Square Enix CEO Talks Japanese 'Discrimination' Against Western Games

While many Japanese developers are trying to bridge the East-West divide and have their games appeal to a wider audience in America and Europe, certain Japanese publishers are also trying to popularize certain Western games in a region that has traditionally been apathetic to such titles. Square Enix is a publisher/developer dealing with both sides of the issue and is trying to give hit American game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 legs in Japan.

"Even now, there have been people in Japan using the label youge- (Western games) with a terribly discriminatory meaning," said Wada in a Japanese TV interview [thanks Kotaku]. "I'd like them to try it once. If they play it once, they'd realize how incorrect that label is."

Wada noted that Western developers really came into their own in 2005, but that importing these games to Japan has been slow because of prevailing attitudes about the strength of Japanese made games.

While Japan could legitimately claim domination on console systems for the better part of two decades, no region of the world can claim exclusive monopoly on developing all of the best titles –gaming is truly a global medium now.