Case closed: Inafune is NOT IMPRESSED
It’s been a few years since Mega Man creator and former Capcom honcho Kenji Inafune made waves by sayingJapan makes awful games. He hasn’t really stopped ringing the death knell since. Earlier this year he declared Japan’s games industry “not fine,” and this weekend at PAX, talking toGameSpot, Inafune noted that things still aren’t getting better.
Ultimately, it’s probably gotten worse than when I was talking about it before. And that’s a shame. But there are options out there. And there are many options that Japanese independent developers can pursue to gain more control, to own their own IP, et cetera. And Kickstarter is one of those fantastic options.
Inafune, of course, recently announced theMega Man-evokingMighty No. 9, which has already blownpast its Kickstarter goal. I think he might have a point when it comes to Japanese indie development. The same sort of indie developer community and consumer indie fervor doesn’t seem to exist in Japan, at least not in a way that makes it out of the country, save for a few examples, likeCave Story. Things are changing, though. Just look at theProject PhoenixKickstarter, which features the talents ofFinal Fantasycomposer Nobuo Uematsu, among others.
As a whole, though, I think Inafune’s claims are as silly as ever. A lot of great stuff is still coming out of Japan.Gravity Rushis one of my favorite games in recent memory and this month’sPuppeteeris looking like a contender for my personal game of the year. Worth noting, both of those games come from the typically excellent Sony Japan, though. Likewise, a lot of stagnant and derivative stuff comes from Western developers. What do you think?
Inafune says Japanese industry has “gotten worse”[GameSpot]
