Video games that get lost in translation

[Big Booger]

Despite the success of American music and movies in Japan, Western-made video games have never done well in the Japanese market. American-made consoles such as 3DO (released in Japan in 1994) and most recently the Microsoft Xbox (released in two years ago) never seem to attract consumers in large numbers. Games such as "Enter the Matrix" from Atari, and "The Lord of the Rings" by Electronic Arts, both released last year, often vanish from the Japanese market without leaving a trace.

One obstacle U.S. game makers face is the different emphasis Western and Japanese gamers place on licenses. In the West, consumers look for games with ties to blockbuster movies such as Harry Potter or professional athletes such as John Madden.

The type of game makes a difference as well. "Doom 3," "Half-Life 2," and "Halo 2" are three of the most anticipated upcoming games among Western audiences. Don't expect them to do well in Japan, however. In fact, they will have two strikes against them even before they land on the docks. All three games are, in addition to being violent, played from the first-person perspective. Such first-person perspective shooters (FPS) are big in the West, but have never really caught on in Japan. And few violent games sell well there, either.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4780423/

I never thought about this, but it seems a fair assessment. Most arcades are regulated to the third person, though there are few out there...

[Ol Dirty Gaijin]

[Big Booger]

Xbox will do well if they can create games for Japanese gamers.. not just porting US games over... that is not working, and won't work for a while...

Xbox needs to go for the odd and wacky games and look for a niche that hasn't been hit.. something like "chikan patrol 2004" or something along those lines..

Games that do lead them around... because that is what they are used to.. they are used to being told what to do every minute, and freedom in a game is just too much for a Robotic Organism in Japan to cope with...


Microsoft should take a note of Gamecube and PS2 titles and use those ideas to create similar yet distinct titles for the Xbox that will sell well here, and most likely in the rest of asia...

[Socratesabroad]

At first, I figured I'd disagree with the stance that American games are more violent, so Japanese won't like them, but in retrospect I think it may be true. Densha de Go, anyone?

Probably the reason why I don't enjoy Japanese games so much in that you have to do things and have to follow patterns. The reason I don't have a PS2 would be the reason why most Japanese would, RPGs. They bore the hell out of me with their rigidity.

I think I'd agree with that as well. I've never owned an X-box, but I did have a PS1 while living in Japan. Sure, being able to rent video games was cool, but the selection left a lot to be desired. I gave up quickly on Nobunaga's Ambition because, unlike the American versions, periods between battles were marked by screen after screen of dialogue. If I wanted to read, I'd have bought a book. Metal Geal Solid was about the only PS1 game I actually enjoyed.

And then, post-PC-purchase, comes my into to FPSes. The only games I've played in the last few years were all FPSes I learned about while in Japan: America's Army, Delta Force I&II, and some of the Tom Clancy series.

The interesting point is not how Japanese tastes differ from the West, but from the rest of Asia as well. Here I am living in China, and even the smaller stalls selling software all stock the Delta Force and Tom Clancy series as well as Half-Life/Halo (complete with game text in Chinese). Walk into any Internet cafe and there are bound to be four or five chain-smoking twentysomethings running around and blowing the crap out of something on screen

[Naniwan Kid]

I have a Japanese PS2 and a US X-Box. I haven't bought a Japanese game in years. There is NOTHING coming out that interests me. I don't play Graduation, Denshya de Go, Dance Dance, or life draining RPG's. Going to a video arcade now is like going into a time machine. Are there any NEW games? Wasn't that bongo game featured in Lost in Translation out in like 1997?


I am not a fan of the FPS (I get a headache after a while) but I am really liking the GTA types. True Crime: Streets of L.A. is a blast.

[Kanchou]

Apparently, Valve is going to release Half-Life 2 in Japan.

There's already the Japanese version of Counter-Strike being played at LAN arcades in Tokyo.

And there is apparently a small following of various FPS games in Japan, such as Counter-Strike, BF1942, Day of Defeat, Delta Force: Black Hawk Down, etc... But a lot of the people who play them are already surival game freaks, so that sort of makes sense.

I think a Japanese exchange student friend of mine thought that Rainbow Six 3 was interesting, but had I not been there to teach him how to play, he probably would have hated it.

I think FPS games might eventually catch on in Japan, if more consumers are willing to deal with the complexities of playing PC-based games.

[Ol Dirty Gaijin]

The interesting point is not how Japanese tastes differ from the West, but from the rest of Asia as well. Here I am living in China, and even the smaller stalls selling software all stock the Delta Force and Tom Clancy series as well as Half-Life/Halo (complete with game text in Chinese). Walk into any Internet cafe and there are bound to be four or five chain-smoking twentysomethings running around and blowing the crap out of something on screen

Strange that you say that, half of the X-box games I've bought have been from China because they release them quicker and they are in Chinese and English, not just Japanese as is the domestic release (although not a complaint, I would not be target market). There is one store in Akihabara that brings in games from China and some non-region games from the states. Tom Clancy was one of these, at least 6 months before the release here.

[Socratesabroad]

even the smaller stalls selling software all stock the Delta Force and Tom Clancy series as well as Half-Life/Halo (complete with game text in Chinese).

Strange that you say that, half of the X-box games I've bought have been from China because they release them quicker and they are in Chinese and English, not just Japanese as is the domestic release (although not a complaint, I would not be target market). There is one store in Akihabara that brings in games from China and some non-region games from the states. Tom Clancy was one of these, at least 6 months before the release here.

Ummm, I'd go into more detail about 'the smaller stalls selling software,' but pursuant to the FG guidelines....

A few of the prohibited topics include:

bootlegs or illegal downloads of commercial software, movies, music

so I'll leave it at that

[Ol Dirty Gaijin]

The one in Akihabara I'm speaking of is on the main drag, visible, the discs are official, not copies and require no modding of your Japanese X-box. The shop in particular is an official dealer of X-box and PS soft, but I don't know what the rules are about selling international licensed game software in Japan. I could buy the same game online, but I have to pay big money on transporting fees, sometimes taxes etc.

I'm sure if what they were doing was illegal, the would no longer be distributing anything at all.

[Buraku]

Most of the time, these perverted moments in video games come about as a result of the differences between cultures, namely Japan, the video game capital of the known universe.
http://www.nesplayer.com/nintend-o-vision/perversion.htm
In Japan, it's acceptable to be a total pervert. In fact, it's quite normal. Their Saturday morning Hentai porno cartoon line up consists mostly of shows about girls with short skirts

eroge is a perversion of nintendo/sega/sony gaming - a Japanese video or computer game, they are sometimes called hentai games in keeping with the English slang definition of hentai. This is sometimes shortened to H game, which is also in use in Japan.