In our last interview of the year we present a Japanese player we considered a good fit to discuss topics like the weakening position of the Japanese game industry on the global market, or the (relatively) stronger foreign presence on the Japanese one, the reception of foreign games in Japan – among other things. He runs popular live gaming blog on Japanese video sharing website Niko Niko Douga (“the Japanese Youtube”), and also contributes to several websites. Please welcome Kirin!
: First, could you speak about yourself, your activity? How did you become a gamer?
Kirin: Live gaming seemed to be fun. It just happened that I started to do it.
I do not have friends, let alone friends who like games. I thought it must be fun to watch the screen with others, to comment game walkthrough: “Let’s try this or that”. Since I have started live gaming, I play every game with extra care, covering every nook and corner, as later others might check my walkthrough. I feel that new, interesting aspects are discovered by every replay. To tell every appealing aspect, I study the world, the characters to the finest details, playing the game all over again I appreciate it more and more. If I play too much, I even dream of it sometimes. I keep on live gaming hoping that viewers would like the sessions.
How did I become a gamer?…Games have been part of my life since I came to my senses. I honestly do not remember a particular episode or point of time. I have never lost the “Games are fun” feeling in all these years. In fact, I feel even so endlessly. The first game I ever played….well, I can not recall. I remember playing devotedly every now and then with any game hardware – without knowing them well – I could get my hands on as a child at home. By controlling only a body of dots and lines to avoid enemy attack – it started like that. I could not imagine back then that I would play games with as realistic graphics as there are now. But no matter how good visuals or sound effects get, I will love games for what they essentially mean to me: joy. Maybe I will never give up playing games in my life.
: What was the first foreign game you played? What were your impressions?
Kirin: It must be….ALONE IN THE DARK 2 for Sega Saturn. I played full English PC games before, without understanding a word at all. Of course foreign games made completely different impressions. I was really young then so if I played the game again now it would have another feel. As a child my only thoughts of the game were “difficult” and “I don’t get it”. At the beginning the goal is to get to the mansion with armed enemies knocking around. I did not know either what to do or how to play the game so it was soon Game Over…..many times. Obviously I was too young for it. Generally speaking, foreign games have a unique atmosphere. I cannot describe with words, but Japanese games do not have it. Domestic and foreign horror games have distinctive characteristics. Japanese ones give you goose bumps and are packed with psychological shocks. Foreign ones are mostly with showy visuals. I do not take sides, I like both. Recently graphics and sounds of foreign games have improved a lot, to say the least. Games that could be mistaken for movies keep coming. As well as the visuals, if you spend more time on game play elements that seem sketchy at first, there are ideas throughout the game that could not come from Japanese developers.
I will keep my eyes on the progression of foreign games.
: By the way, do you remember your first Japanese game?
Kirin: As far as I remember…it was either Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom for NES or Sanma no meitantei. Or perhaps Uninvited. I can recall older hardware generation… too bad that my memory does not serve me well on the details.
: How do you think the reception of foreign games had changed in Japan?
Kirin: I think people refused to play them in the past because they were not Japanese, something unfamiliar, hard to perceive. Foreign games seem to be on the rise in Japan now – more so than Japanese games. Thanks to the net more information is accessible than before. Also more people find foreign games appealing recently. In the future more and more foreign games will reach Japan, something to look forward to.
: What do you think of the localization? For instance, do you buy overseas edition or do you wait till the games would be localized?
Kirin: I used to wait for the localized version but now I buy the original. I am a gamer that does not understand English at all, if I figure out the basics of a game the rest will follow “on the job”. Once I am done with the overseas version, sometimes I become curious about the Japanese voice over and want to try it.
: Basically domestic games reach the top of the charts in Japan. Particularly the FPS genre – huge in overseas – hardly sells here. What do you think is behind that foreign games are difficult to market?
Kirin: In Japan relatively “easy to play”, “light” games are preferred. As for the visuals, many Japanese games have that “lucid” look. Japan and overseas have their own comic/animation cultures, besides the expected complexity of a game is different…..I think there are many reasons, cannot say “because of this or that”. About FPS: to begin with common Japanese are not familiar with guns at all, Because of the first-person perspective, the player becomes completely “in character”. Japanese find main characters in brightly colored costumes that they can see moving around on screen attractive. This could be the reason.
: At present the Japanese market is in stagnation, the influence of foreign games is becoming stronger. What is your take on this?
Kirin: Surely overseas games have become more influential recently. It seems that they are affecting the domestic market too, and I am happy about it. But I do not think it is over for the Japanese game industry. Probably the foreign game industry is too well nowadays. What I expect from the Japanese industry is a shift of focus from light, casual to more challenging, hardcore games. There are a lot of foreign games like the latter, Japanese games definitely should have the same feel. Personally I also wish the game market got on a larger scale. And I want to see more TV spots of games.
: How often do you play? How do you pick the games you play live?
Kirin: Now that you ask, I just bought seven games last month. Not all are new, that would cost too much.
No matter what, I play at least an hour every day. Because I am better at work having played satisfying game sessions the day before. I keep playing portable stuff in bed before falling asleep. As for live gaming, I do not have a method. I chose a lot of horror games, simply because I love the genre. Other than horror, I play action and adventure titles. Altogether, I love games! To tell the truth, there were live games that were less well received …but if people realize I am having a good time, they will have too.
: What foreign games do you like the best? Do you have a favorite foreign/Japanese publisher?
Kirin: Let me see……Electronic Arts. I like particularly American McGee’s Alice, I play it even now.
Of their recent releases Dead Space, Mirror’s Edge…I have been playing simulation games such as SimCity and Theme Park since long. Best domestic is SEGA. I like Sonic series the best, as well as Nights into Dreams and Sakura Wars. I got my hands on both the Saturn and Dreamcast on release day.
: How big do you think the community in Japan that likes foreign games? Are you a member of one?
Kirin: Even if the influence of the foreign game industry got stronger, as said before….I do not think there is a community here…..Maybe 20-30 percent of Japanese gamers play foreign games. There are many female and elderly gamers who are familiar with casual games only. I have never been a member of such community. I might check them out.
: This might be a difficult question. If you were a developer, what kind of game would you produce for the Japanese market? What genre?
Kirin: Hmm…..I would develop an adventure game with lot of interaction: investigating, talking to characters. At the end of every stage there would be a boss character that could be defeated by solving a brain teaser puzzle. I would add action with showy visuals and sound effects to the mix. Strategic thinking would be highly rewarded….how does it sound?
: What are your expectations from the (foreign) game industry? Please name particular titles you are anticipating, if you had any on your mind.
Kirin: I would like to play games with high replay value. XBOX 360 Achievements/PS3 Trophies systems are good of course, however games should offer something else too that makes one come back for more. Needless to say that I am curious about all future releases that get on my radar. I check related news day by day with no little excitement.
: Finally, do you have a message to our readers out there?
Kirin: Thanks for this opportunity. Knowing that there are so many views and opinions, I would be happy if you agreed with some of the things I have said. There are only GAMES, let them be Japanese or foreign. I think the most important is to enjoy them free from preconception and prejudice. Let’s try new experiences, and love games even more.
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