Video Games and Japan

Pat RichBrian McDaniel

Japan’s “Invasion” of America

• Japanese popular culture had begun it’s “Invasion” of America in the 80’s and we assimilated it. The Primary reason was because of Video Games in the 80’s. The second reason was because of Japanese Anime (animation) in the 90’s. This is called Globalization.

• What attracted people to this: The Decline of American Video Games and the Artwork.

• Anime Boom of the 90’s (In America)- Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira (1988), Mamoru Oshii’s Ghost and the Shell (1995), and Hayao

Miyazaki films.

1. Toonami (1997)- Dragonball Z, Sailor Moon, Gundam, etc.

2. Kids WB vs. Fox Kids/Box (1998)- Pokémon (1998) vs. Digimon (1999)

- Cardcaptors, Monster Rancher, etc.

Akihabara: Arcades of Japan

• Akihabara is the nerd heaven in Japan. It’s one street dedicate to nerds and geeks and everything “Otaku” in Japan.

• A place for tourists, a place to meet and hangout with maids in maid cafes, and visit the arcades.

• Club Sega, Sega Gigo

Arcades in Japan

• Crane Games• Card Games• Dance Dance Revolution machines• Fighting Games • Shooting Games

Dance Dance Revolution

• Introduced in Japan in 1998

• A music game by Konami.

• Is the pioneering genre of rhythm and dance genre in video games.

Fighting GamesEvo 2013 (July 12 – 14)

• Persona 4 Arena - (Winner) Best Fighting Game VGA 2012

• Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3• Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition• Tekken Tag Tournament 2• Mortal Kombat (2011)• Street Fighter x Tekken 2013• King of Fighters XIII• Super Smash Brothers Melee - (Winner) Popular Vote- 2) Skullgirls- 3) Street Fighter II Super Turbo- 4) MLP: Fighting for Magic

Shooting GamesSpace Invaders (1978)

• Developed by Taito• Created by Tomohiro Nishikado• Heavily influenced by Atari’s game Breakout• “The First Blockbuster Video Game”• Author Scott Cohen, “Pong wasn’t as exciting as Ping-Pong,

but Space Invaders was more exciting than bowling.”Futurama

• Fry: Now watch as I blast through my own shield!(Group Gasp)

Bender: He’s a madman. A MADMAN!!!!!

Puck-Man/Pac-Man (1980)

• Developed by Nakamura Manufacturing Company (Namco)

• Toru Iwatani hired by Namco in 1977• Their was a pizza…• Puck-Man was an attempt to get more girls into

arcades.- “Women like cute things”- “Women seem to like eating.”• Name was changed to Pac-Man in America.

Donkey Kong (1981)

• Developed by Nintendo.• Shigeru Miyamoto’s first directing assignment• First arcade game where game was built around the story.• Miyamoto was inspired the films Beauty and the Beast (1946),

King Kong (1933), and the Popeye series.• Main characters Donkey Kong, Jump-Man (Mario), and

Pauline.• Who is the antagonist?- Led into Donkey Kong Jr. (1982)• The King of Kong:A Fist full of Dollars (2007)

Visual Novels• A sub-genre of adventure games.• Interactive fiction that have very little gameplay.• Focuses more on storytelling, character interactions,

dialogues and branching narratives.• They also incorporate music, voice acting, artwork, and

cutscenes.• Ex. Persona 4 Golden• Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask• Steins Gate

Hentai GamesThe other type of Visual Novels that can be found in Japan. • Katawa Shoujo (when translated means “Disability Girls”)

**Note**- Slot 5 event at Arcon 2013- script read-through of Katawa Shoujo. Brian McDaniel will be participating as a voice actor!

Consoles

• Playstation: December 3, 1994• Playstation 2: March 4, 2000• PSP: December 12, 2004• Playstation 3: November 11,

2006• PS Vita: December 17, 2011• Playstation 4: Q4 2013

• SG-1000: July 15, 1983• Sega Master System:

October 20, 1985• Sega Genesis: October 29,

1988• Sega Saturn: November

22, 1994• Sega Dreamcast:

November 27, 1998

• Game and Watch: 1981• Famicon/NES: July 15, 1983• Gameboy: April 21, 1989• Super NES: October 20, 1990• N64: June 23, 1996• Gameboy Advance: March

21, 2001• Gamecube: September 14,

2001• Nintendo DS: November 21,

2004• Wii: November 19, 2006• Nintendo 3DS: February 26,

2011• Wii U: November 18, 2012

Tokyo Game Show

• Held in Chiba, Japan since 1996.• Booth Girls• Games showcased are primarily from

Japanese Developers.

• Donkey Kong (1980 - Present)• Super Mario Brothers (1985 - Present)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZ3xNcqde6o

• Ice Climbers (1985 - ?)• The Legend of Zelda (1986 - Present)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rG-LNVKqmuI

• Metroid (1986 – Present)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oQZHHSHO9U&list=PL_tkjvIfT5F81nDU6nHj-1CBeTnrEdAJc&index=30

• Kid Icarus (1986 - Present)• Fire Emblem (1990 - Present)• F-Zero (1990 - 2004?)• Kirby (1992 - Present)• Star Fox (1993 - Present)• Pokémon (1996 - Present)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ic0aDbR4zVM

• Pikman (2001 - Present)

Shigeru Miyamoto -Donkey Kong, Mario, Legend of Zelda, Star Fox, F-Zero, Pikman, Wii

Satoshi Taijiri - Pokémon

Koji Kondo - Music Composer

History of Nintendohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0gNaUib4UU&list=PL_tkjvIfT5F81nDU6nHj-1CBeTnrEdAJc&index=23

Founded in 1889

• Several Disney and Marvel Titles• Street Fighter (1987 - Present)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-jAs4_p-mI&list=PL_tkjvIfT5F81nDU6nHj-1CBeTnrEdAJc&index=1

• Rock Man/Mega Man (1987 - Present?)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqWdTgRy0Cc

• Darkstalkers (1994 - Present?)• Biohazard/Resident Evil (1996 - Present)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s05c9vC-5l0&list=PL_tkjvIfT5F81nDU6nHj-1CBeTnrEdAJc

• Devil May Cry (2001 - Present)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9l1jKsREtf4&list=PL_tkjvIfT5F81nDU6nHj-1CBeTnrEdAJc

• Monster Hunter (2002 - Present)

Hideki Kamiya – Resident Evil 2, Devil May Cry, Viewtiful Joe, Okami, Bayonetta

Shinji Mikami – Goof Troop, Resident Evil, Dino Crisis, Resident Evil 4, God Hand, Vanquish

Takeshi Nishiyama – Street Fighter

Keiji Inafune – Mega Man

Founded in 1983

• Pac-Man (1980)• Tekken (1994 - Present)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NI7x3sWu24

• Soul Edge/Calibur (1995 - Present)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ku1ZKTYg5yg

• Tales of… (1995 - Present)• Katamari Damancy (2004 - 2011?)• Xenosaga (2002 - 2006)• Dark Souls (2011 - Present)• Project X Zone (2012)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJXt4iBL8n8

• Most Shonen Jump titles• Gundam series (acquired through Bandai)• .Hack series (acquired through Bandai)• New Super Smash Brothers

Katsuhiro Harada - Tekken

Founded in 1955 (Namco)

Founded in 1950 (Bandai)

• Phantasy Star (1987 - Present)• Sonic The Hedgehog (1991 - Present)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ym2ve5_YD60

• Shining series (1991 – Present)• Streets of Rage (1991 - 1994)• Virtua Fighter (1993 - Present)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gRhERnsV1w

• Sakura Wars (1996 - Present)• The House of the Dead (1996 - 2011?)• Super Monkey Ball (2001 - Present)• Valkyrie Chronicles (2008 – 2011?)• Resonance of Fate (2010)

Naota Oshima, Yuji Naka – Sonic the Hedgehog

Founded in 1940

• Dragon Quest (1986- Present)• Final Fantasy (1987 - Present)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PQh_n5qI9A

• Mana series (1991 - Present)• Chrono Trigger (1995 - ?)• Front Mission (1995 - 2010?)• Star Ocean (1995 - 2009?) • Parasite Eve (1998 - 2010?)• Kingdom Hearts (2002 - Present)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrHoiwyayak&list=FLBWquS5IXx4KPPLkrM4JweQ&index=4

Hironobu Sakaguchi - Final Fantasy

Nobuo Uematsu - Music Composer

Tetsuya Nomura - Character Designer, Kingdom Hearts

Square-Enix ‘s Western Properties not meeting expectations

http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/04/09/square-enix-reveals-sales-expectations-for-tomb-raider?utm_campaign=twposts&utm_source=twitter

Founded in 1975 (Enix)

Founded in 1986 (Square)

• Frogger (1981 - Present)• Bomberman (1983 - 2011?)• Castlevania (1986 - Present)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdR6psw1ZLc&list=PL_tkjvIfT5F81nDU6nHj-1CBeTnrEdAJc

• Metal Gear (1987 - Present)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbOqETbQiG0&list=PL_tkjvIfT5F81nDU6nHj-1CBeTnrEdAJc&index=13

• Contra (1987 - Present?)• Zombies Ate My Neighbors (1993)- Developed by Lucas Arts

• Dance Dance Revolution (1998 - Present)• Silent Hill (1999 - Present)- The Town in Silent Hill was based off towns in New England

• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles• Yu-Gi-Oh!

Hideo Kojima – Metal Gear

Founded in 1969

Other Companies

And More…

In Closing…

• What if Scenario: Do you think American video game culture would be different if Japan wasn’t involved?

- Video Game Characters- Consoles- Genre Innovations

• Is their “Nationalist Pride” in games?

• Are JRPG’s still relevant?

Keiji Inafune on Platformshttp

://www.ign.com/articles/2013/04/01/why-did-xbox-360-fail-in-japan?utm_campaign=twposts&utm_source=twitter

References• Ashcraft, B. (2008). Arcade Mania: the turbo-charged world of

Japan's game centers (1st ed.). Tokyo, Japan: Kodansha International Ltd.

• Kohler, C. (2004). Power Up: How Japanese video games gave the world an extra life (1st ed.). N.p.: BradyGames. Indianapolis, Indiana.