Capcom's Inafune: Japan 'At Least Five Years Behind'

Keiji Inafune, Capcom's outspoken Global Head of Production, has again turned on the Japanese games industry claiming that Japan is "at least five years behind" its Western counterparts. “I look around Tokyo Games Show, and everyone’s making awful games,” said the 45-year-old designer of Mega Man and Dead Rising. “Capcom is barely keeping up,” he said, speaking to the New York Times in an interview at the show, which ended on Sunday. “I want to study how Westerners live, and make games that appeal to them.” Inafune's comments echoed those he made at the previous year's Tokyo Game Show, when he declared: "Japan is finished." The controversial designer encouraged Japanese developers to take globally-minded development more seriously, arguing that appealing to a Western audience requires more thought than just “turning eyes blue and changing the hair color.” Capcom continues to partner extensively with Western developers, having recently announced its acquisition of Burnaby, British Columbia-based developer, Blue Castle and that development of the next installment of the Devil May Cry series is being handled by British developer, Ninja Theory.