The Impact of Japanese Culture on the gaming industry

20952911 The impact of Japanese culture on the gaming industry

The impact of Japanese culture on the gaming industry 20952911 Dissertation 2015

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Contents Page

Introduction – What What are Video Games?.....................Page 3

The ascendance of Japanese culture in video games………………………………..............................Page 4

Impacting Western game design, the calm after the storm……………………….........................................Page

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Japan’s Console Culture – The The Rise of Western Dominance…………...................................................Page 20 Page | 2


Introduction – What What are Video Games?

To put it simply, a video game is an electronic device that uses a video device to give the user feedback through visual means. Taking what we know from the current generation of video games these electronic devices are widely distributed across different platforms, which can come in the form of computer games consoles or even the home PC. While the beginning of the video game industry saw games being played on arcade platforms, the f uture brought about handheld gaming that can come in the form of mobile devices or handheld consoles.

Typically a video game is played with a gaming controller, which either correlat es to an external or internal piece of hardware. As the hardware has been advancing in the video game industry, new technologies technologies have come into play that further indulge the player’s need for feedback. While the norm for computer games was either a gamepad or a keyboard and mouse combination, now technology allows the user of touch screens and camera utilities within the games themselves.

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The ascendance of Japanese culture in video games

The Japanese gaming industry was well established during the 1970s, having an already booming market in Japanese electronics and children’s toys, so it was no wonder wonder that the industry managed to stretch overseas to the West and become a major influence for modern day game design. Home consoles became a niche market in terms of the competition for arcade machines, especially with the release of games like Pong and Space Invaders, and this later spawned a number of clones from competing companies. While these games have been firmly cemented into the first steps s teps of the gaming industry’s rise, none created as much of a worldwide reach in the 70s as Pac-Man (1980) did. Champagne (2013) talks about; …how the coming of Pac-Man changed the way developers thought about games, and brought on an incredible maturity to the gaming industry. The creation of Pac-Man introduced a completely new icon in gaming history and gave the world a look into Japanese culture through the visualisation of a pizza shaped hero eating pills and dodging ghosts. ghosts. Unlike many of the games that came before Pac-Man had his own personality, and while the characters themselves had no sort of motivation or goals goals the use of cinematic scenes created a sense of immersion that felt completely new. Kohler (2005, p23) states that;

Pac-Man was the first game to make make use of cinematic scenes, and that through these scenes the player could be introduced to the different personalities that were created for the ghosts and Pac-Man himself .

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The 1980s would bring about a new kind of game that was completely ‘alien’ to the industry, and in 1981 the world would see the greatest gaming icon ever create d.

Donkey Kong (1981) became a worldwide success under the influence of Shigeru Miyamoto, even though the original concept was designed to mirror the gameplay of Nintendo’s earlier success, Radarscope. Through the use of iconography the real star of t he game, Mario was cemented into gaming history as the biggest icon ever and was a clever depiction of early Japanese storytelling. Kohler (2005, p37) explains that; …the idea of the unassuming guy who succeeds against the odds is a common theme in Japanese storytelling. Mario is represented as a hardworking and heroic character, however his body structure speaks differently to the player, allowing them to be immersed with this everyday person and in turn engage with the moustachioed plumber. King (2002, p79) points out that; Shigeru creat ed ed Mario with a ‘deformed’ frame in mind, which was more in keeping of Japanese culture in terms of manga and anime. anime . Mario followed the typical stylisation of Japanese aesthetics with his large head and small legs, similar to the design of major icons like Mickey Mouse, and the reason behind such recognition was the same reason why Pac-Man was a huge success, the game introduced a personality. Previous arcade games saw the player partaking in recreational activities and didn’t do much on expanding themse lves past that, whereas the likes of Pac-Man and Donkey Kong created a new influx in the making of a game that inspired many titles in the future. Picard (2013) makes a point on Japanese culture in the likes of Mario, and that;

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…the contribution of Nintendo Ninte ndo in Donkey Kong was to bring a specific personality to video games, one which later became a strong influence in the development of video games in Japan as well as globally globally.. The success of Donkey Kong in the West assured Nintendo’s dominance in the vi deo game industry, through the introduction of narrative structure and personality (while inserting key aspects of Japanese culture into the functionality of the game) and this inevitably revived the home console from the crash of 1978, starting with the release of Super Mario Bros in 1985. While Donkey Kong had a narrative, the game was solely based on getting a high score (like any arcade game at the time) but Super Mario Bros expanded further on the narrative of the game and created something more. Narrative was commonplace in Japanese games at the time, but Mario’s new challenge was to save the Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom from the evil King Koopa (with the help of his brother Luigi), and the immediate differ ence that players saw in the game itself was that the focus was not to get a high score, but to save a virtual princess from a virtual fire breathing king. Kohler (2005, p57) talks about; …the challenge of Donkey Kong was to get the highest score possible by replaying the same levels over and over, while Super Mario Bros was the first game in which which completing the story was the only goal of the player. The cultural aspects of Japan shined throughout this game, whether it would be from the

‘Deformed’ anthropomorphic lizards or even from the colourful col ourful backdrops of the Mushroom Kingdom, and symbolism became key to the design process. Players were easil y able to differentiate a Koopa turtle from a Goomba through the representation of expressions and colour palettes used in Super Mario Bros, and so t he Japanese/Italian hero became ever popular throughout the world. world. While the success of Nintendo flourished in the 1980s and and inspired many games to adhere to their cultural values (such as Dragon Quest and Final Page | 6


Fantasy) there would be an even greater representation repr esentation of Japan in the form of a monster collecting game…

Pocket Monsters (or Pokémon as it came to be in the West) was designed in 1996 in Japan on the Game Boy, the newest innovation in gaming technology at the time. It followed the stor y of a young boy who faces adversity with the help of the Pokémon that you capture along the way. While the game uses RPG elements that were similar to other games created around that time, such as Final Fantasy V on the SNES, the game itsel f was fundamentally different than anything that had previously hit the West because of the representation of

Japan it brings. Allison (2004, p36) states;

What makes Japan successful in its market of games, cartoons and comics is not simply technological or business prowess, but but what some call the ‘expressive’ strength of Japanese creators. For these reasons, Pokémon’s Pokémon’s success as it travels so popularly and profitably around around the world has been watched watched with great interest back home. The creation of a cultural phenomenon in Japan that expanded its reach around the world made an impact that would be hardly forgotten, for many reasons. Pokémon stood out from the games of that generation because of the introduction of acquiring knowledge for a greater purpose. The classification of these creatures through a device called the Pokedex was an uncommon sight amongst games of this generation; typically players fought and defeated opposing creatures for experience gain, now the player is given more information about the inhabitants of this virtual world, encouraging the player to engage with this world in a

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meaningful way. The Pokedex itself was an encyclopaedia that immersed the player with a ton of information, and in order to gather more information they would have to progress further into the game and expand their knowledge through catching and defeating more Pokémon. According to Buckingham (2004, p22), he states that; …it makes for a considerable degree of longevity: to commit to Pokémon is to commit to a long-term engagement, which poses some significant challenges in terms of finding, processing, remembering and applying applying information. The Japanese gaming industry had introduced a new mechanic to the world, the completion of an archive of information. i nformation. An important thing to note is that this ‘information’ that is needed to collect is that of a creature, a living thing. Each Pokémon created a brand new personality unbeknownst to anyone anyone at the time, and it was the player’s job to find out all they t hey could about these fascinating creatures.

Taking this into account, one of the major influences of Japanese culture in Pokémon was the ‘cuteness’ that each creature represents. Japan’s culture was partly based off the term ‘kawaisa’ which means cuteness. cuteness. A major Japanese media export was anime and manga, which often expressed this style. This style is rather unique, as most Western animations opted for more realistic visualisations and interpretations; Disney’s animated films, while targeted for a younger audience, had very realisticall y proportioned characters and were designed to look as human as possible. Anime characters are often depicted with exaggerated features, particularly face and height. Many Pokemon show this as the majority of the Pokemon that would be deemed ‘cute’ are often small, round and presented with oversized

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features. An example of this would be in Pikachu, the mascot of Pokemon, who is depicted as a short, fat mouse with a squashed circular body shape and displaying a typical ‘Baby face’, as discussed by Isbister (2006, p10). However, not every Pokemon looks cute. Mewtwo and Charizard are much larger creatures with more intimidating features: their eyes e yes are triangular in shape, a common feature on anim e characters that tend to be either serious or play the role of the villain. They are often depicted in aggressive aggressive stances, Charizard is often shown breathing fire into the air and Mewtwo always stands upright, with a much more serious expression on his face in contrast to the much happier looking Pikachu. The cuter Pokemon tend to be more passive in the animated series, often s een being very friendly with their trainers and other Pokémon. The more aggressive Pokemon are more likel y to be seen fighting with other monsters and, in the case of Charizar d, unlikely to listen to their trainers unless exposed to a battle they deem worth their while. These differences are integral to Pokémon’s success as it allows it to appeal to different audiences; some people like the idea of fighting alongside their virtual companions and some like to train a team that they feel will dominate and look ‘cool’. Contrasting to Japanese cuteness is the American idea of coolness and Pikachu is a representation of both. He has predominantly cute features but can display a determination to win and is a very competent fighter, lending to a more ‘cool’ look. Pokémon tailors to the realistic values of home life with the training of animals and the bond that’s created with them; this is a major part of Western society. society. The expansion of the Japanese culture inside of the game can be boiled down to the of the real life home values that Western society brings, for example, the ten year old boy leaving home to live a different life. The sensibilities and values of the modern home are left behind by the player as the y go out and explore this world they live in, meeting the various inhabitants along the way. Allison (2003, p14) points out that;

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Japan’s cultural industries have touched a pulse pulse in the imaginations of millennial millenn ial children in this era of cyber-technology and post-industrial post- industrial socialization…by blending flexibility and fantasy into technology that is conveniently portable, virtuality that is intimately cute, and a commodity form that is polymorphically perverse. It is this yearning for another culture that is a major driving force behind the success of Pokémon. Just as players want to find out more information about the different worlds of the Pokemon games, so to do they wish to find out more about Japanese culture as a whole.

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Impacting Western game design – the the calm after the storm

After looking through the founding principles of many beloved Japanese video games, it is an understatement to say that Western game design was influenced greatly by the popularity and hype that Japan, and Nintendo had created. Of course Japan’s current gaming ga ming mascot Mario was easily recognizable to anyone around the world at this point, the height of his popularity extending further as the years went on, and this was due to the fact that his design was w as aimed at Western audiences in addition to Japan. J apan. This became a trend that spanned across the years to come, with games that predominantly featured a main character with characteristics that appealed to the West. Upon the release of the Sega Genesis, the aforementioned company was in dire need of a flagship game that t hat could contend with the current Nintendo market, so in order to stand out of the crowd Sega introduced their very own mascot, named Sonic the Hedgehog.

The battleground was Japan, the year was 1991, and the victor would receive the t itle of ‘Gaming Giant’. Sega and Nintendo were now butting heads for the crown, and their fighters were Mario and Sonic. Both characters represent different cultures, but also form a foundation of the Japanese cultural cult ural background of iconography and stylization. Sonic however, however, aimed to become something greater than Mario…Sega wanted their new mascot to hit the Western market by storm, and they did. The blue hedgehog became a worldwide phenomenon and hit hit hard on both fronts, in Japan and in America, and created a rivalry that would last decades. McNerney (2014) points out that:

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The extraordinary speed and exciting gameplay in Sonic the Hedgehog, the first game in the series, was unlike anything that consumers had seen before. By being so different (and so unlike Nintendo’s unlike Nintendo’s Mario Bros.), Sega was in a position to declare the game’s rebellious lead character as the personification for what videogames could become. Speedy, splashy, in your-face, and always infused with a cool dude dude attitude.

This foundation in the design d esign of Sonic’s characteristics immediately hit a spark with Western audiences, who craved a character with a personality that they could aspire and even relate to. Taking this into account, it was no wonder that Sega created a saga of games that would periodically periodically come face to face with Nintendo’s greatest mascot and still hold up in today’s market. With newer instalments of the Sonic franchise came new characters, with new personalities that weren’t seen in any Mario game and offered a new kind of experience experience to both Japanese and Western audiences. Sonic and friends were slowly becoming a gang, and through the interaction with themselves their personalities became apparent. This was a dynamic that is still a part of Western culture today, cultivating the idea of a group dynamic between friends that brings out their different personalities, therefore leaving the player more invested and engaged with the characters within this digital world.

With the branching of companies into the West, new games were bei ng created throughout the years that gave off the appeal of Western culture. One of the many success stories came from the corporate giant themselves, Sony. Being a Japanese company would help Sony branch out into the West with their entertainment division, known as Sony Computer Entertainment, to set a standpoint for which they could create their very own console to rival Nintendo and Sega. The The Playstation Home Console was unveiled on December December 3 rd, 1994 in Page | 12


Japan and then marketed to the U.S. through their newly established branch, aimed particularly at a more adult market. The audiences for video games had always been steadily increasing in age, and Sony was the quickest to jump on that fact. Using the knowledge of the current state of video game design, the company began to market their console towards the adult populace, something that out of place in the current market. However, the games that would create a popular standing in both cultures came about in 1996, in the form of a bandicoot named Crash.

Crash Bandicoot is arguably one of the most successful stories of translation between Japanese and Western culture, with many reasons as to its success being its design desi gn in general. Creating a new icon in this current market was a tough process, considering the mascot king Nintendo had recently gained complete superiority over Sega Sega and other companies at the time, but Sony aimed to prove that their console could compete just as much as Sega did. Crash was essentially a product of Japanese game design, following the features that were prominent throughout throughout the mascots of Nintendo and Sega. Welchy (2015) (2015) points out that:

The game was praised for its graphics and unique visual style and would go on to become one the bestselling PlayStation games of all time.

The enlarged head and small body, the exaggerated expressions throughout and the personality that enables the player to connect with him personally were all conditions throughout the designs of Sonic and Mario, and became a familiar feeling in the design of many beloved game characters to come.

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While Japanese and video game design had a heavy focus on appealing to children through fun loving characters with emphasised features, th ere were many different games sold on the PlayStation console that were specifically aimed at adults, because of Sony’ Sony’s knowledge on their target audience. One such case of them hitting the nail on the head was in the game Wipeout, developed by Psygnosis (later named Sony Computer Entertainment Studio, Liverpool). Being based in Europe meant for some pretty interesting games, and Wipeout was a design that was specific to the current genre of racing games and evolved past that. The futuristic design, accompanied by the night club soundtrack that it is sti ll now famous for, created an atmospheric experience that gamers would remember for decades. In the UK, Wipeout was extremely famous for its soundtrack in particular, due to t he fact that night clubs would even use the music for their own remixes. Techno music was a large part of European culture during the 1990’ 1990 ’s and Wipeout was designed specifically with that in mind, right down to the soundtracks that would be released a year prior to the game’ game ’s release. According to Campbell (2012), he states that:

Sony management, having smartly bought Psygnosis in order to get PlayStation off the ground, celebrated its win with night-club installations. installations. Wipeout became the company’ company’ s mascot for a generation of kids who had grown up with NES but didn ’ t want to grow out of games.

While not a commercial success in i n Japan, Wipeout became a cult classic class ic for gaming that merged the design of a Japanese game, with a soundtrack fit for Western culture to create an experience unlike any other at the time. Page | 14


The differences between Japanese and Western game design were not as apparent as they are in the present, as video game design was still stil l relatively new and many games followed the same formula for decades. However, a type t ype of game that eventually branched off into its own genre was the RPG (or Role Playing Game). In an RPG, the player would follow some kind of progression, whether it would be through building a character level or finding gear to improve themselves, and press on through a story that centred around the world the player was thrown into. Considering this formula for this particular kind of game, it wasn’ wasn’t surprising a genre was formed from its rise, rise , due to the fact that it became bec ame a popular trope among game developers to design a world to immerse the player in.

Given that the years prior to the birth of RPGs would pave the way towards some of the greatest and most memorable games of all time, it’s easy it’s easy to see a parallel created from the differences in Japanese and Western game design.

In Japanese game design, particularly in the early years of JRPGs, the game would generally focus on a group of characters that have to save the world on a grand scale. However, the overall aesthetic feel to t o the game would make it stand out completely amongst other RPGs, drawing inspiration from the themes of anime in terms of hardships and turmoil. Even the overarching design of JRPGs could personify Japanese culture throughout its entirety, using both colour and themes to give the the player a niche experience that you could only find from Japan. A few examples of this subcategory of games can be found in the likes of Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, both developed by the company Square Enix (Squaresoft and Enix respectively). Both these games adopted the Japanese t raditions of storytelling and Page | 15


colourful design that the player has come to find as the general design for a JRPG. Metagross (2013) makes a valid point in:

Japanese RPGs gained such great success success stories during their Golden Age due to the medium’ medium’ s unique ability to tell stories. In early gaming history many game genres genres had a difficult time telling compelling, interesting stories st ories and thus players who wished to experience a great story would turn to roleplaying games.

Because of Japanese dominance in the video game industry during the ear ly years, many of the tropes that we all know and love became a key design aspect in the creation of their games, and story-telling was once again an alien concept that became a necessity.

Western RPGs were somewhat different in a few of its design aspects, mainly because of the Japanese dominance in the console wars and many RPGs released in Europe and USA were often confined to the realms of PC, which was only particular to Western culture. A typical Western RPG in the early days of game design would w ould consist of first person gameplay, a lack of any story within it and a pure focus on the gamepla y throughout. While this type of game was exceedingly popular during the rise of Western gaming in the 1990s, Japanese dominance would prove the better by companies selling their games across t he sea into Western territory. Games like Final Fantasy 7 and Chrono Trigger became some of the most popular RPG games sold throughout throughout the West, and it seemed like the attitude of focusing on a pure action game with little depth was becoming a slight burden burden for Western game design. Many gamers turned to Japan to produce higher quality games to be sold onto consoles,

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particularly the likes of Sony and Nintendo, and and it seemed there needed to be a shift in the dynamics of Western game design. A company called Bethesda was ver y popular amongst the PC gaming community, and being well established gave them the drive to create a series of games that would expand on Western game design and even take into themsel ves some other well-known themes. This series of games was the Elder Scrolls series, the first being Arena and released on PC platform in 1994. Arena used a lot of themes from Japanese game design to create an immersive but Western experience, creating an expansive world filled with lore and rich with story, while also feeding fe eding from common tropes of Western RPGs such as a medieval concept and an action st yle of gameplay, along with the ability to create your own character and name in the world. Metagross ( 2012) states that:

The Elder Scrolls series by Bethesda aims to create extremely realistic worlds for the player to explore and enjoy, and the idea of expression allows you to take control of your own avatar or created self within the game and not play as an established character.

This quote particularly sums up in general the concept of a West ern RPG, and the aim is to create an immersive but realistic world that the player can throw themselves into and carve their own path into the world, rather than follow a set story line. This became a cornerstone for future game design not just in the West, West , but also in Japan and became a major influence for a very difficult game with a huge following.

Dark Souls was created in 2011 by the Japanese game developer From Software, who was previously known for creating the predecessor Demon Souls in 2009, and was well known known for

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becoming a bridge in the gap between Japanese and Western game design. The game was exceedingly well known for its difficulty, particularly in its slow but not clunky action style gameplay and felt more like a Western Weste rn game to play, due to its focus on player versus pla yer combat. However, underneath it all the game still followed the traditions of Japanese game design, such as storytelling and a difficulty that c ould rival any arcade game, giving new life to the definition of an RPG. Quoting from Metagross (2012) he points out that:

Dark Souls gained a strong following following due to its extreme difficulty, but very open design which is a hallmark of western games. Dark Souls put a greater emphasis on player versus player combat, which encouraged competition amongst players. These traits make Dark Souls feel extremely Western in its design.

Due to this fact, the game reached a new height in the West and is praised highly for its innovative and conjunctive gameplay, in which it combined the best of both worlds in Japanese and Western game design.

There are some cases, however where the attempt at tempt to design a more universal game comes c omes with a heavy price, and this came from the name everyone came to for the next JRPG, Square Enix. In 2009 Square Enix released its 13 th instalment in the franchise, aptly named Final Fantasy 13, and what was expected to be a blockbuster hit spirall ed into a blow that still rocks r ocks the company to its core. While the release of Final Fantasy 13 was a success due to its long build up, the game received many negative reviews from Western audiences audiences for the game being too linear and pushed the players players through very regressive game design. Another main

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aspect of the game that was criticized c riticized was the change from turn based bas ed combat into a more action orientated game, what looked more like the remnants of a hack and slash game but with a much slower pace. This was clearly clear ly something that Square Enix had purposely used in order to gain the popularity of Western audiences, what with the Western gaming market currently bombarded with actions games like Call of Duty and Halo, so they trie d to place their pin in the West once more. Unfortunately, the perception of a JRPG became that of a negative one, due to the fact that Western West ern players favoured the more action orientated games to turn based command battles, which left little immersion for the player. Quoting an article by Plunkett (2010) it states:

“ Even before the current generation of consoles was released, it was obvious that the game market in the West was gaining momentum, momentum, and we couldn’ couldn’ t ignore it ” , write developers Motomu Toriyama and Akihiko Maeda. “The sentiment that stood out the most to us at the time was the increasingly harsh criticism towards JRPGs. ”

From this article, it is easy to tell that the developers of Final Fantasy 13 attempted to reconnect Western audiences with a beloved franchise by creating an experience that would appeal to players in the way an action game would, but als o give them the same themes that you would expect from a Final Fantasy. Unfortunately, this experiment did not take too kindly with Western audiences, and due to very late focus testi ng amongst Western players the developers were unable to implement many of the changes that we w ould later see in the newer instalments of the XIII trilogy. trilog y.

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Japan’s Console Culture – The The rise of Western dominance

Japan was foremost known throughout the world as specifically a ‘console culture’ culture’. Because of the rise in game development companies throughout the country, consoles became more and more apparent in people’ people ’s homes. Nintendo and Sega were still fighting to reign supreme over the other, however Sega began to decline a few years after the release of the Sega Saturn (which was released 1994 in Japan). The Saturn provided nothing new to the console market, and with the release of the Nintendo 64 and the push to 3D gaming in both J apan and the West, Sega needed to step up their game. In 1998 the company pushed forward a new console to fight in the current war, which was the Sega Dreamcast . Following Sony’ Sony’s example of using a disc instead of cartridges, Sega aimed to create a new craze like the PlayStation did in the West, and that was to aim for f or the mass public and rather towards children.

While the Dreamcast would certainly bring a new twist into the console war, with the addition of online multiplayer and numerous software devices that could connect to it , the console would fall short due to the cost of manufacturing all the software devices and the cost of actually making the console itself. Kevingiiford (2013) in an interview wit h marketing director Tadashi Takezaki writes:

“ It ’ ’ s one of those things where the more consoles you sell, the more you lose, so we had to cover that up with software sales. But those sales weren’ weren’ t going up, and at the same s ame time, we were busy trying to bring the idea of online gaming to users with the system.” system. ”

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Sega definitely attempted to pull out a console that would connect players via the Internet to play their favourite games together, and because of this heavy focus the console’ console’s expenditures would only rise, causing the console to become more and more expensive, until Sega stopped production of the Dreamcast in 2001 regrettably. Even though the console was discontinued, the Dreamcast helped pave the way into a new form of gaming that was completely new to the console industry, and that was online gaming.

Japan would slowly see to a new competition in the West, the console known as the Xbox. Created by Microsoft, the West had now begun to place their own foothold in the video game industry, and with Microsoft’ Microsoft’s reputation with the PC platform, the console would provide lots of potential for the new form of gaming that was slowly on the rise… rise …online gaming. With the inclusion of an Ethernet port in the back of the system, the Xbox was able to connect to a gaming platform called Xbox Live, which allowed players to play their favourite games against each other, for a price. This move by Microsoft became a massive step st ep into reclaiming the West from the clutches of Japanese dominance, which recently failed in the online console market with the Dreamcast. Sinclair (2012) talks about:

Undeterred by Sega’ Sega’ s failure, Microsoft embraced online gaming as the future not not only for its console, but of the industry as a whole. The The company was expecting online gaming to set its console apart in the market, and committed it in a big way, way, building an Ethernet port into every Xbox. The release title for the Xbox, Halo: Combat Evolved was originally designed to use Microsoft’ Microsoft’s Xbox Live to create a completely completel y new experience for players, which was a game that they could all play together using the Internet. However, the game was rushed by Page | 21


Microsoft to be the release title for their new console, so the development of the game fell short and so Xbox Live compatibility was not included in Halo till the second title, Halo 2. The developers of Halo, Bungie had created an action packed game that followed the s imilar principles of many first person shooters, such as Doom and Wolfenstein, but but created a unique experience for players on the Xbox, assuring its dominance in the market. Halo 2 was released in 2004 with the Xbox Live compatibility that players had been waiting 3 years for, and immediately online gaming on a console became a true realisa tion of what Sega was attempting to do with their Dreamcast, connecting players throughout the world in their favourite games. Sinclair (2012) states that:

By the end of its first month in stores, Halo 2 had sold more than 5 million copies. By the time Microsoft had pulled the plug on original Xbox Live support in 2010, Halo 2 played host to 5.4 billion games. The game essentially defined Xbox Live gaming during the original Xbox era, a fact that is not lost to the people people who created it.

Online multiplayer was firmly cemented into the hearts of players from then on, and has become a major phenomenon throughout throughout the gaming industry.

After the culmination of years of experience in the making, Japan was slowly declining from its pedestal as the reigning rei gning king of video game design. Online multiplayer was increasingly progressing into a staple of game design in the West, and Nintendo Nintendo most of all started losing their grip on the market. Nintendo had already released the Gamecube, the predecessor to the Nintendo 64, as a means to keep their foothold foothold in the market. However, Sony and Microsoft

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had now become the competition, creating games for online multiplayer and focusing purely on the Western market. With the Xbox 360 coming from Microsoft and the PlayStation 3 by Sony currently taking the market by storm, the competition was going to be fierce. Nintendo returned fire by releasing the Wii in 2006 for Japan, which was a console that came with a Wii Motion Controller and a sensor, which would allow the software to respond to the position of the Wii Controller, creating a whole new step into the future of of gaming. The new emphasis on ‘room multiplayer ’ set the future for the Wii, with new titles being released that would allow you to emulate certain actions or hobbies, without ever leaving the room. Wii Sports was the highest selling game for many man y years after the Wii’ Wii’s release, due to the ease of accessibility to play your favourite sports in the t he living room, while also being utilized as a fitness tool and catered to another audience too. Johnson (2014) points out that:

“Sports games were chosen because people already knew the rules. A new type of gameplay paired with the new controls controls might have turned new users off, but the goal was was to familiarize players with how motion controls worked.” worked.”

Overall, the Wii became the highest selling sellin g console of all time, comparatively to the likes li kes of Microsoft and Sony’ Sony’s gaming platforms, and regained the foothold that Nintendo had been losing since the 90s.

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Closing Statement

Looking at the many years that the Japanese gaming industry has become dominant in shows how the formula for game design was melded from the tropes of t raditional Japanese themes, the common storytelling of classic mythologies and interesti ng concepts from art styles, the anthropomorphisation of animals and wildlife in comparison to the representation of differ ent cultures in the world, even the exaggerated charact er designs of our favourite mascots that we all love today. None of it wouldn’ wouldn ’t have been possible if it wasn’ wasn’t for the rich, cultural background of Japan, and the steps it took to create a better future for video game design.

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