The Great Cultural Differences Post part 1

Japan and the West are so different! Or so everyone leads to believe, but I honestly think that the similarities are far more striking than many people make them out to be. I for one, have not changed my game design philosophies one bit. Of course, I've distilled my game design philosophy to just one sentence:

Don't make crap, make fun.

Crap is pretty universal, and so is fun. I mean, look at Nintendo. Loved by audiences worldwide, Nintendo's modus operandi is "make it fun and they will come." Actually, I should change my philosophy to don't design crap. If the programmers are being forced to use completely and utterly stinks, that can make a well designed game turn into crap to name one example. Anyways, here's what I've noticed.

Co-op Rocks!

Japanese and Westerners alike enjoy it. Everyone's rushing to add it. Plus, it can save a mediocre game plus spur some sales. "Hey Bob, I just got Mercenaries 2. We can both play it together over live and blow stuff up!" "Awesome, Jim! I'll go grab it and we can have us some good times lighting everything on fire!" Now, had this mediocre game been single player, the conversation would have likely gone like this: "Hey Bob, I just got Mercenaries 2. The AI sucks, the mission design sucks, it's pretty neat that you can blow everything all to heck and back, but eh, I can do that in other games." "Thanks for the heads up Jim, I'll skip this turkey." You can throw in Too Human among others into that conversation. Going from a crappy game to an experience you share with friends has incredible value. I've been playing crappy paper and pencil RPGs with friends for ages. Why did I keep doing it? It's my friends, I like spending time with them. Just them being there makes the whole experience enjoyable.

The major difference comes in how each side prefers to enjoy their co-op. Strangely enough, the Japanese are perfectly fine with playing co-op games with other individuals in the same room as they are. I am about to test their willingness to venture forth with strangers later this week. Namely, I will wander about the streets of Nagoya with my PSP and Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G hitting up various fast food joints to see if any random person will party with me.

As for the US, I don't know if I'd want to meet any of the people I play with over Xbox Live, PSN etc in real life. The notorious "chocolate milk" kid would probably be beaten alive if he tried to scream at people in real life like he did over the internet.

Minor considerations would need to be done for designing communication systems and all, but overall, co-op is co-op, it's fun being able to accomplish more together than you would alone.