Views on the West

Being a foreigner gives one a unique perspective on the industry in part because one can see others’ views on one’s own culture. Foreign markets are becoming more important as the Japanese gaming audience shrinks. But that does not always mean one’s co-workers will take advice according to Barnett. “I remember having an argument with a planner about why we should probably have more than 4 spaces for name entry. Though he could vaguely understand it would be easier for localization, his retorts all came down to the idea that we are making a Japanese game now, a localized version later.”

He continues, “There is a general lack of planning in these matters. Localization is always an issue to be dealt with later, with the focus being the home market. This often leads to immense problems localizing at a later date as you can imagine. Too little space for text, too many textures with texts on, as most things are hard-coded there will be very little automation, etc. I'm sure most developers know the foreign markets are important, as they are much bigger than the Japanese one, but I think few really understand it or what is required.”

Not all developers take that stance. Cuthbert says, “For our Nintendo projects, we tend to think about localization up front and make sure our graphics and text files are switchable to different languages. It eases the workload when we actually move into the localization process later on.”

Part of the problem with developing for foreign markets may be that Japanese developers do not understand what makes games popular in the West. While they appreciate the appeal of their own games, the Japanese market has never opened up to the West and developers may have a hard time dealing with a market that likes both Gears of War and Final Fantasy. According to Cuthbert, “The style of the games can be very "American" or Western in appearance. The themes tend to be much grittier and more realistic, whereas the themes of Japanese games are more abstract and anime-like… Western games don't appeal to the average Japanese gamer's sensibilities. Some do break the mold of course - Crash Bandicoot for example.”

The original Crash Bandicoot for the PlayStation.

Localization issues may have played a role in Japanese acceptance of Western games. Tavares says, “It’s not just about putting on subtitles or fixing UI text. Voice overs need to be in Japanese for them to have the same sense of involvement. Soundtracks may need to be in Japanese if they have lyrics that are part of the game. If there is a radio in the game that has commercials and DJs which are all jokes and add to the enjoyment of the game, unless those are redone in Japanese, the Japanese players will not experience those parts of the game and hence the reception of the game will be less.” Often these things are left untouched when a game is brought over from another territory.

Change is coming, however slowly. “There used to be that view in Japan that Japanese games were better. But in the last few years the number one games have been Western games. On top of that Japan has not stayed up technically and so, seeing the systems Western teams have created to make game development easier has also been an eye opener for Japanese teams,” says Tavares.

Barnett agrees, “There may even be some cultural snobbery at play too. Some Japanese actually look down on Western games, thinking, like so many Westerners that Japanese games are far superior. It's bunk, of course. And sometimes my colleagues seem surprised at the high quality of certain Western games, as if it wasn't thought possible.”

“That said, this viewpoint is becoming increasingly rare as all the evidence points towards a Western development sphere which is far more powerful and cutting edge than the Japanese one and that is hard to ignore,” continues Barnett. “A lot of my colleagues really enjoy playing Western games. A lot of publishers are still afraid to import them though; how long did it take for GTA to make it to Japan? Things are changing in this field just as is the tradition, extremely slowly.”