A Question for our Japanese readers

**maji** · 2008/07/09(Wed) 13:18:53

Why don't you like the FPS games?

Surely a love of firearms is something that transcends cultures.

**maji** · 2008/07/09(Wed) 18:01:06

I just don't enjoy killing humans and monsters even
in the virtual world, that's all. Frankly speaking,
the FPS games are too barbaric for my taste.
I played Doom when it came out 15 years ago and I was impressed
by the game play and the quality of 3D graphics,
but that's was about it. I haven't played FPS games
ever since.

**maji** · 2008/07/09(Wed) 19:01:39

jap dont like PK
thats sucks

**maji** · 2008/07/12(Sat) 05:22:40

>>2
So you don't play anything that involves killing people or monsters. That describes pretty much every single RPG though.

2 · 2008/07/12(Sat) 09:11:28

>>4
Well, I don't mind playing RPGs, you know.
The problem I have with first person shooters are that
their graphics are often too gruesome. I just don't want to see
blood and stuff, and I certainly don't want to see people
being shot into pieces or their throats being slashed.

Here is my food analogy for you.
I suppose it's like I enjoy eating chicken but I don't
want to see video clips on how they were being killed
at chicken factories. I might sound hypocritical,
but it's true.

**maji** · 2008/07/12(Sat) 10:27:44

>>5
Pretty sure you're not Japanese, but blood and violence isn't what keeps Japanese players away from FPS games. This is because there are many very gruesome games in Japan that sell quite well.

**maji** · 2008/07/12(Sat) 11:19:41

>>6
Don't be an idiot. That's what's called a "niche audience".

**maji** · 2008/07/12(Sat) 14:08:03

>>7
Don't be an idiot. The Biohazard and Silent Hill franchises would have been dead out of the gate if they sold the same numbers that FPS games do.

Now would you please stop shitting up this thread with you fantasies that the Japanese are too proper to play games with blood in them.

2 · 2008/07/13(Sun) 05:45:24

>>6
Hm, you are right in that there are some fairly gruesome
games here in Japan. I don't play them because
I find them rather distasteful, but I know
Biohazard and Silent Hill are quite popular.

Now, I am dating myself here, but I was an avid gamer
when I was a teenager, and that was almost 15 years ago.
My first computer was NEC PC-8001 mk II with 64KB of RAM I got in 1984,
the best PC game for me is Y's II I played on my father's
PC-98 in 1988, and I was fairly good at Street Fighter II
that came out in 1991ish. I am not going to bother you
with all the boring details which I am sure you have no idea about,
but my point is that video games in Japan back then didn't contain
as much violence as games today, and there are significant
generational differences between today's gamers and gamers
back then in terms of their mindsets and preferences.

Going back to the main topic, which is the lack of acceptance and
popularity of FPS games in Japan, another explanation I could offer
is that there is no gun culture here in Japan, and only the police
(and mafias) have access to real firearms, which is a good thing IMHO.
We do have miriota ("military otakus"), of course, but there just aren't
too many of them, and they can only play with plastic toy guns.

These two factors, that is, a lack of interests in violent video games
among older Japanese gamers and the absence of gun culture in Japan
pretty much explain why FPS games are not as popular in Japan as
in the United States. These are just my two cents on Japanese gaming
culture, though. What do you think?

**maji** · 2008/07/13(Sun) 07:35:02

>>8
Ah, damn. You're definitely right and I was mistaken.
In my defense, I was thinking of...a different sort of game.

**maji** · 2008/07/13(Sun) 08:03:03

>>9
>What do you think?
I don't think you're Japanese. First, your english is perfect,
and your grasp of english slang, internet abbreviations, and seeming obliviousness
to the fact that lots of Japanese people buy games about guns and blood,
reveal you as the weaboo as you are.
Additionally, I doubt the views on guns have anything to do
with the unpopularity of FPS games.

Its obvious that there are tons of popular Japanese games that glorify guns.
If shooting was something that didn't appeal at all to
Japanese audiences, then they wouldn't be implemented
in Japan's long franchises of third-person shooters,
survival horror games, arcade shooters, and RPGs.

For example, based on what I have read, GTA: San Andreas sold well
in its first week of release in Japan. Despite the fact
that there are a number of FPS games that surpass San Andreas
in quality, artistic value, and dare I say "class", none of them
has sold nearly as many copies.

**maji** · 2008/07/13(Sun) 08:16:48

To continue:

since this thread hasn't really been giving me any answers,
I've tried to do some more research on the web. FPS games aren't popular
at all in Japan, for a few reasons. As stated earlier, its not the blood
and the guns that disinterest the Japanese gaming audience, rather
it must be some other factors unique to the FPS genre itself.

There has always been a rumor that the Japanese don't like FPS
games because it gives them motion-sickness. I doubt this is true.
But, I have seen some Japanese game directors comment about the FPS genre.
They have said that FPS games are "too open-ended", and that while western
gamers prefer to figure things out by themselves as they go along, Japanese gamers prefer
more tutorials. Additionally, a recent poll taken in Famitsu
asked gamers why they aren't interested in FPS games. The majority
of respondents said that, "They didn't know what to do". A second factor that I've seen mentioned is a matter of
immersion. In many FPS games, the character you play as is often one without a face
or personality, because its supposed to represent the gamer. Western gamers tend
to place themselves into the shoes of the main protagonist, whereas Japanese gamers
tend to root behind the main protagonist, which the FPS genre often lacks.
The third factor is one that applies to western games in general.
When making games, Japanese developers put more emphasis on graphics
and debugging, whereas western developers put more emphasis on quantity, content,
and creating new features. As a result, a lot of western games
have an "unpolished" look to them that drive away many Japanese consumers.
There are some things that western audiences are willing to tolerate and ignore,
such as clipping and glitches and limbs going through walls. However these kinds of things
aren't as acceptable in the Japanese gaming market.

So there.