Wired:
Depending on your perspective, Keiji Inafune is either a singular voice of sanity in the Japanese game industry, or a traitor.
“Man, Japan is over. We’re done. Our game industry is finished,” said Inafune, then a game producer at Capcom, at the Tokyo Game Show in 2009. Shortly after those remarks, the creator of the character Mega Man and producer of hit games like Dead Rising and Lost Planet quit Capcom to start his own game development studios. Free of corporate control, he has continued to raise eyebrows with his cataclysmic comments about Japan.
SEGA has announced Fearless: Year of Shadow, a campaign that celebrates Sonic the Hedgehog and his brooding acquaintance, Shadow.
GamesIndustry.biz writes: "Relic is best known for the Company of Heroes and Dawn of War games, and recently developed the new Age of Empires for Microsoft. Relic will transition to an independent studio and will no-longer be part of the Sega group of studios.
The majority of the 240 job cuts are across Creative Assembly and Sega Europe, while there will be a ‘small number’ cut from Sega HARDLight. There was no mention of other Sega UK studios, including Two Point Studios and Sports Interactive."
Shame about Creative Assembly, they should have just been allowed to do an Alien Isolation sequel.
It was that garbage coh 3 that did them in only a special team can make a sequel worse in every way even though it was a 10 year gap and the same era.
Two Point Studios and Sports Interactive probably run on a shoe string budget so that fits into SEGA better lol
Sega had such a turbulent existence from the mid-90s to when they dropped out of console manufacturing entirely in 2001, it’s understandable if you’ve never heard of the Genesis Nomad.
I really believe this dude was being held back by Capcom
I think this guy talks a tad bit too much trash about capcom, and Japan as a whole. As Long as Nintendo is around Japan will never see complete failure in videogame culture. I can see him being upset with Capcom because they make some interesting decisions, but not even all of their games are bad. They still rule the fighting game arena. The upcoming Resident Evil 6 looks amazing so far as well.
My problem with a lot of Japanese developers is that they try to cater to the west, but usually go about it all wrong. Capcom at times is guilty of that as well. But Nintendo, and a handfull of some of the jrpgs like Xenoblade Chronicles, and The Last Story show me there is still hope.
Sega as well for putting out many fun games on a consistent basis. They don't always listen to what the fans really want, but they put up great effort and results. I'm starting to think he is just becoming a bitter old man with a chip on his shoulder. The Nintendo 3DS entertainment system is the highest selling game platform in the world right now. Strait from Japan.
Between this man, and Lord Kojima. I have never seen so much trash talk about Japan. Yes they are right about a some of the things they mention. But I don't think its as bad as they make it seem. They never bring up the success storys that still come from the land of the rising sun. They just sit under a dark cloud and focus on the negative. If they had the work ethic of a company like Nintendo or the better parts of sega, they could see a turn around, and great success as well.
Rated E For Everyone
"Depending on your perspective, Keiji Inafune is either a singular voice of sanity in the Japanese game industry, or a traitor. "
More like someone that isnt the single voice of japan to begin with , and hasnt shown anything relevant yet , of late .
And before someone take offense , i'm talking about RIGHT NOW . He has one notable game in the pipeline , that has yet to :
1. Actually being released
2. Proves successful in japan
3. Proves to be successful overseas
4. Show us anything different than his fellow japanese niche or big devs .
I'm sure he is passionnate and feels annoyed by the current state of japan's gaming . However the constant multiple interview where he recites the same mantras over and over , and the even more multiple quotes out of context from the same interviews , are starting to feel like PR and self promotion .
Release your games , show us something different that isnt from your glorious past , and then let's talk again
Its really sad to hear some of Japan's own developers talk so much negativity about a great sector of the gaming industry. Sure a good deal of the positives have happened in the past, but that does not mean there are not some great things that have come, and are coming in these twilight years of this generation.
They deserve a lot more credit than they deserve. As an american, I believe they know more about what inherently makes a game fun, then even some of us would ever know. Not every company, but some of the older ones like Nintendo sure do.
Actions speak louder than words Inafune-san. I hope you remember that.