the escapist had an issue about Japan this week. I’m in it 
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the escapist10 comments to the escapist |
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Everything here is © me except those things which are not. |
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the escapistthe escapist had an issue about Japan this week. I’m in it 10 comments to the escapist |
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Everything here is © me except those things which are not. |
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Pretty good read. Not being in the industry (or Japan for that matter) your interview offered some pretty good information. Thanks.
Now that’s a good interview! Interesting questions and answers and it didn’t ever get dull
One thing that I’ve always wondered is do you prefer developing games in Japan over being in the US(or anywhere else)? Or is it all the little things about living in Japan that makes developing games there worth it?
As much as I want to get into game development, there aren’t too many companies on either side of the ocean that I really want to work for. I would much rather have my own company making our own games, I know it’s a hard route, but I would much rather being doing that.
If you can make a living, making your own games is the best.
I prefer making games in the west but I like living in Tokyo. The #1 reason is because although my Japanese is great I’m not fluent and that makes it hard to really feel like part of the company. I don’t really know what’s going on around me like I would know naturally at an English speaking company. If I had my own company in Tokyo that would be pretty awesome though.
That’s a horrid webpage design. Nearly impossible to read the text on that background. I ended up making the text size HUGE so it’d scroll of the background and be easy to read.
Other than that, it’s a very interesting read. Nice to note some differences between Western and Japanese cultures.
World of Warcraft has bad graphics? Jeez. The poly count is a little low, but the art design is about as perfect as it can be without trying to be something else entirely.
I wonder how seriously to take the guy. I’m curious as to whether he had a real beef or was just disappointed that the characters didn’t all have enormous eyes. Did he see both alliance and horde content?
By the way, while The Escapist’s web site is astoundingly bad, the PDFs on the web site are actually surprisingly good. For one, they have the aspect ratio of a browser window rather than a printed page. Genius! So, I recommend you read those.
*Bad* is probably a poor choice of words. WoW graphics just don’t appeal to Japanese sensibilities. Another example is Oddworld, those characters might seem cool and interesting to a big enough percentage of western audiences to sell but to the Japanese Abe from Oddworld is unappealing.
It’s a cultural thing. Just like some cultures find larger women attractive or some cultures see drinking milk like drinking cow excretions. Don’t take it as a judgement, take it as a cultural difference.
Awesome interview Gregg!
Greg,
Please tell me this… The article says you’ve been living in Japan for about a total of ten years. And reading your blog, it seems like you aren’t a slacker about going to Japanese class. Plus based on your programming and writing skills, it’s apparent you are at least above average intelligent. So if YOU aren’t fluent after 10 years and dozens of classes, then does that mean that, in general, it’s a long shot for an adult to move to Japan and become fluent?
I’ve been here about 6 years. I believe people can become fluent, it just depends on how much you immerse yourself. For example, I have friends that lived out in the country for 2-3 years where there are no other foreigners and so they really had to learn Japanese. Their Japanese is much better than mine.
Also, people who have jobs that make them talk in Japanese. My job, programming, means I stare at my computer, think in English, read English instructions and type C++. Compared to most jobs I rarely have to talk.
Another, 6 years and i haven’t had a Japanese girlfriend meaning no daily Japanese. Of course lots of guys meet an English speaking Japanese woman and never learn Japanese but some meet Japanese only speaking women and then get lots of practice and even those that hookup with an English speaking Japanese woman still get lots more exposure to Japanese. TV, family, friends, etc.
I would say if you want to get true conversational level it will take 2 years of full-time study and immersion. (not just study but living in Japanese). That’s what it took me at least. To get fluent, well, that depends on how hard you study. There are thousands upon thousands of words that I need to know only once or twice a year that I can never seem to remember. I suppose the only reason I know the English word is because some teacher made me memorise it between Kindergarten and 12th grade.
For example, if I was go try translate what I just wrote in this post the words I don’t know are “fluent”, “depends”, “immerse”, “stare”, “hookup”, “exposure”. What I would end up doing is staying those in simpler terms. “fluent” becomes “able to speak like a native” for example. But, while I can have a normal conversation, it’s those kinds of words that mean I can’t generally follow a meeting or watch a debate on TV or any kind of Discovery Channel TV program not aimed at kids. It’s also those kinds of words and slang that means usually I can’t follow a conversation between two Japanese people unless it’s about a fairly basic topic.
The other part to learning a language is shared culture and slang. People refer to things I know nothing about, childrens books that everyone has read, TV shows everyone used to watch, legends they all know about, etc. That part is even harder.
wow, that was a pretty good article.