How can some gamers call Japanese Xenophobic for not accepting western gaming?

[dickywebster]

Yeah i get fed up of games been set in NY, got prototype recently and was almost convinced i was playing spiderman 2 again...
Heck i could reconise places from it!
Mind you, if they do it enough, ill know my way around the place without visiting.

As for the accusations of xenophobia towards japan, if it was from americans then id just laugh at the irony as to a british person like me, america is often used to symbolise xenophobia, racism and/or general ignorance.
It largely isnt anti american, but america doesnt get the best rep here.

But otherwise i think people have problems with Japan cause, as a friend put it "japanese culture is a fantastic freaking mess cause its so alien too us", but he loves Japan so take what you will from that.

Personally i just cantt not laugh when i hear people from countries with bad reps for various stuff start pointing fingers for it.
Like (for a none serious example) if britain started accusing say new zealand of drinking too much tea, its just silly.

 

[Ordinaryundone]

All Asian cultures are xenophobes, its not unique to Japan. Heck, the Chinese even hate people who don't come from their particular part of China. It probably stems from dozens of centuries of constantly invading and killing one another. Really, any sufficiently old culture (or, more realistically, one that is tangentially related to an older civilization. See Italians, Chinese, etc.) is like this in the end. I'm sure all the Europeans in the audience have at least one other European country they can't stand. No particular reason why, but you know you do.

Americans are lucky in this regard. No one has ever invaded us, or enslaved us, or blown us up, or whatever. We all just sort of rolled in, kicked the natives out, declared independence, and got along swimmingly with only the Civil War really causing any sort of bump in the road. The only war I can remember us being in that we didn't start or willingly join was 1812 (Revolution 2: Declare Harder).

At any rate, cultures with lots of overt xenophobia typically grow in areas with lots of violence. Asia is probably second only to Africa and parts of the Middle East in the list of areas the longest periods of constant fighting. When you grown up thinking your neighbors are one dry season away from marching over and stealing your rice fields it doesn't cultivate a very friendly attitude to foreigners.

 

[Xanadu84]

Japanese are not Xenophobic because of there games. Xenophobia in Japan is a very complex problem that Im not really qualified to discuss, but I do believe that it exists from my limited understanding. Maybe in part because of this, they are less likely to adapt and evolve new play styles that they might have come up with if they were willing to learn from western games. This isn't a matter of cultural superiority, if game developers never learned from games outside there comfort zone, we would all be playing nothing but different versions of Pong. Western developers have learned from Japan and are better for it. If Japan did more of the same, they would have better games.

 

[Elf Defiler Korgan]

The Japanese have been a serious target for leftists, and such allegations of xenophobia, for some time now. I've heard them called xenophobic because the government does not allow high levels of migration. This is supported by most of their society, in a democratic society. Now, this is a little bit unusual compared to many countries that allow a lot of people to migrate, but it is their choice. If one takes the long sighted view, they simply don't want their country to demographically change too fast, and that I can respect, especially when the people are behind the policy in a supposed democracy.

Does this prove they are xenophobic? Not exactly. You'll need more for that to stick.

Above comic is awesome.

 

[holy_secret]

I call them Xenophobic because they are. I have a friend there who is half english and half japanese, and he's been treated like an outsider all his life. Fuck, he even said there are pubs and bars where all the mixed people meet.

Seriously. They need bars.
Pisses me off to think of that. He's one of the most awesome people I've ever had the luck to meet and befriend.

I think you misunderstand what xenophobia is or aren't giving all the info. Does he like being treated in this way and only stick to people similar to him on purpose or does he do it because he has to as no one will socialise with him? If it is the former he is xenophobic if it is the latter he isn't

He moved away from there as soon as he could because he hated the way he was treated and the way people looked at him.
His relatives were the worst though. They barely acknowledged him, and did so only to be polite.

Were you serious with that question?

 

[ArchAngelKira]

Maybe they're scared that people will change the way they do things. They might want to stay unique to other countries.

 

[nothingspringstomind]

Personally i just believe it's down to an individuals' tastes.

For instance; i'm a mild Japanophile and love the culture and tropes associated with Japanese culture and hence have a bit more of an understanding when a heavily "Nipponese" game is thrown my way.

Conversely; i was reading a Science fiction short in an anthology recently, that was heavily influenced and based on Indian and Sikh/Hindu culture, and the subject matter was so alien and unusual to me it just turned me right off, and i had to skip the story as i had no real basis of comparison in my own personal absorbtion of media.

I get the feeling, sometimes, that this is basically what happens with the gaming culture.

A game in the US which is heavily Japanese in theme, won't sell as well simly because of a general lack of understanding of a culture that is many degrees different from that i the US and vice versa in Japan with a game very "western" in flavour and tropism.

As i've said; just personal opinion, but i hope it helps.

 

[Dagda Mor]

I can call Japanese DEVELOPERS xenophobic--many PS2 games have region lock,which is literally just making the game impossible to play on PS2s that aren't Japanese.I can't imagine any purpose for that other than simple xenophobia.There are other reasons,but I don't think I need to provide anything else than developers intentionally stopping foreigners from playing their games.

 

[dfphetteplace]

Today another conversation came up concerning FPS titles and how they are usually always situated in the USA, which by me is fine, but it brought to mind the fact that for us outside of the US, it's hard to identify because these places we are seeing some of us barely know or haven't visited enough to feel an attachment to, not that it makes the game any less fun otherwise they wouldn't sell so well. So I asked the question, why can't more games take place in other locales with other cultures or countries as the heroes? To which the reply was (like the many "Why can't fallout be in other countries" topics on here), 'US is the biggest gaming market, so its only right that developers design with us in mind', which is fair, but 90% of the time? Really? If that's the case, its pretty hard to point fingers at Japanese gamers for not accepting anything outside their culture.

While not based in Japan, Metro 2033 certainly isn't based in the US, and certainly does a good job at making it very culturally realistic to Russia.

 

[CLC Akira]

I think that Japanese xenophobia has roots beyond that of games. In many ways, the United States is very similar in that regard.

Before the 20th Century, both countries were very isolationist and independent. After the British forced commerce with Japan under the threat of violence, they opened their borders, albeit reluctantly. The United States entered World War 1 only after submarines started attacking their convoys which were supplying the European Allies.

Ever wonder why so many anime feature Tokyo? Or why so many American productions feature Los Angeles or New York? These cities are cultural epicenters for their countries, making them logical subjects to discuss in a given context. The same way Tokyo Is the center of the universe [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TokyoIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse], New York is the center of the states. If something big is gonna happen, it will hit the city that everybody in the country knows about.

And it isn't like xenophobia is exclusive to the Japanese. From a general perspective, most of the United States appears to hold a neutral to hostile attitude towards foreign countries. (Note General perspective, meaning no specifics). The way that Westerners view Japanese xenophobia isn't much different from how other continents view the United States stance on foreign culture.

Not to rain on your parade but it was the United States that forced Japan to open their borders for trade again. Matthew Perry went to Japan by orders of the President in July, 1853 to establish trade agreements, he was refused. He went back in February 1854, Landed on March 8, 1854. March 31, 1854 Perry and the Japanese signs the Treaty of Kanagawa. Prior to that Japan had traded with the Portuguese but then the christian missionaries started to come to japan and convert the peasant class it eventually started a revolt/revolution against the upper class and the Japanese rulers deported all missionaries and foreigners (except for a couple specific people) and made the Portuguese traders stay on a small island off the coast of japan where they wouldn't have any contact with the population. Then a little while later they sent the few traders on the island back to Portugal and completely closed there borders to all other nations.

 

[Twilightlord]

Some probably like to use it as an excuse as to why Japanese don't like certain games. But I say let them think what they want. I am at my wits end with japan games this gen, so what does that make me?

But moving on it would be nice to see a gta in the Caribbean

 

[Ariseishirou]

I'd love to see some more games set in neither Japan nor the US. There are a lot of developers elsewhere throughout the world, so why not set them in other cities that have lots of game development companies, like Vancouver? Or somewhere in Australia, or the UK? Or China?

Then you wouldn't have to worry about the cultural authenticity issue that was brought up, e.g. why Metro 2033 is so awesome and authentic. These designers are from that area; they know what, say, Canada is actually like and they aren't going to fill it full of poutine and sled dogs and Fargo accents.

That said, you don't actually spend most of your time in America in the CoD games, either. I'm sure saving the White House makes up for it, but you actually spend most of them in Russia, Iraq, Afghanistan, China, Vietnam, Azerbaijan, etc.

 

[shadow_Fox81]

i don't think most american games neglect other locales or nationalities (if any one remember call of duty's roots). As well western games include Europe so repetition in locale and protagonist seem to be a non-issue for western gaming (in my opinion but i'm australian and i would like to see a game that used australian landscapes).

I wouldn't go so far as to say xenophobic, but there is something wrong with the japenese games industry(i would say with their entire arts comunity). there is a very real sense of complacency apparent in japenese art, i think the longevity of final fantasy is evidence to this.

what i would like to see ou of asia is the brilliant,unique and exciteting flare of South Korean film distilled into a game.

 

[Altorin]

Just Cause 2 was a refreshing game which was set in the fictional Far Eastern nation, and it did not involve the white guys coming in to save the people from their vile dictator. I'd love to see other cities as settings of the game, and I think it might even help the games become popular outside the United States as well. The Japanese are no more xenophobic than the French or the Italians or the Spanish or the Americans. The people don't like anything that makes them feel awkward or out of place.

Also, GTA: Mumbai would be awesome. I'd love to run over people while driving a rickshaw.

there are enough racist stereotypes in GTA as it stands without taking it to india

 

[nokori3byo]

I learned a lot about Japanese tastes back in 2003. I was walking past a movie theatre and noticed a modest poster for The Two Towers which was completely overshadowed by a gigantic billboard touting the latest feature-length Doraemon opus. Some products of Western creativity, no matter how definitive they may seem to us, just don't strike a chord over here.

So you see, people are allowed to like what they like, even if they are COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY WRONG.

 

[theevilgenius60]

Yeah i get fed up of games been set in NY, got prototype recently and was almost convinced i was playing spiderman 2 again...

Truth. If you play Prototype and Spider-Man Web of Shadows back to back, you'll soon see that they ARE the same game, just with reskinned characters/slight plot differences
OT: Yes, Japan, as a culture, tends toward the xenophobic. Does it bother me? Not one iota. You want to stick to one general area in gaming? That's cool, just don't complain when you miss out on some great games.