DmC director says western developers put visuals ahead of gameplay

[Blacksite]

Western developers start with visuals and get around to gameplay afterwards, DmC’s Japanese director Hideaki Itsuno believes.

Speaking to Siliconera, Itsuno said Capcom Japan’s collaboration with Ninja Theory has highlighted the opposing approaches of Japanese and western development teams.

“Given our experience, it seems like with the west and Ninja Theory they focus on the visuals stuff at the beginning and then build the gameplay on top of that,” he said.

“Whereas at Capcom Japan, we focus on the game logic and getting the systems down in the beginning then we gradually build the visuals on top of that.

“I think this speaks to the differences in the core of how western games are developed compared to games in Japan,” he added, noting that he can’t really speak for other Japanese developers beyond Capcom.

Itsuno said much of Capcom’s feedback to Ninja Theory during DmC’s development has been an attempt to merge the two differing approaches.

“We’ve been trying to find a hybrid system where we take a best of both worlds approach. It hasn’t been easy, but I think we’re happy with the results we have,” he said.

Elsewhere in the article, available through the link above, Itsuno said Ninja Theory’s management approach, which empowers individuals in key areas of the game, has been an eye-opener for the schedule-driven Capcom, while producer Motohide Eshiro said Capcom has learned a lot from Ninja Theory’s acclaimed motion capture and animation skills.

DmC is due on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in January; a PC version was mentioned early in proceedings but seems to have fallen off the radar.

via VG247.

Meh. Still not interested in their game.

[radgamer420]

Japanese developers just dont know how to code for the current gen hardware like the western developers do. And I'm not interested in their game anyway so that takes care of that.

[SomaXD]

via VG247.

Meh. Still not interested in their game.

i played it (demo of it)... and from what ive personally seen and played... its effing BAD ASS. stays close to DmC playstyle... and difficulty wasnt fucked like everyone seems to think its gonna be. so untill you actually try it out.. i wouldnt put it on the doomed list just yet.

[gangsta_795]

That's one way of saying that he's not satisfied with the contribution they're making lol.

i played it (demo of it)... and from what ive personally seen and played... its effing BAD ASS. stays close to DmC playstyle... and difficulty wasnt fucked like everyone seems to think its gonna be. so untill you actually try it out.. i wouldnt put it on the doomed list just yet.

That's nice to hear

[Gaddes]

Then why use a western studio to develop the game then Capcom? Oh that's right. Forced, unnecessary pandering to the glorious west, right Capcom?

[Vulgotha]

They're totally right. I mean look at some of the most revered, gorgeous, and enjoyable games this generation. All of which come from japanese studios:

Mass Effect
Assassin's Creed
Call of Duty (you don't have to love it to admit it's great to play)
BF3 (and Bad Company)
Halo
God of War
Ratchet and Clank
Bioshock
Starcraft
Elder Scrolls
Jak & Daxter
Forza
Motorstorm
Little Big Planet
Red Dead Redemption
Fl0w
Journey
Flower
Portal(and 2)
Crysis 2
Gears of War
TF2
Braid
Civilization
Uncharted (1,2,3)




Not a western developer in sight on that list of spectacular gameplay and great graphics! oh wai-

Put up or shut up Japan. Mostly, just shut up.

[radgamer420]

They're totally right. I mean look at some of the most revered, gorgeous, and enjoyable games this generation. All of which come from japanese studios: Mass Effect Assassin's Creed Call of Duty (you don't have to love it to admit it's great to play) BF3 (and Bad Company) Halo God of War Ratchet and Clank Bioshock Starcraft Elder Scrolls Crysis 2 Gears of War Not a western developer in sight on that list of spectacular gameplay and great graphics! oh wai- Put up or shut up Japan. Mostly, just shut up.

Definitley this. You hit the nail right on the head.

[Vulgotha]

To be honest, I'm getting tired of Japan in the gaming industry. Twilight has set on the east and the west is going to take up the mantle in gaming.

Even if we decided to be extremely forgiving and lax in our ranking of Japan's games regarding gameplay and pretended they were a 1:1 match with the west.. They have still made no meaningful contribution to graphics technology comparatively. Where is their Epic games? Crytek? DICE? Naughty Dog? Guerrilla? ID? Oh that's right- they don't have those type of developers.

I mean the only meaningful development we've seen is from Capcom (who have had help from western developers consistently), Square (Engine is assuredly not up to snuff compared to the western listings up above), and Foxhound\Kojima.

There is just no comparison.

Frankly the west have dominated this gen and the Japanese have only really contributed in the sense that they're the 'home base' for two of the consoles and Sony has some pretty awesome western developers who have done some amazing stuff. But I wouldn't credit the success of those devs gameplay and graphic technology wise solely to Sony.

[Versus]

If the dumbass DmC devs were to put more thought into the visuals of that game, then they wouldn't have made a stupid ass mistake in making Dante not look like Dante.

[btbam]

Skeptical PSU user says: thou shalt not reboot classic characters with something completely foreign looking. PSEUDO DANTE MUST DIE!

[SomaXD]

its so funny... the only thing that seems wrong with this game... is that people are so butthurt that its called DmC and Dante is changed, it could be the funnest fucking game on the planet but people wanna be babies about design decisions. Ive always thought the new dante looked cooler anyways... and after playing it, hes more snarky and has more of a "i dont give a fuck" laid back attitude than old dante too, i can see this easily being better than previous DmC games... and i fucking LOVE old DmC games...

[Ixion]

its so funny... the only thing that seems wrong with this game... is that people are so butthurt that its called DmC and Dante is changed, it could be the funnest fucking game on the planet but people wanna be babies about design decisions. Ive always thought the new dante looked cooler anyways... and after playing it, hes more snarky and has more of a "i dont give a fuck" laid back attitude than old dante too, i can see this easily being better than previous DmC games... and i fucking LOVE old DmC games...

It makes sense for you to defend the new Dante considering you look just like him. lol

[Bio]

I'm psyched for the game, personally. Seems promising.

I feel the hate surrounding the game is mostly unreasonable and premature.

If the dumbass DmC devs were to put more thought into the visuals of that game, then they wouldn't have made a stupid ass mistake in making Dante not look like Dante.

A mistake to you is refreshment to another, like me. The previous series was great so I don't know why it was needed, but I dig the direction and getting to have a fresh take on things. Best part is, whether we love or hate the new universe, it's essentially irrelevant towards whether or not this will be successful in terms of gameplay, which is really the most important part, in my opinion.

Plus, I don't think anyone said the former series is going away...

[SomaXD]

It makes sense for you to defend the new Dante considering you look just like him. lol

hey!... well yeah... but still, its really childish to denounce a game based purely on something like being a reboot. like i said... it could be the funnest game ever... and no one will know because theyre too busy wanting girlyboy dante back.

[davin_g]

I predict a Dante character retrofit before it launches. Remember the outcry on Cole from Infamous2...they toned him down a lot. This game isn't coming out til like what...Jan? I bet they make some tweeks.

I don't know about this game. Probably going to stay away from it unless it just blows up. The last one I thought was terrible...so IDK.

As for his comments....I think that has hurt Sony a lot this gen. What has their Japanese studio put out?? I mean they can't even get the last guardian made...and GT5 took a decade....almost. Like them the other devs have been very spotty. I mean pretty disappointing for the most part from the East releases....a couple gems but really lackluster. As for the poor development...I mean even Square Enix uses UE3 so clearly they haven't kept up this gen. I won't say they aren't capable...but they could very well fall behind next gen if they don't watch it. Independent games from countries like India and Korea and others have actually been as good if not better....Japanese dominance....on the verge of going away. The western influence causing those japanese games to not be successful may be one thing...more likely the PC influence on consoles is probably bigger. They have just fallen behind or their taste is different but I think they are capable but they just haven't stepped it up. Regardless if they like it or not...you better make games people want to play (graphics included) or you will be out a job.

[keefy]

Holy fucking shit how scary is Ixion stalkign pictures of forum members.

[SomaXD]

Holy fucking shit how scary is Ixion stalkign pictures of forum members.

lol i actually posted that in another DmC thread i think... so its not THAT creepy :P

[Ixion]

Holy fucking shit how scary is Ixion stalkign pictures of forum members.

I just remember him from the What Do You Look Like thread, so I went back and copied a pic. I don't save everyone's pics on my computer like x6teen. Don't worry.

[RedOrb_Collector]

Japan.

Shut up and stop sucking.

[Joe Zombie]

If the dumbass DmC devs were to put more thought into the visuals of that game, then they wouldn't have made a stupid ass mistake in making Dante not look like Dante.

My thoughts exactly.

"Hey, gameplay is more important than visuals! So lets make Dante look like an emo boy with a teenage attitude to appease the masses!" - Japanese people.

[SchaffinOSX]

They're totally right. I mean look at some of the most revered, gorgeous, and enjoyable games this generation. All of which come from japanese studios:

[Insert Vulgotha's beautiful list of games here]

Not a western developer in sight on that list of spectacular gameplay and great graphics! oh wai-

Put up or shut up Japan. Mostly, just shut up.

Beautifully made argument. It's clear that Western titles have picked up much more momentum than their Japanese counterparts this generation, and even more clear that they're having trouble simply keeping up. Square Enix shouldn't be running on Unreal Engine 3; they're talented and popular enough to be able to create something of their own, and The Last Guardian is certainly hitting an abnormal amount of speed bumps in its development.

It's easy to say that gameplay is more important than visuals. It is, after all, a game. That doesn't change the fact that a good looking game is much more enjoyable than a bad looking game. We often make the mistake of thinking of a good looking game as a realistic game, but that's far from true. If Call of Duty looked like Minecraft, it'd be awful. Call of Duty is a military shooter, and furthermore its realistic graphics make it enticing and enjoyable. Minecraft, despite its pixelated nature, looks beautiful when looking at the randomized islands from above. Good visuals aren't necessary for a fun game, but they're a part of a great one, especially in a generation where wonderful graphics are easier and easier to come by.

[reasonable_doubt]

DmC director says western developers put visuals ahead of gameplay

and yet they hire a studios whose only known for visual, cutscene and Andie Serkis...

this is pure Capcomedy

[Fon]

At first I did have a problem with the reboot because of this.



There's no way I'm touching a game with one of my favorite video game characters looking like that(Even though it's a new Dante, they should at least give him more dignity then that. He looks like a crack-addict with terrible hair style who likes to smoke - Which made it look like the director was trying too hard to make him cool). The man on the left is the director of the game. No wonder the new Dante looked like ass.


This is the newer version from recent trailers. He looks more fleshed out and with a better hair style



I will definitely give this game a try now. Gameplay looks promising also. Who knows, I might end up liking this Dante more then the last.

[TGO]

Japanese developers just dont know how to code for the current gen hardware like the western developers do. And I'm not interested in their game anyway so that takes care of that.

I tend to agree with the him to some extent, and what I mean by to some extent is that is you can't tarnish everyone with the same brush
we have some excellent western devs this gen which don't apply to this but in general there is a difference & it is gameplay related, and in some sense just the the way the game is made thats different too
http://m.neogaf.com/showthread.php?t=485512&page=1
if you head over to gaf and just read through the opinions of some of the gamers who have replayed MGS4( a japanese game )
I won't say no more I'll let their opinions speak for themselves
but generally no games are made like this anymore, kojiPro & Platinum Games are amongst the few japanese devs seem that remember how to make a game, the others have forgot or have focus on westerning their titles the wrong way.
the games Vulgotha listed are all great games from western devs, we don't want japanese games made the western way, we want japanese games made the great japanese way, and its complete BS that they can't code.
even Crapcom knows how, RE5? there was nothing wrong with it, great looking game let down by stupid CO-OP.
Bayonetta, MGS4, Darksouls, Catherine, Nier( Some people say its a gem?), Folklure.
I'm sure you guys can even more great games, and sure you'll agree those games have that little thing about them that we all love.
What if Silent Hill was actually handed off to KojiPro or better yet Team Silent came back or Crapcom actually hired Platinum Games to make DMC, japanese devs aren't incapable, it's just 70% of them aren't making games the same way the other 20% are.
and thats making a game because they've been told to & to make sure its like this western game, instead of making it because they had a idea for a game. and thats why they say they can't compete, well no Ali didn't win matches by imitation did he?
So I'll say just like everyone else, japan SHUT UP & DO YOUR OWN THING.
because it shines alot more then what you're trying to achieve.

edit: thou european devs have always been good imo.

[radgamer420]

Well TGO like I've already said to you in other threads on this topic I dont care for Japanese developed games at all but I know you do so we're never going to agree on this topic.