Listening to Comcept.Inc boss (and former Mega Man, Onimusha, and Dead Rising producer) Keiji Inafune speak tonight at Game Developers Conference 2012 was a little like taking a trip in a time machine back to last spring. You remember ? back when people?s tongues couldn?t stop wagging about Charlie Sheen?s bizarre, possibly drug-inspired rants about ?winning.?
?Winning? was at the very heart of Inafune?s speech on the grim future facing his native Japan?s game industry ? or rather, the fact that Japanese developers (and the society at large) appears to have lost their will to win. ?There?s a difference between saying, ?I don?t want to lose,? and ?I will win,?? Inafune remarked. Throughout his 45-minute lecture, he constantly reiterated the necessity of a drive to win.
Of course, Inafune?s speech wasn?t really all that similar to Sheen?s ?tiger blood? nonsense. Whereas the celebrity appeared to be speaking across the business end of a cocktail shaker, Inafune?s observations come after more than a quarter-century of working in the games industry and on the heels of being something of a prophet of doom to his homeland ? one whose dire predictions have in many ways panned out. To Inafune?s credit, he proved fairly prescient; he helped steer Capcom toward collaboration with Western studios, which resulted in some of the most vibrant and original current-gen console titles to have emerged from Japan.
In some ways, Inafune?s talk served as a sort of apologia for his departure from Capcom a year ago to found the twin companies Comcept and Intercept. ?I left behind 900 coworkers? for a company of about 20 people,? he said. Inafune admitted that he could have continued living a comfortable, secure life at Capcom, but that while it?s easy to take chances when things are going well, the true road to success is found in taking risks when the chips are down. He commended South Korea on its vibrant culture, noting that ?Korean brands have supplanted Japanese brands? and that he sees in Koreans the sort of drive that Japan possessed in the ?80s. ?Japanese singers and movies stars could learn a lot? from their Korean counterparts, he opined. And he feels the same holds true for the country?s game industry.
While Inafune is eager to move beyond his previous successes and on to new challenges ? a significant factor in his leaving Capcom ? he clearly looks to the past for lessons and guidance. He cites the commercial failure of Mega Man Legends for PlayStation as a watershed moment in his career and laments the Japanese industry?s reliance on sequels. ?Establishing a brand takes hard work,? he admits, ?yet you can?t rely overly on that brand.? He admitted the steady decline that affected the Mega Man series over the years, and pointed to the success he saw with new ventures like Resident Evil 2, Onimusha, and Dead Rising as proof that throwing full support behind new ideas is essential to progress.
Inafune admitted that on many levels, the Japanese industry has become a relic, comparing it to the Beatles, Steve McQueen, and classic cars. ?The Beatles will never record a new album with all four members of the band, and Steve McQueen will never star in a new movie. All we have are DVDs.
?Many creations that measured up to global success were crafted by our predecessors. We have a lot of those in Japan? but we need to think about more than just maintaining brands.?
Inafune presents Comcept as an attempt to return to basics ? to rekindle the spirit that fueled the Japanese industry?s landmark successes in the NES era. ?Everyone then worked hard and wanted to win,? he said. ?There was heated competition. Now, in 2012, we?re older. We have families. Maybe we have mortgages.? But in his mind, it?s essential Japanese developers shake off their collective lethargy before it?s too late.
?The gap between Japan and the rest of the world is growing,? he warned.
Some will find Inafune?s words needlessly alarmist, while others will nod in agreement. In any case, he offered a far more even-handed and solution-oriented approach to the problem than has been heard elsewhere at GDC, where blanket proclamations that ?all [Japan's] games suck now? are the order of the day. Inafune may share a similar sentiment, but he?s struck out on his own to help mend the situation in his own small way rather than simply pointing a finger of blame. (He also ?accidentally? let slip the news that Comcept is working on Vita software. GDC panels can be for marketing, too.)
GDC 2012:?What Can the Next Generation Learn from Gaming History?
1UP editor-in-chief Jeremy Parish?s mission at this year?s Game Developers Conference is informed by his enthusiasm for new ideas and affection for the games he grew up playing. Is it possible to march forward while occasionally glancing back? That?s the question he?s investigating this week.
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