It all really depends, I'll agree...Japan you still get mainly traditional style RPGs even today (i.e.: Lost Odyssey), but you look at the US and how many FPS games come out every year and how many of those are "space marine shooting aliens so they dont destroy earth"? =P yet on the same side of things you can get some really interesting things like Katamari (mentioned before), echodrome, GTA III, or Portal. Its just a matter of how you want to define unique. If you find a way to twist a currently existing genere and flip it on its head (like how Grandia 1 and the like added an element of real-time) in my opinion its just as unique as is if you were to make a puzzle game that deals with a portable wormhole gun.

sirsonik

I don't think any country is necessarily any more creative than another, but American companies seem to have very little respect for tradition and seem more willing to jab at traditional tropes and themes. Particularly in smaller companies, where it's beneficial to be seen as a trailblazer and to carve out a new direction in order to stand out from the giants.

Balius

Has nothing to do with being part of a big corporation or not. Yes, smaller orgs are typically more flexible, but plenty of original concepts have come from very large organizations as well.

What it REALLY comes down to is culture. Does the culture encourage and reward new and unique ideas or does it tend to frown on dissent? American culture *in general* tends to be open to the new and the different, whereas Japanese culture is more cautious of the new and different--and they always have been.

jasongw

@Gantz: Your Trusted Friend in Science.:

Venture Brothers > Everything you just listed.

RonCey

Am I the only one who giggled at the blog linkage to a story right underneath this one?

Anyways, I agree with Shigs on this one. The resurgence of "casual games" is a big thing that adds a lot of weight to this.

.endejas.

Americans are creative, the key is not being part of a big corporation, look at Western flash games on the internet

ban_hammer

Only thing I could think about that was creative recently was Portal, and a ton of those garage games that are nice (Tower of goo and such)

Kaizuden

@Gantz: Your Trusted Friend in Science.: Amen to that! I love Gundam; I've yet to see America create anything so consistently wonderful.

The Red Comet

and dude, I'm an idiot, that was supposed to go towards kingmanic :D

City41

Variety is the spice of life.

I think it all comes down to the people. Japan has unique things so does the U.S. so does every country. But its really about the people. There are ppl capable of unique ideas everywhere, regardless of country.

string_theory

@Thorax: Dude, the horse, it's dead.

City41

Sorry, you guys made Gundam, anime and Cho Aniki. America has nothing on that.

Gantz: Your Trusted Friend in Science.

Lol. I think everyone's too burnt out from the last post to muster up the energy to turn this comments section into another 300+ replies-behemoth.

"They are all the same! All fake-modest!"

"LOL! No that's not true, we have a 20000 year history and we're more modest!"

"Are there space cars in Nintendo's game too?"

There I summarized it all.

rrghy

Thats a good point. I think Japanese games tend to be more precise, they take a smaller scope and make it great where American companies tend to try to cram more and more content, be it landscape, characters, weapons, armor, whatever.

In being more precise they take whatever they have and redo it to make it better, ala Final Fantasy. They don't make big changes because they want to still perfect on what they are doing.

American companies (the smaller ones) tend to want to do new things that people haven't thought of, although like Japan the big corporations get stuck doing the same stuff over and over because they have shareholders and boards to please (EA, Activision, MS etc).

The indie market also seems to be bigger in America than in Japan, where they know what they like and they want just that.

Xer0Ph0kus

I don't know what his intentions are, but I have to agree on some levels. Especially with valve games and the user-made mods that then became apart of the company. that's something that has never happened in japan, unless you count doujin games, but should those count?

Laughin_Caulk

@ManjiKengo: I know that, but where the hell is the original shot from? I've seen it a few times on Kotaku, so where does it's origin lay?

Thorax

@Thorax: its called a photo manip

ManjiKengo

""In Japan, the technology required to create videogames tends to be concentrated in the bigger corporation""

Hello.... ever head of Microsoft?

This must be like the Kojima thing.

Narynan

Also, where the hell is that shot from?

Thorax

Unique like umm... the 360? Take real effort to make it die on everyone who bought one but still attract so many good game studios.

kingmanic

Can't completely disagree, as we're starting to see smaller games like Every Day Shooter and flow.

Still, nothing to me will ever be as "unique" as Katamari.

Thorax

Oh, how MODEST of you Shiggy.

I wonder if wiiware will be exclusive per region.

Also, what the hell is he talking about?
"Japanese companies aren't quite as outside the box."

Didn't a unique bunch of japanese folk make Katamari Damacy, chibi Robo, patapon and loco roco and other various weird titles?

ManjiKengo

go figure the irony that he says we're more creative, but we have yet to match the likes of Mario and Link.

i get the modesty part, but.....he's Shigeru Miyamoto.

frank0127

I can see two reasons for Shiggy saying this.

1) Western audiences have a broader taste in games covering more genres, which would explain the greater number of unique products.

Run a search for a list of favorite games by Japanese people (Kotaku probably has articles). I'm betting 80% of the games are RPGs. Now find a list of favorite games by Americans. I bet you'll see games such as Halo, GTA, StarCraft, Madden, Mass Effect, The Sims, etc.

2) He's acting modest, exactly like what Kojima was talking about in the article posted before this one.

UmeShoryu

More non-traditional than Japan? This is the nation that brought us katamari, Shadow of the Colossus, and nay, created the console market as we see it today and kept a dying arcade industry alive for another decade and a half because they didn't only make space shooters and pong...

bobtheduck

@frank0127: He's is an exception to the rule since someone with his talent is extremely rare on a global scale.

Velops

I think American companies just go out on a limb more than Japanese companies. But you only need to take a look at one of his games to see that the Japanese can be just as creative as Americans.

Anyways, I don't think it's a comment on nationality that he's making. It's probably just about the demographic American companies have in mind when they make games and the demographics Japanese companies have in mind when they make games. Since America has such broad national interests in comparison to Japan's population American companies can create more non-traditional games.

That's just my take on it however.

NeoAkira

Compare Western to Japanese RPGs.

There's also the undeniable cultural fact that the Japanese are somewhat averse to change. At least, unless they really have to. They seem to have a very, very deep-seated "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" mentality, whereas Americans seem to enjoy change for change's sake alone. There's definite benefits to both sides of that coin, but then again, which country forced the other one to develop at gunpoint?

tzaketh

@UmeShoryu: But he's not ACTING, he's INHERENTLY an immensely modest person!

slomo788

Its like they need to evolve or fall behind.

Also the constant pressure from spoiled fans with unrealistic expectations.

Witzbold

I think what it is, is the fact that US companies are by far more competitive than Japanese ones.

So each one is trying to out do the other in some aspect, since american culture is one that loves to do penis comparison.

I mean just look at most reviews now days its a bunch of dick waiving about which game is better than what, and what is a this killer etc.

So its no suprise companies are always evolving trying to up the other at its own game.

Witzbold

We do things differently, sure. I still get in fights over American vs Japanese RPGs.

But aside from getting a few Genres the Japanese haven't fully mastered, there is a strange parallel.

Good turn based strategy games Games come from Japan, Good Realtime Strategy Games come from here.

We get good sandbox games, and First Person Shooters, Japan Gets Dating Sims and Street Fighting Games.

Of course both sides have a few odd games that come out like Katamari Demacy or Raving Rabbids, but you get that both ways.

I remember when I was a kid Japan was considered somewhat mystical in the world of game design. A strange place with several different kinds of games that never would see release in our country as they are far too strange. Japan has been De-Mystified over the years, but ironically it seems we have become mystified to them.

LuppyLuptonium

This is actually true of a lot of things. My own corporation I work for (which has nothing to do with games) freely admits that Western companies are better at innovating something new, while Eastern companies are better at improving that new thing to perfection.

CyricZ

Americans are always innovating. Everyday they're making games like GTA but... XD

I'm on no ones side actually. If someone argues that the Japanese aren't innovative I'll try to convince him that they are. Same, if someone said the same thing about Americans. But I find myself arguing for Americans more since most gamers I've come across are ignorant about American games. Except the PC crowd. You rock, all 5 of you who are not playing WoW.

Shinryoma

Besides FPS's and MMO's, what else has America got? Creative my ass...

Dir_en_grey

Maybe I'm just not reading it as deep as I could, but pretty much all I got out of that article was:

Haha! My game is coming out in your country, gamers! Your country is awesome at making games! Haha! Buy my game!

ca$h

@Shinryoma: GTA is developed in Scotland. :p

MattB

bloody hell you Americans.

You all went on a mad merry go round over Kojima seemingly "negative" gaffe, about you lot being not "modest".

Then when Shiggy give you lot a "positive" comment with obvious admiration, you all go "modest" and start picking it apart.

sheesh, you lot are never happy. All i can say is have a nice big, chunky, beef burger with cheese, onions, add more of those angry things you get from Burger King....no wait make it a double! big fries....oh haruhi....so hungry....Damn you...daaaammn yoooou!

*looks at the clock in desperation*

come on....Cooooome oooooon!

Onizuka-GTO

@ca$h:I don't think it's that shallow.

Foxstar Sixtail

Actually I think 95% of the game market is all inside the box thinking. How many forgettable JRPGs were there for the PS2? How many "me-too" FPS WW2 games do we have? How many Mario-like platformers did we have in the 8-bit days?

Not much of gaming is revolutionary these days.

battra92

He's not wrong..

WiiWare shows us that.. US WiiWare is full of "indie" stuff and it's looking a lot better than the games on japanese WiiWare, that are mostly from big companies like Square and Hudson.

CockroachMan

@The Red Comet: consistently wonderful?! are you serious?!

bigman88zz

@ManjiKengo: weird? those games all seemed normal to me. i dont know about you, but my daily life always consists of rolling people up in giant balls

bigman88zz

Then again, for the gaming god he is, he's pretty much always been with Nintendo. I wouldn't be surprised if he's never had a good look at indie games there. (Though that's still kind of hard to believe considering a few indie games in recent years that are all over the mainstream due to their originality...)

But I guess he's talking about studios ready to make Wiiware games and I could see those not being on every corner.

fuchikoma

@Witzbold: Yes! It's all about competitive advantage, and making things bigger, better and faster.

Mpalm.

Its all been said, so I shall say no more.............cancel that.

New form NINTENDO the Wii Wallet, exclusively for Shigeru Miyamoto. Its plain, its white, its stuffed with your money!!! Woooooooo!!!

com4tably.numb

In other words, American companies better make some games for Nintendo or he'll find them and punch them out(Remember, Shiggy has a temper).

KM91

also, im not sure if id agree on his comment about uniqueness. a good majority of the games coming out here by U.S. companies are beginning to have that "ive played this game before" feeling. its just that they add more crap to it, either for the better, or for the worse. uniqueness and originality has died a long time ago everywhere.

bigman88zz

@battra92: Yeah, its just 5% of Japanese studios means a lot less than 5% of American studios. So of course you would have more unique games in America, you have more game developers.

fumar

Or maybe because we are the most diverse country in the world...

Lamburger Helper

nice reply to kojima's comments... That probably would gain even more american fans for Nintendo

mcool93

An introduction to gaming for the American non-gamer:

Sony + Kojima : BAD, don't likes you, thinks you big-mouthed chump

Nintendo + Shiggy : GOOD, much likes you, thinks you cool dood

j/k

(See what it says right there? "j/k")
(Don't shoot.)
(Please.)
(I'll beg if I have to: I have no self-esteem.)

Antiterra

From what I can tell, all he really seems to be saying when he says, "In Japan, the technology required to create videogames tends to be concentrated in the bigger corporations" is that US developers tend to be much more willing to use widely available middleware while Japanese companies tend to reinvent the wheel on a regular basis and that only the largest corporations have the ability to do that.

Powerlurker

Not long ago dear Shigeru said that he lurvbs him some FPS games, then that he wanted Link's Crossbow Training to carry a Terminator-esque plot, and... now this?

He seems like some far out hippie during those "Iwata asks" articles. Not in a bad way, mind you.

Melonfodder

@Antiterra: *bang*

<------ # =+pO(-_- )

Onizuka-GTO

He clearly never heard of Midway or Epic.

toadwarrior

Some people really need to read the article. He's talking about smaller indie developers. And on that point, he's definitely right.

crazyorloco