Gravity Rush Creator Was Concerned Kat Was "Too Japanese"

Is being Japan-like negative? Gravity Rush producer Makato Isomine and writer Naoko Sato thought about this while designing the PlayStation Vita game (which was actually planned as a PS3 title).

During a CEDEC presentation, Sato said having a female protagonist, a fictional city with a made up language, and a toon graphic style were generally negative points for overseas games. A project member from France also asked why do Japanese games have boys and girls as the main character.

[guitarded77]

I would have liked to see Kat kick Syd in the face. I guess kicking people in the face is "too Japanese"... oh well. Kat should be added to the PlayStation All-Stars roster; her floating/fighting style would be great in the game.

[sinncross]

That particular scene is pretty much a standard in manga and anime (well the non realistic kind) so that is probably what they thought.

[zgoldenlionz]

Definitely a good idea adding her to PSASBR! I just got a vita and I can't stop playing Gravity Rush.

[miyamoto]

But Elena Fisher punched Nathan Drake in the face in Uncharted: Drake's Fortune.
I guess Naughty Dog love the too Japanese stuff.

Non-Japanese gamers went nuts over Japanese stuff (movies, games, anime,manga,music) was their take on Western stuff seemed like out of this world.

Metal Gear, Mario, Final Fantasy, Sonic, Resident Evil, Castlevania, etc. are all based on Western ideas repackaged in Japanese.

Like during the British Invasion, the Beatles' take on American rock and roll seemed so new & different to the Europeans & Americans-they went nuts.

Kids went nuts over Japanese game's in the 80s, 90s, but like in music American's repackaged Brit rock to their own. Punk, Grunge etc. emerged just like today American & Europeans developers are repackaging how the Japanese makes games to their own.

Just like in all these art forms the special relationship of Westerners with Japan will continue in an ongoing cycle.

[hardandsloppy]

She was the perfect amount of Japanese :)

[chasegarcia]

she sure was. nothing wrong with that.

[Lord_Sloth]

Agreed. I don't think we're seeing enough Japanese titles this generation.

[Protagonist]

You can say that again!

[triplev16]

If the game is influenced by Japanese culture and themes then I don't want the creators to "westernize" the game for our demographic. I'd rather they stick to their creative vision first and foremost. In any case I'll be picking this up soon!

[Protagonist]

Do it! this game is awesome.

[GenericNameHere]

I hope this doesn't make the creator to change her design or anything. She was tribe the way she was. And the game was even greater. If there's something that needs to be changed/reworked, it's the controls and side missions.
Controls were pretty good for the most part, but when you fight in the air, and it's really hectic, the camera goes wonky and then you start going to places you don't want. It can get pretty irritating, and it was almost enough to make me quit the side missions. Thankfully, I loved the game so much, I persevered the horrible gravity camera and controls, gold ranked all the side missions, and got my very first Vita platinum.
The side missions were pretty good, but I wished there were stuff to do post-game other than trying to beat the side-missions. The game abruptly ends, and that's all I'm going to say about the ending.

[Xperia_ion]

Sooo far this is my game of the year second ispersona arena.

[TheDivine]

News flash Japan, we like your games BECAUSE theyre Japanese!
Dont tone anything down or change it for the west. Make your game with your vision and if its good (like gravity rush) it will sell by word of mouth alone (much like demons souls an ico/sotc did). I loved the character designs, world, the made up language, enemies, everything really. Just add more stuff like shops, puzzles, more npc's and sidequests, minigames, collectables, more skills and attacks, and at least 10 hidden costumes (not dlc btw).

[one2thr]

^^^^All of this^^^^

And an option to play online, for example imagine the coolness of walking around and seeing random other shifters flying, sliding, fighting, etc.

With online modes where players can race each other, by either shifting, taxi-ing npc's, items, etc.

Here's hoping for a sequel, cause this game surely deserves one

[Lucretia]

i think devs dont get it. i want my japanese games to be japanese and my western games to be western, wtf!

[dafegamer]

nah she is sexy, charming and a well developed character

[goldwyncq]

She's not really that developed though. Even after finishing the game, we still know very little about her past and her true identity.

[dafegamer]

I mean well developed in design and attitude

[majiebeast]

Love Kat there is a reason why alot of people want her in all stars battle royale and cant wait for Gravity rush 2 hopefully then you can also play as Raven.

[dafegamer]

she is like the best Female Character in gaming history in recent memory i can think of along with Lightning from Final Fantasy and Lara croft

[SamPao]

and Nariko!

Cat is wonderful Im happy they kept her the way she is.

[Bimkoblerutso]

It's sad that developers have to think like this. In a perfect world, consumers would be more open-minded and devs wouldn't have to worry about cultural biases and regional stereotyping (on both sides of the pond).

[SilentNegotiator]

Don't be ridiculous!

She wasn't Japanese ENOUGH! If she had been more japanese, Gravity Rush would have gotten all 10s and the game would have sold a bajillion copies instead of just a billion.

.....at least, according to that guy from Ubisoft.

[Rohered]

I'm in love with Gravity design must French then Japanese.

Is the same design as French artiste Moebius (Giraud).

[George Sears]

This is the problem that Japanese developers are facing. Nowadays they are trying way too hard to catter towards the western market, that they change minuscule things that little by little builds up into a clusterfuck of a game that could had been the next great thing.

Fortunately, this wasn't the case in this game.

[BlaqMagiq24]

Kat was not 100% Japanese and that's okay. Her design is Japanese with a touch of French as the creator said he was influenced by French comics. She has one of the best designs I've ever seen for a female in a game. I would love to see Kat in PS Battle Royale and a Gravity Rush 2.

[Xof]

I think that if Japanese developers spent less time worrying about Western bigots who hate everything from Japan, we'd all be better for it.

Guys: your games aren't getting lambasted because the characters, setting, story, or ambience is too Japanese: it's because you're Japanese. If you want to be treated equally in the Western gaming media/industry, the first thing you need to do is grab a British or American citizenship (ditching your old, tarnished, dare I say yellowed citizenship) and the second thing you need to do is be white.

Once that's done, you can still make whatever games you feel like, but now you'll see a significantly more positive reception in Europe and the Americas.

[CWVita03]

I was so mad when i wasted my money on RBS, I ended up in a hole and was unable to get Gravity Rush -_-, That's okay i'll be picking up Gravity Rush along with Madden 13 on the 31st. Keep the faith Vita owners greatness will come to this system, Cheers!

[Protagonist]

"Too Japanese" ?

Man it can´t even get Japanese enough. Look at us fans even wanting games with Japanese language.

[tarbis]

I don't really care if they make her too Japanese. I'll still like her. I want my Gravity Daze 2.

[Kureno_Nakamura]

Japan seems to be afraid to be itself due to the bias created by mostly mainstream reviewers.

What is their agenda?

[Hicken]

Their agenda... that's a good question. It's obvious they have something against Japanese games this gen. The real question is WHY?

And I can't think of anything. It doesn't benefit them in any way to needlessly bash great titles, to harp on a game feeling "Japanese," to flat-out hate a game or company because it's from Japan. But that's been the MO this generation, even while more and more kids get into all things Japanese.

Japan, perhaps fearing outright rejection- and a little bit reaching for the crazy sales they see less... developed Western games like Call of Duty acquire- has toned its own presence down in its games, which has subsequently turned off the people who most wanted to play said games.

It's really weird, man.

[DivineAssault]

She didnt even really talk lol.. Her style being japanese is what made the game special.. If she were a westerner, the charm wouldnt have been there.. & YES ADD KAT to PSABR!!! why isnt it just PSBR?