371
rate

Akira Yamaoka says: American games are so advanced - Japan is falling behind!

December 27, 2007 in News comments 6

When Westerners think of Japan's technology, they automatically think of how advanced it is in comparison to their own. Well according to Konami's sound director, Akira Yamaoka, that just isn't the case.

Yamaoka has recently been working on the new Silent Hill 5 game - The first game in the series to be developed by Westerners. And as a result, he believes that when it comes to developing games, Japan is falling behind America! Apparently Japanese game developers are in trouble.

(go to source for full interview)

As part of an extended interview published today on Gamasutra, Konami sound director Akira Yamaoka has been discussing both progress on the Western-developed Silent Hill 5 and the state of Japanese development, suggesting "Japan is in trouble" when it comes to game development sophistication.

The interview, originally printed in the December 2007 issue of Game Developer magazine, has been expanded for its appearance on Gamasutra, and includes Yamaoka answering why Konami chose California-based developer The Collective for the currently in-development Silent Hill 5: "Basically, their graphical skill... and also they really understand the world and concept of Silent Hill."

"There's a huge gap, actually. They're very advanced. I'm Japanese, and I think this is not just with Silent Hill but with the whole of the industry -- I look at what American developers are doing and I think wow... Japan is in trouble."

"There are two reasons I think. One is that the development environment in Japan is divided into developers and publishers. Publishers have to create a game in a short amount of time at low cost, and it's a lot of pressure on them in that respect, and they pass that on to the developers. So basically it has to be done as quickly and cheaply as possible. And the people doing this are getting old like me. And tired! And the salary isn't that great."

"The second reason is that... well for example, on another project [we] were in development for a while, and we realized that we needed a new driver for some graphics program. That happens of course. So we looked around for it, and we found it, OK. Same maker, same everything, should be fine right? But the problem is they're all in English. So we get this thing and we have to localize it into Japanese."
Miss Razz via gamasutra.com »
Favourite this article Add source
| More
Report!
News story attached to:

Comments

Register as a member to subscribe comments.
  • 0
    Final Blade Dec 27, 07
    I think thats subject of an opinion tbh. I have played some of the most epic and beautiful games made from eastern area's, FF KH and a few others.
    Maybe his tastes are not easternish.
  • 0
    Existenz Dec 27, 07
    Isn't it always that way though... America throw hollywood type budgets at their games same as their movies, but that doesn't mean the games are always better or more advanced. Japan have always been behind in these mediums but for the most part they do make the best stuff, though i do see what he is saying just look at Bladestorm and Fatal Inertia they are both Japanese games and they are very very poor games on the next gen scale.
  • 1
    Bri Dec 27, 07
    I don't know about the statement. Most of the games I still enjoy have origins in Japan. Metal Gear, Mario, even Midnight Club I think started out in Japan. If anything, I'd say they're equal but I prefer japanese games that are ported into english, such as MGS.
  • 0
    Woudo Dec 27, 07
    Not entirely sure I would agree with that.
  • 1
    Akira_EX Dec 27, 07
    You can see where he's coming from, though. Japanese companies are beginning to outsource their games: Silent Hill 5 and Silent Hill Origins have Western developers. Let's not also forget to mention Sega having Bioware create a Sonic RPG. (If anyone knows if that's still an active project, please enlighten.)
  • 0
    Storm Dec 27, 07
    Hmm, yeah I get what he means, but to say that American games are 'so' advanced than their's? Maybe with popularity, shooter games especially, but there's no denying that Japan knows how to make RPGS, and classics like Mario and such.

This news story is archived and is closed to comments now.