Mega Man creator and 23-year Capcom veteran Keiji Inafune has left his position as head of global production at the company, apparently with the sentiment that he's done all he can do in that position.
"A manager's work means evaluating your subordinates and speaking your dreams," wrote Inafune in a blog post entitled "Sayonara", as translated by consumer weblog Kotaku. "Anyone who can do both of those can be a manager. I thought that when I came here, and I still think that now."
Inafune, who also led creation of franchises like Lost Planet and Dead Rising, among others, began at Capcom as a character designer. Through his long tenure at the company, he rose to the key position of research and development head as well as global production head: "There's nowhere higher for me to go," he writes.
In recent years, however, Inafune became known for his candid criticisms of the Japanese game industry, somewhat infamously stating that it's "finished" at last year's Tokyo Game Show. Just in September of this year, he said he felt Japan was "at least five years behind" its counterparts in the West, and that the titles he saw on offer at this year's TGS were "awful."
As Capcom's struggled with disappointing sales of its titles and the strong yen, he's been critical of his own company in particular, stating the veteran publisher is "barely keeping up." His departure follows yesterday's announcement of the company's declining profits, plagued by a strong yen and disappointing sales of its titles, especially the recent Lost Planet 2.
"I'm leaving Capcom with the intention of starting my life over," he writes in his farewell post. However, he says he has no plans to take a hiatus from game development; although he doesn't illustrate specific future plans, he's recently been clear about wanting to "study how Westerners live, and make games that appeal to them."
Inafune is not the only major Japanese development figure to dictate a clear desire to work with Western paradigms; yesterday as Capcom reported its financial travails, Bethesda Softworks parent ZeniMax announced its acquisition of Resident Evil originator Shinji Mikami's new Tango Gameworks studio, a move that brings Mikami into its employ.
"People that really know me, can see where I'm coming from," writes Inafune. "I'm not a regular dude. It's probably because I'm strange."
It's interesting to see more Japanese developers adopting western interest. It could be the rise of a new class of games. I do enjoy the fanfare and spectacle that Japanese games bring to the table, but their stories and character designs are stuck in the 90's. A marriage of American storytelling with Japanese pieces of flair could be a fantastic combination.
I used to luv the game graphics coming out of Japan back in the PSone and PS2 dayz. Not so impress with it during the current gen system. This guy hit it on the mark.
I wish him all the best and look forward to see what he can come up with, but it seems rather odd that after asking for years to get a Megaman Legends 3, he leaves just he finally gets what he wants. Seems to me like he hasn't told us his real reason for leaving, but that's just me.
As a child, the Mega Man series taught me the valuable lesson of trial and error;learn from your mistakes and adapt. (really tough games but fair) Capcom games have always remained some of the freshest and extremely challenging titles out there in large part thanks to his efforts. I certainly hope talent he's guided through the years can continue his torch.
Why are these game designers leaving the big studios? can this (is this?) happen in america/the west? What do Japanese designers mean when they say 'western game' and Japanese game? what is the Japaneses game development 'corporate culture' and How does it differ from Western game development corporate culture? How does that Japanese 'gamer' differ from the western 'gamer'; do they have 'hard-core' and 'casual' players? what does a Japanese gamer's library look like when compared to a western gamer's game library (what type of games do they own compared to westerners).
The only difference I find, is that japanese gamers have the "japanese factor" that make them rock at any game.
:P
Seriously, I live in Brazil, here there are a huge amount of japanese, in average japanese gamers kick non-japanese ass in ANY game (but specially action puzzles... like tetris, puyo-puyo, etc...).
I hope he finds just what he's looking for.
I wish him the best.
Why are these game designers leaving the big studios? can this (is this?) happen in america/the west? What do Japanese designers mean when they say 'western game' and Japanese game? what is the Japaneses game development 'corporate culture' and How does it differ from Western game development corporate culture? How does that Japanese 'gamer' differ from the western 'gamer'; do they have 'hard-core' and 'casual' players? what does a Japanese gamer's library look like when compared to a western gamer's game library (what type of games do they own compared to westerners).
:P
Seriously, I live in Brazil, here there are a huge amount of japanese, in average japanese gamers kick non-japanese ass in ANY game (but specially action puzzles... like tetris, puyo-puyo, etc...).
I dunno why.