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Perhaps the most significant response to this transition of power so to speak, has been the movement to develop games that appeal specifically to western audiences. At this, Capcom has led the charge with titles like Dead Rising and Bionic Commando. Konami's star player, Hideo Kojima, too has expressed a need to abandon the methods and development standards that Japanese games have been based upon and make games that work in western regions.

The problem is that developing games that the Japanese think American and European audiences want to play is not the answer that Japan is looking for right now. In fact, I believe that doing so will only serve to hasten their diminishing influence and presence within the global gaming community.

By abonding their roots to focus on making games that, they believe, will appeal to a wider audience, the Japanese will effectively over-saturate one or two genres while neglecting countless others -- thus increasing the risk and potential for closure -- something that is unfortunately quite common of late. American audiences don't need (and the market can't sustain) any more FPS clones or 'lone warrior' style action games prevalent among many western devs. Yet if Japan continues to insist on allocating resources to develop these types of titles, they'll end up losing the unique identity that made Japanese games the ultimate standard of what video games could be in the first place -- not to mention the money and market share.

Catering to a western audience by developing games like those that western devs make can't be the solution. Japanese companies will simply fail if they try to compete with Infinity Ward, Bungie, Naughty Dog, or Ubisoft Montreal on their own ground. Moreover, Japanese developers already have the ability to make games that sell like hot cakes in the States, just look at Nintendo. And indeed the largest showing at TGS this year was, unsurprisingly for Square-Enix's inevitable mega-hit, Final Fantasy XIII. And it was recently reported that Square-Enix CEO Yoichi Wada predicts that sales of the title will exceed 6 million units.

Rather than balking at the prospect of a changing gaming market and proclaiming the death of the Japanese games industry, the Japanese need to slow down and focus on what they do well. They need to find more interesting and dynamic ways to implement their strengths into their games. Mechanics involving things like tactical action, art design, interface, etc. rather than try to compete directly with titles that come from the west by abandoning that which makes a Japanese game, Japanese. Instead, they should look to the things that Western devs do well and incorporate them into Japanese games. Things like action, story telling, pacing etc.

What we are witnessing in comments like those made by Inafune is an initial backlash against the changing global gaming market. Once known for its untouchable game development talent, Japan now finds themselves only a small part of an industry that continues to burgeon every year. It is simply that now, market share is beginning to be reflected more accurately based on Japan's population.

It's easy to look at the whimper that was TGS 2009 and proclaim the death of the Japanese development community. And while it's true that Japan may be going through a transitional period, we should look at our own major gaming expo, E3, and the tumult that has been surrounding it as late before we make any broad statements. If E3 has taught us anything, it's that death is a very strong word to toss around.