd love for him to stop by Q Entertainment or Platinum among others and tell them all he thinks they're half-assing and not putting enough heart in their stuff. 

This is inafailure we are talking about. Mr. Backstab himself. We all know he has a tendency to blame everyone else and throw undeserving people under a bus to make himself look better.
It fits with his shitty personality.

[Positive Touch]

Devs shouldn't give a fuck how much their crap will sell, they should just be allowed to make the best they possibly can and something they like themselves. Imo the marketing/business aspect should come in at the start when discussing budget and at the end when deciding how to market it. It should absolutely never have an impact on how the game will play.

seems like a sound way to run a multimillion dollar corporation that employs hundreds of people

[Momo]

^ Look at what im saying propose a budget based on what you think a thing can sell, give it to devs, have them do what they do best - make a good game. Reassess the marketing budget at the end based on game quality and sales potential.

How is this a bad idea?

[tiesto]

I'm pretty convinced that marketing and hype is tied more to success than quality is, nowadays more than ever.

I like the point about Japanese companies coming up with diverse and fresh new IPs instead of relying on their traditional stable of games. Lots of the bigger companies have gotten way too conservative and risk averse. Oscar, while I agree with you big time that Japanese companies are much better at making games with a modest budget (with obvious exceptions), as a gamer I do kinda wish to see a few more crazy pie-in-the-sky risks from their developers (i.e. FF7, Shenmue).

[Joe Molotov]

Canadian hipster trash Phil Fish vindicated.

[wrowa]

the industry as we know it is completely fucked.  this is why everyone (not just Japan) are leaning on existing IPs.  this is why people are trying to play it safe.  the traditional gaming model is laying on the sidewalk bleeding to death right now and the motherfucker doesn't even realize it's been shot.

But Capcom was pretty successful under that motherfucker's supervision in the recent years, more so than most other Japanese developers.

[MCD]

Japan devs can be successful again by not imitating the west.

[Bebpo]

the industry as we know it is completely fucked.  this is why everyone (not just Japan) are leaning on existing IPs.  this is why people are trying to play it safe.  the traditional gaming model is laying on the sidewalk bleeding to death right now and the motherfucker doesn't even realize it's been shot.

meanwhile i notice games prices (as in - the ones charged in stores - the ones we actually pay) here in Japan are spiraling up to the point where handheld games are hitting the old console prices and we're getting more and more games in the 7000~ bracket.

MEANWHILE you can import the asian/US version for half price. :/

Games cost too much - my purchasing of japanese games has dropped off a cliff because it's too expensive. Meanwhile the noise from Appland is "we'll buy cheap stuff in massive bulk". So it's basically : push up the price and make your break even point on units sold smaller -or- push down the price and make your break even point on units higher. It's dangerous either way at the moment - go the cheap route and if the core issue is "people just aren't buying games anymore" , go the expensive route and your core fans buy but i bet that number is dwindling with each price hike.

If japanese games were all 3980 yen, i'd be impulse purchasing the shit out of games every DAY. Reach your arm out for that new 3dS/Vita game and see 5080 yen or lean over for a PS3/X360 game and it be 7400 or more? Fuck dat. I DID notice that the new From Software/Namco Gundam game is 4980 yen and that did make me think "oh, i might give that a whirl" - i didn't but the fact it wasn't fucking stupidly priced made an impact.

The Gundam game is 4980yen because it's a half a game.  Very small and light in content.  If it was a full game it would assuredly be 8000yen+ like all the other scamco ps3 games.

[Human Snorenado]

Japanese devs can start "winning" again by making games that people actually want to play.  And sorry weeaboos, but this means abandoning fey woman-looking dude protagonists.  Also, dumb heavy-handed "storytelling" crap.  THE MARKET HAS SPOKEN, MOTHERFUCKERS.

[magus]

i'm making a "magus: western devs sucks ass" thread right now! i mean do i have anything less than inafune and that indie guy to say so?

the industry as we know it is completely fucked.  this is why everyone (not just Japan) are leaning on existing IPs.  this is why people are trying to play it safe.  the traditional gaming model is laying on the sidewalk bleeding to death right now and the motherfucker doesn't even realize it's been shot.

personaly i hope for the 3DS to bring a new psx-like era and i think it's kinda happening when they announce stuff like guild 01 and bravely default

but i wouldn't mind seeing "the great videogame crash of 2013" when sony announce the 700$ ps3 either

[Momo]

Ice cold

[Raban]

the industry as we know it is completely fucked.  this is why everyone (not just Japan) are leaning on existing IPs.  this is why people are trying to play it safe.  the traditional gaming model is laying on the sidewalk bleeding to death right now and the motherfucker doesn't even realize it's been shot.

[Momo]

The way forward first of all is to make management realize they cant expect a million seller with every title and budget accordingly. Also they need to give more small budget creative type games a chance. (I really just want this, don't think it's a need)

imo.

[magus]

you know i just realized... didn't inafune made the same comment the last year?

[Huff]

you know i just realized... didn't inafune made the same comment the last year?

This is kinda his thing to preach about

[Joe Molotov]

you know i just realized... didn't inafune made the same comment the last year?

Take your pick:

Inafune: "Japanese game industry finished." - 2009

Inafune: "Japan game industry is 5 years behind." - 2010

Inafune: "Japan game companies pretty much suck." -2011

[archie4208]

So why is the industry fucked, exactly?

The way I see it, developers had more say over the games that got created, and management stayed out of the way in yesteryear. Then some bubble burst, companies started losing money on most projects that happened like this, and the management stepped in and started shitting stuff up further.

So what would be the best way out of this right now? Keep making sequels and shit that the management likes?
At some point, the creatives involved are gonna be bored and move to another company, or, as is actually happening, selling out completely and going to mobage/DeNA for maximum cash with little effort - maybe that's what Inafune was talking about?

As Oscar said, the $60 AAA retail product is on its death throes, but there are emergent business models (cheap apps, free to play multiplayer games, etc) that are gaining popularity and will eventually be the norms of the industry.

[tiesto]

you know i just realized... didn't inafune made the same comment the last year?

Take your pick:

Inafune: "Japanese game industry finished." - 2009

Inafune: "Japan game industry is 5 years behind." - 2010

Inafune: "Japan game companies pretty much suck." -2011

Seems like his comments are slowly becoming more positive and less total nihilistic doom...

Japan game companies occasionally make OK games - 2012

Japan games are pretty good - 2013

Japan games are damn awesome - 2014

etc.

[Mr. Gundam]

I DID notice that the new From Software/Namco Gundam game is 4980 yen and that did make me think "oh, i might give that a whirl" - i didn't but the fact it wasn't fucking stupidly priced made an impact.

It's basically half a game. Only covers the first 3 episodes of the OVA. Still awfully nice they released it at a lower price point as Namco didn't have to. Shit, the Special Edition box is cheaper than most retail games.

edit: Beaten soundly by Beps.

[EmCeeGrammar]

Inafune is just projecting his self-hate onto the japan devs because he failed so spectacularly before he left Capcom.  I do kinda think certain megapubs have lost sight of things (Namco and Konami are fucking jokes these days) but there's still that odd software release from the region that excels at elegant design principles that you're not going to get from a pretentious western publishing house like Rockstar.

I know thats not the skeleton key to success or anything, but its not like my hemisphere is doing well either.

[maxy]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-03-16-kojima-japanese-developers-lack-global-outlook-technological-skills

The Japanese games industry needs to start making titles that appeal to a global audience rather than just focussing on niche games for domestic customers if it wants to get out of its rut, according to Konami's Hideo Kojima.

Speaking to Eurogamer during a round-table Q&A in Washington DC ahead of the Smithsonian's Art of Video Games exhibition, the Metal Gear Solid creator offered his response to Keiji Inafune's GDC rant about the sorry state of the Japanese industry.

"I think the problem really is more about where people are looking and who they're targeting," said Kojima.

"A lot of creators are just focused on Japan and the Japanese market and aren't really aware of what people around the world want."

He went on to explain that he believes there are three elements that developers need to get right in order to have a global hit: "technology, gameplay and world view."

Kojima argued that Japan is failing to keep up in all three areas.

"Regarding technology, I think in Japan there are less people going abroad, and maybe less people going to, say, M.I.T. and being at the cutting edge of things. From a technology standpoint, I think Japan is lagging behind a bit.

He suggested that that's a problem that can be easily remedied, but the other two issues are potentially more serious.

"The bigger problem is how do you use that technology to create something? When it comes to gameplay, unfortunately a lot of Japanese creators don't really like creating a free experience. Those types of games aren't being made in Japan.

"Regarding world view," he continued, "game creators now are creating games based on the culture they know, targeted at Japan and Japanese cultures. So they set it in places like Shibuya or Shinjuku or somewhere else in Tokyo. And it's not something that appeals to people outside of Japan.

"Because Japan doesn't look outside of it's borders then technologies don't come, creating this vicious cycle."

If developers took a more global view, Kojima argued, they might find it easier to secure bigger budgets.

"The Japanese games industry has fallen to a point where Japanese movies were at as well - these small indie movies set within Japan with a Japanese story done on a low budget. Because the scale is so small we can't get the budget to make it succeed on a global level.

"In contrast to that, most Western studios approach things from more of a Hollywood standpoint where they're looking at making their games a very global success and looking at how they can sell them in various markets.

"From the very beginning they have those goals and are able to get the proper budget and commit the proper technology to it."

Kojima did offer some cause for optimism, however.

"I think that it's still not over. Japan does have the ability to recover from this and get back up to a competitive level, technologically and in other ways.

"I don't want to break this down to a thing where it's Japanese games versus non Japanese games. The key is it has to be a global game, it has to be something made for everybody. I want to get rid of all those barriers."

He offered up his own studio as an example of a Japanese developer taking a more global view of the industry.

"You can tell from my generation that I've been influenced by Star Trek, so when I think of my studio I think it as the Starship Enterprise. The Enterprise had people from all races - even Vulcans! I want my studio to be like that.

"This is my Enterprise. It just happens that the captain is Japanese and the ship was manufactured by Konami, but it's a multi-cultural staff."

Last month, the studio announced it was looking to recruit Western developers to work on the Metal Gear Solid series.

Japan should join Kickstart shit,I would donate for Bayonetta 2 development.

[Momo]

The Snatcher project between Suda and Kojima would have my monies first (if they you know made it a videogame and not a raijo drama)

[MCD]

Japanese devs sure love to talk.

[Huff]

Japan should join Kickstart shit,I would donate for Bayonetta 2 development.

Isn't B2 once of those games basically known to be in development although it hasn't had a formal announcement?

[Human Snorenado]

Inafune is just projecting his self-hate onto the japan devs because he failed so spectacularly before he left Capcom.  I do kinda think certain megapubs have lost sight of things (Namco and Konami are fucking jokes these days) but there's still that odd software release from the region that excels at elegant design principles that you're not going to get from a pretentious western publishing house like Rockstar.

I know thats not the skeleton key to success or anything, but its not like my hemisphere is doing well either.

Yes, but you not only think Wii Music is a game... you think it's good.  So, we can clearly disregard anything you have to say on games.