Platinum Games: Most Japanese Games ‘Aren’t Very Good’

by David Sanchez on June 30, 2012 @ 2:07 am

Remember when Fez creator Phil Fish was wrongly accused of being a racist after he said he thought Japanese games weren’t good? Well, he’s not the only one who feels that way. Taking to Twitter, writer and International Coordinator at Platinum Games (a Japanese developer) Jean Kellams stated that games coming from Japanese studios were suffering for one reason: they simply aren’t all that good.

“The problems with Japanese games aren’t that they are JPN games or that they are Westernized games,” Kellams tweeted. “The problems with JPN games are simple: most of them aren’t very good games. Japanese games can be awesome. They can suck too. It is about picking ideas and themes that you can execute exceptionally on.”

Kellams went on to say that Nintendo makes some of the coolest games around thanks to that company’s ability to make “friction-free” titles, something most Japanese developers aren’t able to do, and something he feels is a major issue with the industry in the land of the rising sun.

It’s incredibly interesting reading Kellams’ thoughts on Japanese game development. Platinum is easily one of my favorite Japanese studios, and I’m consistently impressed with what the company turns out. Platinum is currently working on releasing Anarchy Reigns in North America next year, and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance and Project-P 100 have all the potential in the world to be hits.

Is Kellams right on the money with his statements? Are Japanese games really not that good? Or are people just jaded individuals who can’t see the quality in these titles?

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Read more: Metal Gear Rising Gets Ultimate Edition on PSN, Metal Gear Rising Has a Good First Week in Japan, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance Review: Slice Away at Cyborgs in the Name of Justice, Vanquish Is Free on PSN for PS Plus Members, Platinum Says Bayonetta, Wonderful 101 Will Only Go Multiplatform if Nintendo Says So

Comments
hush404 says:

The way I see it... good and bad games come from Japan and North America and Europe and everywhere else from around the world. There seems to be a bandwagon right now that people are hitching a ride on, discrediting Japanese developers as a whole... but in reality there are bad games released globally, development studios being shutdown as a result and yet, Japan is the only one making bad games? I think not.

David Sanchez says:

When I hear the whole "Japan'a games are bad" thing, I think to myself, "Not really because Demon's Souls."

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