Anyone In Video game Development?

[Crystalline]

Hey there!

I was wondering if any of you knows, or has previously met someone who works/has worked in the japanese video game industry.


Seeing as it is my targeted area of work, I´m quite curious about it


I do know pretty much everything about it of course, as i have dedicated the last 4 years of my life to research it, and getting some advices from people who are also following the same route.

But of course, nothing compares to ACTUALLY talking to the people who have made it there The Pros!


So if anyone knows someone i could get to befriend, and share some talks with, i´d be thankful! ^^


Let´s just hope that there are any of them here on the forum =P


John ^^

[WingsToDiscovery]

You may know the job description like the back of your hand, but do you have the fluent or native Japanese language ability to be able to work for/communicate effectively (a requirement) to work in this kind of field? That's step one.

[Klint]

Not a pro or anything, but I've been into 3d modeling for a while now.
Also helping out with a community project on another forum to build a game in UDK.
At the moment, we're just trying to finalize details and are really only doing work on the more unimportant, background props/objects.
I have however started on a boot that will hopefully be part of a full suit:

[Crystalline]

Originally Posted by WingsToDiscovery

You may know the job description like the back of your hand, but do you have the fluent or native Japanese language ability to be able to work for/communicate effectively (a requirement) to work in this kind of field? That's step one.

Don´t worry ^^ You think i would just travel there without knowing their language fluently?


That´s being taken care of You may rest assure =P


But yeah, if you do know western folks that made it there, post it here!


Thank You!

[WingsToDiscovery]

Originally Posted by Crystalline

Don´t worry ^^ You think i would just travel there without knowing their language fluently?
That´s being taken care of You may rest assure =P

Believe me, there are thousands of people who have. I currently live in Tokyo and I'll admit myself that I'm not fluent. I wasn't trying to call you out; it's just that what you're talking about is a much more specialized field than something like English teaching in Japan where you don't even need to know the language at all.
We've had people come here and ask about being doctors, vets, and whatnot in Japan, and but none of them knew Japanese.

[Polar]

John

This is going to sound harsh and I don't mean any insult to you personally but what you are asking is flat out nuts.

1) Japan is in a depression in terms of game development and to think as a gaijin who somewhat speaks the language is going to get any further then localization (which would be a coup in itself) is a dream. You have so many strikes against you starting out ...

2) Most major Japanese studios have EUR and NA studios, odds are you would go further in one of these with Japanese language skills then you would ever in Japan.

3) Take it from someone who writes about the industry professionally, it ain't gonna happen. Certainly not in Japan or if, just if, it does it won't be what you want. You think otaku there don't dream the same dream as you do ?

4) Culture/Market: You may think you have the answer or solved a "problem" for a premier series but without a solid grounding of the market there or the culture you'll be lost. PC gaming is pretty niche as is the FPS genre over there.

I can count on one hand the people whom have done what you want to do and that's over the last 30 Years which should tell you something, it's more then being "qualified" it's timing and people you know etc...

Honestly I don't mean to tell you to forget your dream because hey ... things CAN happen in many strange and unexpected ways, HOWEVER if you are asking if this is a realistic thing, it's not.

[MissMisa]

I've already spoken about this a billion times on JF, and it's exactly as above. If you had spent so long researching this properly you'd know you have next to no chance of being a game designer in Japan, the niavity of people is starting to irk me.

[godwine]

Originally Posted by MissMisa

I've already spoken about this a billion times on JF, and it's exactly as above. If you had spent so long researching this properly you'd know you have next to no chance of being a game designer in Japan, the niavity of people is starting to irk me.

You know what else is the issue? People really think they can overcome cultural differences

A friend of mine tried his hand in Game development in Japan before, he was doing freelance (contract role) work for a while, but has been out of work for about 8 years now, for the last 6 years, he is guiding local tours for people from HK and China doing tour guide and translation work

The job market in Japan itself tends to hire Japanese if at all possible, because the cost associated with bringing a foreigner in. Then we are putting design work into the mix, work that is highly dependant on one's exposure. And to TOP that up, its the gaming market. Unless they really want to design a game in a certain non Japanese style, including the animation, the game play, the story, otherwise there is no reason to hire non-Japanese...