Why aren't Western games studios run as a dictatorship? Why aren't Western directors famous like the Japanese?

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Sakaguuchi (primarily during the production of FF9), Testuya Nomura, Naoki Yoshida, Yoko Taro, Hidetaka Miyazaki, Takeuchi and Kinoko Nasu, Hideo Kojima, Hideo Baba, etc, ran their videogame studios as dictatorships. "This is my vision. I am paying you to implement it. There will be no discussion about this". This has led to games where you can obviously feel the authorship of the director even though dozens or hundreds of people worked on the game.

I struggle to name any Western videogame directors or producers that operate this way, except for maybe The Last of Us 2 director Neil Druckman or the Detroit Become Human director? Otherwise, it seems that the Western game devs are almost all democratically run, where everyone is pushing and pulling and compromising to get what they want, and the end result is a design by committee game rather than the vision of one person with his obvious mark on it. Hardly anyone can name a Western game director because they have no obvious mark on the product. Is it because of how the West was affected by revolutionary and communist ideology? Why is it that Western movie productions can be run as a dictatorship (Ie George Lucas, Peter Jackson, Michael Cimino, etc), but not Western game productions?

[dogdemonwithglasses]

"Is it because of how the West was affected by revolutionary and communist ideology?" How was the west affected by "communist ideology"? America is a prime example of a western country that spent quite a lot of time, money and man power on wiping out even democratic socialism in south america just to make sure no one was even remotely affected by it lmao not to mention that dictatorships are not mutually exclusive with communist regimes. You even name examples of western film production companies/directors who do run their companies as "dictatorships"....also while creativity may be allowed in a lot of these companies/under these filmmakers, they ultimately have the last say. That isn't really "democratic". Lucas is also infamous for (allegedly) not listening to the input of others post the OT films. I say allegedly because people always say this but I think its more of a theory.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

"Is it because of how the West was affected by revolutionary and communist ideology?" How was the west affected by "communist ideology"? America is a prime example of a western country that spent quite a lot of time, money and man power on wiping out even democratic socialism in south america just to make sure no one was even remotely affected by it lmao not to mention that dictatorships are not mutually exclusive with communist regimes. You even name examples of western film production companies/directors who do run their companies as "dictatorships"....also while creativity may be allowed in a lot of these companies/under these filmmakers, they ultimately have the last say. That isn't really "democratic". Lucas is also infamous for (allegedly) not listening to the input of others post the OT films. I say allegedly because people always say this but I think its more of a theory.

Here in America, there are common sayings that are espoused by teachers and children's media to kids and sayings that politicians on TV regurgitate or sayings you hear in workplace mandated education videos, such as "everyone has a right to a vote", "everyone should be able to voice their opinion", "do not be the dominant voice in the room", etc. And ofcourse there is the revolutionary/socialist rhetoric about how monarchies and dictatorships are bad and "antiquated" and how democracy is so good and righteous and is the way of the future. That also ties into the West's rejection of God's authority and the proliferation and acceptance of the "you can't tell me what to do. I do what I want" liberal mentality.

I was pointing out Western filmmakers because it seems that there is a sharp divide between how those two Western entertainment industries are run. As for George Lucas, I would recommend reading books like The Secret History of Star Wars and other behinds the scenes documentaries. Very worthwhile reads. George Lucas is not exceptional as a Western filmmaker dictator. There were many others like him. The difference is that Lucas was the producer of the most popular American franchise in the 20th century that lots of people became cultists of and started hyperfixating on (namely Gen Ys who grew up playing with Star Wars toys and watching the movies on VHS tape and then became fanatically bitter following the prequel trilogy's release when it was different). There were more eyeballs on him than with other people. If you go digging it turns out there were lots of dictators but today you don't have tens of thousands of people who remember them and regurgitate them across hundreds of thousands of online posts and youtube videos.

[Jason Bright]

I've always wondered about this difference, it's my impression that in the past Western games were more auteur driven with people like John Carmack, Tim Cain or Sid Meier but I don't know if that's true.

But there seems to be no end of these figures in Japan. There's also Shinji Mikami, Hideki Kamyia, Masahiro Sakurai, Fumito Ueda, Shigeru Miyamoto, Suda51, SWERY, Toshihiro Nagoshi, Yasumi Matsuno...

[J1M]

Because in Japan the game industry is cosplaying as a film industry.

[dogdemonwithglasses]

Here in America, there are common sayings that are espoused by teachers and children's media to kids and sayings that politicians on TV regurgitate or sayings you hear in workplace mandated education videos, such as "everyone has a right to a vote", "everyone should be able to voice their opinion", "do not be the dominant voice in the room", etc. And ofcourse there is the revolutionary/socialist rhetoric about how monarchies and dictatorships are bad and "antiquated" and how democracy is so good and righteous and is the way of the future. That also ties into the West's rejection of God's authority and the proliferation and acceptance of the "you can't tell me what to do. I do what I want" liberal mentality...

...As for George Lucas, I would recommend reading books like The Secret History of Star Wars and other behinds the scenes documentaries. Very worthwhile reads. George Lucas is not exceptional as a Western filmmaker dictator. There were many others like him. The difference is that Lucas was the producer of the most popular American franchise in the 20th century that lots of people became cultists of and started hyperfixating on (namely Gen Ys who grew up playing with Star Wars toys and watching the movies on VHS tape and then became fanatically bitter following the prequel trilogy's release when it was different). There were more eyeballs on him than with other people. If you go digging it turns out there were lots of dictators but today you don't have tens of thousands of people who remember them and regurgitate them across hundreds of thousands of online posts and youtube videos.

While America should be more into revolutions and democracy...that's really only on paper but I don't want to get into too long of a political tirade. "Do not be the dominant voice in the room" is not something I heard...really, ever, whilst growing up in the US. In fact, the opposite was the case. "The squeaky wheel gets the grease" is a pretty common American saying. I think in Japan they have one that is essentially the opposite but I forget how it goes. Also, while I don't think America truly practices what it preaches, I will say that if you do buy into that (democracy/socialist influence being the reason) well, historically speaking, Japan and fascism are not exactly strangers so it shouldn't be too surprising to you if you believe that their studios take more of a dictatorship approach. I also don't think its really comparable because like you said, if you run a company and have the creative control...you are completely free to veto ideas that don't fit your vision. Its a lot different than forcing people to live under a dictatorship especially seeing as they don't usually start that way. Its like comparing apples to oranges.

I'm a Star Wars fan but I absolutely don't think Lucas is unique at all. I haven't read that book but I know he didn't come up with a lot of the ideas in Star Wars. Its similar to JK Rowling. They're just a lot more famous than the people who told similar stories first. I also think that they (mainly Lucas) expanded on some of those ideas and made them better but I acknowledge that I am heavily biased.

[sheet]

Game designers were better known in the old days because:
1) studios were small
2) the industry was a lot smaller
3) innovation was a common occurence
4) the media catered to every type of game studio more equally.

In modern times:
1) studios are huge and talent is diluted, and hierarchy is more partitioned between "management" and "devs"
2) the industry is ran by corporations instead of startups. For example, Bobby Kotick was more well known than anyone working on Diablo or WarCraft.
3) Innovation only happens in the indie sphere, where designers don't get publicized as part of the marketing anymore.
4) media mostly focuses on the AAA studios unless it's a breakout indie hit like Balatro, Undertale, Rimworld, etc.

[rusty_shackleford]

Todd Howard is more famous than any nip, yes even kojimbo

[Kalarion]

"Is it because of how the West was affected by revolutionary and communist ideology?" How was the west affected by "communist ideology"? America is a prime example of a western country that spent quite a lot of time, money and man power on wiping out even democratic socialism in south america just to make sure no one was even remotely affected by it lmao not to mention that dictatorships are not mutually exclusive with communist regimes. You even name examples of western film production companies/directors who do run their companies as "dictatorships"....also while creativity may be allowed in a lot of these companies/under these filmmakers, they ultimately have the last say. That isn't really "democratic". Lucas is also infamous for (allegedly) not listening to the input of others post the OT films. I say allegedly because people always say this but I think its more of a theory.

You are ********. Don't talk nasty to Val ever again or I will kill you.

While America should be more into revolutions and democracy...that's really only on paper but I don't want to get into too long of a political tirade. "Do not be the dominant voice in the room" is not something I heard...really, ever, whilst growing up in the US. In fact, the opposite was the case. "The squeaky wheel gets the grease" is a pretty common American saying. I think in Japan they have one that is essentially the opposite but I forget how it goes. Also, while I don't think America truly practices what it preaches, I will say that if you do buy into that (democracy/socialist influence being the reason) well, historically speaking, Japan and fascism are not exactly strangers so it shouldn't be too surprising to you if you believe that their studios take more of a dictatorship approach. I also don't think its really comparable because like you said, if you run a company and have the creative control...you are completely free to veto ideas that don't fit your vision. Its a lot different than forcing people to live under a dictatorship especially seeing as they don't usually start that way. Its like comparing apples to oranges.

I'm a Star Wars fan but I absolutely don't think Lucas is unique at all. I haven't read that book but I know he didn't come up with a lot of the ideas in Star Wars. Its similar to JK Rowling. They're just a lot more famous than the people who told similar stories first. I also think that they (mainly Lucas) expanded on some of those ideas and made them better but I acknowledge that I am heavily biased.

Nevermind I'm going to kill you anyways.

[Roguey]

Eh, I can name quite a number. Richard Garriott. John Romero. Warren Spector. Ken Levine. Tim Cain. Chris Avellone. Josh Sawyer. Gabe Newell. Dan Houser. David Scott Jaffe. Daniel Vavra. James Ohlen. Mark Darrah. Casey Hudson. Swen Vincke.

Western devs do tend to be a bit modest about their contributions e.g.

Many developers at Obsidian referred to the development of Pillars of Eternity and Deadfire as a studio-wide effort to bring Josh Sawyer’s vision to life. Sawyer doesn’t see it quite the same way. Yes, he’s the game director, and yes, most decisions are filtered through him. But game development is a collaborative effort, and Sawyer has always been willing to defer to peers if he finds merit in their input.

[rusty_shackleford]

Eh, I can name quite a number. Richard Garriott. John Romero. Warren Spector. Ken Levine. Tim Cain. Chris Avellone. Josh Sawyer. Gabe Newell. Dan Houser. David Scott Jaffe. Daniel Vavra. James Ohlen. Mark Darrah. Casey Hudson. Swen Vincke.

Western devs do tend to be a bit modest about their contributions e.g.

Many developers at Obsidian referred to the development of Pillars of Eternity and Deadfire as a studio-wide effort to bring Josh Sawyer’s vision to life. Sawyer doesn’t see it quite the same way. Yes, he’s the game director, and yes, most decisions are filtered through him. But game development is a collaborative effort, and Sawyer has always been willing to defer to peers if he finds merit in their input.

Skyrim & Fallout 4 were created singlehandedly by Todd Howard

[Tangerine]

Sid Meier and Will Wright had their names on the box.

Naoki Yoshida, Yoko Taro, Hidetaka Miyazaki, Takeuchi and Kinoko Nasu... Hideo Baba

These are all made up names.

[Tangerine]

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