Keiji Inafune, looking back at his Lost Planet

Keiji Inafune. Developer, producer, designer, or otherwise involved in Mega Man (okay, to be accurate about it, Rockman…), Onimusha, Dead Rising, and now Lost Planet. Capcom must be extremely grateful to him by now. Of course, the punchline in that story is that when the ideas for these hits first came up, Keiji recounts that Capcom wasn’t particularly excited about them. Shocking, we know, and Keiji reveals that and more, in an interview with the Lost Planet community manager, Brian Dunn.

In this interview, the veteran Capcom dev/gold mine reveals not only his influences in creating Lost Planet (Halo, baby), but also the differences between Japanese and American shooters which he perceives; a difference that he wanted to bridge with Lost Planet.

I guess, with just straight-up shooter games, which are of course more popular in the west, a lot of Japanese gamers find something lacking. Like itÂ’s boring to just run around and shoot bad guys or whatever. But with Lost Planet, weÂ’ve put in a lot of action gaming elements, like with the anchor, the grappling hook…

Lost Planet takes it back to the kind of gameplay where youÂ’re always on the run, where you have to constantly move forward and shoot more and more enemies. I think that adds enough of that Japanese gameplay flavor to make it appealing to gamers in Japan as well as the west.

Although even Keiji, a Japanese developer himself, would admit that the tables have turned and that “it’s very clear” that “western developers are leading the industry, with Japanese developers falling behind”, you have to give him credit for seeing what works in the west, as well as what ideas from across the Pacific may or may not be a good idea to emulate. For one, he points out that it might be a good idea to do what U.S. companies do when it comes to compensation. He notes that people who work in the Japanese gaming industry

… usually receive quite modest compensation. If that doesnÂ’t change soon, the people making the games will stop dreaming, you know. And kids growing up will think twice about getting into video games as a career. ItÂ’s hurting the industry…

On the up side, he stresses that Japanese humility may be a good idea to spread around, and that unlike most Western devs who “get big egos when their games become hits”, keeping one’s head down and “just work on improving the quality of life of the talented individuals making the actual games” may be just what everybody needs to move up.

Keiji Inafune. Developer, producer, designer, or otherwise involved in Mega Man (okay, to be accurate about it, Rockman…), Onimusha, Dead Rising, and now Lost Planet. Capcom must be extremely grateful to him by now. Of course, the punchline in that story is that when the ideas for these hits first came up, Keiji recounts that Capcom wasn’t particularly excited about them. Shocking, we know, and Keiji reveals that and more, in an interview with the Lost Planet community manager, Brian Dunn.

In this interview, the veteran Capcom dev/gold mine reveals not only his influences in creating Lost Planet (Halo, baby), but also the differences between Japanese and American shooters which he perceives; a difference that he wanted to bridge with Lost Planet.

I guess, with just straight-up shooter games, which are of course more popular in the west, a lot of Japanese gamers find something lacking. Like itÂ’s boring to just run around and shoot bad guys or whatever. But with Lost Planet, weÂ’ve put in a lot of action gaming elements, like with the anchor, the grappling hook…

Lost Planet takes it back to the kind of gameplay where youÂ’re always on the run, where you have to constantly move forward and shoot more and more enemies. I think that adds enough of that Japanese gameplay flavor to make it appealing to gamers in Japan as well as the west.

Although even Keiji, a Japanese developer himself, would admit that the tables have turned and that “it’s very clear” that “western developers are leading the industry, with Japanese developers falling behind”, you have to give him credit for seeing what works in the west, as well as what ideas from across the Pacific may or may not be a good idea to emulate. For one, he points out that it might be a good idea to do what U.S. companies do when it comes to compensation. He notes that people who work in the Japanese gaming industry

… usually receive quite modest compensation. If that doesnÂ’t change soon, the people making the games will stop dreaming, you know. And kids growing up will think twice about getting into video games as a career. ItÂ’s hurting the industry…

On the up side, he stresses that Japanese humility may be a good idea to spread around, and that unlike most Western devs who “get big egos when their games become hits”, keeping one’s head down and “just work on improving the quality of life of the talented individuals making the actual games” may be just what everybody needs to move up.