Thread by @Richmond_Lee

The original Nier came out in 2010, at the height of the "Japanese games are bad!" meme in the Anglosphere. I'm so glad that awkward (and frankly xenophobic) phase of games discourse is over!

https://twitter.com/dialacina/status/1385276905633591299

So so so glad this isn't the default perspective in "the west" (ie North America lol) anymore.

https://twitter.com/Richmond_Lee/status/1206655563163041792?s=20

I know I sound like I'm beating a dead horse here, but you gotta understand, during those ten years or so of US gaming press (and industry folks!) shitting on JPN games, I was constantly told I was being overly sensitive and crazy for having such an intense reaction against it.

It still freaks me out to this day because it happened so quickly. This meme that Japanese things are bad swept through the US industry and suddenly people who grew up LOVING Japanese games were totally against them. And they didn't see any issue with that.

I remember meeting people in the games industry and within the first 10 minutes they would just blurt out "man I HATE Japanese games!" Out of the blue. Extemporaneously. They NEEDED me to know how much they hated Japanese games. Sounds crazy, but this is my lived experience!

I had a good friend of mine tell me he didn't enjoy a game because it had a start screen. That was bad cos only outdated Japanese games ask you to press start. They need to get with the times like forward thinking Western devs!

I tried to explain that a start screen is part of the ritual of games. It's an opportunity to set the mood. By pressing start you are choosing when the game starts. It's active, not passive.

Also what if I need to use the bathroom or pour myself a drink before I start??

My counterpoints fell on deaf ears. Just because Braid didn't have a traditional start screen, suddenly all Japanese games with start screens were bad lol.

You may think I'm only dwelling on isolated edge cases, but this was such a normalized attitude. I saw it from so many peers and periodicals. People went out of their way to hate on Japanese games.

It made me realize that games historically were the one form of media that America didn't dominate. From the 80s to early 2000s JPN games were the most popular, even in America. Did my American colleagues secretly harbor resentment over that for all those years??

A lot of Americans don't realize how deeply American exceptionalism is buried in their souls. The "Japanese games = bad" meme only took root after America overtook Japan as the top console games market. All of a sudden this weird American pride flared up! We're #1! USA! USA!

(not surprisingly at the same time that everyone was focused on the meteoric rise of mobile games most were silent when Japan actually overtook the US as the biggest mobile games market for a while! This was at the height of the "Japan is irrelevant" meme!)

You gotta understand the people I was around were largely liberal types who saw themselves as progressive and definitely NOT racist. So many drank the kool-aid so hard! That's how normalized and mainstream anti-Asian sentiment is in the USA!

(Obviously not everyone was like this and I definitely DONT assume that every North American has this attitude. Most of my friends in the states were super cool and also freaked out by all this!)

Everything I'm talking about can be summed up in this clip of Phil Fish telling a JPN dev:

"Japanese games suck. You guys need to get with the times... We're totally kicking your ass. Back then you were the king of the world, but your time has passed."

Phil Fish said all that to a Japanese developer who had flown overseas to meet him. This guy was a fan of his games. Phil Fish insulted him in front of a crowd who laughed at him. The other panelists laughed too. So many people were OK with this!

At the time I expressed disgust at Phil Fish's remarks. And a lot of people told me I was crazy! Being too sensitive! People DEFENDED his remarks saying they weren't racist cos they were true!

I find this all deeply disturbing because obviously games are a form of art, for leisure. To me, art is such a deeply personal thing. I have derived so much comfort and strength from it. And made connections with so many people too! (I see you all)

That's why I'm still freaked out to this day that for a good decade so much of the world collectively decided that all Japanese games suck. They let hate override years of love in their hearts. That is scary stuff.

Was the strong anti-Japanese (and generally anti-Asian) sentiment that swept through the Western games industry/fandoms the worst form of racism ever? No of course not. But it is chilling how fast it happened. And how easily people turned on things they grew up LOVING.

I just don't get it. How can you love something and then turn on it so quickly cos some algorithms decided it was good for clicks? Have more integrity goshdarnit!!

Alright just gonna end this rant here. I'm probably gonna regret posting all this haha. Thanks for listening folks!

(the positive interactions I have on here help keep me sane! To my internet friends, I appreciate ya!)

To everyone saying that the original Nier was "jank" and the remake is a smoother experience, I won't argue with you. But I do think the overall discussion around OG Nier vs the remake today reflects that North American games discourse is far less negative towards JPN games now.

Cool that tweet is trending. Make sure to follow me for more insightful, thought provoking, sometimes challenging games commentary:

https://twitter.com/Richmond_Lee/status/864546942801596416?s=20

Seriously though, please check out my writing on games. That would make me real happy!
art-eater.com/articles/what-…

Also check out the podcast that I keep up with a buncha my buddies!

https://twitter.com/ArtEaterPodcast/status/1380955715506905088?s=20

A few more thoughts (after cooling down):

-I don't want to encourage an "East vs West" or "Us vs Them" mentality with this thread, I think that's an unhealthy outlook
-I also don't mean to say "Games Journalists = bad." There's lots of good writers out there in the Anglosphere.

I saw a lot of weird anti-Japanese bias working in games at the time. But also a lot of my peers were totally cool and didn't fall into that trap. Please don't assume that everyone in North America jingoistically hates on foreign games.

Many were as disturbed as I was. But we didn't have much of a voice in media at the time, which is probably why so many people are finding this thread cathartic today.

There were a lot of "Japan is dead/irrelevant!" articles published back then. If I could dig them up it would make my thread stronger. But I don't have the energy to do that. Sorry.

Please don't harass that major games news site editor whose tweet I screencapped. I saved that as an example of how systemic the "Japan = bad" meme was. I covered his name on purpose. I did not want people to @ him on my behalf. Please don't. Not on my account.

If you want to confront him on what he said, please don't be rude. Just speak plainly and directly. Treat him like a human being, not a faceless enemy.

I know I'm not your mom and I can't make you do anything (I actually hate forcing people to do stuff), but if you do respond to people in this thread, please don't go on the attack immediately. Try to have an actual conversation. Maybe you'll even make a new friend, i dunno!

Thanks again for reading. I'm taking this all way too seriously haha. Have a good night everyone.
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