I know I am probably going to regret this, but this is something that has to be said. He is right about there being a rather big problem with globalization, but his solution is half assed. Plus it does nothing to solve the problem. All he is doing is excusing shitty development practices, and passing them off as cultural differences. The problems may be cultural, but that in no way excuses not addressing them. Basically he is taking a cowards stance.
The developers in Japan are at fault, and so is the Japanese gaming public. Nobody forced them to become this quirky, and they both have to change. Obviously the Japanese developers have to change first. This aversion to change is what is really killing their industry. The developers need to begin to change their marketplace to bring it more in line with the global market. This isn't a strange or bizarre notion. Shockingly enough companies do it all of the time. Don't let your home market become complacent. Don't let yourself be in a position where you have to choose between 17% of the world market, and 100% of the world market.
For those who do not know what the problem is I am talking about I can sum it up real fast. Traditionalists are entrenched in a strict hierarchy. They basically want to make the same games they made twenty years ago, and continue to think of game design as if it were twenty years ago. There isn't any excuse to be developing in game engines. Especially for one game. Western developers are leaner, and meaner because they license. They are able to save both money and time. There isn't any excuse not to fire off leadership that isn't bringing in the money. I couldn't care less how long they have had their job. Reward success, and punish failure. Don't reiterate what you did before you need to make it a point to be innovative. No reason to develop the same old game with a couple new bells and whistles.
That said Nintendo isn't a exception, but they are a little further in the curve then other Japanese developers, and they have Miyamoto who obviously understands the need for change. They have the same problems to a lesser extent basically, but they do have the same problems. What they have done well however has kept those problems from dragging them down.
Japanese developers didn't even get here overnight. This is a problem that has been growing for over a decade, and it has nothing to do with whether you like Japanese games, or don't like Japanese games. During the last generation they made games specifically for a small market. Not games that would sell poorly outside of Japan. Games that wouldn't sell at all outside of Japan. No wonder the Japanese gamer has become so insular. They haven't had to experience any compromise with other markets. They haven't even had to become familiar with other genres, or new styles of play.
The developer have been rife with bad development practices for ages. Most of them still want to develop in house engines for games. A incredibly expensive and time consuming process, and even more horrific its often for a single game. Western developers have no desire to waste either the time or money. This means they can put out more games, and they don't even have to sell as many copies.
Japanese developers didn't get bad, and I can appreciate why some have a fondness for a lot of the games. That said you can't just say this is how we did it then, and that is how we are going to do it now. These old practices, and the very notion that you don't have to change yourself first aren't the right idea. They might have worked twenty years ago, but this isn't twenty years ago anymore. They need to change, and they need to encourage their market to change. You can't keep uping the tech, lavishing love on the niche, and praying that the price won't bankrupt you.
He needs to stop making excuses, and start cleaning house.
