How America Changed the Mario Brothers 315
DreamWinkle writes "It might seem unlikely considering that Mario was born and developed in Japan by Japanese minds, but America forever changed how our favorite plumber played. Why? Because Nintendo thought the U.S. and European gamers couldn't play. As a consequence, they never released the real Mario 2 outside of Japan because it was too hard, and instead released Doki Doki Panic with the Mario name. Since then, the entire Mario franchise has picked up traits from Doki Doki Panic, like the card game at the end of each level in Mario 3. This article takes a look at what elements really belong to Mario and what belongs to Doki Doki Panic. It's interesting to see that, point for point, Nintendo changed almost nothing about Doki Doki Panic before releasing it in the states and Europe as Mario 2."
Old... (Score:5, Interesting)
It's common (Score:5, Interesting)
The very popular Final Fantasy series has very much seen this. We, in the US, never saw quite a few of the releases. For much the same reason - we are seen as too stupid. Later releases have been adjusted to meet both our markets.
The interesting question is: is this true? I don't really think so, Imports/unedited releases are too popular when available. IMO people are mostly just people - difficulty doesn't matter much. Culture references very much are important, but that is very different from complexity.
Lets put it this way: were there to be a "white" and "black" version of a US game release where the black version was VERY simplified from the white persons games for the same reasons would we accept it? Not in the least - and rightfully so. There may be some culture difference (maybe one prefers FPS over RPGS) but complexity and ability to understand it is not one of them.
I've always found it intereseting what prejudices are accepted and which are not. Not just in the above example (dark colored skin vs light colored), but in any of them. West vs east, tech vs non tech, color of skin, rural vs city, religious vs non-religious, or any number of classes that are compared. Pretty much everyone has them - I do. I try to root them out but am shown that I haven't found one from time to time. For whatever reason it seems to be human nature to group - some can try and identify it, some can not. And, in some cases, the groups are even accurate (if they are accurate to ignore them is horrid/destructive policy).
While there may very well be some cultural differences (maybe westerners do actually prefer FPS and simple games over easterners - though I'm not sure that's true), it's not because one can not handle them. I don't like art films - I can quite follow them and understnad them - however I still don't like anything but simple minded movies (I do, however, like complex books).
Wow, and this story was accepted? (Score:2, Interesting)
I do havea normal comment though.
I wonder if it's just a natural tendency for Japanese to make their games that much tougher. Is that because your average Japanese boy is more patient? I mean, Everyone knows taht the Japanese Final Fantasies basically have enemies that cause more damage yet your main characters earn less EXP per kill.
Re:Ironically, you're oversimplifying. (Score:5, Interesting)
The concept of racial equality is a western one, and a western one alone. It is entirely acceptable in Japanese (and most of asia/africa/south america) culture to discriminate based on race. Emmigrating to Japan is hard at the best of times, but if you're brown of any description or russian (for example), you can essentially forget about it. It is not uncommon for establishments (pubs/bath houses/shops) outside of Tokyo to proudly proclaim "Japanese Only". http://www.debito.org/ [debito.org] has some interesting information about this sort of descrimination.
Divirging, but deciding not to offer something because "westerners aren't smart enough " is, in my opinion, entirely in keeping with cultural norms in Japan.
Unwelcome Easy-ness (Score:3, Interesting)
Not to brag (I've never really considered myself "good" at video games, I have friends who consistently kick my ass at it), but I picked up the New Super Mario Bros DS title a few weeks ago and beat it in about a week. Finished the final boss on my second try, and went back & polished off the 2 skipped worlds in a day or two.
This makes me a sad panda. It's a gorgeous game, loads of fun, but it was over before I knew it and compared to my childhood Mario experiences (SMB 1 & 3, SMW) it just seemed very easy. There's not even a % done indicator so I can see whether I've found all the coins and hidden spots. Am I missing something?
Justin
Re:Old... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Old... (Score:3, Interesting)
I think you'll find the attitude is not so much "dumb Americans" as "dumb non-Japanese". It's not like other "caucasian" countries are swimming in the cool eletronic gadgetry that is commonplace in Japan, either.
Re:Old... (Score:2, Interesting)
To be fair, the excessive number of button presses required to set a VCR clock IS too hard unless you intend to set a timer for recording. Otherwise, you just have a clock on your VCR and, frankly, it's just not worth the effort only to have it reset itself the next time the power goes out.
A better, but related example, might be that delayed record feature. How many people never did figure out how to set a VCR to begin recording automatically at a set time and missed their shows every single time?
Re:It's common (Score:3, Interesting)
What they ACTUALLY uncovered was an inherent flaw in Mensa's assumptions: that abstract qualities like "intelligence" and "creativity" can be measured by a damn 2-hour multiple-choice test. The Japanese were able to do so well because they are obsessively focused and dedicated when it comes to studying for multiple-choice tests.
-Eric
Re:Old... (Score:3, Interesting)
That being said though, I have never found a VCR that was too hard to set. People just freak out when they are presented with a set of steps more than 2 or 3. I know plenty people (some whose houses I have to visit) who can't watch TV after the power blinks, because their DVD/satellite is on the video input (not channel 3 anymore) and they can't comprehend switching from channel mode to direct input. God forbid the TV actually have multiple inputs that they need to cycle through.
Most of this I think it b/c of the attitude that knowing stuff like that is "uncool". People would rather stay stupid than actually try to learn how to do something because if they actually knew how others mights think down of them.
Re:Ironically, you're oversimplifying. (Score:2, Interesting)
As an anecdote, when my family went to Colombia for vacation, my sister (then about 10 years old) was asked where she was from. She said "America", she was then asked again, where in America... The clarification was not so she would say what state, but instead what country!
Re:Old... (Score:3, Interesting)
That would be why they get all the wild stuff that never makes it past their borders. It's either unpopular or can't be mass produces at a low enough price point.
As for the dumbing down effect, Asians seem to love buttons & features. The more buttons & features an electronic gadget has, the better. It seems to be a cultural thing, or at least that is how it was explained to me.
If you've got cash to burn, there are U.S. & Euro companies that import the latest asian tech & will modify the software to display in some suitable language.