In the West, new role-playing games like Mass Effect (and its sequel) have been picking up steam. There has been concern that the popularity of Japanese role-playing games are on the slide in the West.
It's not that simple, says Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami.
"I think it is because Japanese RPGs were really never all that popular in the west to begin with," the game designer told website CVG. "I think the best way of interpreting things is that they aren't getting less popular; they weren't very popular from the start."
Obviously, Final Fantasy is popular in the West, but there are more Japanese role-playing games than Final Fantasy.
The reason for this decline? According to Greg Zeschuk, co-foudner of Mass Effect studio BioWare, "The fall of the JRPG in large part is due to a lack of evolution, a lack of progression. They kept delivering the same thing over and over. They make the dressing better, they look prettier, but it's still the same experience."
Agree? Disagree? Discuss!