| Bodhesatva said: Actually, I think there will be tests between then and now. DQ:S, which comes out soon (this week? next?), will be the first example. And I think you're going a little overboard here, Rocket. They aren't "thumbing their nose" at convential games... unless not buying them is somehow rude or arrogant. Cooking Mama 2 will certainly sell a great deal of copies automatically, but I believe you're wrong about Cooking Mama 14. Right now, Cooking Mama (and cake mania, I guess) is really all there is right now in terms of cooking games, so of course it wins by default. But what happens when someone comes out with another cooking game that's better? Clever minds CAN make these games better, Rocket. In fact, I think it's unexpectedly myopic of you to think that cleverness can only be applied by making games more graphically intense and complex. I expect more from you, I like your posts! Until someone makes a Tetris to end all Tetrises, there is always room for clever people to profit off simpler games. Right now, it seems like every casual game sells a truckload simply because there are so few, and anyone who wants to delve in to this market pretty much has to buy what they're offered, regardless. Soon, quality will be an issue, and then you can't just slap these things together anymore. |
I should have phrased it differently. When I say "top dev team", I mean the guys who deliver the engines, top-shelf graphics, and sound for games like FF, MGS, LO, etc.
It's not a knock on Japanese tastes at all, I don't really care what games they are playing. But as long as there is a demand for the next blockbuster game somewhere, those teams will have work. And right now, it's quickly becoming evident that to remain profitable, those teams will have to shift to completely Western-centric games. The Japanese just don't seem interested in games they snatched up by the millions five to ten years ago.
A great idea is something that is always valued (otherwise, we'd never have any more Tetrises, would we?) and the Japanese appreciate good gaming, as do we all. But their tastes are straying so far from the rest of the world that I don't see huge publishers being able to drop $10m into a game that will only sell there while the rest of the world scratches its head over why the game is fun.
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