Sony's Yoshida admits Japan lagging in games technology
The current generation of consoles are more powerful than ever. However, it appears that many Japanese developers are struggling to get the most they can out of the hardware. The real innovators of games technology appear to be coming from non-Japanese studios, from America and Europe. SCE Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida admits the disparity of development between East and West. "The technology base has shifted from Japan to the US and Europe," he told videogaming247.
One of the main reasons why Japan has struggled in comparison with the rest of the world comes from the lack of manpower. Studios in other countries can top a hundred, but Japanese studios are still quite small. "That's not the case in Japan. Because they don't have a large base, like the movie industry; there aren't [a lot of people] in the high end of computer graphics. That's making the many great developers in Japan make slow progress."
That's not to say great games aren't coming from Japan, of course. Developers like Kojima Productions and Polyphony Digital have created some real graphics powerhouses on the PS3. Upcoming games from Capcom, like Resident Evil 5, and Square Enix look to push Japan's tech further.
[Thanks, nirolak!]
