I just wrote a blog article about this topic and the dichotomy between narratives in Eastern and Western games:
http://www.cordweekly.com/cordweekly/myweb.php?hls=10038&topic_id=4
Note: totally my own subjective opinion, disagree with it as you desire.
Full article posted below:
"In the world of video games, there apparently exists a dichotomy of style between games made in the West (namely North America and Europe) and games made in the East (mostly ? just Japan).
Games from the East have long been entitled to the myth that they?re simply more focused on fun than their Western equivalents. This is generally due to their heritage, which is really the heritage of modern gaming itself: classic franchises such as Mario, Zelda, and Final Fantasy.
Series such as these have largely retained their quality over the years, at least in terms of pure gameplay. They?re fun, accessible and offer us pretty much exactly what we hope for in each iteration.
With the Wii?s popularity at a feverous peak, gamers in forums and the media are keenly debating the argument that Eastern games are about the three glorious ?F?s (?fun?, ?fantasy? and ?freedom?) while Western games are stuck in a rut of ?rockets?, ?realism? and ?rights? (i.e. movie/sports licenses).
Wii Sports just ran away with a record six BAFTAs (British Academy of Television and Arts), acknowledged for its simplicity, accessibility and pure entertainment value.
Super Mario Galaxy, coming to the Wii this month, has already garnered enough critical praise to laud it as the current highest-rated game of the next-gen consoles. Like his Italian cousin, Zelda is going strong, with The Phantom Hourglass pleasing fans on the DS and Twilight Princess wowing launch-buyers on the Wii.
Other new Japanese franchises are making their mark too, but what gamers get most excited about always seems to be the evolved versions of heritage classics. But in my opinion, it does seem a little like beating a dead horse when Japanese developers constantly try to revitalize the same game.
It?s the fans to blame, in a way. After Metal Gear Solid 2, creator Hideo Kojima said he would never make a sequel. But after an endless stream of fan complaints, he was forced to cave, and now we?re getting Metal Gear Solid 4.
Like any brand name, the recognized monikers are usually the best-selling games because fans are simply greedy for more. Once the wheel starts turning, it?s never going to stop.
Bioshock could be an example of this problem in its infancy. An original intellectual property developed by the critically lauded Western creators of System Shock 2 (a game which sold terribly), Bioshock has been hailed by current critics as the finest FPS of its generation, cutting off Half-life 2?s three-year reign. It sold well too, and as a result of the amount of units shipped, we?ve now been promised Bioshock 2 in the not-to-distant future. And then Bioshock 3.
Now Bioshock was an amazing game, and introduced an amazing environment and a gripping storyline. But are there really any more stories to tell in the world of Rapture, the underground city built by Andrew Ryan, the Promethean over-reacher whose desire to create a thriving society was overcome by his desire for power?
I?d argue that one game was enough; it gave us a sublime display of beautiful fantasy that has rarely been matched in video games, or any medium, period. Why not just leave it at that?
My point, which I?m clearly starting to lose, is that these Eastern game franchises are guilty of offering us too much of the same, if only for the sake of comforting familiarity and nostalgic whimsy which both contribute to a reassured sales base.
Fifteen years later, we?ve still got Link doing somersaults over Hyrulean hills, saving Princess Zelda and collecting enough Rupees to buy a boomerang. Mario is still rescuing Princess Peach from Bowser?s lava fortress. Nintendo knows there aren?t really any more vital stories to weave within these imaginary universes, but they really don?t seem to care, because people are going to buy the game.
Some Western games are guilty of the same repetition, but not nearly to the same degree, mostly because they simply don?t hold as strong a heritage as their Japanese peers.
Narrative is the future of video games, and represents the most profound degree of progress to be found in the medium. Narrative isn?t just story, of course, but a combination of things which make the video game medium unique in its potential as an art form.
Narrative is location: the steam-punk under-city of Rapture in Bioshock; the neon-glowing streets of Vice City. It is characters: the personable, sympathetic Alyx Vance of Half-life 2, or your own unique avatar in Mass Effect.
More than anything, it is feeling: the emotions going through your head as a bullet whizzes past your head and lodges itself in the neck of a fellow trooper in Call of Duty 4. In many ways, narrative is the cohesive package of the game, which makes it feel less like a ?game?, and more like a ?text?.
Evidently, I?m a Western guy, in terms of modern gaming. Why? Because the dichotomous relationship between Western and Eastern games ? namely that Eastern games are focused on the three ?F?s, while Western games are primarily concerned with ?rockets?, ?realism? and ?rights? ? is a totally short-sighted misrepresentation. I argue that the real dichotomy is one of narrative quality.
Forget fun, fantasy, freedom, rockets, realism, rights, headshots, crates, boss battles, exploding barrels and princesses. If games want a serious future as an art-form, it?s all about narrative as a whole.
I look forward to the day when we can stop calling them ?video games? and instead refer to them as ?interactive texts?, or something, but if the medium doesn?t continue to strive towards presenting intellectually engaging narratives, it?s never going to happen. Japan, I?m looking at you."
Feel free to sign up to www.cordweekly.com and post your own comments on the website, or simply post here.
http://www.cordweekly.com/cordweekly/myweb.php?hls=10038&topic_id=4
Note: totally my own subjective opinion, disagree with it as you desire.
Full article posted below:
"In the world of video games, there apparently exists a dichotomy of style between games made in the West (namely North America and Europe) and games made in the East (mostly ? just Japan).
Games from the East have long been entitled to the myth that they?re simply more focused on fun than their Western equivalents. This is generally due to their heritage, which is really the heritage of modern gaming itself: classic franchises such as Mario, Zelda, and Final Fantasy.
Series such as these have largely retained their quality over the years, at least in terms of pure gameplay. They?re fun, accessible and offer us pretty much exactly what we hope for in each iteration.
With the Wii?s popularity at a feverous peak, gamers in forums and the media are keenly debating the argument that Eastern games are about the three glorious ?F?s (?fun?, ?fantasy? and ?freedom?) while Western games are stuck in a rut of ?rockets?, ?realism? and ?rights? (i.e. movie/sports licenses).
Wii Sports just ran away with a record six BAFTAs (British Academy of Television and Arts), acknowledged for its simplicity, accessibility and pure entertainment value.
Super Mario Galaxy, coming to the Wii this month, has already garnered enough critical praise to laud it as the current highest-rated game of the next-gen consoles. Like his Italian cousin, Zelda is going strong, with The Phantom Hourglass pleasing fans on the DS and Twilight Princess wowing launch-buyers on the Wii.
Other new Japanese franchises are making their mark too, but what gamers get most excited about always seems to be the evolved versions of heritage classics. But in my opinion, it does seem a little like beating a dead horse when Japanese developers constantly try to revitalize the same game.
It?s the fans to blame, in a way. After Metal Gear Solid 2, creator Hideo Kojima said he would never make a sequel. But after an endless stream of fan complaints, he was forced to cave, and now we?re getting Metal Gear Solid 4.
Like any brand name, the recognized monikers are usually the best-selling games because fans are simply greedy for more. Once the wheel starts turning, it?s never going to stop.
Bioshock could be an example of this problem in its infancy. An original intellectual property developed by the critically lauded Western creators of System Shock 2 (a game which sold terribly), Bioshock has been hailed by current critics as the finest FPS of its generation, cutting off Half-life 2?s three-year reign. It sold well too, and as a result of the amount of units shipped, we?ve now been promised Bioshock 2 in the not-to-distant future. And then Bioshock 3.
Now Bioshock was an amazing game, and introduced an amazing environment and a gripping storyline. But are there really any more stories to tell in the world of Rapture, the underground city built by Andrew Ryan, the Promethean over-reacher whose desire to create a thriving society was overcome by his desire for power?
I?d argue that one game was enough; it gave us a sublime display of beautiful fantasy that has rarely been matched in video games, or any medium, period. Why not just leave it at that?
My point, which I?m clearly starting to lose, is that these Eastern game franchises are guilty of offering us too much of the same, if only for the sake of comforting familiarity and nostalgic whimsy which both contribute to a reassured sales base.
Fifteen years later, we?ve still got Link doing somersaults over Hyrulean hills, saving Princess Zelda and collecting enough Rupees to buy a boomerang. Mario is still rescuing Princess Peach from Bowser?s lava fortress. Nintendo knows there aren?t really any more vital stories to weave within these imaginary universes, but they really don?t seem to care, because people are going to buy the game.
Some Western games are guilty of the same repetition, but not nearly to the same degree, mostly because they simply don?t hold as strong a heritage as their Japanese peers.
Narrative is the future of video games, and represents the most profound degree of progress to be found in the medium. Narrative isn?t just story, of course, but a combination of things which make the video game medium unique in its potential as an art form.
Narrative is location: the steam-punk under-city of Rapture in Bioshock; the neon-glowing streets of Vice City. It is characters: the personable, sympathetic Alyx Vance of Half-life 2, or your own unique avatar in Mass Effect.
More than anything, it is feeling: the emotions going through your head as a bullet whizzes past your head and lodges itself in the neck of a fellow trooper in Call of Duty 4. In many ways, narrative is the cohesive package of the game, which makes it feel less like a ?game?, and more like a ?text?.
Evidently, I?m a Western guy, in terms of modern gaming. Why? Because the dichotomous relationship between Western and Eastern games ? namely that Eastern games are focused on the three ?F?s, while Western games are primarily concerned with ?rockets?, ?realism? and ?rights? ? is a totally short-sighted misrepresentation. I argue that the real dichotomy is one of narrative quality.
Forget fun, fantasy, freedom, rockets, realism, rights, headshots, crates, boss battles, exploding barrels and princesses. If games want a serious future as an art-form, it?s all about narrative as a whole.
I look forward to the day when we can stop calling them ?video games? and instead refer to them as ?interactive texts?, or something, but if the medium doesn?t continue to strive towards presenting intellectually engaging narratives, it?s never going to happen. Japan, I?m looking at you."
Feel free to sign up to www.cordweekly.com and post your own comments on the website, or simply post here.
