According to Ubisoft’s Alex Hutchinson, all games journalists are a bit racist.
When asked how Nintendo continue to resurrect the same franchises, Hutchinson provided the following blunt response:
“You want my real answer? I think there’s a subtle racism in the business, especially on the journalists’ side, where Japanese developers are forgiven for doing what they do. I think it’s condescending to do this.”
“Just think about how many Japanese games are released where their stories are literally gibberish. Literally gibberish. There’s no way you could write it with a straight face, and the journalists say ‘oh it is brilliant’.”
“Then Gears of War comes out and apparently it’s the worst written narrative in a game ever. I’ll take Gears of War over Bayonetta any time.”
Can anyone else see the irony in the fact that he’s slagging the Japanese off, yet calling us racists?
I’m sure Assassins Creed 3, a game in which you’re constantly killing British soldiers isn’t deemed racist either?
I’m not a fan of Gears of War and since I only played the first game for ten minutes before realising it wasn’t for me, I’m hardly qualified to comment on the story aspect. I did play Bayonetta though. I played it a lot. It was meant to bonkers. That’s the point of the whole game. She’s a fucking witch with magical fucking hair that can turn into a fucking panther for fuck’s sake!
I’m certainly no racist, but I am incredibly judgemental and Alex Hutchinson is a massive twat.
Video game plotline/stories are generally rubbish, even worse when they actually try to weave some complex and/or meaningful story into the gameplay. There are very few examples of good story telling in games and Ubisoft’s efforts are not in that list.
Alex here obviously doesn’t like being reminded of that fact.
Being a games developer does not automatically make one a successful story teller.
And Gears of War story barely scrapes in as b-movie fodder. I dread to think what Alex’s book collection looks like if he thinks GoW has a well written story.
…oh, and Japanese games tend to be better at being ‘games’ than most Western efforts – especially Ubisoft’s.
Don’t get me wrong, I quite enjoyed AC: Brotherhood, but Bayonetta or Mario it aint.
Japanese stories are gibberish? Persona 4 is one of my favourite Japanese games and though it may be very difficult to explain the story to anyone who hasn’t played it, it’s freakin brilliant! Assassin’s Creed’s story is ok but I personally found it no where near as interesting. I like the crazy stuff – I personally think it shows more creativity…even if it is weird.
Didn’t even follow the story in GoW. Far too much of a testosterone surge for me.
Yes. I am a horrible racist.
Whitey is ruining the videogame industry. Down with Whitey.
I find that many western games seem to concentrate more on being the next updated first person shooter, sports game/sim or other games that seem safe based on what has sold. I will conceed that there are a number of good and even awesome games but nowhere near as many as the eastern market.
Their attention to storytelling and gameplay is what makes a good game great. Add in a bit of quirkyness and a bit of risque scantily clad ladies and you have a winner.