Originally Posted by
Thief
I recall reading a bit back on difference in game design philosophies between the West and the East. And the answer was the East start their game development with gameplay (ie. Miyamoto not moving forward with Mario 64 until gameplay of Mario in 3D was fully locked first), while the West start game development with story or world first (er, I'm pretty sure every Bethesda and BioWare game I've played fits this profile perfectly... and maybe that explains why Laura Craft moves like a robot on bad gameplay medicine in the first 3D world game for PS1?).
And, well, yeah. Sounds about right to me. ... Sadly, this is what the gaming audience prefers these days too, so... yeah, no wonder Japan is struggling in today's gaming market! :o