Digitally Downloaded writes: "This year’s Game Developer’s Conference was pretty hard on the Japanese games industry. Keiji Inafune has once again decided to roll out his anti-Japanese corporate rhetoric. He’s making a regular event of it, and once again, the man is way off."
The former Mega Man producer's latest game, Dragon & Colonies, is going to dragon heaven.
Probably that "The mobile gaming landscape is cruel and ruthless and something needs to be done!" when not long ago he would've been thinking "the mobile game market is so massive, we'll make Megabucks!"
I kinda feel bad for him at this point but he did bring it on himself with mighty number 9.
Seems everything he touches since he left Capcom becomes filled with misfortune.
- Started work on a 3DS game called Kaio: King of Pirates that later got canceled
- Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z was a disappointing game that all but killed the Ninja Gaiden franchise
- Mighty No.9 failed to live up to the grand expectations set for it
- ReCore was very below average title that didn’t leave much of an impression
- Red Ash has fallen off the radar and the public hasn’t heard anything about its progression
All these flops from the same man who dissed Japanese developers a decade ago. He even defended Phil Fish’s harsh criticism of Japanese devs yet Inafune himself has hasn’t had any critical hits of his own since leaving Capcom.
Which is exactly why I put the word "creator" in quotes and added *coughs violently* after it, because he has been called the creator of Mega Man many times in the past despite it not being accurate. -_- Pardon my immense subtlety.
@MrSwank
**"he didnt create mega man"***
I think that was his point.
Hint: "coughs violently"
Level-5 Comcept’s Keiji Inafune recently sat down for an interview where he talked about how the idea for Dragon & Colonies came about, how they had to fit the needs of the smartphone crowd, and more.
Keiji Inafune was once a legendary and iconic game developer, but after the disaster of Mighty No. 9 and the failure of Red Ash, he's disappeared.
I lost so much respect for this guy. I am still bitter over Mighty No. 9 and not getting the backer rewards as promised. All I've gotten was what was promised in the lowest tier with a t shirt and a dumb plushie.
Have you guys seen the latest comments on the MN9 Kickstarter page? Lots of backers still haven't gotten their rewards.
https://www.kickstarter.com...
yea I'm in that tier and it doesn't look like we will get them. Honestly I quit doing Kickstarters because of this game. A "signature edition" came out at retail for $60 (I think). I did one of those upper tier backings with a reward of a cartridge, art book, and all kinds of stuff.
Yea all I got was a digital code for the game, a DLC skin for the wrong platform, a t-shirt, and a plushie...
How you managed to get this:
"At that time I was still at Capcom and I believe that they are one of the few Japanese companies that kept up with Western standards. We always strove to develop games with a global audience in mind"
to this:
"Now, bearing in mind this statement is made as a criticism of the Japanese games industry, ie, Inafune believes that Japanese game developers should be pandering to western tastes, then I have to say this: the guy has lost his marbles."
First off, Keiji is correct at his points. During his time at CAPCOM games were far more receptive in both western and eastern shores. At no point was there ANY indications that pandering to "western" gamers was ever brought up.
All you saw was "western" ignored the "global" refused to make direct comparisons pre/post Keiji on CAPCOM then proceed to over-sensationalize your headline in order to boost your journalistic ego trying to point out an inherit flaw that was not there in the first place.
If there's one thing I agree about this post, it would be the fact it was submitted as an "opinion piece" and a very poor one at that.
No, Phil Fish does. Inafune is basically acting as a motivational speaker - something that some would say is necessary.
Inafune is not "attacking" the industry. He's warning them of their impending doom, and he's right. This was more of a rallying call: stand up and fight, or lie down and die. Simple as that.
Japanese devs were the best in the business up until this generation. They just fell behind technologically and found themselves in a bit of an identity crisis (especially Capcom).
When he talk about keeping up with the West, he's talking about technology. Japanese games seem to lack the visual lustre of western games this generation, when they should be mopping the floor with them. With all the amazing technology available now, Japanese artists should be creating worlds that make Skyrim look like your back garden. Not in terms of size, but in terms of imagination. Look at Demon's/Dark Souls, for one (and only one, sadly). Sure, there's the rare diamond like Ni No Kuni as well, but these games should be more common than they are, look at how many AAA quality Japanese games were coming out monthly last generation.
Honestly, anyone who doesn't see that the Japanese industry is in trouble is either a deluded J-Fanboy or they have no understanding of the situation.
I believe both industries have issues but I prefer japanese games by far.
They feel like games. Whimsy, mystical, fun
Exactly, what does he know? Digitally downloaded are in a far better position to comment on the state of Japanese development scene, than some, world renowned, Japanese developer.