The problem is that (I fear) Japanese consumers, not developers have caused the J-devs to keep on re-hashing specific cliches, and re-treading the same ground over, and over, and over again. Whereas the West has enough diversity in their gaming preferences to allow any genre to evolve.
A good example would be Japan's 2 biggest series - Pokemon and Dragon Quest. Guess what? DQ3 plays exactly like DQ8. Pokemon Red plays like Pokemon Platinum.
Compare that with the changes that EA has made over the decades (think Might & Magic 1 versus Might & Magic: Dark Messiah)....Big difference.
And guess which games are immensely popular in the West, from Japan? Games that typically evolved. Resident Evil evolved from #1 to #5 (I haven't liked most changes, FYI), but the fact is it still sells very well, and I anticipate RE5 to be one of the best selling in the West.
Japanese developers are in a tough spot: Ignore their home userbase to put out a West-friendly game like Metal Gear Solid (fortunately MGS4 sold awesome in Japan), or make a game that caters to Japanese fans (like Dragon Quest Swords), but bombs everywhere else. It's a difficult situation, and I don't blame Japanese developers for changing, when their home consumers show they don't want it.
Back from the dead, I'm afraid.
