Miss Doronjo
Gaiden
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- Age 31
- Toronto, Ontario
- Seen Nov 26, 2023
I thought that a certain article I've found would be interesting for an open discussion. So it all begins with Shigeru Miyamoto, developer, sitting down with 4Gamer, talking about the Japanese market (since from what I've heard, the Wii U isn't doing too well there?). He talked about how Japanese players don't enjoy harder games, while the gamers of the West enjoy the challenge. Or, as he stated in the quote below:
...Of course, in regards to this 'controversy', the Japanese gamers apparently didn't take this lying down, so to speak. The quotes shown below are the quotes that the Japanese gamers said in the response of Miyamoto's claim:
As you can see, they... didn't take it too lightly. But still, what do you think of both of these cases? Is there more fun with video games that are presented as a challenge, or otherwise? Would you agree to Miyamoto and/or the Japanese gamers' in their points? What do you think of this issue in general? Like always, feel free to share thoughts.
By the way, the source that I used was from the mynintendonews website.
"I've been making action games for some 30 years, and I've been thinking about the difference evident in how their popularity has been gradually declining in Japan whilst in America it has been maintained. The issue is that Japanese who cannot overcome the level of difficulty in an action game no longer want to play them. This perception then spreads to all games as a whole, and people avoid them because they see them as difficult."
"In the case of America, there are a lot more people who enjoy a challenge and will stick with it for you and try to overcome the initial hurdle. Yes, it's action games which really demand a certain level of skill. Right, some players just enjoy playing, some prefer to finish it, and some prefer greater challenge. People looking for a challenge will dismiss an easily cleared game as "easy." But by making things too difficult, the people who just want to play get driven off. I always wanted to accommodate both types."
...Of course, in regards to this 'controversy', the Japanese gamers apparently didn't take this lying down, so to speak. The quotes shown below are the quotes that the Japanese gamers said in the response of Miyamoto's claim:
"Yes, yes. It's all the fault of the Japanese."
"The reason they declined was because of idiots like this blaming everything on their customers."
"It's because they only know how to make games for children now."
"Nintendo, the reason you've declined is because of your endless remakes, that's all."
"Certainly, you need perseverance to play on the Wii U. Holding that horribly heavy pad was just too much for me."
"I suppose all this is why pay-to-win social games are all the rage now."
"If you are a kid with no money but lots of free time taking your time on a difficult game makes sense, but if you are an adult with money but no free time the opposite is true."
"Games recently are too simple. You should die if you make one slight mistake."
"Who wants to play a game where if you miss one pixel on the screen it is an instant game over."
"Now things are split between lots of casuals and a few hardcore gamers. You can't meet their requirements at the same time."
"The gaming audience has aged and no longer has time for the hassle of difficult action games."
"People talk like difficulty determines how much fun a game is. It is the other way around really – a game has to be fun to make you keep playing and enjoying the challenge."
"The real issue is not the difficulty but the level of effort you have to consider investing to overcome a given level of difficulty."
"Japanese just get bored of them more easily.
"I seem to recall a lot of western games used to be very difficult. Then they got dumbed down and sold more as a result. Really I think the Japanese games aren't selling because of a lack of ideas though."
"Wait, if what he is saying about Japanese being quitters is true how come Monster Hunter is so popular still? Don't overseas players moan about it being too difficult?"
"I don't get him at all. He's blaming the fact their action games sell like hot cakes in America but not in Japan on the Japanese? Blaming your customers is hardly a good business strategy…"
"Well, you rarely see western games so difficult nobody can complete them…"
"Gaming demographics just differ in the US and Japan, and the ones in the US tend to be more committed?"
"Games are supposed to be fun. Playing them needn't be treated as an act of self-mortification."
As you can see, they... didn't take it too lightly. But still, what do you think of both of these cases? Is there more fun with video games that are presented as a challenge, or otherwise? Would you agree to Miyamoto and/or the Japanese gamers' in their points? What do you think of this issue in general? Like always, feel free to share thoughts.
By the way, the source that I used was from the mynintendonews website.