It doesn’t bother me that the Japanese games industry is going through some pretty troubling times. I’m okay with multiplayer, first person shooters and open-world games being the go-to method for how the games industry makes its money. I’m not okay with Duke Nukem: Forever selling more than Child of Eden and Shadows of the Damned. It makes me feel uncomfortable. It’s like I just ate something, thought it was delicious, then someone leaned over to me and told me there was a used Band-Aid hidden in it. So if you are one of the contributing factors that boosted the sales of Duke Nukem: Forever, please feel free to comment on this article. As for fans of current Japanese games released in the U.S., maybe you can help me figure out a winning strategy for this portion of the community.
Let’s start with Japan, because if I begin with Duke Nukem without a buffer — I’ll throw my keyboard out the window. According to recent NPD sales figures there is a better chance of someone reading this who has been struck by lightening, than someone reading this and having bought Child of Eden. Child of Eden, you know, the spiritual successor to the rhythm based game, Rez. Child of Eden, the game that was supposedly better with Kinect. The artistically experimental and very Japanese-centric game, that was sold on a system that very few Japanese people buy. Yeah, okay, I’m with it.
[video provided by: Machinima]
As it turns out, not a lot of Americans like playing rhythm-based games centered around saving an Asian woman from space whales and elaborately designed phoenixes. If I were assigned to promote a game like Child of Eden to an American audience, what method would I use? You can’t advertise the rhythm game angle. Guitar Hero and Rock Band have slashed and burned that territory. The game never really had an internet presence, barring positive critical praise. Not to mention the game’s release came about during a time when game purchases are usually slow.
Couple all these hurdles with the obvious fact that the game is being advertised as a Microsoft Kinect title. Not only do you have to communicate to gamers what this game is, but you also have to make the manner in which you play the game appealing. Child of Eden had a lot going against it. Who would have guessed some misogynist with an old shtick could be responsible for stealing sales from the long-awaited title? Also, that video above shows a guy alone in a warehouse apartment with nothing but an entertainment system. Probably a murderer. Just sayin’.
Let’s look at Shadows of the Damned. A game advertised as a cotton-blend of all things I use to love about survival horror games. The game feels and looks like its working with a budget it had scrounged together, over years of arguing with publishers and investors. It’s only fitting that, because of it’s rough edges the heart of the game is quite endearing. It’s unfortunate Shadows of the Damned’s potty mouthed humor was pitted against a certain flat-top wise cracking American gaming idol.
What we have here is a failure of community. Imagine being interested in a movie, but needing a couple friends to push you to see it — and that push never comes. Instead, they recommend a movie you vehemently hated and now question your friendship’s future. I’m not sure where the gaming community is headed after this year. It would be a different story if Duke had bombed with Child of Eden and Shadows of the Damned. No one argues when niche, and games of middling quality, don’t sell out at stores. This is different. Duke is a stitched together mess of a project that has managed to climb out of a 14-year-video game grave. A grave that Gearbox inherited and shouldn’t be held completely responsible for. Heck, maybe better Duke Nukem games are on the way because of the success of this piece of mediocrity.
Here we see Catherine eating a slice of pizza, just like you or I would.
What I’m confused by is what impression does this make on Japanese developers? Personally, I don’t see Q Games producing another experimental title on a gaming console. There’s also an obvious elephant in the room. The most recent successful Japanese games are either established franchises [Resident Evil, Final Fantasy, Mario] or feature a female character’s physique on the cover.
Maybe that’s what it takes. Bayonetta and Catherine are two games that pushed the envelope in regards to game design and character attachment. Whether either game delivered on what was advertised is a debatable topic. But to get the average consumer to pony up cash, developers had to show a little hip here and a lot of chest there.
Maybe this is how it’s meant to play out. Games in all regions aren’t doing too stellar. There are only a select few releases that do exceptional. I’m just taking issue with Duke, because it is, after all, not exceptional. I’ve come to terms with the idea of sex selling. I think we’ve all had time to get over this. It’s just unfortunate that this seems to be the Japanese gaming industry’s only method to sell an original work. And if it’s not a busty, dysmorphic woman on the cover, then it’s a ‘totally jacked bro’ trying his best to win your heart. But usually it’s a woman.
So what’s next? Was I completely off on this? Is there a silver-lining I missed? Could the indie games scene of Japan keep, both fresh ideas and new forms of revenue alive? You tell me.
