Inafune: Games need more than "just Japanese power" to succeed

Keiji Inafune, former Capcom producer and noted critic of the Japanese games industry, has once more urged his peers to swallow their pride and look to internaitonal markets.

In a lengthy interview with Wired, Inafune said Japan needs to embrace the west to get back on track.

"It’s impossible for Japan to win with just Japanese power. Everybody in Japan should work with foreign developers," he said.

"Not just paying them money and letting them make whatever they think is good, but really working together, coming up with new ideas together and discussing how to make something brand new. That would result in a chemical reaction in a good way. There’s no way that Japan can be on their own anymore."

The Mega Man creator said western developers studied and learned from the golden years of Japanese gaming, and took those lessons back to games designed to appeal to western audiences.

"But in Japan, Japanese people only learned from former Japanese games and they haven’t admitted that American games are more fun right now," he said.

"So they’re not learning from the foreign market at all. They’re only learning from former Japanese titles. That’s why they’re only selling in Japan."

Inafune said sales are dropping off in Japan, too, and called for his colleagues to be brave enough to admit their loss and learn from western games.

For more of Inafune's arguments, hit the link above.

Thanks, Killscreen.