14 DAY TRIAL // Keiji Inafune, Capcom's head of global research and development, as well as one of its famous game designers has once again blasted the video game developers and companies from his native Japan, saying that they make "awful games" and need to change their strategies before it is too late.
According to the popular game designer, his native country is losing the battle against Western developers from North America or Europe, largely because Japanese designers don't see what sells on the global market.
“I look around Tokyo Games Show, and everyone’s making awful games; Japan is at least five years behind,” said Inafune.
“Capcom is barely keeping up,” he said in an interview at the show, which ended Sunday. “I want to study how Westerners live, and make games that appeal to them.”
Inafune has criticized Japanese game developers in the past, but this is the first time he has chosen such strong words and involved his own company.
The ongoing debate of Japan versus the West isn't anything new, but it has grown to be more relevant with the new console cycle.
According to it, Japanese game companies are focusing on the so called Japanese Role Playing Games (JRPGs) like Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest, which are praised by some critics and achieve impressive sales in their native country.
Meanwhile, Western developers are creating first and third person shooters as well as other, more varied titles, that go on to reach sales success all over the world, including Japan.
This should give companies like Capcom, Konami or Square Enix something to think about, according to Inafune.
While JRPGs and other such titles should continue to be made, in order to satisfy the local market, new intellectual properties, created to please the Western market, should be prioritized, in order to stay alive in the current economy.
Capcom is taking such steps, and has already announced that it will acquire Blue Castle Games, the Canadian developer which worked on Dead Rising 2.
The studio will be renamed Capcom Games Vancouver, and will continue to develop titles aimed at the Western market.