Sometimes things are best when they’re put simply. The fewer words, the better said.
It’s harder to illustrate the problem more simply than this.
That problem, according to Deadly Premoniton and D4: Dark Dreams Don’t Die producer Hidetaka Suehiro, is one of priorities.
Earlier today on Instagram, the developer put forward a very simple question: why do Japanese developers make it so difficult to attend conferences and conventions, particularly foreign ones, but they are happy to spend company money on alcohol and out-of-office activities?
Suehiro, better known as Swery, has just finished having a brief holiday after attending the Reboot Develop conference in Croatia. It also poses the question: how can a studio spend manage their expenses in a way that benefits them and keeps their workers happy?
And more importantly, why do — according to Swery, anyway — Japanese studios have such an aversion to having their staff attend conferences overseas?
Comments
17 responses to “Deadly Premonition Maker Questions Where Japanese Developers Put Their Money”
I’m going to be honest, I only clicked this link because I saw the header image and hoped there might be news of the second episode of D4 being made.
Getting approvals to travel overseas and visit conferences doesn’t seem unreasonable for such an expense.
Not needing approvals for drinking and golf seems… odd.
Welcome to Japanese work culture!
I am being 100% honest when I say that I have mild liver damage as a result of Japanese work culture. It’s not cheap, either.
I love DP, DP is amazing, I often wonder what it would be like to go through that experience again, if its better the second time around? Oh, that game Deadly Premonition is pretty good too.
Couldn’t get into D4. Good idea but I felt it was implemented so badly. Those awful quicktimes and the over-the-top characters, not one of them as memorable as those in Deadly Premonition – which I still wish it retained its original title of Red Seeds Profile. So much better.
The creator of the clunkiest, ugliest game to have defiled our screens last gen questions others on what they spend their production $ on? Perhaps not on drugs like that guy.
Huh? Swery’s not affiliated with Gearbox.
Deadly Premonition is a masterpiece. Your opinion is garbage.
Yeah I get it, you’re one of the minority that thinks it’s great. The rest of the world think it sucks, no need to be a wang about it.
It certainly divided reviewers, with some loving it and others hating it. Enough people liked it for the publisher to re-release it three years later and port it to additional platforms. I’d hardly call that a failure.
The team definitely stretched themselves a bit thin with the scope of the game, but I don’t regret playing it. And it’s certainly not the only ugly game I’ve played on the previous generation of consoles.
I’m one of those wangs who appreciate flawed games which have more character than 5 AAA darlings.
Wait if I moved to Japan I can drink on the company’s money?!
If you’re an executive, sure. Otherwise you’ll have to split the bill for the not-mandatory-but-if-you-don’t-go-you’re-fucked drinking parties after your 60 hour work week because the boss doesn’t want to go home to his wife.
I’ll charm them with my westerness and score free drinks with my beard.
Beards are like so awesome. Can I listen to your vinyl jazz collection sometime?
Duplicate ugh
Hrm, reply fail. Erm… to keep it relevant… this is pretty common, as “traditional” Japanese businesses have a very strong “if it worked before just keep doing that” business model, regardless of if it’s actually efficient or not. Young staff know not to upset their superiors with new ideas (and possibly making them look bad) and by the time they become the superiors they’re fully engrained in the way of thinking.
We can take it at face value and assume that the front-lines developers know what they’re talking about on the impact of how the money is spent and put it down to cultural quirks and the establishment being silly, but what if they don’t have the full picture? I have a horrifying feeling that could possibly be a more efficient use of money to schmooze powerful people who can get you things that you need (marketing exposure, lower cost contracts, distribution channels, discounts on licences, etc) for the immediate project.