Western games vs Eastern games?

[DyranLK]

JayWood2010 said:

DyranLK said:

Probably doesn't make much of a difference, but according to Gamerankings, more Eastern games are ranked over 96.30% than Western games -- in the top 10 Uncharted 2, The Orange Box, and GTAIV are the only 'Western' products there while the others consist of Metroid Prime, Soulcalibur, Super Mario 64, Ocarina of Time, SMG, and SMG2. So on a 'big-picture' mentality, based on critic review scores nonetheless, Eastern games are more quality than Western -- however, they're also arguably not as consistent. Some of the stuf they've churned out in the past two decades were groundbreaking but for the most part, there's a big rift separating the best from the so-so. 

Yet then again...it's still a matter of opinion, lol. Some people just enjoy Eastern games more for their quirkiness, rich content and lore, and deep, usually story-integrated gameplay, while others prefer Western games for a more streamlined, more subdued approach that charms with either unique takes on level design, or realistically interactive environments/characters. Still, that's just my take -- though trying to analyze and dissect what distinctively separates the two was a damn mental exercise, lol.

now how does eastern games stack up against Western games this generation? Big difference in quality than a decade ago.  Western games has been on the rise

Frankly I'm not sure what to think of the Japanese' current-gen status, tbh. While calling it a dip in quality is quick to slip out of my tongue, when you think about it it seems more of a prominence issue.  The East has still made some damn good games, they just haven't been as influential as they used to be. And if they are influential its sphere of effect usually remains pretty localized and doesn't attract as much of an audience here in the States/UK/etcetera. Or at least, not like it used to, anyway.

The East arguably was at their peak since Nintendo's timely rescue of the industry up until the early 2000's, but after more North American/European developers started to accumulate and mature the Western scene slowly took the stage and the Japanese began geting a little fumbly. I don't know, I guess since then we've just been more and more focused on those types of games (probably thanks in part to mass marketing), which both detached us from Japanese-esque gaming and also shaped for us Westerns a different type of expectation and view for your typical game. Maybe, lol. Either way, Eastern games still don't feel as conceptually massive as they used to. :P

Not to mention the fact that the West has had their share of sh*t games too, e.g. War Z, Haze, Aliens: Colonial Marines, Too Human; it's just that they're all drowned underneath, you know, all the better ones; which in turn might suggest that it's also a matter of quantity > quantity, if you stopped to think about it. After all, we're talking about two combined markets against one.

In the end, though, I guess I actually agree with your original point, lol; Western games are on quite the rise, and probably won't be slowing down at any point in the near future.