Inaba joins East vs. West debate
Says Japan's never heard of Call of Duty.
Atsushi Inaba, the producer on forthcoming Platinum Games shooter Vanquish, has given his take on the difference between Japanese and Western gamers.
Speaking to Edge Online Inaba identified what he describes as "a negative trend" in his native country.
"Japanese gamers did not feel the need in the past to buy imports and play them. In sharp contrast, overseas users imported a lot," he said.
"I think overseas users and developers have for a long time had a wider and more complete view of gaming. Shooters remained minor in Japan."
Inaba went on to how discuss 'Yoge' - translated as 'foreign game' - has come to be synonymous with shooters in Japan.
"At the same time, Yoge equals difficult, which means shooters equals Yoge equals 'too difficult for me'. And to be honest, very few people know about Gears Of War or Mass Effect or even Call Of Duty in Japan."
So how does that affect Platinum's strategy when it comes to game development? Well, Inaba said, the studio "forgot about the Japanese market altogether" when developing black-and-white brawler MadWorld.
That's not the case as far as Vanquish is concerned, but it sounds like there's still more of a Western focus.
"If you give too much importance to the Japanese market there is a strong chance then the game won't appeal to the west. So the choice is clear. We focus on overseas for the obvious reason, while not necessarily forgetting about Japan."
Vanquish is in development for PS3 and Xbox 360, and will be released on 22nd October.