Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima has called into question how the Japanese game industry can survive in today’s shooter-focused market.
Speaking in an interview with Official PlayStation Magazine (via), the developer said: “It’s much more competitive now: if you look at triple-A titles on a worldwide scale there’s maybe only ten really big games that can get gamers’ attention, and I’m not sure how Japan can compete on that level.”
Kojima went on the blame the first-person shooters for the current lack of new ideas in the industry.
“I think it’s more consumer demand – right now, consumers are happy with what they have,” he said. “First-person shooters sell like crazy, so there’s not really a strong demand for anything else, and that’s why [original ideas] stop being made.”
“People are satisfied with making minor upgrades and tweaking things here and there – as long as that’s the landscape, it will keep on happening. I don’t see a problem necessarily, but at the same time it is nice to see new things come.”
Is Kojima right to blame the likes of Call of Duty and Battlefield for the lack of innovation? Or is it up to developers to try and convince gamers that there needs to be different experiences out there?
