Thanks for that response man. many seem to have this idea that S-E = JAPAN

i suggest that Japanese gamers did not like to buy western game period (not matter what type) and I was flamed by 360 fanboys.... (it was a thread about why the 360 still sells like crap out there despite arguably having the best core Japanese lineup)

Western Game are more Technical with graphics and realism.
Character design are base off of Sci-fi movies like "Aliens" and corny Sci-fi Channel movies. Little to no story-lines, like aliens attaching us or WW2 or both at the same time. Majority of western Games are FPS so you are the character and only see their hands.

Japanese games are more artistic and visual.
Character designs plays a major role in the game development.
Character designers are pick to represent the emotion,mood and artstyle of the game more than West.
Yoji Shinkawa-MGS
Tetsuya Nomura-FF, KH
Kosuke Fujishima- ToS
Their game are more story driven like films with a lot of cutscenes.
They love to see their main characters and not just hands.

Long story short:
Americans are more about graphics and action, Japanese are more about artstyle and emotions.
I love alittle of both. I wish there was a mixture. That would be a great game.

You think America doesn't care about emotions?!

I won't speak for earlier times, but at least recently, have you examined what type of games Japan is interested in? Handhelds rule the charts there, with expanded audience games being close behind. There are still some traditional titles that do well, but for the most part they're called "Final Fantasy," "Monster Hunter," or "Pokemon." Even many other JRPGs seem to be seeing declining sales in the region.

There are a few other games, here and there, that also do well, but not all that many. And considering how the West isn't targeting the expanded audience (effectively, anyways), or making all that many handheld games...

Well, there we have it.

@Noname: I don't think western publishers have ever pushed their games in Japan, so despite your comment being true, the phenomenon goes deeper than that.

And you forgot Dragon Quest.

Yes I did. And I have no idea how, since I meant to type that in first. *sigh*

And some Western companies *have* actually pushed their stuff in Japan, from what I've read. The most notable example of this is Grand Theft Auto, whose San Andreas installment (at least) received a pretty large advertising campaign on its release. The results were about 100,000 units sold. Not horrendous, I suppose, but not spectacular either. I'll see if I can scrounge up some of the other examples I've read about.

No prob. The good Japanese companies have to be represented =P

Today's SE is a company dancing to the Japanese pop-culture's fiddle. Therefore we get what we get... some like it, some don't.

Atlus, on the other hand, did a magnificent job with the DDS cast. Emotional, mature... more should strive for that.

Axtually, it was more like 400K sold

Whoops! It seems I was looking at rumored first-day numbers. I withdraw my statement.