Topic: Konami's Approval Rating

[DragonSlayr81]

This is an interesting read:

http://www.1up.com/news/hideo-kojima-japanese-obsession-overseas

I kinda agree. I think the Japanese should do what they are best at doing, and stop trying to fight for Western attention. I can only speak for myself, but I started to like Japanese games(be them JRPGs or platformers) BECAUSE they were Japanese. They were "different", a break away from the way Western games were. It goes hand-in-hand with how lots of things are being handled, not just with video games, but movies, television shows and such. Everything is trying to be everything just to appeal to the most possible amount of people via pop trends. It's like those kids who are sort of unique, in themselves, but want that overal acceptence by the popular kids, so they change who they are to be accepted, forsake what's unique about themselves just to be "in" with the clique and up with popular trend. But, trends die, and are replaced, and you can try to catch on with each one, like catching shooting stars, but it's near impossble to stay trending and ENJOY it. Sometimes you have to come into terms with who you are, and say, "Enough is enough! What the hell am I doing? I'm NOT like THESE guys. I don't enjoy that stuff. I don't like the clothes, the music sucks, and it's just not ME!". Sadly, the lure of money is too great.

[Nagumo]

Kind off ironic that Kojima says that after producing Lords of Shadow.   

[Claimh Solais]

Kojima didn't do much besides supervise LoS, as well as voicing the Chupacabra in the Japanese version. Of course, I don't know much about what supervising the project does to it.

But still, that's kind of why I admire Kojima. He wants things done right. That's also why I enjoy the Metal Gear series, despite the fact they're milkin' Big Boss for all he's worth.

[Kale]

He also gave lots of suggestions to LoS did he not? I remember Dave Cox saying something to that in one of his interviews.

[Munchy]

He also gave lots of suggestions to LoS did he not? I remember Dave Cox saying something to that in one of his interviews.

I still think that epilogue was Kojima's idea.

[Flame]

I want to know who voiced the chupacabra in the English version.

[cecil-kain]

This is an interesting read:

http://www.1up.com/news/hideo-kojima-japanese-obsession-overseas

I kinda agree. I think the Japanese should do what they are best at doing, and stop trying to fight for Western attention. I can only speak for myself, but I started to like Japanese games(be them JRPGs or platformers) BECAUSE they were Japanese. They were "different", a break away from the way Western games were. It goes hand-in-hand with how lots of things are being handled, not just with video games, but movies, television shows and such. Everything is trying to be everything just to appeal to the most possible amount of people via pop trends. It's like those kids who are sort of unique, in themselves, but want that overal acceptence by the popular kids, so they change who they are to be accepted, forsake what's unique about themselves just to be "in" with the clique and up with popular trend. But, trends die, and are replaced, and you can try to catch on with each one, like catching shooting stars, but it's near impossble to stay trending and ENJOY it. Sometimes you have to come into terms with who you are, and say, "Enough is enough! What the hell am I doing? I'm NOT like THESE guys. I don't enjoy that stuff. I don't like the clothes, the music sucks, and it's just not ME!". Sadly, the lure of money is too great.

The pic from that article says a lot...

http://www.1up.com/media/03/9/0/5/lg/816.jpg

Gaming used to be a hardcore geek culture activity, but now its clearly been hijacked by outside interests.  The art is no longer respected --it's become a stagnant business driven by remakes and sequels.  Hell, the Japanese game industry is making Hollywood look innovative.  Casual mainstream influences have been driving the challenge out of games since the Super Nintendo, but Western Pop Culture has been spreading its claws ever since the Xbox launched --then you have games like Grand Theft Auto and Guitar Hero nailing the coffin.  Also the celebrity worship of game producers like Miyamoto and Kojima has bothered me for awhile now...  Just look at that pic --Hideo looks like the second coming.  If I had the chance to interview him all I'd say is  "Look Hideo, I don't give a crap about you or your company.  I want you and your people making fresh and exciting games that don't waste my time --until you do that we have nothing to talk about."

[Munchy]

I want to know who voiced the chupacabra in the English version.

I forget his name, but I know it wasn't Dave Cox.

[Nagumo]

Kojima didn't do much besides supervise LoS, as well as voicing the Chupacabra in the Japanese version. Of course, I don't know much about what supervising the project does to it.

Yes, but I think it's still odd he supported a game that changed Castlevania's unique East meets West approach into just generic epic Western fantasy because that is mainstream nowadays. I mean, isn't that kind off what he is prostesting against?     

[C Belmont]

Kojima didn't do much besides supervise LoS, as well as voicing the Chupacabra in the Japanese version

I recall hearing that Kojima played a big part in convincing Konami to let Mercury Steam create Lords of shadow in the first place

I still think that epilogue was Kojima's idea

Cox said in an interview their initial idea was for a remake but what they pitched was a radical retelling plus he has said that Gabriel was always going to become Dracula. I reckon Kojima just liked what Mercury Steam pitched because it sounded like something that he would do.

[narkolepsi]

A tiny article, but this is the effect Kojima's name has on people, regardless of the role he played - and it did turn out like this too:
http://www.gamesabyss.com/so-what-exactly-is-kojima-bringing-to-castlevania-lords-of-shadow/

This whole game just has a fishy feeling about it. It's not because of being accustomed to IGA or Symphony or whatever; in fact, I grew more and more distant from it after playing the old-school titles, and I don't think I could trust (the aptly-named) Dave Cox as far as I could throw him to make another game like this...but they are anyway. It reeks of money in the hand to me. Other people can see what they will, and I respect those that do, but I just don't see anything remotely redeeming in it at all.

[Claimh Solais]

I recall hearing that Kojima played a big part in convincing Konami to let Mercury Steam create Lords of shadow in the first place

Well, in pretty much anything where it says someone is supervising a project... half the time they're not really doing much.

I want to know who voiced the chupacabra in the English version.

It was Jason Sampson.

[Renonsgoods]

I find Kojima's statements interesting considering how westernized his baby Metal Gear has gotten during the last decade or so.  If he were looking to stay true to the so-called "Japanese way of doing things", he would have stuck with the overhead camera and not included first person perspective shooting.  The whole Japanese vs western gaming argument is just tedious and tiresome.  I just don't understand how Japanese developers are supposed to stay "un-westernized".  What does that even mean?  Are they supposed to ignore all innovations and conventions brought on by western developers?  Are they supposed to do everything the opposite of western developers?  Is it an aesthetic or art style thing?  I mean...what???

Let's face it, video games are a HUGE business nowadays...and business is all about making money.  The production budget for a decent high def game these days is astronomical compared to the good ole days of the NES or Genesis.  If these companies don't make money, they can't make games. You can't blame them for trying to stay lucrative.  It was their own inability to stay in tune with the times that led to many of the major Japanese gamemakers going into the financial downturn that led them to this point.  You want to place blame, place it on the latest generation of gamers.  I've been gaming since the early 1980's, and I have no overarching complaints about the current gaming scene.  There's always plenty of choices to be had, and I'm never more than a quick memory of my days playing Space Invaders away from really appreciating how wonderful the games we have available to us today really are.  All the bitching about the Halo's and Grand Theft Auto's is hilarious considering how innovative those titles were to the gaming industry as a whole back in the day (and even today).  One's dislike of more mainstream titles like these is purely a personal problem....not an industry-wide one. 

This industry is all about risk assessment.  Do you spend millions to produce a game that has an established fanbase?...or something new that may or may not bomb with consumers?  Do you spend millions to produce a game that will likely only appeal to a small niche in the market?...or one that is sure to attract a major segment of gamers?  Sure, we all want these company's to take chances and try something new and fresh, but how often do we end up expressing our wishes that said games had done something more like some other established title?  And so many complain about sequels and remakes, but here we are on a forum dedicated to a series that is rife with 20+years of sequels, remakes, and recycling.  So the real question here is: what message are YOU sending to game companies with your purchases?

[Claimh Solais]

Uhhh... You do realize the FPS-aiming was added in for more accurate shots, right? Westernizing it would be if he made you able to move, rotate the camera, and fire all together while in first person view.

[Renonsgoods]

Now you're just stretching it to get into an argument.  The fact is that FPS gameplay is largely looked down upon by certain gamers as being some sort of westernized gaming convention, responsible for all the Halo's, CoD's, and Doom's.  This isn't a complaint I created.  It's one parroted by a faction of so called "hardcore" or elitist gamers that seem to abhor anything western or "non-Japanese". It doesn't really matter whether you're able to move and pan during these FPS sequences...that's just cherry-picking.  You're still aiming down the sights of a gun to make a shot...the same as you would in a game like Modern Warfare [gasps]. My point?  It's a feature plucked straight from the bowels of every other modern western first person shooter to date, and I mentioned it to illustrate just how silly this whole allergic reaction to westernized gaming conventions in Japanese made games today really is. And truly, that whole statement was meant to be in jest.

I remember the whole outrage that beset the gaming world when it was first learned that Nintendo was allowing a western developer to not only do the next Metroid (Metroid Prime), but to do it utilizing an FPS perspective.  Sure, some of those gamers still cling to their hatred of the change, but as a whole....how dumb was this "anti-westernization" campaign for Metroid Prime, in restrospect?