Wada: "Japanese Games Industry Is A Closed Environment"

Expand?? How about multi platform releases of all your titles? That would expand your sales margin and maybe even restore some faith from long time fans of your games.

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Last edited by PS3addict on 4/28/2009 10:34:38 AM

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You mean ruin their faith; S-E took a lot of flak for going multiplat, and even supporting the Xbox in the first place.

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^ I think he's talking about making games such as Star oceans, last remnant and infinite undiscovery multiplat.

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The Last Remnant is multiplat. It's on PC and Xbox. The PS3 version coming later.

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Yep, gaming is going downhill as I've expected. Nothing wrong with "Western" style games because I play and enjoy some of those. But one of the main factors that make gaming great is that there are (or should be) a variety of offerings for a variety of tastes. If everyone becomes "Westernized," all we'll have are the same kind of games. Where is the fun in that unless that's all you like to play? Now as a business, SE do need to stay afloat. But this is just some lame excuse to cover that they just cannot make it like they used to. If "Western" style games can be more and more innovated in of themselves, then why can't the same be said about games of ANY particular style or from ANY particular region? It's not the region's fault for its particular style. It's the developer's/company's fault for loosing focus, and that's to create great games that cater to your fanbase. Cultures and trends do change, but that doesn't always mean things are just exclusive to those changes. SquareEnix, you suck!

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Last edited by Jordahn on 4/28/2009 11:21:33 AM

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True, they need to "expand" to stay in business because they are too big for just the Japanese market now.

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Okay wada. As long as you don't screw us all again, like you did to final fantasy XIII going to micorosft's system.

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I don't know, it seems to me that Capcom has the world wide appeal figured out. And Atlus has been delivering nothing but gold recently. I think this might just be Square Enix's problem

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Capcom is definitely on a roll.If they were to make their dlc free they would be king of games right now.

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Hideo Kojima addressed this issue well before Wada, and rest assured, will figure out where to lead the Japanese game industry long before this guy does. You'd be right if you detected a little anti-S-E sentiment in my tone.

Proof's in the pudding, guys, and so far, S-E has offered us PS3 fans very little to chew on. I remain skeptical about them recovering even a portion of their former PS reputation. FFXIII would have to be mind-boggling with a fair number of follow-on hits as well. Here's hoping for the best, though...

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Last edited by opsdaddy on 4/28/2009 12:32:00 PM

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Yes, but is Kojima trying to appeal to a wider audience by making that audience more aware of his titles and what he can give or is he trying to appeal to a wider audience by compromise and/or appeasment to that audience. I for one think Wada is attempting the later while I strongly believe that developers should use the former as a core while then exploring other options for the sake of diversity and not abandonment.

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Isn't SE already in the red? I think making good games should be priority #1, then if they can get back on top they can start buying up failing companies like Eidos. I know it's already done, but I don't see much good coming from it right now. It's like buying an old car when your not old enough to drive yet.

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As long as FF XIII, Versus, and Kingdom Hearts 3 are awesome (and I'm sure they will be) Square should alright. If they space the releases properly and throw a few fan wanted blockbusters in there like, a new Dragon Quest on the "real" consoles (damn the Wii), a console version Parasite Eve game, and finally get off their asses and get with the remakes already! If they did a FF VII and Chrono Trigger remake true to the originals with just new graphics and sell them at like $40 or $45 bucks they would make a killing. Take a page from Capcom and at least just do HD versions of the originals and put them on the networks for $20 bucks.

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Wow, Wada is basically shaming his own industry. Calling fellow Japanese developers xenophobic? That's fightin' talk.

Let's get serious. Games like Monster Hunter Portable have sold millions upon millions of copies in Japan alone. If developers in Japan concentrate on their home audience and can shift a million plus copies of a game, why in hell would they lose that focus to develop for a more western sense of taste risking not only alienating their home audience; but also attracting the attentions of the free-tard (people who believe that five finger discount via the Internet is OK) movement that is so very prevalent in the west. Seriously, attracting attention of western gamers would also attract the attentions of the piracy scene too. This seems like a recipe for failure, and not success.

That all said, I would personally love to see more games that are currently specific to japan opened up to western audiences through partial re-voicing and use of subtitles, and in some cases just subtitles would be fine. There are some awesome games that I know would get sales in the west, but right now unless you're fluent in Japanese you haven't a chance. Rather than westernizing the games, I would like to see more translation and localization of Japanese games that are rooted in Japanese culture.

Why on earth would Wada complain that Japanese developers are too focused on Japanese culture and call them xenophobic? We should all be able to celebrate our own cultures instead of diluting them for foreign consumption. Wada is ashamed of his own culture? Is that what he's saying? I'm hoping that there is a large element of mis-translation/interpretation at work on these remarks.

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Last edited by Highlander on 4/28/2009 5:44:20 PM

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WAIT WAIT WAIT??!?!?!?!?! ............Japanese developers focusing too much on their culture when developing games is a bad thing?!?!??! OH FUCK YOU. The developers should make a game on whatever they want it to be. So what if it doesn't have the best graphics - developers should make the game HOW THEY WANT TO MAKE IT!!! They shouldn't feel ashamed of it at all.

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Please do not drop the F-Bomb :/

Every time somebody drops the F-Bomb before midday, a puppy dies. And every time one is dropped after 12:00pm an old person dies.

Thank's pal (of shadowyness, LOL), =D

You still cool though, don't Chris Brown me ;)

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The Devil himself speaks

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Wada need to be lock in SE basement because of wat he is saying.

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Since when did "expanding their boarders and making more mainstream games" become priority over making good quality games?

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*I'm not trying to offend anyone*

I think Wada needs to be invited to Josef Fritzel's basement for a warm cup of coffee..

>=]

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go die for westernization of the square enix. i only want square soft to make good J-RPGs as good old time

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It truly is big business and capitalism at work here. They can definitely make bank making Japanese flavored titles anywhere. To say that Japanese style games never make it here isn't fair because its not true. A company like S-E which i would assume by now is pretty large, naturally would try to conquer a larger audience. And I can see certain current japanese titles not being as popular here but along the lines of what jordahn said, japanese companies can still make games that cater to the japanese but just evolve within that realm to make genuinely innovative games.

It seems this is a big thing for the Japanese these days as the producer for Capcom's Dead Rising 2 said that he too is making moves to create a more western appeal but said specifically that he would rather blend the two styles for a broader appeal. Doesnt sound too bad to me.

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