Please support Game Informer. Print magazine subscriptions are less than $2 per issue
Inafune Calls Time of Death for Japanese Game Industry
Usually when a Japanese developer starts talking smack about the gaming industry, it’s DOA Xtreme Beach Volleyball creator Tomonobu Itagaki. But after walking the floor at this year’s TGS and seeing Japan’s most recent offerings, it was Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune who had some harsh words for his peers.
In a video posted on Destructoid, Inafune asks the crowd at a Dead Rising 2 event what they thought of this year’s show. After receiving a less than stellar reply, the usually reserved developer gave an emphatic thumbs down, adding via a translator, “When I looked around at all the different games on the TGS event floor, I said ‘Man, Japan is over. We’re done; our game industry is finished.”
It’s worth noting however, that this rebuke was immediately followed by some encouraging words about Capcom’s upcoming games, so Inafune’s doomsday prophecy for Japan’s gaming industry is as much self-promotion as it is honest reflection. That said, we don’t hear too many Japanese developers saying they’re pleased with the state of video games in Japan either…
I’d like to ask you to support Game Informer’s continued coverage of games with a subscription. For less than two dollars per issue, we mail you a full year of 10 print magazines, each with cover stories and preview features filled with exclusive details about the most exciting upcoming games. We profile and interview game creators. We look back on the rich history of gaming, and we celebrate what’s next.
Here on the website, we offer much of our content for free, including game reviews, daily news, videos, event coverage, and more – all with minimal ads.
We do so with a small editorial team, alongside contributing paid writers from around the world – over 65 individuals from 9 countries around the world, just in the last couple of years.
It’s not possible without support.
In a time when game makers and games coverage have faced hard struggles and layoffs, the future of this 30+ year magazine and community is at risk. Our new standalone magazine subscription is the number one way you can keep us alive – and we believe you’ll get a pretty fantastic gaming magazine in your mailbox every few weeks for your trouble.
Thank you.
