Ehh? The PS2 GTA's sold extremely well there - from about 350-500k each. I think that's the best a Western game has ever done, since maybe Crash Bandicoot. Much more than any FPS has managed... the most VGC lists is Perfect Dark, at 160k, and Mobile Suit Gundam Side Story II at 200k.

Like Dallinor said, people in Japan are very indifferent to FPS and most Western made games. Much like Americans don't watch too many foreign films / TV because they think they are the leaders in the industry, Japanese think the same way about gaming. They restored gaming when gaming crashed in America, so the attitude carries on. However, Japanese people love American-made television and movies.

Other issues are that while Americans think Marines with big guns on steroids are very cool, the Japanese think that's kind of silly. Just like Americans think of teenagers looking like girls saving the world. Many Japanese people look at the genre as being silly.

Since WW2, Japanese people have been anti-war by nature.  Even the attitudes of people in the SDF (Self Defense Forces, not Sony Defense Force) are not very war-like - very unlike people in the American military.

Because the Japanese gamers know what's good

It's in the genes.


...

Because it is repetitive. Even I admit that my Favorite FPSs are extremely repetitive... Also most FPS stories don't fit what Japanese like. Look at their Manga and tell me that they would ever give a game like halflife a chance (Im not talking about minorities here).

They think it has no depth, it's only about endless killing. That's what some japanese people told me

In our defense, when the Japanese try to be deep in their games, it becomes cringe worthy half the time.  This is because of they have the characters heavy handedly talk about the power of friendship and what not.  They seem to be warming up to FPSs though with MW2 selling over 100,000 copies there first day.

Why sells FIFA more in Europe and Madden in USA? It all comes down to preferences and culture. Pointless topic.

@Riachu, Yeah and most of the time it's due to bad translations or bad voice acting or worse, total story rewrites. Try Vagrant Story, Killer 7, FF12 or Demon's Souls for cringe-free scripting and quality VO. From my experience, western videogame stories are the equivalent of effluent waste. From the unintentional hilarity of Gears of War to the coma-inducing drudgery of Fallout 3, to the cliched Star Trek vibe of Mass Effect, the west can turn out vacuous, insipid, pap with the best of them.

racist!