INTD 255 Understanding Japanese Game Culture

This wiki is in the early stages of development. In other words it has almost nothing in it. I am trying to organize the materials I have come across on the web here both for my own sake and for others. Come back in a few months.'''

Here I am keeping notes on the interdisciplinary course I team taught at Ritsumeikan in June/July 2013. The course is a U of Alberta course and the students are U of Alberta students (with some Ritsumeikan students sitting in.) I team taught this with Dr. Akinori Nakamura. The course had 10 3-hour classes over two weeks. We also had excursions to an arcade (game center), Den Den Town in Osaka, and Tokyo.

Course Description

Note: these are being written live so there will be problems, typos, inaccuracies and so on.

Monday, June 24th

The first class was dedicated largely do administration, but we had time to discuss how to study games and what made games fun. I gave a short lecture on cross-cultural game research. We started by teasing out some of the [[standard stories about differences | http://www.smosh.com/smosh-pit/articles/differences-between-japanese-video-games-and-american-video-games ]] between Japanese games and North American games like the:

• Settings (fantasy vs war)
• Genres (visual novels, rhythm games vs FPS)
• Types of gameplay (communal, turn based vs FPS)
• Ethics (Eroge, pragmatic vs puritan)
• Cultural imagination (Kami, Sengoku wars vs LOTR)
• Spaces (Arcades and related games)
• Fan culture (Cosplay, otaku and moe)
• Amateur development (Doujin vs indie)

I then looked back at Ruth Benedict's The Chrysanthemum and the Sword and influential anthropological discussion of Japanese character published in 1946.

Tuesday June 25th

Dr. Akinori Nakamura taught the second class. He gave two lectures/discussions on the early history of Japanese games.

Copy, Imitation and Innovation

Nakamura began by talking about how early games were often copies of previous games. He showed how http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacewar_(video_game)? and then http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennis_for_Two? were copied and adapted. Pong (1972) added angled shots and sound to a game design that already existed in a cabinet and was a success. What made Pong successful when a Spacewar arcade game wasn't?

• Pong was social
• Pong was simpler to understand
• Pong was placed in bars

Soon after Pong was launched Taito copied Pong in 1973 and called it Ere-Pong. Sega came out with Pontron 1973.

As for home consoles you had the odyssey (Brown Box) in 1972 which was a home pong game. They you had Atari Home Pong. Soon there was close to 400 home pong game machines. Nintendo launched the TV-Game 6 in 1977.

Atari began to innovate with Breakout in 1976 which was like Pong, with similar sounds, but a single player game. Making it a single player game brought new game mechanics. Breakout too was imitated. Namco had Gee Beei (1978), Taito had Field Goal (1979) and Namco again had Bomb Beei in 1979. Japanese companies are

Japanese designers started to innovate as the developer of Space Invaders, Tomohiro Nishikado, asked "What if these bricks in Breakout started attacking the paddle?" He explored what the bricks might be such that they would attack. Star Wars came out in 1977 and showed how aliens could be shaped in all sorts of ways. Nishikado makes the bricks of Breakout into aliens that now move towards the paddle and we get Space Invaders in 1978 - an innovative game.

Konami then copies Space Invaders with Space King in 1978, Nintendo Space Fever (1979), Nichibutsu with Moonbase in 1979 and Data East had Space Fighter in 1979.

Pac-Man came from trying to develop a game that would be popular with women. There was lots of colour, the game wasn't violent or about space. There was eating involved. Of course all sorts of Pac-Man imitations soon came out.

Early History of Games

Then Nakamura started walking us through the early history of game consoles. He talked about the dedicated home consoles and then cassette (cartridge) based consoles. Takatoku in 1977 released the TV Cassety Rock. The only that really emerged as successful was the Atari 2600. They were successful because Atari licensed games, especially Space Invader. The other consoles had Pong like games. Coleco Vision followed and they licensed Donkey Kong. The key was the games available.

Then Nakamura looked at the Japanese situation where there were dedicated consoles lke Epoch's TV Vader and Bandai TV Jack Super Vision. Nintendo had their TV-Game 6. Cassette or cartridge consoles like the 2600 took longer to emerge. Dedicated consoles would come out following successful arcade games. The only popular cartridge console was one by Epoch called the Epoch Cassette Vision. Others didn't have the games or their games were lame. Nakamura showed a video of "Kikori no Yosaku" (Woodcutter) game that was popular with kids on the Epoch.

Bandai had their Arcadia console that was expensive. They focused on character based games with games based on Gundam and so on. Characters didn't seem to sell by themselves.

Then nakamura talked about the emergence of game culture. He ascribed it to the tabletop Space Invaders. 500,000 were sold to coffee shops and game centres. This led to public discussion about game centres and whether they were healthy places and the government restricted who could go to game centres. The first strategy books came out for Space Invader. Space Invader comics and gear appeared. As there were no consoles, LSI (handheld) games also came out. The handheld games were cheaper than consoles and they were mobile.

Space Invaders (1978) in Japan was the phenomenon that created a new game culture from coffee shops to paraphernalia. Pac-Man was the next wave of game culture. Pac-Man fever led to hundreds of licensed merchandise. LSI games were popular with younger kids that couldn't get into the game centres.

Nakamura showed how horrible the Atari 2600 version of Pac-Man was and then he showed E.T. from 1982 that effectively killed Atari.

The Nintendo Famicom came out in July of 1983. It had a price of 14,800 yen. It had launch titles that were popular (Donkey Kong and Mario Bros.) like ColecoVision. Then they allowed 3rd parties to release games and created a developer toolkit to encourage others. Namco released Xevious which had been a popular as an arcade game and it sold over a million copies making a lot of money for software. When Namco made money on the game other arcade developers realized that there was money in porting titles. Even PC developers

By 1985 there were lots of titles for the Famicom.

One thing that stands out is the relationship between arcade games and console games. Players would be familiar with many of the titles on a console having played it in the arcade.

Nintendo did a couple of other things. Atari had lots of adult titles being sold for the 2600 and their hardware was copied (reverse engineered). Nintendo for the NES controlled the titles and prevented copying with security chips.

What was so different about Nintendo?

• They started publishing cards for card games. They licensed content like Disney characters and Popeye for cards.
• They then made toys and board games and party games. Many of the ideas were repurposed over time.
• They made electronic shooting games that were also developed for arcades.

Much of this experience was repurposed in developing the Famicom which was one of the most successful consoles. The Famicom's success, compared with the Atari, can also be ascribed to:

• The Famicom was powerful enough to handle arcade-like games
• They had robust hardware and supported it
• Security chips prevented copying
• Nintendo controlled for quality. They focused on high quality games
• They provided 3rd party support
• Nintendo had strong leadership - making lots of demands on 3rd parties

Wednesday, June 26th: Japanese Game Centre Culture

Jeremie Pelletier-Gagnon

Origins are with 3 companies:

• SEGA: joining of Service Games and Rosen Enterprises in 1965. Starts making games in 1970s.
• TAITO: started importing games in 1950s and then created games in 1973. Known for Space Invaders (1978)
• NAMCO: started as a merry-go-round. Acquires Atari in 1974. Known for Gee Bee (1978), Galaxian (1979), Galaga (1981)

Most games in the 1970s were copies of games from other companies. Space Invaders was what changed things. The boom of the game changed public impressions and created the architecture for arcades. The boom only lasted 6 months or so, but that created a phenomenon. The alien characters are widely recognized and there was innovation in the creation of recognizable sprite characters. All sorts of offspring came out of Invaders including the bullet hell games of today.

What made this successful was the integration of military, space business and computing in the public imagination.

Most games were put in coffee shops or department stores in public areas that were smoky and poorly lit. Tabletop cabinets were also popular, especially because they fit in coffee shops.

1980s saw the morphing of the games and amusement business. The game centers got a bad reputation being associated with late night entertainment. In 1984 there was a law that set closing hours.

The 1980s saw complexification of game genres. Tower of Druaga - mixing RPG and and adventure. It had a wider screen to explore, many levels, puzzles and so on. Other games were Xevious, Hang-On, Nekketsu Koha Kunio-kunm and tile matching games. Xevious created a whole culture with strategy books, topic of one of the first game research articles, it had a star developer who became a celebrity, the first sound track published. It hints at independent AI.

In the 1990s we see the modern game centres. Before there were only small cramped spaces and coffee shops. The new centers are divided by floors and have lots of devices for non-gamers. Some games include: Street Fighter, Virtua Fighter, DDR, and Photo Clubs. 1990s see bigger screens that can be seen by non-players.

There is a real problem preserving the large arcade games as they

The game culture in 1990s is based on performance and socialization between people. Another aspect is the communication notes - public notepads where people write and draw. (Now these are less common.) There were also dedicated places for people to draw.

In the 1990s the home and the school are where youth spent most of there time. The game centres were an alternative public space that is less structured and demanding. Players establish gallery relationships with anonymous others.

Gagnon then talked about "medal games" which are similar to pachinko. You buy tokens and then play with them. Coin pushers are an example. It also has a social side in that families or couples can play together. He described Star Horse 3 - a communal horse racing game where you

In the 2000s you get card games, mementoes, the internet and more complex rhythm games. In the 2000s there are economic pressures on game centres due to recession and falling youth generation. Lots of buyouts, mergers, creation of holding companies, and so on. Game centers decline. 2005 Namco merges with Bandai. Some games: Taiko no Tasujin, World Club Champon Football, Hatsune Miku arcade, Mushi game, Quiz Academy, Lord of Vermillion, Sengoku Taisen, Border Break and so on.

Gagnon showed the Sengoku Taisen cabinet and how it hides information. To watch the games you watch a separate screen that shows stylized games from anywhere.

Arcade games now have mementoes that you can get from playing and then take home. You can get cards or save screen shots and so on. Many games use cards (or your cell phone) to save your status and to log in.

In the 2010s we have new types of performace. There are satellite screens and Haksune Miku is a popular game today in Game Centres.

More pay to play and pay to win dynamics. Mobile gaming elements too. 2013: Code of Joker and Pyo Pyo Quest are two new games. Both have pay to play components. He talked about Sega Joypolis that mixes amusement components and game components.

• Subculture space for gamers
• Part of network of spaces with little social pressure
• Meeting place for youth
• Very responsive to new tendencies.

From the 1970s when they were table cabinets with pairs of people in coffee shops to now where there are lots of different forms of games.

Monday, July 1st: Innovation of Japanese Digital Game from Historical Perspective

Professor Nakamura gave a lecture looking at the history of games as a way of understanding Japanese games. He started by asking about components of games and argued that you can break it down to gameplay and symbols. Even interface is symbolic. Designing a game is a matter of developing integration of gameplay and symbols. Nakamura then reviewed Caillois's topology of games as a way of thinking about different forms of gameplay. Then he reviewed the fundamentals of semiotics - Signifier and Signified. Symbols in games, especially early ones were primitive. The paddle, ball, and bricks of Breakout are simplistic.

Nakamura introduced an interesting sequence of shooting games. Space Invaders used mimicry (from Caillois) - imitating what we think aliens look like. Galaxian innovated on Invaders. It added more complexity to the game, more sound, aliens that attack you. Gallaga introduces visual spectacle. This evolution is an example of sustainable evolution - gameplay and symbols are incrementally changed over time. There is no complex story. "Aliens are attacking you."

Masanobu Endoh thought it was strange to have no plot or story behind a game so he decided to create a plot and ideas for the weapons. He created an elaborate back story for Xevious (1983). Xevious has a scrolling world as opposed to black space. There is a story and complex gameplay (both bombing and shooting). Endoh had a whole language and backstory that fans then tried to reconstruct playing. Fans created amateur books that were shared.

Then Nakamura showed Atari's Star Wars arcade game (1983) that used a 3D model and came out in the same year as Xevious. It is interesting that Atari was linking to other media (Star Wars movie.)

Gradius (1985) introduced side scrolling. It has some of the spectacle of Gallaga and is even more complex than Xevious.

Then in the 1990s shooting games became less popular as they became too difficult and players moved to RPGs. Bullet games (Danmaku shooters) evolved as a speciality - Battle Galaga was one of the first. The bullets became more numerous, but the difficulty was an illusion as games had small hitboxes so your ship isn't really hit if the bullets grazed it. Dodonpachi is another well known game.

Nakamura then showed Space Harrier arcade 1984 that used virtual 3D technology. It was an over-the-shoulder shooter. After Burner came out in 1987 that was one of the first real 3D shooters - again over-the-shoulder. It had a specialized joy stick. This is a different direction than the bullet hell direction. HE showed a video of Galaxian 3 Project Dragoon - an arcade game that was played by multiple players in a theatre.

Over time we see the symbolic representation going from very abstract symbols to much more specific and realistic (even hyper-realistic) representation. Likewise we go from simple gameplay to complex gameplay. The experience is more immersive and more stimulating. Now we have more

Rez (2001) is an example of a third direction where there is little realism, just ilinx - or visual symbolism. The designer, Tetsuya Mizuguchi, was inspired by European dance club visual experience. He then extended it with Child of Eden in 2011 that uses the Kinect. We tend to think of these as a rhythm games, but they can be seen as an evolution of the shooting game to the point where it isn't shooting any more, just spectacle. See TEDx Tokyo video in which he talks about creating games in English.

Tuesday, July 2nd: Digital Games as a Vehicle of Story-telling

Professor Nakamura opened his lecture reviewing the early history of JRPGs. They were popular in Japan and leveraged the work of manga artists and anime artists. Dragon Warrior brought together a game journalist and a talented manga artist.

When Shigeru Miyamoto was designing Legend of Zelda he was developing for the Nintendo Disk System so you could save your game. He realized you didn't need to design console games like arcade games - the game didn't need to be short. Nintendo also introduced a kiosk where kids could buy games and load them onto disks. In the US they didn't release the Disk System so they had to add memory to the cartridge for saving state.

Phantasy Star from SEGA (1987) designed by Yuji Naka wasn't that popular initially, but got a dial-up online feature that made it very popular. In some ways it is one of the first RPGs to introduce hunting and to be played by groups online.

Far East of Eden (1989, Hudson) was created by animator Torajiro Tsujino - initially started as an anime project. Later developed OVA anime. This was developed for PC Engine so, while popular in Japan, it is not known in US. It extended the genre introducing oriental fantasy - not just Japanese fantasy.

Mother (1989, Nintendo) was developed by Shigesato Itoi who was copy writer for Studio Ghibli. He is well known in Japan for advertising copy. He designed Mother to be like E.T.

These three games illustrate different types of themes introduced by the Japanese game industry. Sci Fi with Phantasy Star, suburban world with Mother and the orient with Far East of Eden. There is a

The exploration of different themes continued. Digital Devil Megami Tensei explored devils, Tales of series, Chrono Trigger, and even Pokemon are all examples of the imaginative exploration of different themes. Tales of Vesperia is the culmination of integrating anime movement into a RPG.

It is interesting how some JRPGs are marketed to broader market. Dragon Quest 8, for example, was introduced in Shibuya not in Akihabara. They aimed to sell to all segments, not just young men. They used famous band, Snap.

Shin Megami Tensei, which is loosely based on Megami Tensei is one of the most popular games now. If I understood things, the main devil summoner meets Dante who is a half devil.

Summoning made Final Fantashy VII famous in Japan. It allowed all sorts of imaginative animations. The summoning animations made the turn-based battled much more visually interesting. The summoning existed before, but it wasn't animated with the same effects.

Most JPRGs are turn based unlike the popular models in the West. There is also a tradition of action RPGs in Japan starting with Zelda, to King's Field (1996) by the country that developed Dark Souls. The 1998 Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998) inspired lots of games like GTA. D was another interesting game http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D_ - a survival horror puzzle adventure game.

Shenmu (1999, SEGA) introduced quick time events (QTE) which was a way to interact with cut scenes and add a different type of interactivity. These are not popular in Western games, but still appear in JRPGs. Heaven Sword also used this.

Square developed Kingdom Hearts (2002) with Disney Interactive Studios. The JRPG goes mainstream. Demon's Soul (2008) and later Dark Souls (From Software, 2011) is another game that went mainstream in the West. Dragon's Dogma didn't do as well despite an open world.

The Prof. Nakamura talked about simulation and visual novel games. School Story (1987) was one of the first and it was adult themed. Another was Miho Nakayama Tokimeki High School (1987) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakayama_Miho_no_Tokimeki_High_School which was based around Nakayama, a popular idol at the time.

Animation studios started then creating text adventurs, Mansion Ikkoku (1988), Nadia (1991) was created by developers of Evangelion, Classmate (1992) and Ottogiri Jusa (?) by Chun Soft (1992). Ottogiri was mostly text on a background with some sound, like the visual novels of today. It was a horror story. Classmate is more typical - it had text, sound, foreground and background images. Voice actors became important. It was a dating sim with adult components. Nakamura sees Classmate as beginning of moe and the current Akihabara experience.

Tokimeki Memorial (1994) is a more mainstream with a version for boys and one for girls. It was more about dating. Classmate 2 (1995) got more complicated and needed a strategy guide. Interactivity ceases to be that important. Kanon (1999) was a game that became an animation. AIR (2000) started a PC adult game, then was ported to PS 2 without adult components and then to anime. Stein's Gate is another example as are Loveplus (2009), Fate (2004).. Naki ge - crying games are an extreme example - a type of game designed to make you cry.

It is interesting how these games might start as an adult game and then be sanitized for popular consumption on consoles or mobile platforms. Finally they might be turned into anime.

Loveplus (2009) is unique in that there is no story - you just live with your girlfriend. It tales place at one point at Atami which created a fad of young men going there with their own games and register as a couple.

Return to JGC main page