Video games in Japan

Japanese video game franchises such as Super Mario, Pokémon, The Legend of Zelda, Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Metal Gear, Devil May Cry, Final Fantasy, Sonic the Hedgehog, Fire Emblem, Super Smash Bros., Street Fighter, Kirby, Animal Crossing, Tekken, Kingdom Hearts, Persona, Dark Souls, Monster Hunter and many others have gained critical acclaim and continue to garner a large international following.

[30] Created by Nishikado at Japan's Taito, Space Invaders pitted the player against multiple enemies descending from the top of the screen at a constantly increasing speed.

[57] At the same time, following a series of arcade game successes in the early 1980s, Nintendo made plans to create a cartridge-based console called the Famicom, which is short for Family Computer.

[87] The Tower of Druaga, Dragon Slayer and Hydlide were influential in Japan, where they laid the foundations for the action RPG genre, influencing titles such as Ys and The Legend of Zelda.

[98] Herzog Zwei, released for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis home console in 1989, is the earliest example of a game with a feature set that falls under the contemporary definition of modern real-time strategy.

[106] Sega's Space Harrier, a rail shooter released in 1985, broke new ground graphically and its wide variety of settings across multiple levels gave players more to aim for than high scores.

[111] The game borrowed Defender's device of allowing the player to control the direction of flight and along with the earlier TwinBee (1985), is an early archetype of the "cute 'em up" subgenre.

[116] The game also placed a greater emphasis on storytelling and emotional involvement,[117] building on Horii's previous work Portopia Serial Murder Case, but this time introducing a coming of age tale for Dragon Quest that audiences could relate to, making use of the RPG level-building gameplay as a way to represent this.

[123] In 1986, Arsys Software released WiBArm, a shooter that switched between a 2D side-scrolling view in outdoor areas to a fully 3D polygonal third-person perspective inside buildings, while bosses were fought in an arena-style 2D battle, with the game featuring a variety of weapons and equipment.

In WiBArm, the player controls a transformable mecha robot, switching between a 2D side-scrolling view during outdoor exploration to a fully 3D polygonal third-person perspective inside buildings, while bosses are fought in an arena-style 2D shoot 'em up battle.

[128] The PC Engine, TurboGrafx-16, known as TurboGrafx-16 in the rest of the world, was a collaborative effort between Hudson Soft, who created video game software, and NEC, a major company which was dominant in the Japanese personal computer market with their PC-88 and PC-98 platforms.

[129] R-Type, an acclaimed side-scrolling shoot 'em up, was released in 1987 by Irem, employing slower-paced scrolling than usual, with difficult levels calling for methodical strategies.

[141] IGN UK argues that The Legend of Zelda (1986) "helped to establish a new subgenre of action-adventure", becoming a success due to how it combined elements from different genres to create a compelling hybrid, including exploration, adventure-style inventory puzzles, an action component, a monetary system, and simplified RPG-style level building without the experience points.

At the same year, Phantasy Star II for the Genesis established many conventions of the RPG genre, including an epic, dramatic, character-driven storyline dealing with serious themes and subject matter, and a strategy-based battle system.

[138][145] The game's science fiction story was also unique, reversing the common alien invasion scenario by instead presenting Earthlings as the invading antagonists rather than the defending protagonists.

[155][156] The game also introduced an AI system called "Tactics" which allowed the player to modify the strategies used by the allied party members while maintaining full control of the hero.

[155] Several early RPGs set in a post-apocalyptic future were also released that year, including Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei II,[137][161] and Crystalis,[162] which was inspired by Hayao Miyazaki's Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind.

[138] In 1991, Final Fantasy IV was one of the first role-playing games to feature a complex, involving plot,[165] placing a much greater emphasis on character development, personal relationships, and dramatic storytelling.

[54][183] While shooter games featuring protagonists on foot largely moved to 3D-based genres, popular, long-running series such as Contra and Metal Slug continued to receive new sequels.

[191] Dragon Quest V's monster-collecting mechanic, where monsters can be defeated, captured, added to the party, and gain their own experience levels, also influenced many later franchises such as Pokémon, Digimon and Dokapon.

[192] Shin Megami Tensei, released in 1992 for the SNES, introduced an early moral alignment system that influences the direction and outcome of the storyline, leading to different possible paths and multiple endings.

[207][209] That same year also saw the release of Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium, which introduced the use of pre-programmable combat manoeuvers called 'macros', a means of setting up the player's party AI to deliver custom attack combos.

[212] The game received considerable acclaim, and is seen as one of the greatest RPGs of all time,[213] for improvements such as its broadened thematic scope,[214] plotlines, characters, multiple-choice scenarios,[215] and variation of play.

[216] Final Fantasy VI dealt with mature themes such as suicide, war crimes, child abandonment, teen pregnancy, and coping with the deaths of loved ones.

[226] The success of Sakura Wars led to a wave of games that combine the RPG and dating sim genres, including Thousand Arms in 1998, Riviera: The Promised Land in 2002, and Luminous Arc in 2007.

This was clearly demonstrated in 1997 by the phenomenal success of Final Fantasy VII, which is considered one of the most influential games of all time,[239][240] akin to that of Star Wars in the movie industry.

[255] The genre has undergone something of a resurgence with the release of the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii online services,[254] while in Japan arcade shoot 'em ups retain a deep-rooted niche popularity.

[304] Sony considered making its next console a digital download only machine, but decided against it due to concerns about the inconsistency of internet speeds available globally, especially in developing countries.

[332] About three years prior to the Switch's announcement, Iwata, Tatsumi Kimishima, Genyo Takeda, and Shigeru Miyamoto crafted a strategy for revitalizing Nintendo's business model, which included approaching the mobile market, creating new hardware, and "maximizing [their] intellectual property".

[351] 2017 was considered a strong year for Japanese RPGs, with other notable releases including Dragon Quest VIII on the Nintendo 3DS, Tales of Berseria, Valkyria Revolution, Ever Oasis, Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age, Ys VIII, Etrian Odyssey V, Dragon Quest Heroes II, The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 3rd, Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood, and Tokyo Xanadu.