Imports in the past among Japanese gamers have been very low, whereas overseas users ”imported a lot” by contrast. Vanquish’s focus ”on overseas”.
”Japanese gamers did not feel the need in the past to buy imports and play them. In sharp contrast, overseas users imported a lot,” explained producer Atsushi Inaba.
”I think overseas users and developers have for a long time had a wider and more complete view of gaming. Shooters remained minor in Japan.” In Japan the term ‘Yoge’ translates to ‘foreign game’ and has become tied specifically to shooters.
”At the same time, Yoge equals difficult, which means shooters equals Yoge equals ‘too difficult for me’. And to be honest, very few people know about Gears Of War or Mass Effect or even Call Of Duty in Japan,” continued Inaba-san.
While the studio ”forgot about the Japanese market altogether” when developing MadWorld, they don’t want to neglect their native market with sci-fi shooter Vanquish.
”If you give too much importance to the Japanese market there is a strong chance then the game won’t appeal to the west. So the choice is clear. We focus on overseas for the obvious reason, while not necessarily forgetting about Japan,” he said.
Vanquish releases on Xbox 360 and PS3 October 22nd. Capcom’s Keiji Inafune declares the Japanese games industry is ”at least five years behind” western studios.
