Why is Japanese Video Game Culture so Different from U.S - Research Paper Example

HERE HERE YOUR HERE HERE Why is Japanese Video Game Culture so Different from U.S.? Video game development andpromotion is quite different in Japan as compared to the United States. Some of the best-selling games in America include those with more adult-oriented themes that depict combat scenarios or ongoing brutality in head-to-head auto racing. This suggests that there is a large market of youths and adults that find this type of content most appropriate for their gaming needs. Because of the high cultural acceptance of games with brutal or graphic images, there is little restriction on their distribution outside of generic warning labels that describe the nature of the game for concerned parents or children that do not wish to be exposed to bloody or explicit content. In Japan, there is also little regulation in place in the gaming industry, attributable to the high profit margin that games provide in this country as well as different values related to free expression. The largest difference between Japanese acceptance and American values related to video games is at the cultural level and individual market preferences. Japan has the majority of its governmental roots based on their constitution which expresses the importance of free speech and individualized sovereignty over decision-making that should be free of express governmental controls or regulations (Minamizono). Japanese citizens value their individualized rights as consumers as is protected by their constitution. Far beyond the economic value that the gaming industry provides Japanese leadership, cultural beliefs are what drive specific games to find higher sales volumes. Much different than the United States, Japanese game-players prefer games that are less intense and more playful, which supports the high sales of the number one ranked game, “Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story” for Nintendo DS (associatedcontent.com, 1). Japanese players are drawn to the fun and light-hearted video game content that tends to expand creativity rather than simply using brutal characters to express their individual aggressions. Why is this? In Japan, the cultural norm is much different than in the United States in terms of a philosophy regarding collectivism versus individualism. In Japan, oftentimes decision-making is made via opinions stemming from group consensus rather than through expression of individualized values (Mathis & Jackson, 582). This means that when discussing video games and their level of enjoyment, Japanese consumers will be more apt to take the opinion of the collective whole. Since there is a trend in many large markets to enjoy more good-natured or humorous content, their basic cultural trends toward collectivism would lead to more sales of similar games to stay within the social norm. This is quite different in the United States where individualism is considered to be a very important value and tends to exert itself over collective group consensus (Mathis & Jackson). This would tend to explain why there are so many different games on the gaming market, with many different contents and themes, in order to cater to individualized beliefs and values. Another major difference is the type of players that tend to dominate the gaming markets in the U.S. versus Japan. In Japan, senior citizen gamers are considered to be the fastest growing segment of the video game industry with demand for games that stimulate creativity and improve cognition (acm.org, 10). These brain-training games carry different puzzles, mathematics-related content, or other memory-associated themes that cater to the over-60 markets. In the United States, game playing is typically a youth-based activity or a young adult function with very limited market potential for older citizens. This mean at the cultural level, Japanese elderly consider game playing to be much more valuable as a tool for improving their mental abilities and much less a simple recreational activity. In America, it is not common to find any older person openly expressing their desire to participate in gaming and often will criticize extended play. This is yet another cultural distinction between the two cultures. Though this has never been substantially proven in American courts, there is the idea that intensive exposure to video game content by American children will give them the predisposition toward violent behavior. When some studies measured whether aggression increased based on game play frequency or duration, it has often been found that there is no solid linkage between either, meaning that it is again left to the cultural dimension of individualism regarding how a person responds to what they are viewing or interacting with. Any measurable correlations found that increases in aggression were typically linked with frequency of play for males and the length of play with females (Colwell & Payne). Also noticeable in Japan is a strong dedication toward more masculine values that tend to supersede feminine characteristics in most elements of society (Mathis & Jackson). This would suggest that even if American females were more aggressive because of duration of game play, their counterpart females in Japan would tend to respond according to what they believe, at the cultural level, is appropriate behavior for a young female rather than taking more aggressive action like the male gender role often points out. The only instances of any regulation in Japanese government regarding game content occurred with two specific games: “Ace Combat 4” and “Grand Theft Auto III”. “Ace Combat 4” had promotional materials that showed planes soaring around buildings and was removed because of rather universal beliefs on terrorism and the events from September 11, 2001 (gaming-age.com, 1). However, “Grand Theft Auto III” was a hot seller in the United States, but received a warning label about its content to Japanese players or parents of young gamers due to its graphic and bloody content (usatoday.com, 1). This again shows the cultural differences between Japan and the United States where this type of content is relatively free for distribution while Japan took its first real effort at producing a warning system to prevent young children from being exposed to the images. In a sense, Japan is much more liberal with their views on free expression and tends to take much less action because of their constitutional and cultural values. A fairly recent survey was distributed to 307 children in fourth, fifth and sixth grades in Japan designed to show whether frequency of game play led to increases or decreases in empathy. Empathy is best defined as the emotional awareness of the feelings or needs of others within a culture. This survey identified no measurable link between lowered empathy and frequency of game play with Japanese youths (Funk, Baldacci, Pasold & Baumgardner, 26), thus no support for advocates of the aggression theory could be provided. This is due to the fact that Japanese often consider themselves friends of their games and understand how to keep a distance between reality and virtual reality in a way that promotes positive reactions and behaviors. Much of this is attributed to their strong beliefs in self-discipline and structured family values that are passed down from generation to generation in Japanese youths. The opposite is true in American cultures that value individual self-expression and embracing individual values and emotions. To solidify the argument about the distinction between Japanese players and their American counterparts, an interview was conducted with an exchange student who hailed from an Asian nation. In most developed Asian countries, the values of collectivism and strong, structured family values and self-discipline are common. This participant, in lieu of an actual Japanese citizen being available, was chosen to represent Japanese/Asian culture regarding video gaming. This participant was nineteen years of age and hailed from China, another Asian market where video gaming is a large, profitable market. The first question identified the youth’s favorite games, asking to list five in ranking order. The participant identified one particular theme as his favorite, which were games that fit in the Super Mario Brothers theme for Nintendo gaming products (Lee). When asked why this was chosen, the top responses were that they were easy to navigate and challenged personal creativity (Lee). This again reinforces that there is a cultural distinction between Japan and the United States that values the more creative, mind-expanding aspects of certain games which are prized over those with more brutal content and action scene depiction. The interview also asked what the participant’s perceptions were about individual gaming preferences and those discussed with other peers. The respondent clearly indicated that gaming was a regular source of social discussion and many decisions about games that he purchased were made on what the group recommended rather than conducting his own research into different contents or formats (Lee). This again supports the idea of collectivism in Japan versus individualism in America that helps shape the gaming attitude and preferences. All of the evidence provided suggests that there is no real linkage between increased aggression and exposure to video games. Further, the cultural differences between Japanese players and U.S. players are substantially different in terms of preferences related to theme and content. Older citizens are more apt to purchase mind-teasing games that challenge cognition where this is not at all common in America. Clearly, at the cultural level, the differences between why game sales have different proportions is related to widespread cultural differences. Culture takes on a completely different context in Japan versus the United States which provides opportunities or risks to video game sellers in both countries. However, it has been established that less-violent content is preferred in Japan and these games with playful and colorful themes will provide the highest level of profitability for games manufacturers. It is culture that separates American players from Japanese players in almost every detail. Works Cited Acm.org. “News Track”, Communications of the ACM, Vol. 49, Iss. 6, 2006. Associatedcontent.com. “Best-selling video games in Japan during the first-half of 2009”, 2009. Viewed April 2, 2010 at http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1914138/bestselling_video_games_in_japan_during.html?cat=19 Colwell, J. & J. Payne. “Negative correlates of computer game play in adolescents”, British Journal of Psychology, Vol. 91. EBSCO Publishing Citations. Viewed April 1, 2010 at www.ebsochost.com Davis, Cameron. “Censorship and why it helps no one”, 2001. Viewed April 2, 2010 at http://www.gaming-age.com/cgi-bin/specials/special.pl?spec=wtc&pagenum=1 Funk, J., H. Baldacci, T. Pasold & J. Baumgardner. “Violence exposure in real-life, video games, television, movies and the internet: Is there desensitization?”, Journal of Adolescence, Vol. 27, 2004. Science Direct. Lee, Vinchun. Personal interview. 2 April 2010. Mathis, R. and J. Jackson. Human Resource Management, 10th edition. Thomson South-Western, 2005. Minamizono, Susan. “Japanese prefectural scapegoats in the constitutional landscape: Protecting children from violent video games in the name of public welfare”, Japanese Prefectural Scapegoats, Vol. 9, Iss. 135, 2007. Usatoday.com. “Japanese state to restrict sales of Grand Theft Auto III”, 2005. Viewed April 2, 2010 at http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2005-05-31-gta-japan_x.htm Read More