Whats wrong with japanese game development? answered

[mrstickball]

Rei said:

Oblivion plays exactly like Morrowind
COD 5 plays exactly like COD 1
Halo 3 plays exactly like Halo 1
GTA IV plays exactly like GTA III
Guitar hero WT plays like Guitar Hero II
Need for Speed Undercover plays like Need for Speed hot porche
The Sims 2 plays like The Sims 1
Medieval 2: Total war plays exactly like Shogun: Total War
FIFA 09 plays like FIFA 99


I can go on and on. It is something I will never understand: why japanese devs are being criticized for not evolving while western developers are exactly the same. We play the same First Person Shooter games with different environments over and over again and nobody complains. But whenever a new turn based Dragon Quest game appears everyone says "Oh, turn-based again?! Japanese devs do not evolve!!!"

I dont get it.

Do you realize that almost every comparison you just made compares games that are 3-5 years old, and most are arguing that Japan has been in a rut for the past 15 years?

Morrowind may play like Oblivion, but Arena plays nothing like Fallout 3.

Halo 3 may play like Halo 1, except for the fact that Halo 1 was offline only (and last I checked, Halo 3 is the most popular online multiplayer game in history).

GTAIV plays nothing like GTA I or II

Guitar Hero World Tour is radically different than I or II due to the usage of DLC, new instruments, make-your-own-song, and many other things.

Need for Speed Undercover plays nothing like Pro Street.

Some series are very similar, but there are a ton that aren't - compare to most bigger Japanese franchises, that play very similarly - I am playing Dragon Quest IV on my DS - a game that's almost 20 years old, and can pick up Dragon Quest 8, and 90% of gameplay elements are the same!