Yesterday I was reading this article in the New York Times describing the Japanese game industry (with the notable exception of Nintendo) as being way behind the US industry in terms of popular games. Unless you like video games there isn’t a lot of interest except for this short section:
Part of Japan’s problem, Mr. Kazdal said, is a growing gap in tastes between players there and overseas. The most popular games in Japan are linear, with little leeway for players to wander off a defined path. In the United States, he said, video games have become more open, virtual experiences.
This quote struck me as very interesting, as I have noticed over the years here in Japan that Japanese people tend to like clear paths to clear resolutions. I’ve seen it enough that I consider it almost a cultural trait, but of course my sample size is pretty small.
When teaching English my students always ask when to use what tense, what the rules are for using “inadequate” versus “insufficient” and whether to pronounce “data” as DAY-ta or DA-ta. They are grasping for rules, and are usually disappointed when the answer I give them is not rule-based. Language is full of these tricky points – and in Japan they do what they can to avoid running into them instead of challenging them head-on.
Most English learning in Japan is grammar-based, translating sentences, and memorizing rules – something that is very comforting for students. The idea is that if you memorize all these rules, you’ll understand English. Of course, that has nothing to do with speaking it. Many times Kuniko asks me a question about English, and then is frustrated when my answer contradicts what her teachers have taught her, and even what her textbooks say right there in front of us in black and white. Some Japanese teacher long, long ago tried to make a rule out of a fluid lingual situation, and now that rule doesn’t apply. Oops.
The bigger punchline is that to make marking exams easier, and to avoid ambiguity, tests are mostly multiple choice, word order, and spelling. They have everything to do with testing grammar rules, and little to do with communicating using English. So students pass tests, they enter college, and even though they have good marks in English they find it very hard to communicate with it.
But these examples come from the world of language learning only – of course there are examples elsewhere. In fact, it seems like everywhere I look I see more of them. Perhaps it is because I’m looking for them.
From government agencies that follow strict rules to issuing documents to the discouragement of new ideas in companies from younger employees and a long decision-making process that involves as many people as possible, as well the safety net of group travel when going overseas – it seems to me that generally Japanese people don’t like to have to think on their feet. Cleanliness is godliness in Japan, but it seems like clarity ranks up there too.
To get back to the gaming world, I recently began playing “Red Dead Redemption” – a birthday present from Kuniko. The game world is open, vast and non-linear. When Kuniko watches me play she often asks me what I’m doing. And I really have no response – I’m just walking around exploring, seeing what I see, and overcoming any obstacles that happen to cross my path. There is no set tasks unless I choose to pursue them, and no goal other than enjoying the environment.
Kuniko thinks this is crazy. She’s not really into gaming, but she just can’t understand why you’d even play without a defined goal and clear path to achieving it.
And sales of this game, and other non-linear games are pretty small here in Japan. So I understand completely the remark in the Times, and if I were more of a sociologist I might choose to extend that out a little beyond gaming into the worlds of language learning and business. And maybe elsewhere.