dethink
09-20-2004, 08:23 PM
...and vice versa?
i think the west could learn a thing or 2 about overall polish and presentation from the east. in a lot of japanese games, everything from the menus to the packaging is thought out. namco's later PS1 titles come to mind, like ridge racer 4, and the japanese version of ace combat 3 - the packaging and presentation were absolutely beautiful. while they may not be pushing the envelope with new tech, the larger japanese developers have had polish down since the latter half of the 32/64 bit generation - games look great technically and artistically, though they usually rely on time tested and refined techniques, not the latest gee whiz mapping scheme like western developers. controls are refined and responsive, and the frame rate never stutters. for instance, a game like ninja gaiden looks awesome without digging into the platform's hardware - team ninja does really, really good texturing work, animation, modeling, etc. -- all of the technical aspects which are closely tied to pure art they do well (perhaps even better than anyone else). on the other hand, we (the west) have stencil shadows, shadow mapping, self-shadowing, normal mapping, bloom lighting and a host of other very technical things which rarely appear in japanese games.
we have some great, really innovative ideas over here, but they're usually thrown in half baked before the technology is there to really do it right, or they're poorly implemented. let's use 2 games of a similar genre and theme, splinter cell and metal gear solid for example. while SC wins IMO in terms of over-all innovation and pacing (the game is the 'cutscene', and the plot unfolds on the fly), i would like to see what would happen if a japanese developer got their hands on it. i would bet that all those moves and abilities that are there, but you can get through the game without ever using would become a more prominent gameplay element with a japanese developer. in the MGS series, you use every one of snake's abilities at some point in the game. you have to learn how to play the game to it's fullest to really succeed, and when you're 'on', MGS has a flow to the action that splinter cell never has. while some don't like this "forced" learning approach, i think not having at least one specific situation where an ability needs to be used just makes that ability seem like an afterthought. a "hey, wouldn't it be cool if you could do this, but damn...there's really nowhere to use it" moment.
i could play devil's advocate and also argue that SC lets the player choose how they want to play the game, but it's undeniable to me that MGS is a more polished product. there is a reason the people at konami/tecmo/nintendo/etc. are considered the masters of game design. while they may not be pushing the limits of technology or introducing tons of new superfluous features, they know how to design a world where everything is thought out and there for a reason, and something won't be added until it can be implemented properly.
a lot of these features that US devs boast about are like putting a second tail on your dog. it's amusing for a little while, but after that it's just silly.
i could keep going, but i'll pause for comments... :)
i think the west could learn a thing or 2 about overall polish and presentation from the east. in a lot of japanese games, everything from the menus to the packaging is thought out. namco's later PS1 titles come to mind, like ridge racer 4, and the japanese version of ace combat 3 - the packaging and presentation were absolutely beautiful. while they may not be pushing the envelope with new tech, the larger japanese developers have had polish down since the latter half of the 32/64 bit generation - games look great technically and artistically, though they usually rely on time tested and refined techniques, not the latest gee whiz mapping scheme like western developers. controls are refined and responsive, and the frame rate never stutters. for instance, a game like ninja gaiden looks awesome without digging into the platform's hardware - team ninja does really, really good texturing work, animation, modeling, etc. -- all of the technical aspects which are closely tied to pure art they do well (perhaps even better than anyone else). on the other hand, we (the west) have stencil shadows, shadow mapping, self-shadowing, normal mapping, bloom lighting and a host of other very technical things which rarely appear in japanese games.
we have some great, really innovative ideas over here, but they're usually thrown in half baked before the technology is there to really do it right, or they're poorly implemented. let's use 2 games of a similar genre and theme, splinter cell and metal gear solid for example. while SC wins IMO in terms of over-all innovation and pacing (the game is the 'cutscene', and the plot unfolds on the fly), i would like to see what would happen if a japanese developer got their hands on it. i would bet that all those moves and abilities that are there, but you can get through the game without ever using would become a more prominent gameplay element with a japanese developer. in the MGS series, you use every one of snake's abilities at some point in the game. you have to learn how to play the game to it's fullest to really succeed, and when you're 'on', MGS has a flow to the action that splinter cell never has. while some don't like this "forced" learning approach, i think not having at least one specific situation where an ability needs to be used just makes that ability seem like an afterthought. a "hey, wouldn't it be cool if you could do this, but damn...there's really nowhere to use it" moment.
i could play devil's advocate and also argue that SC lets the player choose how they want to play the game, but it's undeniable to me that MGS is a more polished product. there is a reason the people at konami/tecmo/nintendo/etc. are considered the masters of game design. while they may not be pushing the limits of technology or introducing tons of new superfluous features, they know how to design a world where everything is thought out and there for a reason, and something won't be added until it can be implemented properly.
a lot of these features that US devs boast about are like putting a second tail on your dog. it's amusing for a little while, but after that it's just silly.
i could keep going, but i'll pause for comments... :)