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Question What would you appreciate to see in a game taking place in Japan?

cruzdroid

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I'm a game developer. What would you appreciate from the Japanese culture (historical or contemporary) being present in a game that takes place in Japan?

for example: popular foods/drinks, objects, types of architecture, or even sayings, attitudes, types of brands, etc. anything that has to do with the culture. What would be awesome to see in a game?
 
Welcome to the board, what kind of game are you talking about here? This is a very broad question. Do you have any examples of your work so we can see the level of polish and complexity you're developing at?

I think it's helpful to think rather of a specific place and time, so you can model your setting accurately. Mini games are especially cool additions to open world games, and Japan has excellent arcade games, ranging from extremely simple like gacha-gacha, to crane arm games, to pachinko. The style of these games would be heavily influenced by the time of the setting.
 
Thanks for the welcome! I can't really divulge—NDA. But your answer was great! Since I can't say much I'll say this: I want to avoid going for typical/stereotypical things that people use to associate with Japanese culture whether historical or modern. Can't really say what time period or any other info, except that I'm researching to build up the setting of the game.

I think the best thing is to hear what Japanese love about their culture and what they would be surprised to see in a game about their culture. Could be historical references or pop culture references as well. Love the arcade and mini game culture you brought up—I never knew that!
 
Sounds like u are using us for your own financial benefit . People are interested in games called " call me a cheap shot ".
 
I'm a developer among a larger team. I'm doing research. I'm not doing it for financial gain—I'm doing it because I'm not very aware of the Japanese culture and I'd rather not assume or go with stereotypes. I'd like to learn more about the culture so I can be respectful.
 
I can understand you can't tell us everything but the more information you give us, on what kind of developer you are, and some more examples, the members will be able to help you out more.
 
I do concept art.

I'll give you an example of what I mean from my own culture to help you see what I mean. My background is Cuban. Some popular things from my culture are Cuban coffee (brands like Pilon, Cafe La Llave), cigars, foods like croquetas de jamon and pastelitos de guayaba, a type of shirt called a guayabera, many in our culture play dominoes and like to sit outside rather than inside homes. Sugar was a big export that made Cuba rich before Castro took over. Cussing is very common and usually Cubans will combine words or stretch words to be sarcastic or funny. Despite Cuba's communistic government right now, Cuba used to be a very rich country, clean, and with a diversity of baroque, colonial, and Art Deco architecture. Many of the older generations like to break into song which is quite interesting. Dancing salsa is a very popular activity. Cubans are a diverse group of Spanish Jews, Spanish Catholics, Africans, and Chinese. I hope that kind of helps you see what I meant.

 
I'm currently playing one of Sega's Yakuza games for the first time. The game itself I'm not crazy about, but the attention to detail in the environment is incredible.

The thing those games do is what a lot of Western games do (ie GTA): create a convincing environment. So, if you've never set foot in Japan, but played Yakuza, you'd feel familiar with the cityscape, the downtown core at least, if/when you came. It's really incredible what they've designed.

I'm not so interested to see the played out tropes of Japan (ninjas, samurai). I might enjoy it if done extremely well (Assassin's Creed?) but I'm not begging for it.
 

Definitely will check that game out! Thanks for the suggestion!
 

Wow these are immensely helpful and interesting! I would never have known to look for these. Thanks!

I noticed the vending machines earlier and was planning to look more into it. The little street corner shrines would definitely be a pleasant surprise. Thank you again for pointing me in the right direction!
 
Not sure if you have looked into it but you might get some inspiration by just using Google streetview. If you don't know what things are just take a screen shot and share it with us and we will try to give more information.

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.
www.google.com
 
If the vending machines are notable to you then you really don't know much about Japan!
That reminds me, there are also a lot of elevated expressways in Japan including some that run through buildings. Most of them are tollways.
Also, urban centers in Japan have a lot of underground passageways and shopping connected to the subway stations. You can travel for hundreds of meters underground and can purchase just about anything you may need. Similarly there are shopping streets called shoutengai, often covered, at ground level. They are typically located near train stations.
Not necessarily "awesome to see in a game" but if you want to get real, a lot of the places near the underground have homeless people living in cardboard and tarps.
 
Tailgating crazy drivers that stay under a meter from the vehicle in front in VERY common here in Japan. I'd like to see a "James Bond style" solution from the car in front to deal with the dangerous idiots...such as releasing spikes, oil, rear mounted machine guns etc.

Watching TV and movies while driving is also very common here.
 
See the trailer for Ghosts of Tsushima to see how the Japanese aesthetic is done correctly in a video game.
 
mdchachi said:
If the vending machines are notable to you then you really don't know much about Japan!
Click to expand...

What an unnecessarily arrogant thing to say. He doesn't know much about Japan hence the thread but why shouldn't vending machines be notable to someone? Even someone that DOES know about Japan?

Mouth: Activated!
 
jack6251 said:
What an unnecessarily arrogant thing to say. He doesn't know much about Japan hence the thread but why shouldn't vending machines be notable to someone? Even someone that DOES know about Japan?

Mouth: Activated!
Click to expand...
You misunderstood what I said. Or at least my intended point.
 
Yes I really don't know much haha!
I've been to Myanmar but it's very different from Japan. The underground passageways are cool. I was actually using streetview in Tokyo the other day, just going to random areas and taking screenshots. I'll look through them and let you know.
 
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