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.

Eastern games by far... My three staple genres are Action, Fighting, and RPG....

In terms of action games (plats included) its a tough split, because I love Ninja Gaiden, Bayonetta, Devil May Cry, Metal Gear, and the like... but the west has some really good ones too: Castlevania LOS, God of War, Jak and Daxter, heavenly sword... so that one I could go either way

when it comes to fighters and RPGs though its a no brainer... the west has no fighters, except Mortal Kombat... I literally can't think of any others, and MK is my least favourite fighter, Japan gave me Soul Calibur, DOA, Gundam Ext. Vs., Aquapazza, Tekken, Smash Bros, and all the decent Naruto, DBZ, and misc. anime fighters.

as far as RPGs you all preach "SKYRIM!!" but I say that skyrim was mediocre at best, western RPGs are all the same (open world, weak story, weak combat) when Japanese rpgs experiment more and have a lot more variety (obviously there are a lot of really bad ones, but thats because theyre are just a lot of them in general) but lets get serious, Elder Scrolls cant square up to FF, pokemon, fire emblem, Persona, Kingdom Hearts, Lost Odyssey, tales, star ocean, .hack, Demon's souls, Dark Souls, I mean the list doesn't end!

off-topic, I even enjoy the Hot Shots games more than anything EA shits out lol

if you're into FPS, sports, music games then sure, West. but I can't deny the East

Eastern games tend to be more polished while western games try to push the technical envelope more. I think eastern games have more soul though. Definitely prefer them over western games which are mostly bland.

Going to have to say Eastern, there are a few Japanese franchises that are really stunning and cannot be matched by Western developers in my opinion.

Eastern, not even close.

I find it interesting how people say western games are "on the rise," while Japan/east is declining. Maybe from a console-only standpoint, but I think they've both been declining for a while now.

Sure, western games have been selling more, but just about all of the big games are weaker versions of what we already had on the PC, 10+ years ago. Mostly because all that's happened is they're now dressed up with better graphics, and are more fit to play on consoles.

the difference is i follow so few western games story, whereas i follow eastern games story. i forget most western games have a story.

most of my fave Western games are british and owned by an Eastern company, Tomb Raider and Hitman. yeah Eastern, FF, KH, Nintendo, MonHun, Tales, Persona. the only Western games ive really played all that much are FIFA and NBA

as for this gen the Great Eastern games sadly gained no recoginition outside Japan, hell alot never made it outside Japan

also i love how when we check review scores it is prodominantly Western reviewers, aside from Famitsu i never here of Japanese reviews.