East vs. West: A Sucker's Game

Over the years an increasing divide has developed in the world of video gaming. Unlike in previous years, this conflict is markedly different from the schisms that so bitterly divided the video gaming communities of the past. This conflict is not crouched in the fanboy-fueled "system wars" of old, nor are they centered in the controversial issues of gender identity that arose with the increasing prominence of "girl gamers" over the last few years. No, the hot button issue being debated and raged over across the internet and the gaming media is a matter of culture; of differences in the approach to game design; a fitting issue for our increasingly global society. It is a question of which style is better: Eastern game design, represented primarily by Japanese game companies such as Square Enix, Nintendo, Capcom and many others; or, Western game design, as represented by developers like Bioware, EA, and Activision.

No doubt you've seen the insults thrown back and forth by both fans and even developers themselves; it has become headline news on the internet's many gaming news sites the world over. No doubt you've seen the assertions of superiority on both sides, the derision of both sides' approach, and the countless pages of debate on forums across the internet. It is often a vitriolic and hateful tone that is taken in the debate, nay, war.

I am here to tell you this debate is false.

There is no East vs. West; there is not right way and no wrong way. No Japanese way, no American way. The only way that you're really seeing, is the way of your money flow into the pockets of publishers and game journalists. Like some of the most pernicious wars of the past, this conflict is entirely fabricated; designed to enflame one's biases and drive a person to extremes for the sake of profit. William Randolph Hearst would be proud.

But who is to blame for this? Who is responsible for this infantile and hateful debate? Who fanned the flames; who threw the napalm on the campfire?

You're reading it. The gaming media. It's me, it's the bloggers, the reporters, and the corporate shills. Unlike the professional news media who report on events and provide the public with at least some measure of insight and context to the issues of our times, the gaming media serves as merely a mouthpiece for the opinions and greed of the gaming industry. Rather than acting as the independent watchdogs of the video game industry, we serve as their cheerleaders and press release secretaries, all the while the consumer, the gaming public hangs on their every word. Yellow journalism at its finest.

A few months ago, a controversy sprang up around comments made by Bioware's Co-Founder Greg Zeschuk regarding the failures of the Japanese RPG genre. http://www.destructoid.com/bioware-co-founder-jrpgs-suffer-from-lack-of-evolution--155782.phtml

The comments, while perhaps valid, reflected a mostly disdainful attitude regarding the genre, all the while adding that their own products were superior. Controversial comments AND a sales plug? One has to wonder if it wasn't calculated to push sales for the game. Barely two months after the statement, Bioware released an announcement that the game had sold 3.2 million copies. http://www.destructoid.com/surprise-dragon-age-origins-sold-well-162984.phtml

Again, it must be kept in mind that these could all be coincidence. Dragon Age could have already sold that well even without any of the controversies surrounding Zeschuk's comments, but without hard numbers we'll never know. As for me, my gut tells me that there is rarely such a thing as coincidence when money can be made.