Aya Nishitani, Japanese novelist and the father of the Megami Tensei franchise, recently shared his theory on how favoring popular genres and not turning to other media forms for inspiration in game development may link to the industry’s stagnation, sparking a wider discussion on X among Japanese gamers and developers alike. The conversation was initiated by a comment under one of Nishitani’s posts. The commenter argued that much of the innovation of games created back in the day comes from the fact that developers mainly drew inspiration from other media and genres, like music and film, while nowadays, most games are inspired by other games, leading to “less interesting” titles being made.
In his X post, Nishitani agrees it’s difficult to create interesting games if your inspiration mainly comes from other games, a trend he recognizes as present among many current game creators. “I believe that if you draw inspiration from other forms of media, you’ll be able to come up with brand-new game systems, but if you draw inspiration from outstanding games, you’ll usually just end up making the exact same system,” he writes.
Another user commented on Nishitani’s post agreeing with the sentiment. As they explain, games which were made based on the same template get popular, but it’s the mold-breaking games that manage to secure a broader user base. On the other hand, “games inspired by other popular titles in the same genre tend to become popular quickly, and among most users, there is a demand for games that follow similar trends.” However, the user argues that, despite them being very hard to sell, it’s precisely the works that are different and fresh that lead to new breakthroughs. And those kinds of works are easiest to create for people who draw inspiration from a wide variety of genres and media forms.
In response to this, Nishitani shared his impression of how “making only things that are popular” leads to market stagnation, noting that this problem is not unique to the video game industry. “If there are only works that are made with a tendency to become hits, the market won’t expand and will start falling into a diminishing equilibrium (stagnation). This means that, despite more creators coming on board, market revenue will drop, causing individual income to become even lower. This is something that often happens in other industries too. Though, it may have been difficult to notice it because the game industry was on a steady growing path until now,” Nishitani explains.
Kazunari Suzuki, a game developer who worked on numerous titles in the Megami Tensei series, also shared his view on the issue, agreeing with Nishitani: “Both games and novels have that same tendency. Back in the day, with every new generation console that came out, breakthrough games would always follow, but nowadays things are a little bit different. That’s when indie games started taking the spotlight, and it’s been like that for around 6 years I think.”
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I do think this is a badly needed statement from people who actually made games. There are so many dismissive comments I have read throughout the previous few decades about things that get inextricably associated with “bad game design.” For instance, how Hideo Kojima should “just make movies.” Yet we see that elements of great video games involved literal skills developed from other media or, in the case of this post, someone who says that they made work inspired by other mediums.
While I do think there’s a broader nexus of issues at play, especially ones concerning basic affordability and the way material conditions are becoming more harrowing for most people… when it comes to taking risks or the ways people will cling to culture that has a seeming “legacy” that feels safe and assured… the fact is that the ability to take risks for creators and players is distinctly diminished.
A lot of things feel like an investment that one literally cannot afford to make. Despite that element existing throughout recent history, it’s certainly at a level we could call unprecedented to see, say, a game console release and go up in price after the developer admits its in the latter half of its life.
Looking for “answers” as to why things are worse that are patently false is where actual arguments about “nostalgia” have merit.