Topic: western games are boring

I definitely think Japanese games are suffering from this affect far more. Not only are they continuing to release endless strings of sequels to games, rather than coming up with original titles but they have the added problem of having outdated gameplay. The JRPG gaming scene is all but dead because of a complete lack of innovation or change in the past 20 years.

Yeah, there's an over abundance of shooters in the western market, but that's simply because that's what's currently popular. When people tire of these, we'll move onto something else. Call of Duty will only remain popular for so long, especially when they're churning out a new one each year.

The indie market is the only place we're really seeing original and innovative titles come from and the western market for those is definitely far stronger, although Japan has produced some great little indie games too.

Think of it this way: New IPs eventually become old IPs, and if they prove popular enough, they will start making sequels, and if they keep making sequels, then they will "suffer" from this situation the original poster has established. Is that bad? As long as they're great games, is this really bad?

I like this. Not only because it is undeniably true, even if it may take a while, but it's already started happening with other big-name franchises, like Guitar Hero. They even disbanded the dev team, although whether or not it's temporary or forever is yet to be seen.

The point is, new IPs are nice, but it's important for a developer to rely on their most popular franchises, no matter if they're Western or Eastern, to hold on to whatever fanbase that old IP started.

SilverBlackTail makes a lot of sense.

Guitar Hero has a huge competitor; Rock Band. Rock Band has not had 10 different iterations and has been supported very well with DLC. Activision was not very Smart with Guitar Hero. This is not really the same case with Call of Duty. FPS games are far less of a niche (might have something to do with the high price tag of Rock Band and Guitar Hero) and many FPS games can be popular at the same time without losing out. Call of Duty has become the go-to game unfortunately.

I grew up on Mega Man as well and MM9 and MM10 were nice but two retro games are enough. Mega Man has been mediocre since the PS1 days (including the Legends series which was terrible compared to other 3D plaformers/shooters during that era). I don't like how everyone praises Capcom for their laziness with the Mega Man series. Yeah, thanks for the two 8-bit games, but if any other company did this with their flagship character, they would get hell from fans (Nintendo making an 8-bit Mario game instead of New Super Mario Bros., Konami putting Solid Snake into 8-bit and cancelling Peace Walker, etc.). It was a fun and successful experiment to bring it back to 8-bit but now the series needs to move forward in some way. They can keep doing the 8-bit games every now and then but practically pumping out the same game yearly is a bad formula for stagnation (which is why I hope Mega Man 11, if 8-bit, comes out in 2012 at the earliest). That will drop the quality of the series further or kill it off entirely. I don't mean to bash Mega Man, but I expect more from Capcom. If they can invest millions in giving us the craptacular Dark Void and Bionic Commando (2009) while also milking Street Fighter to death, they should be able to (or hire a respectable company, ie. Platinum Games) give us a relatively decent and new take on the Mega Man series. I personally think the series is in a bad place and I hope it grinds back to the forefront along with Mario, Ratchet and Clank, etc. I mean, Mega Man (in any form) didn't even make it into Marvel vs Capcom 3 . Even crappy Bionic Commando guy got a spot. Doesn't that just boggle your mind?

are you kidding? i'd'a played the ever-loving crap outta that!

I reckon. I'd actually suggest that's exactly what Nintendo needs to do!

I was just thinking about this earlier today. So they made NSMB and it was wildly successful. Time to do a full retro Mario!

Yeah, no, seriously...how many times have people asked for a full-on retro Zelda or Metroid game? It sounds like this company-killing idea you're suggesting would actually do really well.

People liked NSMBWii, yeah, but if they could have applied the newer physics, moves and powerup to a legitimate 8-bit world (and, hopefully, soundtrack) I'm sure it would have done at least as well.

You mean Koji Kondo actually doing a soundtrack by himself for the first time since like OOT (no offense to other composers)? I approve the idea because of that alone.

@Megaman discussion, instafail for implying Megaman Legends was in anyway anything but awesome. And IIRC, Keiji Inafune has been forced to make cash-in sequels, blame Capcom for running half of the Megaman series into the ground. It's Capcom, it's what they do best.

The topic title is dumb btw and justifies the use of terms like "weeaboo".

If you want a retro/modern Zelda, just play 3D Dot Game Heroes. From did what Nintenwon't.

While it'd be really awesome to have an old-school Zelda, I'd rather see the series move in bold new directions rather than retread the same basic LttP structure. I'm hoping Skyward Sword changes this up, but I'm not expecting anything too franchise-shattering in the way that Other M was.

Granted, I haven't played the Zelda DS games, but from what I've heard it doesn't seem like I'm missing out too much for my tastes.

I agree in the sense that I find Western games uninteresting, but it's more like I just am not interested in what they're offering, But I don't think your claim why they are uninteresting in comparison to Japanese games works. As much as I'd love to complain about how many Mass Effects and Bioshocks are out there, I have to remember that for every Bioshock 2 or God of War 3 game there is, a Japanese developer does the same thing. Game developers make what sells. And if Kingdom Hearts 3 or Mass Effect 3 gives them some money, then so be it. We'll see 100 sequels or rip-offs until gamers are sick of it. This kind of behavior is not something just Western developers do; it's all across the board.

My advice: If you don't like Western games, don't play them. But don't complain about them and expect a lot of people to agree with you just because we all play some kind of Nintendo system.

Mass generalisations are boring.

I like old IPs that are rarely used...as you think how it'll adapt to the new era if they change it so it is up to standards. I also like new IPs too...but they have to be innovative and feel like they'll be worth supporting for me to feel like I got my money's worth.

I think the time is right for crossover games from companies with their old and new franchises, whatever they come up with maybe innovating...and there is a chance the sales will be huge thanks to the many fans of different games...take Smash Bros and All Stars Racing...I am sure it sold more copies thanks to Metal Gear and Sonic fans...and the inclusion of Ryo in All Stars Racing. Dissidia is another example of crossovers done right...a shame Tales of VS isn't out in the west though.

Who knows? Maybe we'll see an FPS crossover with Call of Duty and Half Life...two successful franchises...with a chance to make huge money from both sets of fans...you can't go wrong! (if they have no bugs or loads of advertising of course).

I think Japan's old guard refuse to let the younger faces do something different hence hindering the industry there.

[quote=SilverBlacktail]

Call of Duty players would have no idea what Half Life is, and Half Life players would hate Valve for the rest of their lives... I can't believe I just saw that. I need to wash my eyes! Unclean! Unclean!

@Ravage: That may be, but isn't it just as likely that both the fanbases will like it? Maybe not with Call of Duty and Half-Life, since one has a realistic theme and one is fictional, but maybe something like BioShock and Hale-Life, as there are more similarities in style than the other two. There's just as much risk that both fanbases would hate it then there is that it would be a smash hit.

I do agree with you to an extent, Starlight, more crossovers would be a good way to keep what fans like but push out more original-style content, it just depends on what you're crossing over.

In retrospect, Capcom pairing with comic and manga artists was an odd decision. But look how well that turned out.

LOL!! Westerns...boring? HA Red Dead Redemption was Outstanding. The story was great and the game was a blast to play.

[quote=Starlight]

A good idea on paper anyways.

I think Valve is way over-rated...they don't exactly release games when the promise to and the engine is the same one they used for years...but then again, look at Call of Duty...

You and I could get along just fine.

I thought we already did Mac? XD

Scratch each other's back's and all that?