PC vs PSX RPG

by Tom Stachowitz

I want to make this short and sweet. It seems that a lot of people are saying, "PC RPG's should be more like PSX RPG's and vice-versa." OK, there is a reason for this: culture.

How many PSX RPGs are made by American companies? A very small number. And they all sucked. Now, how many PC RPGs are made by Japanese companies? Probably less then the number of American PSX RPGs. I believe that it is, inherently, a cultural issue. The Japanese companies who make these games make them according to what Japanese audiences want. Now, due to the intense lack of PC style free-roaming RPGs in Japan, it would seem that Japanese audiences want linear, story driven RPGs. In America, we get to see those games if we're good.

Now the RPGs made in America, almost all for PC, are primarily non-linear wander about and kill whomever you want types of games. There are a few plot-based RPGs slinking into the market, and the success of the FFVII port seems to suggest that they will be accepted, but for the most part the PC will feature free-roaming, minimal story games.

Should the two stay seperate? Well, that's a mute point because it cannot possibly happen. If a console game is succesfull, it will be ported to PC. If a PC game is succesfull, it will be ported to PSX. Developers will slowly cease to creat platform specific games and they will begin to create the games they want to create and they will put it on whichever platform can handle it. Odds are the FFX will be released for PC and a console simultaniously.

Therefore, Japanese companies will still produce primarily plot-driven games whereas America will produce primarily free-roaming games with a few developers working on "Japanese Style" plot and cinematic heavy games. The reason is this: Japanese developers will always produce games which Japanese gamers will want to play... Americans will be considered second. American developers, on the other hand, will produce the types of games American gamers will want to play, so they will probably produce a larger variety.