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this. if you buy a mini-atx it's not that much bigger, and if you don't by a GAYMUR case it's even discrete enough that you could theoretically put it in the living room without your SO bitching about it (and if you show her it works just like a media center she'll be happy watching her stuff without thinking about it too much anymore).
with proper thermals etc. shit hardly crashes these days (and most of the time it's a configuration issue) unless it's a specific case like cp2077, but that ran like ass even on consoles.

on top of that lot of games these days have gamepad support out of the box, after you configure it you can run most of it like a console via big picture (and there are plenty of media center UIs taking care of the sound/video side of things).
Not to mention PC as a gaming platform isn't limited by the concept of generations like consoles are. I can still play the games I've bought on Steam back in 2007 in my current computer setup. I only bothered with the Switch among the current gen because I've always been a sucker for console handhelds and its other main gimmick is centered around local multiplayer with friends & family.

I just checked up the retailer prices of graphic cards in my country, and yeah they're still scalped to hell. A mere GTX 1050Ti or GTX 1650 is priced over 400€, and the GT 1030 models are the sole cards available at a 'correct' price. I guess it means processors with an integrated graphic chipset should be a priority for a new build. But I really lucked out in upgrading my PC before the meme lockdowns started last year.
 
Not to mention PC as a gaming platform isn't limited by the concept of generations like consoles are. I can still play the games I've bought on Steam back in 2007 in my current computer setup. I only bothered with the Switch among the current gen because I've always been a sucker for console handhelds and its other main gimmick is centered around local multiplayer with friends & family.
also has more exclusives than sony and ms will ever get (inb4 muh AAA).
:cunningpepe:

besides the nintendie exclusives most of the couch coops are available on pc too (and worst case you can just emulate them instead some temporary access). honestly can't remember last time I switched my ps4 on, think it was during the last ps+ free weekend months ago to check out how populated bf1 was. would still prefer to play it on console, but fuck paying for multiplayer access.
also reminded me how everyone went apeshit over SSDs when that has been a staple on PC for years, and the only reason it wasn't that big before was because sony gimped it (either intentionally or to save money, same effect; no idea about ms), even tho it can add more to performance than a cpu/gpu upgrade could from a cost standpoint. games just feel smoother when they don't have to constantly wait for streamed data from a spinning plate.

I just checked up the retailer prices of graphic cards in my country, and yeah they're still scalped to hell. A mere GTX 1050Ti or GTX 1650 is priced over 400€, and the GT 1030 models are the sole cards available at a 'correct' price. I guess it means processors with an integrated graphic chipset should be a priority for a new build. But I really lucked out in upgrading my PC before the meme lockdowns started last year.
yeah, prices are fucked, but APUs aren't that bad. ofc you won't get 4k@120fps with meme features like rtx, but that's nothing you'd get console either.
 
Cool but that's not a hard evidence as there are no numbers shown in NPD. What gives the certainty Tales of Arise didn't just sell a mere 15k-20k (I'm throwing a random number) in the whole month of September while those american sports games were in the range of ~100k and more? For comparison, ToA did 210k in Japan within a month after release.

lol


I would say to buy separate parts and build altogether your PC (or ask someone for help) but I assume the price of certain components such as graphic cards are probably still fucked.
A personal advice though, never cheap out on the PSU. I always go for Seasonic for the outmost reliability but there are other brands around too, just don't go for the cheapest power supplies (I remember prebuilt systems often using those cheap supplies but my knowledge can be out-of-date).
The US doesn't really calculate % of things sold and it's usually things like dollar amounts. Japan does % because space is more limited and Japan always has lower production runs because Japan cares about selling out every single piece of stock while the US allows for overstock, it's two different metrics and mentalities when it comes to physical goods. Japan would rather sell all 90 copies for $500 while the US would rather sell 9,000 copies for $60 and have some left over. It's why Japanese exclusives that are not getting a global release are far more expensive than other games.

It's up to the individual companies to provide figures for things like digital downloads, there's no real required mandate of needing to disclose all that info. People found out about things like Monster Hunter World outselling nearly the whole previous series in japan just due to western countries due to Capcom's own internal charts that were leaked. The US Market is far far larger when it comes to consoles and PC ports and more than often sales records are attributed to that. Japan's market is 70% mobile games and consoles and PC releases have an uphill battle to stay relevant.

Meanwhile the US market has grown signifgantly pretty much year by year for all platforms.
ussizeinburgers.png


So Tales of Arise breaking records wasn't due to Japan's audience it's due to western countries with America's console and PC market being the overall largest out of any of them. This was the same deal with Persona 5 and many other series, sales of Japanese games are nearly entirely driven by countries outside Japan.
 
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Meanwhile the US market has grown signifgantly pretty much year by year for all platforms.
View attachment 2775930
I don't know if you're being dumb on purpose but is this graph with extremely broad numbers (I assume mobile games & micro-transactions are counted in the total amount but exactly where are the JP games in all this) supposed to back up your argument of the USA being a larger consumer of japanese vidya than Japan itself? lol all the mental gymnastics a sony fanboy would do until his last breath.

oh well see you next year for another round of wake up calls (obviously assuming the american SIE continues to stay in leadership of the PS brand) and more salty tears from you
 
I don't know if you're being dumb on purpose but is this graph with extremely broad numbers (I assume mobile games & micro-transactions are counted in the total amount but exactly where are the JP games in all this) supposed to back up your argument of the USA being a larger consumer of japanese vidya than Japan itself? lol all the mental gymnastics a sony fanboy would do until his last breath.

oh well see you next year for another round of wake up calls (obviously assuming the american SIE continues to stay in leadership of the PS brand) and more salty tears from you
It's showing you the amount of dollars in billions. Japan's market is only around 20 billion USD and the majority of that of that is all freemium mobile games.

Like dude every major Japanese franchise had headed westward over the past console generation
mhwicb.jpg

This is just from Monster Hunter but other franchises have experienced similar rises. Now for eons Monster Hunter was deemed Japanese only and would never have a wide appeal. Mnay claimed that since the series caused a decrease in work attendance that it was just made specifically for Japan. World altered the mechanics and the series took off like wildfire in the west.

Dragon Quest 12 is specifically being made with the western market in mind and that's really the last of the JRPGs to make this change, every single major JRPG franchise is targeting the west. You'll be hard pressed to find a major series that hasn't and that's a whole subgenre of gaming.

Games having western influence and appeal are not bad things, it's what makes the series able to put out more games and to evolve their mechanics. The entire Souls genre is something that did very average in Japan but is incredibly popular in America. It's why Elden Ring is a big deal.

Hell Spike Chunsoft became it's own publisher so they could be a larger force in the western market. The new release of Danganronpa trilogy happened, because NISA still has the rights and SC can't officially put it out themselves on platforms with existing contracts. The switch release has Spike Chunsoft as the publisher they're the only company on the box. People may not like the new content and feel that it's ass, but it's been westerners who have been supporting them still ensuring that they'll have made enough to release the next title.
 
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It's showing you the amount of dollars in billions. Japan's market is only around 20 billion USD and the majority of that of that is all freemium mobile games.

Like dude every major Japanese franchise had headed westward over the past console generation
View attachment 2776585

This is just from Monster Hunter but other franchises have experienced similar rises. Now for eons Monster Hunter was deemed Japanese only and would never have a wide appeal. Mnay claimed that since the series caused a decrease in work attendance that it was just made specifically for Japan. World altered the mechanics and the series took off like wildfire in the west.

Dragon Quest 12 is specifically being made with the western market in mind and that's really the last of the JRPGs to make this change, every single major JRPG franchise is targeting the west. You'll be hard pressed to find a major series that hasn't and that's a whole subgenre of gaming.

Games having western influence and appeal are not bad things, it's what makes the series able to put out more games and to evolve their mechanics. The entire Souls genre is something that did very average in Japan but is incredibly popular in America. It's why Elden Ring is a big deal.

Hell Spike Chunsoft became it's own publisher so they could be a larger force in the western market. The new release of Danganronpa trilogy happened, because NISA still has the rights and SC can't officially put it out themselves on platforms with existing contracts. The switch release has Spike Chunsoft as the publisher they're the only company on the box. People may not like the new content and feel that it's ass, but it's been westerners who have been supporting them still ensuring that they'll have made enough to release the next title.
That Monster Hunter graph is literally counting the entire oversees market, versus just Japan. Its not at all a fair comparison.

Companies "tailoring" (whatever that means) games to be more western friendly doesn't mean they're abandoning Japan. These games are still obviously Japanese centric and Japanese culture influenced. And I don't know if I would even particularly call them western influenced; Dragon Quest 12 will still play like Dragon Quest, Monster Hunter still plays like monster hunter; world just had a bigger budget and a huge marketing push, and probably came out at the right time. Monster Hunter Rise went right back to being a fairly normal, traditional monster hunter, and was even set in a obvious pastiche of Japan. Resident Evil 6 specifically went out of its way to appeal to the western shooter fans, and while it sold well (its one of the best selling games in Capcom's history, and was the best selling when it came out; I think MHW has surpassed it), it was dog shit, everybody thought it was dogshit, and still sold below expectations. Pokemon still outsells all of these series, and it hasn't changed a lick at all, and is as Japanese as its ever been.

Simply saying that all of these companies are chasing the western market, and then saying its because the Japanese market is sinking, simply doesn't follow through with any actual factual information you've presented. These games are still Japanese in every way that matters. Companies may have increased their western marketing, and embraced Steam as a way to make sales, but the games themselves are not any more "western influenced" and the companies haven't changed the fundamental way they operate. The only company that has actually done that is Sony, because they moved their headquarters to California.
 
That Monster Hunter graph is literally counting the entire oversees market, versus just Japan. Its not at all a fair comparison.

Companies "tailoring" (whatever that means) games to be more western friendly doesn't mean they're abandoning Japan. These games are still obviously Japanese centric and Japanese culture influenced. And I don't know if I would even particularly call them western influenced; Dragon Quest 12 will still play like Dragon Quest, Monster Hunter still plays like monster hunter; world just had a bigger budget and a huge marketing push, and probably came out at the right time. Monster Hunter Rise went right back to being a fairly normal, traditional monster hunter, and was even set in a obvious pastiche of Japan. Resident Evil 6 specifically went out of its way to appeal to the western shooter fans, and while it sold well (its one of the best selling games in Capcom's history, and was the best selling when it came out; I think MHW has surpassed it), it was dog shit, everybody thought it was dogshit, and still sold below expectations. Pokemon still outsells all of these series, and it hasn't changed a lick at all, and is as Japanese as its ever been.

Simply saying that all of these companies are chasing the western market, and then saying its because the Japanese market is sinking, simply doesn't follow through with any actual factual information you've presented. These games are still Japanese in every way that matters. Companies may have increased their western marketing, and embraced Steam as a way to make sales, but the games themselves are not any more "western influenced" and the companies haven't changed the fundamental way they operate. The only company that has actually done that is Sony, because they moved their headquarters to California.
If you're talking about influence, games are a product of primarily eastern and western influences mixing, they've never really been pure one way or the other for the majority. Both sides tend to imitate, revise, and copy each other and that's been since the beginning. Dragon Quest was heavily based on Ultima. This is mostly in terms of systems and not nesscierily art direction and other surface level appearances. Turn based RPGs have always been popular in the west for a long time now, be it table top games or digital. JRPGs being turn based already fell into an existing demographic and that's how they first established a foothold.

Monster Hunter World was reworked to make the combat more fluid and concise like many action/RPG games did that are popular in the west. It catered more towards that. Now catering doesn't really mean abandoning one side over the other but they took the core mechanics of the series and made them more accessible to what a wider audience was familiar with while also taking into consideration long time fans of the series.

Pokemon however did change actually, when it became super popular globally the games became secondary. The franchise became about selling things other than the games, and the quality did decrease for many future titles. Strange decisions with Adding/removing QoL, DLC practices that were less than optimal, and a short development time for a series that's usually from a genre large in scope. There's been a notable decline in quality.

The western audience wants the same genres/gameplay and they're the larger market. Series altering/refining their mechanics and trying to improve them isn't really a bad thing. Games change from a mechanical perspective, some genres were a product of there time and were very limited from a hardware standpoint. That's why Resident Evil and many other survival horror genres either tried to adapt or went away, The tank controls of the early resident evil would not fly today due to how analog sticks are predominant. Many Dungeon crawlers have more than 4 ways of direction now for much the same reason. Hell stuff from the Dreamcast put on modern consoles just appears clunky now because they were not designed with two analog sticks in mind. Resident Evil made most of the modern games like an action thriller because was more intuitive and interactive than just limiting yourself due to an old way of controlling a character, so they have been attempting to have more intense encounters involving being chased while shooting.
 
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If you're talking about influence, games are a product of primarily eastern and western influences mixing, they've never really been pure one way or the other for the majority. Both sides tend to imitate, revise, and copy each other and that's been since the beginning.
Even though that is the case, Japanese games still have an identifiable Japanese cultural mark on them. American and European games as well. You may need to have some understanding of the culture to get all the cultural marks in them, but they're there. Even more to the point, there are just differences in the way the Japanese approach things like game design and story telling which will come out if you play these games long enough, and you'll start to notice. The western influences will never override the primary Japanese cultural influence, even if the Japanese purposefully try to copy American entertainment (like Resident Evil and Silent Hill).

Monster Hunter World was reworked to make the combat more fluid and concise like many action/RPG games did that are popular in the west. It catered more towards that. Now catering doesn't really mean abandoning one side over the other but they took the core mechanics of the series and made them more accessible to what a wider audience was familiar with while also taking into consideration long time fans of the series.
More fluid combat? Sure, that's probably true, but that could just as easily be considered more of a quality of life update to increase game's popularity in general, not an attempt to appeal to the western market specifically. And even if it was the, at its core, the game is still basically Monster Hunter, with all the character we've come to expect from a Japanese game.

Pokemon however did change actually, when it became super popular globally the games became secondary. The franchise became about selling things other than the games, and the quality did decrease for many future titles. Strange decisions with Adding/removing QoL, DLC practices that were less than optimal, and a short development time for a series that's usually from a genre large in scope. There's been a notable decline in quality.
I won't disagree with you in regards to the decline in quality, but I'm chalking that up more to utter laziness on Game Freak's part. What you must remember regarding Pokemon is that the IP's ownership is split between Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures, Inc., and its managed by a fourth company, The Pokemon Company, which is owned jointly by the other three. The numerous stakeholders will have their own interests regarding the franchise and its future and where it should go (obviously, Nintendo will want to sell more games, which is their bread and butter).

The western audience wants the same genres/gameplay and they're the larger market. Series altering/refining their mechanics and trying to improve them isn't really a bad thing.
The western audience isn't a monolith; it differs across regions and countries. Simply comparing Japan to "the west", though commonly done, would be incorrect.

Games change from a mechanical perspective, some genres were a product of there time and were very limited from a hardware standpoint. That's why Resident Evil and many other survival horror genres either tried to adapt or went away, The tank controls of the early resident evil would not fly today due to how analog sticks are predominant. Many Dungeon crawlers have more than 4 ways of direction now for much the same reason. Hell stuff from the Dreamcast put on modern consoles just appears clunky now because they were not designed with two analog sticks in mind.
I mean all of that is pretty much a given and goes without saying. Technological advancements should lead to advancements in gameplay, but we shouldn't be quick to simply label those enhancements as attempts to "appeal to the western market", when they are just enhancements to the experience.
 
Even though that is the case, Japanese games still have an identifiable Japanese cultural mark on them. American and European games as well. You may need to have some understanding of the culture to get all the cultural marks in them, but they're there. Even more to the point, there are just differences in the way the Japanese approach things like game design and story telling which will come out if you play these games long enough, and you'll start to notice. The western influences will never override the primary Japanese cultural influence, even if the Japanese purposefully try to copy American entertainment (like Resident Evil and Silent Hill).


More fluid combat? Sure, that's probably true, but that could just as easily be considered more of a quality of life update to increase game's popularity in general, not an attempt to appeal to the western market specifically. And even if it was the, at its core, the game is still basically Monster Hunter, with all the character we've come to expect from a Japanese game.


I won't disagree with you in regards to the decline in quality, but I'm chalking that up more to utter laziness on Game Freak's part. What you must remember regarding Pokemon is that the IP's ownership is split between Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures, Inc., and its managed by a fourth company, The Pokemon Company, which is owned jointly by the other three. The numerous stakeholders will have their own interests regarding the franchise and its future and where it should go (obviously, Nintendo will want to sell more games, which is their bread and butter).


The western audience isn't a monolith; it differs across regions and countries. Simply comparing Japan to "the west", though commonly done, would be incorrect.


I mean all of that is pretty much a given and goes without saying. Technological advancements should lead to advancements in gameplay, but we shouldn't be quick to simply label those enhancements as attempts to "appeal to the western market", when they are just enhancements to the experience.
I disagree with the cultural approaches to gameplay since that's more broad and there's been many instances where similarities in gameplay arose independently of each other. Like the first Japanese game to cause a craze was Pac-Man, there was nothing really specific about the game's design that was japanese. The mechanics were basic enough to have broad appeal and spawned multiple clones that played just the same as the original. Granted the US and Japan had some different markets when it came to games and those served as incubators. Japan for the longest time had Arcades and the US had computer gaming while it's arcade scene died off. The two different forms of equipment used in both markets had certain genres originally arise out of it that later on spread to more generalized hardware. Now PC and Consoles have merged mostly with some space reserved for PC specific genres and the other big areas of influence has been replaced by Mobile Games.

Like for example Elder Scrolls began as a PC Game but by the third installment it got a console port and then later had Skyrim designed around consoles in mind. But as of now many genres that were once specialized are either few and far between when it comes to releases (RTS Games) or have been generalized.

As far as storytelling goes, they're very similar in structure. Japanese storytelling when it comes to Manga and Anime follows the same rules and layout as Western Storytelling and that played a big part in how they were accepted and their appeal spread. Both would be a match with Joeseph Cambell's Hero with a Thousand Faces and many do follow broad concepts like the Hero's Journey and The Great Literary Conflicts that were established in Ancient Greece.

Monster Hunter World was made with the intention of drawing in western audiences. That was the big fear when World was originally shown off that too many things changed. Like there was no loading zones anymore, combat was faster, being able to heal while running. Lots of people were originally hesitant about it.

And yeah the west isn't some monolith I didn't mean to make it sound that way, it's a very vast market and that's part of the reason why companies are looking to expand their influence over there. There's a ton of different demographics who have demand for specific genres and titles, it allows for many games to be granted wider exposure.
 
why would people play western shit in it's current state? there's zero point in westernizing your games for "broad appeal".

might as well demand manga should be in color and pick up marvel writing...
 
why would people play western shit in it's current state? there's zero point in westernizing your games for "broad appeal".

might as well demand manga should be in color and pick up marvel writing...
Americans are the most impatient people next to the French. It's affected stuff like crowd control and line queue systems all over the world.

It's why baseball is now less popular than Football. Cutting down tedium for game systems isn't a bad thing. and that's what games like Monster Hunter World did. It kept the action flowing from the start of the hunt to the finish, decreased down time and other such things. You're thinking of things like theming and other surface level details.
 
Isn't it obvious that Western market is bigger than Japan as a whole? I mean as in population total, it's reasonable to see why.

Sorry for autism below.

I think Monster Hunter World is a more "convenient" example of why Capcom pushing appeal for Western audience, I mean Capcom is probably the more Western ish compared to other Japanese game studios. Resident Evil and unronically Street Fighters franchise are big proofs of that. Their games probably have the most Western vibes or themes comparing to other Japanese studios.
I'm sure everyone still remember what happens to RE direction from 4 to 6, that one Devil May Cry reboot game and whatever Lost Planet 3 in its series. Then there's Dead Rising series and Dragon's Dogma are probably more on positive scale.

Square Enix publishes some Western games like Lara Croft reboot, Deus Ex, Hitman (well, used to), Life is Tumblr, Avengers, etc... So they don't really need to their Japanese game really Westernized that much.

Bando Namco is more of getting games on PC platform rather than being Westernized, took years for Dark Souls and getting better at porting PC version. Then they have more confidence of releasing more games on PC.

Monster Hunter World had lots of hype before release and there's that exceptional comparison of MonHun and Dark Souls. Even considering the release date where you have social media (Twitter, Reddit, Twitch and Youtube) is the biggest word of mouth advertising ever.
Of course, some gameplay changes and quality of life help a lot for wider audience.
These things remind me of how people were hyped for Witcher 3 a lot, even though I'm sure most of them probably haven't played previous Witcher games or even into the series before 3. There even some gameplay parts in Witcher 3 considered to be easier to get into.
Not only that, MonHun doesn't have much anime aesthetic, so it's overall not being crap on for too much weaboo like Nier and Persona 5 at start.
Overall, lots of things help MonHun attracting much wider audience, not necessary because it's got "Westernized".
Even from a MonHun Rise survey asking about "Less Challenging Gameplay", even though Rise is considered to be more accessible than World.

With huge success from recent MonHun, RE and maybe DmC5, at least Capcom find their footing again and hope not repeating mistakes again from early to mid 2010s.
If anything goes bad, I'd be suspecting on US division for horrible Westernized current days culture. Like whatever that big Capcom leak last year? How character design should be more up to current days Western culture? Even MonHun US social media is kinda pandering to it.

I don't mean MonHun is getting woke or anything like that, the series has been very diverse with its settings and character creation from the start. It's neat/cool thing they are going further/better at these. It's just a bit hard not to think of "stuffs" on twitter side, from okay to meh.

MonHun World, Fatalis cutscene and the CGI movie.
Screenshot 2021-12-06 at 16-11-39 MHW ICEBORNE - ALL FATALIS ECOLOGY INTRO CUTSCENES - YouTube.png Screenshot 2021-12-06 at 16-07-47 Monster Hunter ( monsterhunter) Twitter.png

From one of MonHun Rise trailer, featuring a black player character in a very Japanese setting.
Screenshot 2021-12-06 at 15-57-51 Monster Hunter Rise - Official Trailer - YouTube.png

From twitter, many tweets featuring kinda same thing. 1, 2 (new appropriate hairstyles for blacks), 3
Screenshot 2021-12-06 at 16-01-05 Monster Hunter ( monsterhunter) Twitter.png Screenshot 2021-12-06 at 16-06-00 Monster Hunter ( monsterhunter) Twitter.png Screenshot 2021-12-06 at 16-20-46 Monster Hunter ( monsterhunter) Twitter.png

Lastly, a dark skin character, name is Monju is voiced by the person in next picture, may know her from Star Wars Fallen Order.
Screenshot 2021-12-06 at 16-21-37 Monster Hunter on Twitter.png Debra_Wilson_Skelton_2010.jpg Screenshot 2021-12-06 at 18-53-10 Cere Junda.png
Here is the voiceline trailer, really noticeable black American accent/vibe, when comparing the uncle, Elder Fugen, who is vaguely/supposedly Japanese ethnic (I know he is voiced by a white guy), timestamp 0:55 in the next video. One is voiced by a 59 years old woman and the other is voiced by a 38 years old man. The niece character sounds come off like she's in same age range as her uncle.
Like seriously, if they want a black female voice actor, they could have gone for Anairis Quinones (English dub for Mirko from Hero Academia, Nessa from Pokemon) would be a much better choice.
Japanese voice of character just for comparison if anyone interests.

Minor case in DmC, not a woke thing, but more like "aesthetic" choice. Like casting Samuel Jackson as Nick Fury.
J.D Morrison in DmC 5 and in anime.
1550925861_096279_1550926101_album_normal.jpg
 
@Hammr I can't quote you for some reason, but this statements sums up my point exactly:

Overall, lots of things help MonHun attracting much wider audience, not necessary because it's got "Westernized".

We shouldn't confuse games being "generalized" to find a wider audience, or modernizing, to reflect advancements in technology or current development trends, with "westernizing". That former two are more technical in nature, while the latter is cultural in nature.

Sony is clearly westernizing; its moved its HQ to America, deemphasized the Japanese market, moved all game development overseas, and its games clearly reflect western culture and design ethos, with their quirkier, Japanese centric titles like Ape Escape and Parappa the Rapper left by the wayside, and its chasing the western blockbuster AAA model.

Capcom has always taken heavily from Western culture and entertainment and made that the biggest influence in its games (see Resident Evil, Dead Rising, Street Fighter, Dragon's Dogma, etc.) but its still a fundamentally Japanese company at heart, and other major titles from the company are not Western influenced or inspired at all, or are even clearly culturally Japanese (Okami, Mega Man).

Bandai Namco has mainly shifted to pursuing the PC market, but its games haven't fundamentally changed at all; Tekken is still Tekken, Ace Combat is still Ace Combat, the Tales Series is still Tales, etc.).

Nintendo is still Nintendo, with only a few franchises (namely Donkey Kong Country and Metroid) that primarily appeal to western audiences.

Square Enix mainly has Square Enix Europe (formerly Eidos) for appealing directly to the west, but the Japanese part of the company hasn't changed one iota.

What I think we are really seeing is that western game development is in such a bad place, that Japanese games, like your Tekkens, your Resident Evils, and the like, which haven't diminished in quality, are filling the void left by these western titles going downhill.
 
@Hammr I can't quote you for some reason, but this statements sums up my point exactly:



We shouldn't confuse games being "generalized" to find a wider audience, or modernizing, to reflect advancements in technology or current development trends, with "westernizing". That former two are more technical in nature, while the latter is cultural in nature.

Sony is clearly westernizing; its moved its HQ to America, deemphasized the Japanese market, moved all game development overseas, and its games clearly reflect western culture and design ethos, with their quirkier, Japanese centric titles like Ape Escape and Parappa the Rapper left by the wayside, and its chasing the western blockbuster AAA model.

Capcom has always taken heavily from Western culture and entertainment and made that the biggest influence in its games (see Resident Evil, Dead Rising, Street Fighter, Dragon's Dogma, etc.) but its still a fundamentally Japanese company at heart, and other major titles from the company are not Western influenced or inspired at all, or are even clearly culturally Japanese (Okami, Mega Man).

Bandai Namco has mainly shifted to pursuing the PC market, but its games haven't fundamentally changed at all; Tekken is still Tekken, Ace Combat is still Ace Combat, the Tales Series is still Tales, etc.).

Nintendo is still Nintendo, with only a few franchises (namely Donkey Kong Country and Metroid) that primarily appeal to western audiences.

Square Enix mainly has Square Enix Europe (formerly Eidos) for appealing directly to the west, but the Japanese part of the company hasn't changed one iota.

What I think we are really seeing is that western game development is in such a bad place, that Japanese games, like your Tekkens, your Resident Evils, and the like, which haven't diminished in quality, are filling the void left by these western titles going downhill.
Sony didn't end overseas game development though, the Astrobot team is located in Japan and they have studios across Europe and Asia as well.

As far as games reflecting western design ethos that's really up for debate. Breath of the Wild reflects western design heavily and it plays like a ubisoft game. While it's God of War 2018 that plays closer to a traditional zelda and succeeded where other attempts like Dark Cloud couldn't.

Bandai Namco's design philosophy did change, the Soulsborne games for the majority are popular in the west. I mean you're mentioned the Tales series, Arise cut a lot of the needless stuff out that was present in other tales games. The battle system was refined, there's no more tedious minigames with insane requirements for bonus items, you can finish it in a single playthrough rather than needing 5 or more for some games. They're also putting out that DBZ game that plays like Evolve and other western asymmetrical shooters.

Square has said the next Dragon Quest they're wanting the next Dragon Quest to appeal to audiences outside of Japan. Because they've said the trouble is is that in the west they're all nostalgic for Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest never really established itself heavily. So the western audience for DQ skews older rather than being all ages like it is in japan. They're probably going to do what Sega is doing with Yakuza and Judgement and will have DQ be the turn based series and have Final Fantasy be more action based.
 
Square has said the next Dragon Quest they're wanting the next Dragon Quest to appeal to audiences outside of Japan.
I thought they did that with 11

Because they've said the trouble is is that in the west they're all nostalgic for Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest never really established itself heavily.
It always seemed weird to me that they released all four NES Dragon Quest games in America, but totally omitted the SNES, where JRPGs really started to pick up. I also wish they hadn't called it Dragon Warrior here, like they should have just omitted the word "dragon" and call it something like Knight's Quest so they don't scare off all the moms who took the Satanic Panic seriously. Because of that shit, the game didn't sell well and now they're all worth the big bucks and I have to minecraft some retarded nerd so I can finally get cartridges of all the dragon warrior games so I can finally put them on my NES shelf and never play them
 
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