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General discussionDifferences between Japanese and non-Japanese games? (non-RPG)(20 posts)(20 posts)
(20 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted February 03, 2022
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Warloch_Ahead: *snip*
It has not much to do language barriers, its just that you came from a different contextualisations than I came from. I came from the perspective about how people who were gamers and became devs in japan were inspired by very popular video games from the western world during the early 90s. A lot of simulation type games in japan seem to be inspired that way, but you see that in other more modern games as well.

Japan is very conservative when it comes to development paradigms so you see a lot of people that try to "include x" that make the games stand out in a way. Games that have Hideo Kojima showcase this very sufficiently, the Metal Gear Solid franchise is perhaps the best example to show games that are greatly inspired by western paradigms. May it be storytelling, may it be gameplay, you see a lot of hints to other famous games that weren't made by japanese developers in MGS1.

I don't know if BBS use was prevalent but a lot of gaming news that people gathered came from actual newspapers, gemaga (which was huge in the early 90s) and word-of-mouth from people going to arcades which were hot spots when it came to communcation about video games. You have to know that arcades in the 90s weren't always big places, a lot of people who just hang out to talk about games were gathering in very small Kiosks at the nearest corner of the street maintained by just one person. So its just you, your friends and a 40 year old friendly lady that sells candy while you play Bubble Bobble with people or a STG. Some followed information from a gaming magazine, which served as the primary destribution factor. I think that sort of thing is closest to the truth back in the day. Of course mid 90s the internet got a bit more developed and things changed a bit, but not by much.

Shareware paradigms weren't exactly prevalent in japan, where cartridges are more widely available.
Posted February 03, 2022
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Shmacky-McNuts: Short version:

Tropes and Realism.

Japanese beat to death any popular trope. Lacking in realism is an understatement.

Westerners tend to use Realism. This doesn't mean everything must be 100% realistic. It just means, when a rule is well established, that rule cannot be broken or else it is perceived as a negative.

A good example is when Tolkien and his long time friend CS Lewis were arguing. Lewis wanted random things in his work to be accepted due to his outlook of religion. Tolkien insisted everything should have a 3 part history to establish a sense of realism. While both authors became popular. Tolkien had his work far more grounded because of the way he established a history behind almost everything he wrote about.

If you do not understand a 3 part history; it works under a premise of explaining something that has 3 steps or tiers. Most people will not ask beyond this and as a result, the suspension of disbelief seems more believable.
Example:
You get pulled over by a police officer. Police officer asks you why you were speeding. You reply with a lie. The cop asks about that lie. You give a plausible reason to support the lie and the cop asks 1 more thing about what you lied about and again you come up with a plausible 3rd part to that lie. Thus, 3 tiers of history that seem plausible.
The cop gives you a warning and leaves you alone.

In terms of media, writing this way is really difficult, but also makes sense to a degree in terms of following a story. Especially in a film. Your brain cannot and will not ask questions until long after the film is over. Otherwise that was a poorly written film. If on the other hand you were really engrossed, chances are it was well written.
I think the term you're looking for is "suspension of disbelief".

There is the occasion when a game (or other work) strains one suspension of disbelief. I'm fine in a world where there's just falling blocks (Tetris), or in a fantasy world where there's monsters that look like Hershey's Kisses with smiling faces (Dragon Quest; that's what slimes, the most basic enemy, look like), but sometimes there are things that suspend disbelief. Like:
* In the course of a few days following marriage, the wife gets pregnant and gives birth. (The game has a day/knight cycle. The sea voyage might take a few days, the mountain climb doesn't take time (except for a night or two of inn rests, and the cutscene where the wife collapses due to being pregnant), and there might be another night when walkig to the castle at the end, but that's not enough time for a pregnancy to come to term (and the game hasn't established any rules about that that differ from the real world).
* The player, early in the game, is given the means to revive fallen party members. Then, later on, a party member gets killed as a result of the plot, and the other party members don't even try to revive them. (Even worse, there's older JRPGs where there's a plot death, and there's at least some explanation as to why the revive failed, and a case where other party members at least *try* to revive the dead character.) (Also worth noting that taking away party members this way is a case of punishing the player for progressing through the game, which is one thing I dislike it when games do.)
Posted February 03, 2022
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Dray2k: So its just you, your friends and a 40 year old friendly lady that sells candy while you play Bubble Bobble with people
Great. Now I'll have the theme song playing in my head for a couple of hours while I think in how many coins have that bastard annoying phantom Tobias™ stole me?
Posted February 04, 2022
After watching that Ghostwire gameplay feature, something of a Japanese pseudo-FPS, it brought me back to this thread. I couldn't help but feel that the gameplay seemed... slow and plodding? Like it's not hectic in a kill-or-be-killed kind of way I expect from other first person action games that encourage mobility. Obviously, it's not out yet and the impression is based on footage alone, but it really reminds of those arcade light gun games where the enemies aren't too aggressive in order to be manageable because you can't constantly quick save.
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dtgreene: Edit: Why the low rating, particularly for a post that sparked some interesting discussion?
The crypto bot has gained sentience and is angry that it can no longer post phone numbers on this forum.
Post edited February 04, 2022 by Warloch_Ahead
Posted February 04, 2022
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Dray2k: ...
If you need more insights and questions or want to know anything specific, just ask.
Is it like JP devs or perhaps the audience aren't looking for 'emergent gameplay'?

Different topic, but I talked to a guy who worked with some mobile games here and the US.
We were talking about starter pack mtx in mobiles. Specifically the starter packs that give you like an exp boost or just a leg up in general. Apparently US consumers only sometimes buy the starter packs, but keep playing later on, whereas a majority of JP consumers buy the starter packs, but drop off. I forgot how we ended up at this conclusion, but JP consumers expect some sort of exclusivity when they pay into a game.
Obviously this is anecdotal, so do with it what you will.

I will say there are lot's of exclusive goodies here, and not just mobile. Like mascot goods, timed goods. There is always some sort of lottery going on at conbinis for anime/game figures and whatnot.

Unfortunately most of those items go straight to free market apps, but that's for another thread.
I also just reread my post and it's not really about games themselves, but fuck it.
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Community
General discussionDifferences between Japanese and non-Japanese games? (non-RPG)(20 posts)(20 posts)
(20 posts)