The Rise and Fall (and Rise) of Japan

The Rise and Fall (and Rise) of Japan
As Western console development comes into its own, Japanese creators are struggling to regain their voice
By Jeremy Parish and James Mielke

When EGM launched nearly 20 years ago, the only console games worth mentioning were almost exclusively Japanese imports -- Mario, Zelda, Mega Man, Sonic -- while the best of the West was to be found on PC. Somewhere along the way, though, something changed. Today, it's American and European creations that rule the console charts, and Japan's developers are almost universally struggling. Sure, Nintendo's tag team of DS and Wii seems in no danger of giving up its lead, but in many ways, the Kyoto publishing giant's recent resurgence offers the most damning evidence of how rocky the Japanese videogame market really is.

We spoke with several key figures in Japanese gaming to get their thoughts on the current state of gaming overseas and in the West as well as their plans moving forward for the current generation of consoles.

Tsutomu Kouno: He's got the tiniest of résumés of anyone in our feature, but Sony's Tsutomu Kouno is already responsible for one of the company's most distinctive international hits: LocoRoco. His approach to game design and visuals transcends international taste barriers, with LocoRoco's colorful blobs appealing to nearly any type of gamer, young and old alike.

Hiroyuki Kotani: Lesser known than some of his peers but an energetic and charismatic presence, Hiroyuki Kotani's work on the Ape Escape games, as well as Mad Maestro, Devil Dice, and Patapon, puts him squarely in the "innovator" category of game designers. Patapon 2 should be something special.

Keiji Inafune: This industry veteran oversees all of Capcom's development these days (he's the head of R&D), but he's best known as the fella who brought Mega Man into the world as well as the person at Capcom who identified a need for Western-focused games, resulting in hits like Dead Rising and Lost Planet.

Katsuaki Kato, Matsui Munetatsu, Kouji Aizawa: The interesting thing about these three names is that, among them, the total number of games they've directed equals zero. But as the editors-in-chief of three of Japan's biggest gaming publications -- Famitsu Weekly, Famitsu PS, and Famitsu Xbox 360 -- they're more qualified than nearly anyone to provide insights as to what Japanese game developers are doing right and wrong.

Ryozo Tsujimoto: As the producer of Capcom's breakthrough PSP hit Monster Hunter (Dos, Portable, Freedom, Tri, etc) Ryozo Tsujimoto knows why some things are big in Japan but have little impact overseas. It's refreshing to hear such frank insights from someone within such an established Japanese publisher.

Peter Mui: You may not know his name, but if you import games, you know his store. As one of the major online import retailers, NCS is directly tuned into Japanese gaming trends as well as what's appealing to Western markets and what's not.