Random Gaming Thoughts

[Flake]

We'd all be better for it if they sold their IP to developers that still had a clue what to do.

[CFFJR]

With the exception of the Chrono series (which has been cruelly neglected), it kills me to see what those other 3 franchises ended up becoming.

Well, maybe its not so cruel after all.

Neglected yes, but also unmarred.

[BoringSupreez]

The problem is that while Japanese developers did amazing things in the 80's and 90's, they seem completely reluctant to innovate in an era where they have to compete in a meaningful way with developers in other countries. The only exception to that is Nintendo and even then, you could easily say that Nintendo isn't necessary being innovative - but that they are just doing what they habitually do and constantly re-imagine games around their incredible stable of mascots.

I honestly do not understand how the software and hardware development culture that so completely nailed it for nearly two decades straight managed to fall apart so completely.

I think the problem is with the Japanese entertainment industry as a whole. Anime and manga had the same incredible period from the late '80s through the early '00s, and then they became stale and mediocre too.

[Ack]

It's easy: they got popular and made a lot of money. Why innovate when you can continue to make money off of a name? And when that name stops making as much money as you like, drop it and use other names. Or jump ship to an industry that is suddenly making more money, like the mobile market or pachinko. This is doubly true for industries that are making money in a country where the economy has generally sagged for the last 20 years.

Also, these guys make games for the Japanese market first and foremost, so Japanese tastes rule the day. Do Japanese youth spend their time complaining about belts and hair spray? No, they actually seem to like it, so more belts and hairspray.

As for anime, the same thing happened: it got popular, so why try something new when the old makes money? And with computer technology the way it is now, why bother hand drawing much anymore?

The Japanese video game and anime industries are victims of their own success.

[Gunstar Green]

Times have changed, what's popular has shifted and companies have evolved. It hurts to see beloved IPs drift away but it happens.

I guess I am a bit more inoculated to this than some people since I was heavily a PC gamer in the 90's and already had to see many of my beloved franchises disappear and developers get closed down or eaten up.

As for the Japanese gaming industry, I don't envy them. They're stuck with the paradox of being expected to do something new and interesting while being faced with the threat of criticism for alienating fans by doing that.

[Flake]

The Japanese video game and anime industries are victims of their own success.

I guess that sums it up better than anything else.

[ExedExes]

*highly accurate statement about the blighted Japanese gaming industry*

I posted this fine example in the image thread.

[MrPopo]

The expedition of the ISS Hyperion made a breakthrough last night. The intrepid crew followed a distress call to an uninhabited planet around an unstable star to find a recorded message from another expedition from the Old Earth Empire, indicating they had been waylaid on their way to their new home. The planet they were heading towards was currently being terraformed by the Mechans, and the captain realized these might be the same androids that had been mentioned in a bulletin. Making contact with the Mechans the Hyperion was able to convince them they were the lost Noah 9 expedition, allowing access to the aptly named planet Heaven and to their large databanks of information. From those databanks the crew was able to learn the names and locations of the various groups of aliens surrounding Arth and gain some insight into the solar flares that were threatening their homeworld; the Old Earth Empire had discovered the phenomena and it seems to be moving; a slow wave of death from coreward to outward. These flares may have been what drove the various invasions that destroyed the Empire, as every invader came from coreward.

Tonight the crew will attempt to make contact with a few of the less belligerent aliens described by the Mechans to see if they can shed any more light on what's going on.

[BoneSnapDeez]

I can't get too down about how the mighty Japanese developers how fallen because there's still so much unexplored (for me) retro content out there. Take Capcom and Konami for example - I still have yet to play most Mega Man titles and the only Castlevania game I've ever finished is SotN. And of course there are still plenty of retro systems I have yet to own, like the MSX.

I suppose I benefit from playing games at such a slow ass pace.

[Luke]

the only Castlevania game I've ever finished is SotN. And of course there are still plenty of retro systems I have yet to own, like the MSX.

I suppose I benefit from playing games at such a slow ass pace.

If you accept the PS2 and XBOX Castlevania titles as "their own thing" they're a lot of fun. he Castevania title for the 360 is great, but a chore. It lasts forever and is like pouring molasses. Takes about twenty hours to beat though.