Rise of Japan:

Some key pointers:

-Tristian Donavan “Replay” (book, gives more context than Tim can give in class)

-The unstoppable rise of Japan in the 1980’s in the videogame industry worldwide.

-1991 Sega launched Sonic that rivaled Mario, meaning that the game industry was held by two Japanese companies and designers.

-Nintendo became a pioneer company for Japan.

Two key perspectives:

-Drawing the Narrative from Tristian Donovan’s Replay. How the NES became such a wonderful console.

-We will look at Shigeru Miyamoto’s genius in creating landmark games which allowed Nintendo to shape culture.

What do JP RPG/Platform games tell us about the culture? And how does that reflect onto the wider culture of the world?

Reasons for the Console Market Crash:

Good reading for this would be “Replay” by Tristan Donovan.

The Console Market Crash was one of the most important moments in the history of videogames. It was a time where there was a mass production of games and home consoles of poor quality which broke the trust in consumers, making it so that the over produced cartridges that were not sold had to be disposed of (think of E.T’s commercial failure)

Because of this over saturation, the US market for video game consoles had plummeted by 97%, with the popular belief that “consoles are history” and that “Personal Computers would take over”

Another reason for the over saturation of games, which is pointed out by Bill Kunkel, who said in January 1983 that companies had “licensed everything that moves, walks, crawls, or tunnels beneath the earth. You have to wonder how tenuous the connection will be between the game and the movie Marathon Man. What are you going to do, present a video game root canal?”, which is a powerful statement and highlights the saturation of poor quality games that were used as a cash grab to capitalize on the success of the films. The best example of this was E.T, that was developed by one person in 5 weeks to meet the demands of the Christmas schedule release. The game was claimed to be of extremely poor quality and caused many parents to be enraged at retailers for selling such a horrible game.

Post War Era in Japan:

During the post war area in Japan there was a growth in the economic revival which lasted between 20-30 years. Because of the Hiroshima bombing, Japan was put back a couple of years when it came to technology, however it was thanks to hard work of the country, as well as some help from the US that they were able to re-build their civilization as well as their economy. Thanks to this companies were able to buy gadgets that were considered to be the latest of their time, allowing them to focus on getting consumer centered tech back in the market, and most importantly Consumer Electronics such as TV’s and Consoles.

Some of the companies were:

-Sony

-Sharp

-Toshiba

The Game and Watch:

A landmark success that occurred during the 1980’s was the “Game and Watch” handheld console. This relic of history was created when a young designer of Nintendo named Yokoi was on a bullet train and saw a business man playing on an LCD calculator and pressing buttons. The young designer pitched the idea to Nintendo’s president, Hiroshi Yamauchi. Yamauchi immediately wanted a business meeting with the CEO of Sharp Corporation, who at the time were the world’s biggest manufacturer of calculators. Within the week, Yokoi’s idea was given the “go ahead” by both Nintendo and Sharp to develop a calculator pocket sized game. This small yet effective handheld console put Nintendo ahead of the console market thanks to the leadership of Yamauchi.

Yokoi, and by extension Nintendo, believed that “Lateral thinking with withered technology” would be the best way to approach their consoles. By selling older hardware they can afford to sell it for cheaper, make more money, as well as explore the full potential with their software that the hardware was capable of. Which is why there were so many iterations of Game and Watch on the market. This business strategy is what allowed them to get ahead of the game, as well as a philosophy that they have followed and continue to follow to this day.

During 1980 and 1991 the Game and Watch sold over 44 Million units, which popularised the handheld console market.

The Nintendo Entertainment System:

The NES was a re-boxing of the Famicom, which was a seen as a home computer designed exclusively for games that could be enjoyed by everyone in the family. In 1984, just a year after it had released, it was the most popular console in Japan.

However, Nintendo of America struggled in bringing the console to the stores. Game journalists, investors and retailers were skeptical of putting a home console as well as the cartridges on shelves considering the market had plummeted. Nintendo tried their best to market the console as a “Entertainment System” rather than a “Home Console” because they believed that their console, as well as the games that they would bring to it, were much better than anything that had come before it. Before releasing the console, Nintendo invited kids to play their NES and gave them a selection of games, they did this because they knew that the primary way that they would be able to sell these consoles would be appealing to kids (which were still playing home console games in the US), and by doing so they could create games that would be enjoyed by the whole family.  They focused their primary selling in New York, since New York was such an important commercial area for the United States, if something sold there, it was guaranteed to sell everywhere else in the US.

I actually found this video on YouTube which is an interview with Gail Tilden who was working in the marketing department for Nintendo during the release of the NES in the 1980’s

Shigeru Miyamoto:

-Shigeru Miyamoto is considered to be the most important game designer in history.

Donkey Kong for the arcades was the first game he ever designed. Donkey Kong’s mechanics mechanics play on how much we like chance, if the player gets too comfortable you may lose from the element of chance presented in the game.

-Nintendo tasked Miyamoto to design a game for the NES. He recreated his popular character “Jump-Man” to become the beloved “Super Mario” character we know today in the NES launch title “Super Mario Bros.”, which was the first game that had a scrolling background.

The original Legend of Zelda for the NES is considered to be a pioneer for videogames. It offered a diverse map of 128 different screens that allow the player to move around and travel in any direction they want, which would challenge the player in remembering the map since there wasn’t an overworld map. You could consider Legend of Zelda to be the first open world title, which is something the series would continue to build up upon following this installment. Within its first year Legend of Zelda sold over a million units, which really shows how revolutionary Nintendo, and Shigeru Miyamoto were for the console market back in the 80’s. A powerful quote from Miyamoto is “The player must feel the cold air around him when they go into a dungeon”, which is very prominent in the first installment in the Zelda series, especially with all the different designs for the dungeons. The freedom given to the player is exceptional and a never before seen within the gaming industry, which was an inspiration for many games that came after it, proving to be a highly regarded “Landmark game.”

In 1991, Sega released Sonic the Hedgehog for the Sega Genesis/Mega drive, which sparked the rivalry of popularity between Sega and Nintendo. This meant that the game industry was held by two Japanese companies and designers. Eventually, Sega fell behind to PlayStation and Nintendo, and now acts as a publisher and developing company for the consoles of both of these companies.

What do Japanese games tell us about the Japanese culture?

Quote from Takashi Murakami:

“But everyone who lives in Japan knows- something is wrong… Kawaii (cute) culture has become a living entity that pervades everything. With a population heedless of the coast of embracing immaturity, the nation is in the throes of a dilemma: a preoccupation with anti-aging may conquer not only the human heart, but also the body.

It is a utopian society as fully regulated as the science fiction world George Orwell envisioned in 1984: comfortable, happy, fashionable- a world nearly devoid of discriminatory impulses. A place for people unable to comprehend the moral coordinates of right and wrong as anything other than rebus for ‘I feel good’.”

Takashi Murakami, Little Boy: The Arts of Japan’s Exploding Subculture, 2005

(Meaning of the quote): People live mindless lives, where they return to being children. For Murakami the “cute” culture is a retreat to childhood because Japan cannot cope with thinking about Hiroshima and an aging society, trying to suppress the stress and anxiety they’ve had.

For additional context, read:

“Power Up”, (Chris Kolher)

“Japanese Culture through video games” (Rachel Hutchinson)