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Kojima: "Maybe I Should Quit Being Japanese"

1up.com — What makes the men behind Solid Snake and the Yakuza games so pessimistic about Japan's games business?

Who dugg this? Made popular Jan 15, 2009

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  • MateoDemoni, on 01/15/2009, -2/+164First Shigeru Miyamoto praises Portal, now Hideo Kojima says he's addicted to Left 4 Dead. That's got to feel good for the peeps at Valve.
  • reyoo30309, on 01/15/2009, -11/+104He should try being Mexican, it's awesome.
  • WafflePirate, on 01/14/2009, -7/+98That was a really good interview. I feel bad for the guy when he speaks of being afraid of a Japanese only marketed game being taken by someone in the US and then marketing and profiting off an idea they didn't create.

    Maybe Japanese game developers should start considering a worldwide approach, they'll profit so much more. And lets face it - Japanese games are completely awesome and intricate.

    Although the primary goal is to make money, I can't help but feel as though a lot of people outside of Japan are missing out on some sweet games.
  • KokomoNYC, on 01/15/2009, -7/+74Incidentally I think I'm turning Japanese.
  • inactive, on 01/15/2009, -0/+67You really think so?
  • jermm, on 01/15/2009, -4/+63Buy good people, step one in making great games. They hired the Team Fortress creators, the Counter-Strike author, the Day of Defeat team, the students who made Narbacular Drop, Valve buys the talent.

    If you're mod/indie game will work as a FPS, there is a good chance Valve is going to buy you.
  • karmaroks, on 01/15/2009, -7/+49Don't see many jumping the border to Mexico, but I'll take your word for it.
  • GirlsCallMeMatt, on 01/15/2009, -2/+42two words Mr. Kojima (and this applies to a lot of the Japanese gaming industry as well)....coherent storylines
  • bagboyrebel, on 01/14/2009, -1/+34He did say that, but he was blaming the Japanese companies for that, not American companies. His reasoning was that American companies are trying to make games that could possibly appeal to a worldwide audience whereas Japanese companies are making games for Japanese people.
  • crazlunatic, on 01/15/2009, -5/+38Kojima is such a a master at what he does, just reading from this interview alone, you can tell this guy is actually someone who doesn't want to pocket your money but make great games.
  • HyphySoul, on 01/15/2009, -0/+33Why does he care about Spike's VGA's? They suck and have no credibility whatsoever on videogames.
  • Shaflugi, on 01/15/2009, -1/+31Everybody buys talent, that's called hiring people. The difference is that Valve makes very good choices ;)
  • KokomoNYC, on 01/15/2009, -3/+27I really think so.

    DA DEE-DEE DA DEE DEE DA DA DEEEEE
  • sturmgiest, on 01/15/2009, -2/+24Its hard to name a Valve FPS that hasn't been a blockbuster success. Especially within the past few years, everything is so well thought out and creative. Portal is in its own genre for design. Left 4 Dead is simply the best zombie game ever.
  • da_bradler, on 01/15/2009, -5/+26I think it has something to do with the modern Japanese culture being so young, america story tellers have had hundreds of years of refinement and they were building off thousands of years from european story tellers. Japanese story telling completely changed after World War 2 and the society as a whole hasn't had enough time to catch up to the rest of the world.

    Japanese story tellers use things like anime because it's much easier to hide an under developed story under a cartoon then it is with live action. Now video games have gotten to the point where characters can display complex facial expressions and rely more and more on none verbal communication which explains the fall of japanese developers.

    Japanese story tellers that have grown up in a society saturated by japanese media simply don't get enough exposer to the use of complex emotional behavior we are exposed to with western media.

    Look at a movie like "lost in translation" if ever there was a movie that so clearly showed the difference between the world and japan that is it. that movie couldn't have been made by a japanese story teller, it tells a story with virtually no direct verbal exchanges of emotions, the literal meaning of the dialog that is in the movie is almost inconsequential.

    Now look at a game/movie like "Metal Gear Solid 4". you couldn't get a more opposite form of story telling. Metal gear solid 4 shows virtually no restraint when it comes to having characters very painstakingly state their current emotional status and their opinions on all the actions that are taking place around them.

    If a character needs to constantly justify his/her actions to the viewers by having long drawn out conversation then that character is not well developed.
  • fxu1989, on 01/15/2009, -2/+23This article makes it out to be that Kojima cares more about graphics than gameplay.

    Personally, the game could look like a *****, but if it has a gripping gameplay, I could play it for a long time.
  • SPARTACVS, on 01/15/2009, -4/+21If anyone could show him the light it's Valve.
  • ObamaYouth, on 01/15/2009, -10/+26You Americans have huge penises!
  • DouglasQ, on 01/15/2009, -3/+19He must've got bit when he went to America. That's how it starts. He'll be eating cheeseburgers and bullying poverty stricken farming countries in no time.
  • morningmatters, on 01/15/2009, -0/+15He is probably thinking about Guitar Hero/Rock Band series. The idea originally came from Konami (who employs Kojima)'s Guitar Freaks. The Americans took the idea and went so much further than the Japanese ever dreamed of.

    But in the end, is this a bad thing? Why should ideas be kept local just because some people are afraid to take risks? I for one would like to see Japanese make more American style RPGs like the ones made by Bioware and Bethesda rather than the traditional RPGs with linear plots.

  • dudemx01, on 01/15/2009, -3/+18Mil veces mexicano o japones que un pinche gringo pendejo. (I registred digg just to bury this *****)
  • superJC, on 01/15/2009, -2/+16luckily for Mr. Kojima, they can cure that now
    http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_OPr_YhZR4Cg/RePDarJ9-_I/ ...
  • Noelix, on 01/15/2009, -1/+15I want a doct-ah
    to take a pict-cha
  • murocan, on 01/14/2009, -4/+18FTA:
    Nagoshi sees a lot of them rely on the Internet "as if it were part of their own brain...they're interested in a movie, so they look it up and read the entire plot online instead of watching it."

    I agree with his criticism of reading a film before watching it. I think reading about a film after watching is very rewarding.

    I wouldn't say we rely on the internet but rather we use it to enrich our knowledge and further help to form our own independent opinions. It is for this reason that I think the internet will help trigger revolutions in less democratic countries like Iran.
  • inactive, on 01/15/2009, -0/+13Yeah Resident Evil 4 was a really fantastic game.
  • Shaflugi, on 01/15/2009, -3/+14It's impossible to change your race to Japanese.
  • Quicksilver4648, on 01/15/2009, -0/+11While I agree gameplay>graphics, I am not going out to say "the game could look like a *****." If the game looks like utter crap with awful animation, blurry textures, poor lighting then it must be one hell of a fun game to make me want to play it.
  • dashdingo, on 01/15/2009, -1/+12Kojima: "I'm addicted to Left 4 Dead right now"

    I'm totally playing more public games from now on.
  • dn11, on 01/15/2009, -1/+12i always hear these stories that FPS games cause mass motion sickness for Japanese gamers, I don't get that
  • Rocksolid89, on 01/15/2009, -1/+10I think it goes to show that a good game is a good game regardless of the market, but some of the Japanese developers haven't caught on yet. A really insightful interview.
  • roctimo, on 01/15/2009, -1/+10Proof that first isn't always best
  • Falldog, on 01/15/2009, -2/+11Maybe it's because only the big selling Japanese games get translated and released in the US? There are a ton of games released in Japan what would do great in niche markets here but no one is willing to take the time.
  • KibibyteBrain, on 01/15/2009, -0/+9I really think he makes some good points, but is overall falling for "the grass is always greener" fallacy. The "rule" based model of game design he speaks of makes very very polished games, he just sees that as too limiting. But perhaps if he was more exposed to half the development teams in the US and Europe who make nothing but total BS licenceware of horrible quality he'd see it works both ways. Even the really good western game makers can make relatively insignificant titles due to their openness making them too similar to titles of the same genre in the past.
    In the end, both cultures serve their place, but I can understand why a developer on one side of the fence would be frustrated by his culture after a few decades.
  • Temo1, on 01/15/2009, -2/+11Because they reflect the popular sentiment. They're like the People's Choice awards for movies... tons of ***** picks, but you get to see what's popular with the mainstream.

    And he recognizes that Japanese developers have lost the mainstream in the West.
  • neo912, on 01/15/2009, -1/+9You know this is what I have been thinking for a while but I couldn't quite verbalize it. This is what bugs a lot of people I think when these things get ported. Sometimes its not even a badly written story, its a badly translated story. There are many unspoken nuances to the Japanese language that just do not carry over but sometimes the translators feel they need to put it in the translation. It usually just ends up as awkward dialogue to western audiences.
  • Noelix, on 01/15/2009, -1/+9WOW
  • skippy562, on 01/15/2009, -0/+8i hate them so much.
    soo much.
  • TrancePhreak, on 01/15/2009, -2/+9Dead Rising, Zombies Ate My Neighbors, Resident Evil 4.
  • bmystry, on 01/15/2009, -3/+10Haha shame nobody got the South Park joke.
  • aladrin, on 01/15/2009, -1/+8Right, because games like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest don't do well here.

    No, the west does nothing of the sort. The Japanese do make a LOT of crazy games, but very, very few make it to 'the west'. If more made it, people would probably be more interested in it.
  • frepnog, on 01/15/2009, -1/+7"It's basically culture xenophobia"

    dude. Japanese tentacle porn. seriously, dude. the Japanese people create some seriously ***** up *****.
  • GirlsCallMeMatt, on 01/15/2009, -1/+7But then are also games like Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door that have been brilliantly translated...so maybe it is a little bit of both...

    Japanese story telling can be as wonderful and as imaginative as western style...but a lot of games being ported from Japan have some pretty incoherent and convoluted storylines that I'm pretty sure would still not make sense even if translated properly.
  • Seemefearme, on 01/15/2009, -0/+6Good think Resident Evil 4 was actually a great game so your comment looks retarded.
  • BHSPitMonkey, on 01/15/2009, -0/+6I get what you're saying, but I wouldn't go so far as to associate Guitar Hero with the development of humanity.
  • Juntistik, on 01/15/2009, -1/+7Holy *****, so many hours wasted on zombies ate my neighbors. Most unforgiving game ever.
  • LeonHRodriguez, on 01/15/2009, -2/+8That's what happens when you GLOBALIZE a game, and that's exactly what Kojima-Sama was talking about.

    The Resident Evil franchise would be long forgotten by now if Capcom hadn't pushed the very industry forward with all of RE4's innovations.
    Now, you see "RE4 aiming" in all sorts of games; even Fable 2 has it!
  • messiah420, on 01/15/2009, -1/+6"I'm addicted to Left 4 Dead right now, but people say to me that that game would never work in Japan."

    Hell yea this guy knows what hes talking about. Left4Dead works everywhere!
  • FredFredrickson, on 01/15/2009, -0/+5We might be missing out on some sweet Japanese games here or there, but I think they miss out on a lot more from the rest of the world when they try to keep things inside their own region.
  • superlapin, on 01/15/2009, -1/+6FTA - The scariest scenario I see is people overseas taking the ideas from Japanese games, running the Hollywood business merchandising machine on them, and taking all the revenue.

    Ahem... Guitar Freaks VS Guitar Hero anyone?
  • pika2000, on 01/15/2009, -0/+5"The scariest scenario I see is people overseas taking the ideas from Japanese games, running the Hollywood business merchandising machine on them, and taking all the revenue."
    Let's see, Guitar Hero? All kinds of DDR clones? Singstar?

    Western companies don't seem to have issues releasing their games in Japan. However, it seems that Japanese companies don't want their games outside Japan at all, to the point that they prefer their games being released as watered down/heavily localized piece of laughable joke outside Japan. I mean why do Japanese gamers get to play Halo3, but I cannot play Idolmaster in the US? And where are the eroge? :P
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