Western Devs More Efficient, Says Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City Producer

In an internally-conducted interview at Capcom, Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City producer, Masachika Kawata, discusses his experience working with Vancouver-based SOCOM developer, Slant Six Games, on the title. To begin with, Kawata says, the collaboration opened his eyes to the cultural differences between Japan and other countries.

[NovusTerminus]

Just less creative *Grabs flame shield*

Before I get screamed at let me say this: How many FPS games have come out in the last year by US devs?

[Hufandpuf]

*Doesn't grab flame shield* How many RPGs have come out in Japan last year?

[AntoineDcoolette]

Rayman Origins sh!ts over any Japanese platformer released in 2011

[Kalowest]

JRPGs are the sh!t, they're better than Western RPGs.

[Lyr1c]

@Kalowest

Not this generation...

[BISHOP-BRASIL]

You guys are missing the point. This "efficiency" has nothing to do with creativity or milking or what not... It's not even about the region where this developers come from. The thing is, there is this modern empresarial mindset, which most of people call "westerner", but could also be called capitalist, euro-american or even just modern... This mindset is about bringing results quicker and at less costs, that's efficient for Capcom.

If we looked at 10 or 15 years ago, as Japanese companies are a lot more into tradition, they usually wouldn't follow this mindset, in their case it was the persecution of perfectness that directed their mindset. Today it's quite uncommon business philosophy anywhere, even there. But it's not rare to still see the comparison between the Japanese way and the Wastern way, specially if coming from a Japanese guy.

Videogame publishers and developers were no exception, although we were used to Japanese games feel like something so good because the people working behind it were always trying to do their best even when it's almost unnoticeable details, today there are a lot of (if not most) Japanese devs that don't follow this way and still have great results, games that are a lot more about being fun than about being a masterpiece (Platinum Games and Grashopper come to mind). This inversions is even more common today, with games taking so much money and effort and there's also the heavy competition, the old mindset is almost not practical.

Now, I'm not saying western companies only make fast crap either... But western game developers have a different take, they usually never decide anything alone, the project itself is the idea and responsability of many (while in Japanese games we usually have one guy that actually decides everything) and nothing is done without being concerned about time and budget limits, so even if they are really aiming for a high profile game, they don't "waste" time trying to reach perfection with little things, they won't try to develope every little idea into the game if they are not sure they can make it.

So generaly, a Western dev is more time and money conscious and a Jap dev wants to do a masterpiece. Obviously those are just stereotypes, most companies are somewhere in between those two extremes, many times a they follow the exact oposite of the regional mindset (Quantic Dreams is an example). Also we know that both systems can work, both can generate creative and fun games... In fact, both can be efficient too (Look at Team Ico or Polyphony Digital). Truth be told, this whole "efficiency" crap is just an excuse for Capcom, what they really meant was "reaching out to Slant Six is a cheaper way to make a shooter that sells in USA".

[jc48573]

Yea, creativity does come at a cost if you're not careful enough and that's time. It just feels like they're taking forever for Japan to release their games nowadays. I am very careful when it comes down to Western games as I'm even more selective. I simply do not believe in the scores they give for games like Call of Duty.

[Chnswdchldrn]

Sure we got our FPS, but Japan just makes the most generic cookie cutter shit in terms of games

If I had a penny for every young spikey haired feminine looking protagonist with a ridiculous outfit and an oversized sword in a Japanese game...

Though I must say a couple gems may emerge from the shit every once and a while, such as Dark souls and Demon souls, the rest is just weeaboo trash

Heck, MW3 has about zero originality but it still manages to be funner than most Japanese games, and thats pretty sad tbh

[Captain Qwark 9]

actually both are very stale these days....

the most creative game to come out in recent years is the demon souls series, simple as that. it has numerous enimies, fantastic level design, and unlike every other game out there, a penalty for dying....another quality title is the arkhum series

other than that japs and western devs are equally stale and uncreative, japs pump out rpg after rpg of the same slightly modified battle system and the same gay looking hero. when there not doing that their creating gay ass shit like catherine ( original yes, but not really that much fun, i know 5 people enjoyed it but thats about it )

and western devs pump out sequel after sequel with next to no changes ( Gears 3, Uncharted, God of War 3, COD ) and in some cases move backwards ( BC2 > BF3, Morrowind > skyrim, DAO > DA2 )....

so simply put, dont knock just one, both need improvement

[Kalowest]

"Japan just makes the most generic cookie cutter shit in terms of games"
True, but they're so damn enjoyable.

[Lord_Sloth]

If I had a penny for every brown short haired, bearded, over-sized man with a gun that came out in a Western game!

Japan doesn't make cookie cutter RPGs. I'd say Bethesda does that and their games are STILL glitch ridden as hell!

[Highlife]

If I had a penny for every guy that looked like a girl in a JRPG!

[Yui_Suzumiya]

You forgot Catherine.. One of the most original games ever made..

[SJPFTW]

creative? releasing a billion final fantasy and mario games as well as RPGs with the same storyline with similar spikey hair protagonist is not creativity

[NovusTerminus]

1. I hate Mario.
2. I only like FF7,9, and Tactics.

Monster Hunter, 3'rd Birthday, Dark / Demons Souls, Resonance of Fate, And next year they have allot coming out.

It still beats the 11 FPS games to come out this year alone stateside. I know that westerners make good games, they have done quite a few I like, but they are normally overshadowed by all the shooters.

[Lord_Sloth]

Nevermind the fact that each and every Final Fantasy is a stand alone title that doesn't tie into the others.

Also, name me ALLLLLL the JRPGs that came out last year then name me ALLLLLL the FPS titles that came out last year.

[SJPFTW]

not going to count as it is way too much. thank you come again.

JPRGs of 2011: http://www.1up.com/do/blogE...

[Lord_Sloth]

And how many of those actually came to the US?

[ZippyZapper]

Bioshock, Portal, Skyrim, Uncharted, Gears, and Halo say hi.

[Ducky]

That's not a proper way of looking at things.
A lot of FPS games were released, but, a lot of games in general were released as well.
You can't just say there were X number of FPS games and use it as an argument while overlooking the total amount of games released. Try going by percentages, and you'll see a better picture of the rift.

Even then, being an FPS game doesn't have much to do with creativity. It's a genre for games that are in first-person, and they can be anything from an FPS-RPG hybrid like DeusEx to a multiplayer-centric game like Battlefield3.

[darx]

What he said.

[WhiteLightning]

No....just no

Sorry but this looks crap, actually it's not just that it looks crap it's the fact that it dosen't even feel like a RE game, the fact Capcom have hit rock bottom exploiting one of their best franchises like this and the fact that they are giving more of their great franchises to Western developers where they have always turn out average at best

Oh and on a final note....Slant Six have produced the worst SOCOM game ever and they havent actually produced anything good themselfs.

I'm going to take what you've said Kawata with a grain of salt

We all know why you guys are using them Capcom, it's not more "efficient", Slant Six are just cheaper.

[RedDead]

I bet you it'll turn out decent and worth a buy in the end. It's another Spin off of RE. Like MGR: Revengeance. Rising also looks amazing, specially the extended trailer. But anyway, both are the same, spin off in different Genre's. This game will probably sell on brand name alone. But it still looks alright imo. This is another chance for slant six to redeem themselves because they really do SUCK so far. Besides, it's not like it will ruin the rest of the RE franchise. And RE6 is probably on it's way as well.

[christheredhead]

In terms of dev time, western studios seem to be much more efficient. Overall though, I feel like eastern companies make far superior games in terms of content, detail and longevity. Even though they take much longer, it just seems like a better product in the end, for the most part.

[tarbis]

More efficient in making bugged games that require day 1 patch and whatnots. Yeah, I agree. But, these mostly are from 3rd party developers.

[MizTv]

i dont care how long it takes to make a game as long as its good i can wait for how ever long. just want to play the best games

[WildStyles]

It's hilarious when folks say the Japanese release generic cookie cutter shit when the same claim can be made about western devs. Ain't nobody tired of military and space marine shooters? Both sides share some fault in overall saturation. No sense in being in denial about it.

[Kyosuke_Sanada]

Well Slant Six did make Socom Confrontation on a PS2 game budget which is the only freebie I will give to them but efficiency shouldn't even be in the same article as this company. I am starting to feel like Capcom was just worried about their well-known series not being cash cows anymore due to COD sales so they went western. However being the cheapskates they are, they collaborated with the developers that were on their last leg due to poor sales and complaints (Slant Six and Ninja Theory).

Read the PSM last year for the interview of Adam Bullied, Capcom went to Slant Six saying off the bat "Pitch us a western idea for a Resident Evil game..."

[gypsygib]

What? I thought asians were smarter than everybody. Or at least that's what the majority of high school teachers would have you believe.

[TheMutator]

for him more efficient means , more rushed and less creative games!!!

[d0nT wOrrY]

Both have prons and crons IMO, last gen + PS1 gen was the glory days for Japanese devs to name a few: FF, Onimusha, SoTC n ICO ,Fatal Frame, Silent Hill, RE 1 2 3 Nemesis + code veronica AND the great DMC 1 which fukin missing those days, and so many GREAT games that made me really respect how intelligent are these people..
But when it comes to this gen.. you can see the biggest franchises are dying.. *damn you Capcom*
i guess JP devs lost their souls :'( but i still have faith ..

[Yui_Suzumiya]

Atlus gives us all faith!!