Wada wants Japanese gamers to stop discriminating against Western games

by JC Fletcher on Dec 8th 2009 5:00PM

258

[Hachimaki]

Square Enix CEO Yoichi Wada wants Japanese gamers to be more open to Western games. In a Japanese TV interview (excerpted and translated by Kotaku), Wada said, "Even now, there have been people in Japan using the label youge- (literally 'Western games') with a terribly discriminatory meaning." While the concern about Western games may seem uncharacteristic for the head of a Japanese publisher, this is the Japanese publisher who just purchased Eidos, and who is currently marketing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 in Japan.

"I'd like them to try it once," Wada said about Modern Warfare 2. "If they play it once, they'd realize how incorrect that label is." Just like the subtitles.

Source

Tags: fps, japan, Microsoft, modern-warfare-2, square-enix, western-games, Xbox-360, yoichi-wada, youge

Reader Comments (258)

I've stopped buying most Eastern games for one reason (outside of some of Capcom's 360 stuff). SEGA sucks now. I want their endearingly quirky games back (Streets of Rage, JSR, good Sonic games,Golden Axe, NiGHTS, Daytona, Virtua Cop, etc.) They always had awesome music and just a SEGA feel I can't really describe.

Continue proving my point Johnnyboy. Always wanting to get the last word, typical of a 12 year old otaku, or even a man-child. I notice you also go into articles a day after to do so. So sad, get a life. You have proven to be the worst type of person there is, a despicable 12 year old otaku, Sony fanboy, douchebag. Picking fights over the internet is also pretty pathetic.

That is all. You can continue arguing like a child, I don't care. It is obvious you have some insecurities.

Hello? Blizzard Entertainment?

Ironically enough the yankees beat the Japs at their own game: MMORPGS...who is #1?

Putting that aside, telling me the gameplay in WC3 or SC is "weak" is a blatant lie.

Not a fan of MGS series; mostly because you watch more than you play.

As far as I'm concerned, this is totally sincere. I know there's some invested interest here with owning Eidos and publishing MW2 in Japan, but I do think this is a legit complement. Props to Wada.

Interesting debate and one that I think about sometimes. Back in the days of PS/PS2 I used to think about how most Western games were pretty crap while Japanese games were usually always the AAA titles. These days it seems to have become the opposite case, and looking at my PS3 library, all but 2 titles (SFIV and Tekken 6) are Western-developed... it just seems Western developers still need to get to grips with making a kick-ass fighter! I'm not so small-minded as to discriminate based on a game's origin - FFXIII and Last Guardian will be in my library on Day One - but the evidence is compelling...