Square-Enix: Japanese Devs "Losing Their Passion"

Yeah, we're not going to comment at all. We'll let you guys hash this out amongst yourselves.

A lot of PSXE regulars have often wondered why JRPGs have apparently gone the way of the dodo, and when asked why the sub-genre has taken such a big hit, Square-Enix provided us with a "macro" response of sorts. Square-Enix Executive Producer Akitoshi Kawazu says it's not just about the role-playing category; it's about the growing gap between Japanese and Western games in general. He sort of echoes what Hideo Kojima has said concerning a lack of motivation and passion amongst Japanese designers. Said Kawazu:

"The technology is not on par with Western games, and it also seems like developers are losing their passion to stick with their vision because they are being overwhelmed by costs or market trends. It’s necessary for each individual developer to constantly be up-to-date with the latest computer and game technologies. It is also important for development teams and groups as a whole to support technological advancement. It is impossible for one person to keep up with all the skills necessary for game development on his own. On top of this, developers need to take on a project with the confidence and strength to stick with their vision. Everything I mentioned here applies to me personally, as well, and they are all things I would like to bring to fruition with my next project."

It's interesting to compare these words to the direction of Square-Enix as a company, but like we said earlier...you guys can handle that. For the most part, what he says here isn't necessarily wrong and in many ways, it's even admirable when one admits to a weakness. At the same time, we often wonder about those "visions" of Japanese developers like S-E...sometimes, we're just not sure we understand them.

Tags: square-enix, jrpgs, japanese western gaming

8/29/2010 10:05:51 PM Ben Dutka

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Jawknee
Sunday, August 29, 2010 @ 10:24:03 PM
Reply

It doesn't have to be this way. They can find their passion again. They need to stop trying to be something their not.

17 up, 0 down

Qubex
Sunday, August 29, 2010 @ 11:44:58 PM

Jawknee... I would like to think so... but the main situation here affecting the majority of people and businesses around the world is money, the cost of doing business and overall economic conditions going forward.

A vision can only really come to fruition if the backing is there, however small. Even if an inventor attracts the $10 he needs to make his dream a workable reality, if you don't have the money you still need to get it.

No matter how small or big an idea, project or game is; you need the "economics" to make sense, it needs to be good and it needs to sell... without this the backers behind you can collapse, studios shut and people lose their jobs.

Look at the most recent moves by hackers to hack the PS3; this was unexpected and will surely slam Sony hard in the coming months as their I.P. is spread and abused world wide. This will add additional pressures to developers to some extent - but not by much because of the size of the games these days; however the threat is there that an erosion of capital away from the business will further add to developers woes... and, directly result in the current Japanese developers to take less risk by trying to do what western developers are doing. (However, by following western game companies there is also a risk in that traditionally Japanese developers have adhered to their vision, and it has worked up until now.)

Economic pressures are simply shaping and re-shaping the industry. We will have to see how things shake out after the fall holiday season... we will sales numbers and trends and see exactly where developers will be forced to concentrate on for their next "big title" or "visionary" game...

It all comes down to the money today, rather than pure "passion"!

Q!

"play.experience.enjoy"

Last edited by Qubex on 8/29/2010 11:45:10 PM

2 up, 0 down

TheHighlander
Sunday, August 29, 2010 @ 11:55:24 PM

@Quebex, the PS3 wasn't hacked, someone stole and cloned a service key, a move which will lead to both legal action and a change to the service keys and debug mode so that the stolen key won't work.

As for the rest, in Japan games on PSP and DS sell like crazy, PS3 and Wii titles sell well as well (well the ones aimed at Japan do). Japanese developers are better building their games and business models on their own home market, and treating sales elsewhere as gravy. They need to stop using the Western market and media to validate their success.

7 up, 1 down

oldmike
Monday, August 30, 2010 @ 3:05:46 AM

the "hacks" already was stoped
they have to send all the units to sony

3 up, 0 down

Qubex
Monday, August 30, 2010 @ 4:00:02 AM

@Highlander - possibly, but everything is already out in the open, and I think more exploits will be found now. It may be unstoppable, we wait and see...

@oldmike - this was an injunction Sony has lodged in Australia only. However the courts may rule against Sony at this stage until more evidence is brought forward. If the injunction is not passed, the mod chip companies will start fulfilling orders from 1st September onwards. No other mod chip company, as far as I have read, besides the ones in Australia are being sued or have been sued yet.

Q!

"play.experience.enjoy"

0 up, 0 down

___________
Monday, August 30, 2010 @ 8:19:17 AM

its not AU only, its worldwide.
3 AU mod shops are dealing with this.
sony wont get it though, because there claiming it was built using licensed tools when it was not.
if sony do win the battle than its not only AU, but everywhere PS jailbreak will be illegal to sell or distribute.
but thats never going to happen, come september 1st theres going to be a influx of them!
serves the bastards right for stealing a feature we paid for!
as i said karma is a b*tch!
what comes around, goes around!

0 up, 7 down

Underdog15
Monday, August 30, 2010 @ 8:28:52 AM

Once again, Anonymous Cowpatty, your criticism is directed towards that which is not the cause.

5 up, 1 down

TheHighlander
Monday, August 30, 2010 @ 9:16:34 AM

@Anonymous Cowherd,

I'm not sure what kind of mis-information you've acquired. However, the device is a clone of s Sony service key, it uses right there licensed property that is tightly controlled. Not only that but the application they use includes code from a Sony copyrighted and licensed SDK that was previously leaked (aka stolen). In other words, both the device and the software are illegal, so I'm not sure where you think you're getting your information, but the analysis that indicates what I'm saying above came from the single most respected person in the field.

@Qubex,

Because of the nature of the exploit, it's extremely blockable by Sony. Sony's entire design ethos with the PS3 was predicated on foiling attempts to crack the system. The fact that this is an external device that emulates an official service key is one thing, but to say that Sony can't somehow stop it is quite another. There is no hardware switch inside the PS3 or in the USB hardware that magically turns the PS3 into the security equivalent of a lobotomized lab rat. If there was someone would have long ago found it and used it. The internal firmware has to recognize the service key in order for service mode to be entered. Sony will alter the way in which the system enters service mode, and alter the way in which the hardware recognizes service keys telling it that it's OK to do so. It won't be repeatable because it will require another service key to be obtained by anyone wishing to attempt a repeat of this.

3 up, 1 down

Underdog15
Monday, August 30, 2010 @ 10:11:53 AM

Can't be too surprised by _______'s misinformation... In that MoH comment section, he claimed the difference between the Nazi's and Taliban is that the Nazi's didn't kill thousands of innocent people...

uh.... real... really?

3 up, 0 down

TheHighlander
Monday, August 30, 2010 @ 10:17:00 AM

Misinformation is becoming a way of life these days. I've also notice a trend for people to literally discount facts in favor of opinion if they prefer the opinion to the facts. No matter how much evidence backs the facts, and no matter how clearly factual the information is.

I wish people would learn to use and appreciate factual information over opinion. Perhaps one day that will be possible, but at the moment I think that pigs will fly first.

4 up, 0 down

sonic1899
Monday, August 30, 2010 @ 11:46:34 AM

@___________
I could've sworn that you said you'd 'give up' :P

1 up, 0 down

spiderboi
Monday, August 30, 2010 @ 12:16:52 PM

speaking of hacks, how come some devs are still wanting to develop for the 360 since its "hack-able"? Granted, these people can't play Live, but they can still play illegal games.

0 up, 0 down

TheHighlander
Monday, August 30, 2010 @ 12:24:07 PM

What are the best selling games on the 360? games you play online. what are the least good selling games on the 360? Solo play. As an example, what are the sales for the much hyped Alan Wake?

These are VG Charts numbers so they are probably a few % lower than reality, but the error is the same for both, so it's a fair comparison...

After 15 weeks on the market it is yet to break 700,000.

Heavy Rain hit 1.3 million in week 15.

Who says there's no impact?

2 up, 0 down

just2skillf00l
Monday, August 30, 2010 @ 5:33:14 PM

@Highlander

Well, according to my source depending on the country one lives in it is up to courts there to determine whether or not the modchips or dongles are legal for open distribution and use. True in the UK it may be illegal but in Australia the use of the modchip is completely legal. Sony seems to have authority in certain countries but in Australia where the case is exacerbating, Sony apparently doesn't have the grounds to ban the modchip.

0 up, 0 down

TheHighlander
Monday, August 30, 2010 @ 7:14:08 PM

Yeah, I know about Australia's quite inexplicable law. However, that's not the reason it will get perma-banned. The product contains elements of proprietary Sony products. It's not because it's a 'mod chip' that it will be banned, it's because is a counterfeit service key that uses hardware and software that is unlicensed.

0 up, 0 down

just2skillf00l
Monday, August 30, 2010 @ 7:30:38 PM

@ Highlander

The modchips haven't gotten permanently banned yet and the results of this case will yet be clear until tomorrow. Sony managed to get a temporary ban for the mods and tomorrow they will have to create a strong argument as to why the mods should be illegal. The results to this case have yet to be unfolded. However, we'll find out tomorrow whether or not Sony brings such a worthy case to the table. If what you say is true; however, then Sony will have to merely explain the counterfeit nature of the modchips and everything should be cleared up! I hope it goes over well for Sony...

0 up, 0 down

TheHighlander
Monday, August 30, 2010 @ 9:52:13 PM

It will depend on the judge in question. But I can certainly guarantee that if the injunction isn't upheld, Sony will appeal very quickly. I'm not sure that a hastily held case will properly consider all the technology if it get's to be a technical discussion.

That said, there are several resources on the Net that have done analysis of the device and have pronounced it a cloned service key with an application build from a leaked (aka illegal) copy of the official SDK. I don't know how it will go, I know how it ought to go, but courts are not always predictable, and from my own personal experience, courts do not always make the correct decisions which is why appeals happen.

0 up, 0 down

bridgera
Tuesday, August 31, 2010 @ 5:52:19 AM

... and if that doesn't work, Sony can just extort all PSN users into downloading an "update" that denies access to the usb ports.

0 up, 2 down

TheHighlander
Tuesday, August 31, 2010 @ 9:37:13 AM

Yeah, that'll happen....not.

You're as bad as Whooka.

Common Sense attack - If denying access to service keys in general will stop this in it's tracks, why disable USB ports in general when that would be no more effective that removing the ability to enter service mode from the firmware?

Oh, incidentally, the injunction was extended until Friday to allow the original judge in the case to handle the second hearing.

Last edited by TheHighlander on 8/31/2010 9:38:45 AM

1 up, 0 down

GuardianMode
Sunday, August 29, 2010 @ 10:27:31 PM
Reply

It seems for me to get my RPG fix is to pull out my favs from the PS2 era. The way things are heading I am not looking forward to the future.

4 up, 1 down

Lotusflow3r
Monday, August 30, 2010 @ 7:22:19 AM

Mostly agreed.

I haven't ordered a single PS3 game since Red Dead on release and 3d Dot before that. But i have ordered multiple PS2 and PS1 games.

It's just few and far between this generation with few JP companies still wanting to bring it like it's still the golden era, such as Level 5.

This generation is slowly picking up though and JP devs are learning (whilst the bigger ones are still trying to be western)....it's just been slow going.

0 up, 1 down

Xombito
Sunday, August 29, 2010 @ 10:43:11 PM
Reply

Aren't there japanese devs who feel differently?

1 up, 0 down

B-RadGfromOV
Sunday, August 29, 2010 @ 11:04:06 PM

Hideo Kojima and Kazunori Yamauchi of course. They've still got the passion it seems.

Last edited by B-RadGfromOV on 8/29/2010 11:04:48 PM

5 up, 0 down

Underdog15
Monday, August 30, 2010 @ 9:56:38 AM

Yeah, there's always exceptions to every rule.

0 up, 0 down

hellish_devil
Monday, August 30, 2010 @ 8:51:57 PM

Ther are many. Mikami, Kamiya, Itagaki, Nomura, the guys from Atlus, the guys from NIS, the guys who do the Yakuza games, the Street Figther team, Level 5, etc. but the difference is that all of them are veterans in the industry.

Last edited by hellish_devil on 8/30/2010 8:57:24 PM

0 up, 0 down

B-RadGfromOV
Monday, August 30, 2010 @ 10:11:58 PM

Very true. Seems only the older heads still remember what gaming used to be like, and still have the spirit for it. The younger generation needs to relearn.

1 up, 0 down

Riku994
Sunday, August 29, 2010 @ 10:44:17 PM
Reply

....FFv13. That is all.

2 up, 0 down

DeathOfChaos
Sunday, August 29, 2010 @ 11:57:45 PM

Enough said.

1 up, 0 down

Snaaaake
Sunday, August 29, 2010 @ 10:46:20 PM
Reply

Well can't say this guy is wrong but yea, Japanese developers do lost their passion for some.

But not for Kojima-sensei, it's wrong to say Japanese technology are not on par with the west as MGS4 is still one of the best looking game out there, hell, if it's on the 360 then it's easy to say IT'S THE BEST GRAPHIC on the 360.

Losing their passion maybe, but losing it over something they didn't do right?

Really?
It's simply making a simple burger with only beef and cheese and nothing else. Then it didn't sell that well and you consider it a huge failure when it's your own fault.

Don't follow the west when the west doesn't follow you, I'm glad there's still some Japanese developers out there still do things right.

Look at Bayonetta, it's a masterpiece(well, if you look at the 360 version that is) and it's Hideki Kamiya doing what he does best.

But one thing I can't understand is that why can't most Japanese dev get inspiration from Kojima, he is THE ONLY Japanese dev to win multiple awards for this gen and he only made two games for this gen.

3 up, 0 down

BTNwarrior
Sunday, August 29, 2010 @ 11:45:17 PM

wait kojima has 2 ps3 games out? or are you talking peace walker

0 up, 0 down

Snaaaake
Monday, August 30, 2010 @ 12:10:42 AM

Yes, Peace Walker but if it's not considered a 7th gen game then Kojima only has one.

0 up, 0 down

tes37
Sunday, August 29, 2010 @ 10:47:01 PM
Reply

It sounds like they need to hire someone with a little motivation. One person can make the difference. They should start by firing Wada and slowly work their way down the chain of command and run off the deadbeats.

Wanting to eat usually motivates people. If I saw people dropping like flies off the payroll, it would get my attention.

Last edited by tes37 on 8/29/2010 10:53:57 PM

2 up, 0 down

BikerSaint
Sunday, August 29, 2010 @ 10:49:45 PM
Reply

To SE,
Do you even realize that you're talking about your own company here???

All you have to do to get your own passion back, is to look in the mirror & truly hate what you see.

And then revert back to a more revered & beloved foundation of Squaresoft, and still keep Exix, but spin it off into its own entirety.

Last edited by BikerSaint on 8/29/2010 10:54:04 PM

6 up, 0 down

Kai200X
Sunday, August 29, 2010 @ 10:52:53 PM
Reply

Maybe Square-Enix losing their passion. After mixed review on FFXIII, they are probably given up hope. Let's why they want to roll out FFXV fairly fast, or they will probably lose their motivation.

3 up, 0 down

Jawknee
Sunday, August 29, 2010 @ 10:56:11 PM
Reply

Level 5 still makes great jrpgs. Dragon Quest IX is awesome.

Oh, and that Ni No Kuni looks great too.

Last edited by Jawknee on 8/29/2010 10:57:03 PM

4 up, 0 down

FlyingKickPunch
Monday, August 30, 2010 @ 10:23:22 AM

I second that, Jawknee.

0 up, 0 down

NightHawk17
Sunday, August 29, 2010 @ 10:59:37 PM
Reply

Maybe it's just square cause Polyphony Digital and Team Ico haven't seemed to lost passion

4 up, 0 down

Scarecrow
Sunday, August 29, 2010 @ 11:19:56 PM
Reply

Can't wait From Software to unveil Demon's Souls 2 at the Tokyo Game Show and show Square-Enix what real passion means

Instead of criticizing their fellow peers why not start by criticizing themselves? Why not lead by example?

Squeeenix has really effed themselves up. And they're making sure that continues with FFXIV with the stupid "8 hour fatigue" rule.

But it's also sad that the Japanese devs are not making as many great games as they used to make..., so yeah in that way I can agree with him. They seriously gotta stop trying to emulate Western devs, it just won't work.

3 up, 0 down

Snaaaake
Sunday, August 29, 2010 @ 11:31:52 PM

I thought it was already stated Demon's Souls 2 ain't happenning?

0 up, 0 down

Scarecrow
Sunday, August 29, 2010 @ 11:43:14 PM

It might just have been blabber from them, but I have a strong feeling it'll happen.

At the time they were asked 'bout a sequel the game was just about to release in Europe. Saying that they'll make a sequel at the time they're just releasing a sequel in Europe isn't smart.

That and also a recent interview at a Danish site which seems to suggest that they "can't ignore the fanbase now."

http://www.play3.de/2010/08/05/nachgefragt-exklusiv-interview-mit-den-demons-soul-entwicklern/

I should have submitted this as news for psxe, but it's ok the real deal will be unveiled at TGS, well at least I hope so >:|

0 up, 0 down

Victor321
Sunday, August 29, 2010 @ 11:46:28 PM

Well Scarecrow, they're too busy catering the "west", i.e. the majority of their "fans", to recognize what their peers have done for their games, critically and commercially.

2 up, 0 down

BTNwarrior
Sunday, August 29, 2010 @ 11:46:30 PM

thats what they said about twisted metal on ps3, but as we can all see when there are enough people who want it devs will make it happen

2 up, 0 down

Hezzron
Sunday, August 29, 2010 @ 11:24:11 PM
Reply

So Japanese developers look at the present tech, see what the West is producing with it, and they freeze like deer caught in the headlights?

They better get it together soon if they don't want to end up roadkill this gen.

7 up, 0 down

Clamedeus
Sunday, August 29, 2010 @ 11:47:53 PM
Reply

I love how they group all of the Japanese devs. Don't you? Why do they have to drag everybody else with them. Man up and take responsibility.

4 up, 0 down

Lotusflow3r
Monday, August 30, 2010 @ 7:24:09 AM

Spot on.

1 up, 0 down

TheHighlander
Sunday, August 29, 2010 @ 11:48:40 PM
Reply

It seems to me that they are effectively talking themselves into a deep depression. What I mean is that if you go through life being constantly negative and imagining the worst. If you're the kind of person who when asked "How're you doing?" answers with all your problems of the day. Then that way of thinking and being is what you practice, and you do indeed become what you practice. You can talk and think your way into a depressed, low esteem state. On the other hand if you look for the positives and actively think about those things instead of dwelling on the bad, if you are upbeat when greeting someone, you will generally be that way personally. Again, you become what you practice.

To be honest, I think that for too long now Japanese developers have been told by their bosses and publishers in the West that they are not good enough or not fresh enough or whatever. They've done this and compared their game sales to the monstrous games like MW2 in the west, and it reinforces what they are told. It's a vicious circle, because once they get 'down' on themselves, they become ever more critical of their own efforts, they feel less good about everything and doubt themselves which simply leads to poor performance and more of the same. I honestly think that the issue here is the psychology of he market and how it affects developers in Japan - especially those working on games for Western markets. I think it's notable that developers concentrating on their home market on platforms such as the PSP and DS continue to thrive.

7 up, 1 down

DeathOfChaos
Sunday, August 29, 2010 @ 11:56:57 PM

So true. They need to put their chin up. The Japanese developers are practically the ones who made gaming what it is today. They should look at that fact, look at the great games they've made that has shaped some of the greatest legends in gaming history, and then get into creating some awesome stuff. Final Fantasy, Soul Calibur, Mario, Castlevania, Megaman, Silent Hill, Metal Gear, the list could go on forever.

2 up, 0 down

DeathOfChaos
Sunday, August 29, 2010 @ 11:50:56 PM
Reply

We still have Tetsuya Nomura at Square-Enix with Versus XIII and Agito is looking really good, too (especially when compared to FFXIII). Versus and Agito may not be turn based games, but they sure look like a hell of a lot more fun than the first of the Fabula Nova Crystalis project. I would say more Versus than Agito, but one is on the pretty powerful game console and the other wont he handheld, both which are seeming to really show the power of their respected platform anyway. When you hear one of the people who have worked with Final Fantasy as long as Nomura has say that a game in progress game him a feeling of Nostalgia, then it's got to be good, lol. (Referencing his statement to Versus XII early development when he watched an airship fly over a city)

2 up, 0 down

Sogi_Otsa
Monday, August 30, 2010 @ 9:31:28 AM

yes but the workers developing are losing steam too, we need to fire them up because if they lose their passion versus and agito are gonna be the last FF games worth playing.

1 up, 0 down

DeathOfChaos
Monday, August 30, 2010 @ 11:21:29 AM

I dunno though, seems like all the guys working on Versus and Agito know where their heads are at. We just need those guys working on the next Final Fantasy games.

1 up, 0 down

___________
Monday, August 30, 2010 @ 2:10:22 AM
Reply

oh the irony!
sound familiar $E?

0 up, 1 down

Lawless SXE
Monday, August 30, 2010 @ 2:28:30 AM
Reply

Oh gods... here we go again. In general, one thing that motivates people is money. If they know that they are working on a project that will see their pay increase as a result of doing a good job, then they will do a good job (or at least coerce someone else to do a good job while they sit around twiddling their thumbs and looking important). There aren't a whole lot of people who are determined to focus on quality when a poor project can sell just as well.

I want to know where this guy has his head shoved. The tech of Japanese games is not on par with that of Western games... Really? Is that why MGS4 was considered to have the best graphics of any game available for almost two years? Is that why FFXIII is damn near the best looking game available right now? The tech is there for anyone to use, it is just using it.

As far as passion is concerned, if you truly believe in a project, if you truly believe that it can be finished and that it can be fantastic, then you can find the drive to continue, no matter what hardships are thrown in your way. Personal experience has taught me that.

These developers should not let market trends sway their development decisions, as that is a true creativity killer. If you choose to follow suit on what another has done successfully, you are unlikely to be as successful as by the time your project drops, the market has been flooded by clones of varying quality and yours is lost among the herd.

In terms of the vision; if it is clear enough, then it will come to fruition. There will always be someone there yelling that it must be done, that it needs to be for the good of humanity. You have to be strong to succeed.

I think that Square-Enix is still on the right track, or can be nudged back onto it at least. All it will take is a thoroughly Eastern game, preferably with turn-based gameplay to sell like hotcakes and they will realise that they don't need to cater to the West. Their core market will see them stay afloat if they can manage to make Versus XIII and Agito XIII appeal to them. Unfortunately I feel that Versus at least will be aimed more at the Westerners with a feel more akin to Fallout than even FFXIII. Agito still holds promise. One final thing: Apparently there will be a trailer on show at TGS showcasing gameplay from both of these titles, adding up to maybe a minute of footage. It may not be much, but when it's leaked, I'll be checking it out.
Peace.

0 up, 4 down

ffrevenge
Monday, August 30, 2010 @ 3:24:50 AM
Reply

One game and they give up? I'd like to think better of Square Enix

1 up, 0 down

SmokeyPSD
Monday, August 30, 2010 @ 3:46:08 AM
Reply

Persona. Catherine on the way with their first console offering this generation. Most likely will make way for Persona 5. Square Enix maybe losing what drives them but not all developers are.

0 up, 0 down

MadPowerBomber
Monday, August 30, 2010 @ 3:53:17 AM
Reply

The folks that make these comments are obviously not following Yoshinori Ono and Katsuhiro Harada on Twitter. Those two guys haven't lost their passion at all.

1 up, 0 down

Snaaaake
Monday, August 30, 2010 @ 4:30:20 AM

Maybe they haven't, but even so, the way they're doing things now are wrong.

1 up, 0 down

Sogi_Otsa
Monday, August 30, 2010 @ 9:29:22 AM

Twitters stupid man. they just took the status update system from stupid facebook and marketed it as their own.
no i haven't been fallowing on twitter.

0 up, 0 down

MadPowerBomber
Monday, August 30, 2010 @ 4:32:54 PM

That's a simple matter of opinion and one I don't agree with. The two games I play the most out of my library are Super SFIV and Tekken 6 (on both the Ps3 and PsP consoles), so I fail, and miserably so, at seeing how what they're doing is wrong.

Especially since Ono is pushing hard for a new Darkstalkers game, and Harada is now pushing for Soul Calibur 5.

0 up, 0 down

MadPowerBomber
Monday, August 30, 2010 @ 4:46:58 PM

That's also a matter of opinion. I actually prefer twitter to facebook. a lot more interesting people post a lot more interesting things on twitter than facebook.

0 up, 0 down

Naga
Monday, August 30, 2010 @ 4:34:07 AM
Reply

Well as long has the 360 disc limitations is in the wild I'm sure quality in a few Japanese games will be lacking thus decrease in passion although the excitement remains.

Tragically.....

1 up, 1 down

JackC8
Monday, August 30, 2010 @ 6:45:46 AM
Reply

I don't understand the remark about the technology not being up to par with the West. If there's one good thing I have to say about FFXIII it's that the graphics were fantastic.

I loved FFXII, and that just came out 4 years ago. I don't know what happened in the meantime; they hired some gameplay designers who had their heads up their ***es for one thing. They better get their stuff together because it's looking like XIII is the last free pass they're going to get from the fanboys.

0 up, 0 down

Underdog15
Monday, August 30, 2010 @ 8:37:38 AM

MGS and FF are two exceptions. I think if you observe Japanese games as a whole, the tech is not up to par. Check out games like Cross Edge, Trinity Universe, etc. to see what I mean for PS3 examples.

Aside from that, I believe a big point of that comment was in regards to Japanese games being on handhelds as opposed to current consoles.

3 up, 0 down

Wissam
Monday, August 30, 2010 @ 6:49:43 AM
Reply

8 hours per week for exp enough said.

1 up, 1 down

SoulController
Monday, August 30, 2010 @ 8:25:10 AM
Reply

Excuses, Excuses, Excuses Squeenix. You guys are done. Everyone can feel it in the air & smell it. So can you. That's why every couple of weeks, someone from your crumbling kingdom says something we all know already. Now stop talking out of your butts & go make sure versus 13 is dope.

2 up, 0 down

Kiryu
Monday, August 30, 2010 @ 8:41:21 AM
Reply

The guys who are doing the yakuza series have not lost their passion!
Square Enix work only on the Playstation 3 and u will know what great wonders u can come up with.

Don't be like CyberConnect2 who sold themselves to microsoft and ruined Naruto Shippuden Ultimate ninja storm 2 by making it multiplatform.
In the first one i was able to move naruto throughout the whole village.now they've made it like a corridor to corridor movement it sucks.
I seriously hate Microsoft!I want their company to die.

3 up, 0 down

Sogi_Otsa
Monday, August 30, 2010 @ 9:27:53 AM

did they really? or is that just the beta footage? CC is a third party by the way it's actually bandai-namco that brought it to XBOX without reason.

0 up, 0 down

Kiryu
Monday, August 30, 2010 @ 10:46:15 AM

They don't show beta footage.See the rpg stuff on youtube it sucks.It's nothing like the 1st one.

0 up, 0 down

SoulController
Monday, August 30, 2010 @ 8:46:40 AM
Reply

I forgot to mention, Squeenix killed themselves when they started off this generation in bed with Microsoft. I guess M$' passion for money & dumb downed gameplay rubbed off on them

3 up, 0 down

Sogi_Otsa
Monday, August 30, 2010 @ 9:25:50 AM
Reply

Jrpgs are funner then western RPGs, it feels better to play, i can honestly say i do not own a single western rpg, they are all the same junk. so your telling me that square the company i love is losing their passion. let's get together fly there go to the company and cheer them on, fire them up let them see we appreciate what they do!

2 up, 1 down

Underdog15
Monday, August 30, 2010 @ 9:57:55 AM

I'm in! You payin'? ;p

0 up, 0 down

Wissam
Monday, August 30, 2010 @ 1:44:17 PM

Agreed.

0 up, 0 down

Sogi_Otsa
Monday, August 30, 2010 @ 3:05:51 PM

i wish i could pay! that would rock!i hope someone does something like this tho.

0 up, 0 down

Nynja
Monday, August 30, 2010 @ 10:57:07 AM
Reply

I don't think "losing passion" is the right phrase or description. More like "losing their way".

Passion is there. Desire is there. Maybe it's an issue with budget or lack of education. Maybe this is where the passion has died, in advancing skills and technology. Possibly Western developers are more willing to take risks than our friends in the East.

Quality gameplay execution and game interface advancements have dried up in Japan. Don't get me wrong, we still get some great gems out of the East but a majority of titles just can't compare to Western game quality. There are too many games from Japan that have convoluted control schemes that they just can't seem to get right. Horrid camera controls and poor button mapping configurations/customizations.

Japanese developers need more people like Ryan Payton working with them to help stream line the user interface for a better experience.

As for the JRPGs... can we just get a quality mature JRPG that doesn't look like it belongs on the GameCube or PSP?

1 up, 1 down

Nynja
Monday, August 30, 2010 @ 12:08:35 PM

Omg. I'm guilty of leaving a post before reading the article... I'm fired.

0 up, 0 down

DeathOfChaos
Monday, August 30, 2010 @ 11:26:26 AM
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Since when has Western Gaming had better graphics than Japanese games? They said Western technology is better... how is that? Despite it's epic fail, Final Fantasy XIII (on the PS3) looked freakin' astounding in the graphics department (except for things like their hands...where did they go wrong with that?) Western games look 'googd' mainly because of how easy it is to take a patch of texture and then just put all the textures next to each other and it looks good from a distance. Get close up and you can notice a terrible flatness in quality and with some of the crappier titles, you can see where each individual patch of texture is laid. Kind of like the tiles you lay down in RPG Maker... now I want to break out the old RPG maker again xD

0 up, 0 down

Nynja
Monday, August 30, 2010 @ 12:05:15 PM

FFXIII looked great, but not Uncharted 2 great. FFXIII FMV sequences were amazing, but that's all they were; FMV sequences.

I don't believe a majority of Japanese developers have figured out how to create high-res textures, at least on more than just the character models. I've always appreciated textures from more Western developers than Eastern.

Last edited by Nynja on 8/30/2010 12:06:08 PM

1 up, 2 down

Sogi_Otsa
Monday, August 30, 2010 @ 3:04:20 PM

uncharted 2 is not a rpg. if we look at it all game genres have different levels of graphics.

1 up, 1 down

Nynja
Tuesday, August 31, 2010 @ 11:30:21 AM

@Sogi_Otsa;

I was responding to Chaos' comment;

"Since when has Western Gaming had better graphics than Japanese games?"

Being an RPG or not has nothing to do with the high level of graphical detail Uncharted 2 offered.

Unreal Engine 3 offers techniques that will swap out low-res textures for high-res when the object is within certain range of the users' character, greatly reducing the low quality texture Chaos is talking about. This similar technique has found it's way into other developer's game engines as well. Just look at RDR as another example.

Name 1 Japanese developed game that uses this technology.

RPG, FPS, RTS, etc have very little to do with technical advances between Western and Eastern developers.

1 up, 0 down

druvee
Wednesday, September 01, 2010 @ 10:19:54 AM
Reply

Here's a thought square-enix partner up with ea/activision for a finalfantasy/callofduty crossover or at least work with the developers of modernwarfare the online game feels like an rpg with its perks weapons and challenges and i'd love to run around having gunblade fights aka final fantasy 8 now that would be worth 6o or 80 bucks out the wallet for me any one else agree?
hell i'd even pay for a a monthly subscription

1 up, 0 down

Ar_tonelico
Wednesday, September 01, 2010 @ 11:56:53 AM
Reply

I'm just glad my favorite JRPG companies still have the passion like NIS, Gust, and Idea Factory.

0 up, 0 down

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