Topic: Culture in Videogames

I've been wondering whether culture is a detriment or a benefit to videogames. As technology improves it seems as though creators and developers have more and more ability to inject culture into the game whether it's gameplay ideas, art style, story, environment, soundtrack, or what have you. Here's some examples:

• The Wind Waker art style which was very Japanese and could only be pulled off because of technological enhancements in graphics.
• The Western-influenced shooter genre based on violence and realism around war (such a popular theme in American entertainment)
• Pokemon and it's Japanese cuteness. Japan has a way of finding cuteness in ugly abnormalities like crooked teeth in young girls, or in this case cute monsters!
• Mario may be so accessible because of how void of culture it is as a result of it's odd combination of things (Plumbers/pipes, turtles, mushrooms, dinosaurs) which allows it not too become so culturally charged or narrow

There are more examples but here's where I'm coming from. This culture is what allows an idea to be born. But when it is able to then be fully expressed through technology, that fresh idea now becomes refined and polished, and now ends up gaining a niche audience as a result to the point where certain culture no longer find it accessible. Japan just doesn't like shooters, but I think the 3d era really put the nail in the coffin on that. And American doesn't seem to be as friendly towards anime style graphics like Wind Waker, Skyward Sword, or even the new Zelda game.

Anyways, how in your opinion does culture hurt and/or help the videogame industry? And can you think of any examples?

There seems to be a recent increase in the number of first time posters here who write lengthy dissertations on gaming as a way to shill their personal websites

^^^That was essentially how my first post went down! lol

But this post here actually is not related to anything on my blog, and that's the truth. But yes it is a bit deeper. Perhaps I should be a bit more casual since this is a video game forum. My apologies.

To be fair, there's actually a lot of Japanese culture influenced ideas in Mario, too.

• Kuribo (the Japanese name for the Goomba), means Chestnut, and is what they're supposed to be modelled after (though they don't look like such until SMW).
• Koopa sounds awefully similar to Kappa, a child eating turtle demon from Japanese folk legend (keep in mind, that in addition to the Koopa Troopas, Bowser's name in Japan is simply Koopa).
• The Tanooki Suit is influenced by the Tanuki, thr Japanese breed of Raccoon. In Japanese folk legend, they are mischievous magical creatures that trick humans using their shape shifting abilities, and they often cast these spells with/using leaves. This of course, influences the fact you can transform into a statue to confuse your enemies, and the item that gives you the ability, the Super Leaf.
• In Super Mario RPG, the Axem Rangers are a parody of Super Sentai (Power Rangers), though granted, the series was at the height of it's popularity worldwide during this time.

Granted, it's not as blatantly infused as a game set in Japan, but the culture still effects the nature of the series nonetheless.

I think you put it better than I did in relation to Super Mario. It's simply nto as blatant. I think that's what makes accessible games, excluding talk of the actual gameplay.

Since I downloaded it onto my PS3, I've been in love with Guacamelee! Seeing this forum, I couldn't help but think of all the rich, vibrant Mexican culture that exists in that game!

And, of course, the soundtrack just screams Mexican flavor~!!!
_{this game gives me such good feels~}

culture is like any other trait in a game basically if handled right it's good
high cultural influences might either build up curiosity in the gamers what's great or creep out people that aren't used to that culture what might be bad depending on the target public.
it's pretty much a matter of wheter the devs want it to focus on the players that know(and love) their own culture or in the interesting details that will bring players from other cultures just out of sheer curiosity.

Cultures are, just as any sort of content, a thing that needs correct handling. Since there's quite a lot of ridiculous over-sesitivity (people just want to be offended by something for the hell of it sometimes), developers need to be careful how they depict and incorporate cultures. As @bezerker99 showed, Guacamelee! is a good example of how affectionate a cultural parody can be. GTA (up until Ballad of Gay Tony, that is) was a great method of cultural parody - unfortunately, they kinda lost their ways with GTA V.
The thing is, cultures are mostly used for context or theming, not for actual content. They reinforce the location/setting or serve as a minor point of whatever kind of conflict happens in a game - but going beyond that is quite risky, which is why most developers tend to stay away from going too far (someone's bound to proclaim he/she was offended by it).

As it stands, we definitely need culture in games to serve a sense of evolution or location diversity when appropriate. But there are games which don't need it at all - drawing the line, however, is kinda hard.

I kinda like to think of games like i think of music. They should be a medium that everybody in the world can enjoy no matter where he comes from. _{At least as long as the game's in a language the individual can understand.}
That might not apply to every game, film or song ever made though. So i wonder if the appeal is a sign of its quality or if it's something else that makes some foreign stuff appeal to you while you just can't bear some other.
Also: _{cough ...} Okami _{... cough}

I have to say this is the first time I've ever noticed Mexican culture in any game, and from the looks of it it was done very nicely!

I always loved how the older Final Fantasy games took a variety of inspirations from world cultures and melded them together. It can definitely add something to a game when there are cultural artifacts that resonate with you. Part of the reason I loved Final Fantasy 9 so much was its very clear borrowing of a variety of eras from European history.

Building on that sort of cultural inspiration in games, I'm always quite annoyed at how many thousands of RPGs cling onto that same medieval europe setting. Why have so few games explored other eras in history? Where is the RPG that explores the landed gentry of 18th century Britain set in the extravagant stately homes that Jane Austen immortalized? That'd be an instant buy for me.

Couldn't agree more. My avatar is from Earthbound and, although many haven't played it, one of several settings is in a Metropolitan City like ala NYC which is very odd for an RPG, though I've heard the Pokemon series has begun exploring more modern settings as well.

That being said, I think one is less likely to find a game exploring modern settings because it generally defeats the purpose of setting one's imagination on fire. The deeper one goes into the past (like Medieval history, though I'm not a fan of it) the harder it is for the audience to think concretely about it because they simply are not as familiar with it. This means the player will have a deeper sense of wonder and curiosity about it, though it's not excuse to keep reusing the Medieval setting; the problem is we all love swords and shields!

Huh, begun? The main Pokémon games have always taken place in modern society, since Gen 1.

That said, I agree with the direction of this discussion. Where is my JRPG set in feudal or Meiji era Japan? I mean, I'm sure there's probably SOMETHING out there like that (since the genré is most popular IN Japan), but amongst the big names (Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Tales, Fire Emblem, etc.) everything is either purely western themed, or maybe east meets west at most.

Whatever gives a character or a setting depth and personality is fine with me.

TBH, the pokemon series is one I've never gotten into. But I've only taken note of the setting recently as a result of the increased graphics and new 3D take on the setting. The graphics for handhelds are now at a point where you can actually know what the setting is just by looking at it. Graphics allowed culture to be eve more noticeable. The much older pokemon games may have been in modern settings butas an outsider it's hard to really tell.

@Robzo100 Do you think Wind Waker was the first celshaded game? Just wondering.

But of course different cultures have different taste and different games will appeal to those regions. All those regions will also have niche markets for products that don't appeal the mass as a whole. This is a rather 'duh' post I think, no offense.

On a forum I feel the only purpose for the opening thread is start conversation. It probably does come off as dull, because it's open ended and not really making a very specific argument. As for me I've already learned some new things I hadn't heard of or considered.

I'm sure cel shading was used previously and at the very least outside of gaming. But no, I hadn't come by any mainstream examples of cel-shading usage pre Wind Waker. Which games did you have in mind?

@Robzo100

A pretty famous use of it in the gaming community that predates Wind Waker.