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Remember the discussion about "asian people cannot see 3D"?

Neo_GAF

Neo_GAF

Banned
Last night i had some friends over who are in their 40s and we vividly remembered, how wild the 90s were.

a friend brought up, that some PSX magazines back then had discussions, why most japanese games were 2d and why they have not adapted to 3d.
he chimed in, that there were discussions from the editorial, that japanese/asian people cant see 3d or cant figure out where in the room they are, when playing in a 3d environment.

everyone in the room became quiet.
and then i remembered it too. i think it must have been 1995, when i also had these discussions in school with friends why "we in europe" play 3d games, while stuff from japan maintained a 2d look, which was outdated and no one cared anymore.
there were also racist articles about how "small lined eyes" do not have enough room to enfold true environmental 3d seeing.

unfortunately, none of my friends have those magazines from the early 90s.

does GAF remember this too? i wasnt sure, if we were just too drunk to have this "collective memory" or if this shit was real back in the day.
i mean, i was 10 when this was discussed in the schoolyard, so no sure, what those journalists were smoking and teaching kids racist prejudices...
 
Lunarorbit

Lunarorbit

Member
I'm 41 and I honestly don't remember that one. Saturn and virtual fighter were the first big polygon excitement that everyone was creaming themselves over before Mario 64 came out.

I used to read Nintendo power, game pro, egm, and psx monthly and I don't remember people mentioning it. Not a ton of my classmates in high school played video games and we never talked about that.

I didn't own a computer in those early internet days so maybe it was on early forums?
 
_Ex_

_Ex_

Member
There seems to be something legitimate with Japanese not liking first person viewpoints. That's why few Japanese games use that perspective. (There are a lot of Wizardry clones in Japan, but those use a grid-based movement scheme that is more mechanical.) The vast majority of Japanese games that have real-time movement for a video game character are in third person.
 
L

LazyParrot

Member
The Japanese aren't entirely blameless when it comes to nonsense like this. Blaming differences between Japanese people and foreigners on biology is a national pastime in Japan. Back before first person games caught on in Japan I had multiple Japanese people tell me they weren't popular over there because Japanese were genetically predisposed to motion sickness.
 
Skifi28

Skifi28

Member
nightmare-slain said:
googling pigeon sex right now.
Click to expand...
MULUHW9.jpg
 
Kilau

Kilau

Member
_Ex_ said:
There seems to be something legitimate with Japanese not liking first person viewpoints. That's why few Japanese games use that perspective. (There are a lot of Wizardry clones in Japan, but those use a grid-based movement scheme that is more mechanical.) The vast majority of Japanese games that have real-time movement for a video game character are in third person.
Click to expand...
That’s the only thing I’ve ever heard, that Japanese gamers didn’t care for the first person view for whatever reason.

Never heard the can’t see 3D thing.
 
diffusionx

diffusionx

Gold Member
I don't think anyone actually believed that Asians can't see 3D

maybe some said it just to banter but not being able to see 3D has implications far beyond videogames, like how would they drive, it's nonsensical.
 
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RagnarokIV

RagnarokIV

Member
When MGS4 released, idiots on forums were saying the Japanese players will be pissed because MGS1-3 used a top down camera because Japanese players don't know how to 3D camera controls and aim LMAO!
 
Dr. Claus

Dr. Claus

Vincit qui se vincit
LazyParrot said:
The Japanese aren't entirely blameless when it comes to nonsense like this. Blaming differences between Japanese people and foreigners on biology is a national pastime in Japan. Back before first person games caught on in Japan I had multiple Japanese people tell me they weren't popular over there because Japanese were genetically predisposed to motion sickness.
Click to expand...

Never heard that, but I do remember that Japanese developers thought that Westerner's were, on average, more stupid and slackjawed so that is why they couldn't enjoy JRPGs that required more strategy and skill (which is why they removed like half hte content from FF4 and why they gave us Mystic Quest).
 
01011001

01011001

Banned
I always heard that Asians are more susceptible to motion sickness, and that's why the FPS genre wasn't popular in japan.

I think Apex Legends kinda singlehandedly debunked that 🤣
 
gaming_again

gaming_again

Member
LazyParrot said:
The Japanese aren't entirely blameless when it comes to nonsense like this. Blaming differences between Japanese people and foreigners on biology is a national pastime in Japan. Back before first person games caught on in Japan I had multiple Japanese people tell me they weren't popular over there because Japanese were genetically predisposed to motion sickness.
Click to expand...
This is an amazing rabbit hole to go down if you have the time.
 
-Zelda-

-Zelda-

Banned
LazyParrot said:
The Japanese aren't entirely blameless when it comes to nonsense like this. Blaming differences between Japanese people and foreigners on biology is a national pastime in Japan. Back before first person games caught on in Japan I had multiple Japanese people tell me they weren't popular over there because Japanese were genetically predisposed to motion sickness.
Click to expand...
I know Hideo Kojima said he has it.
3d motion sickness sucks no matter what race you are. My mom is not Asian and she has it.
 
SF Kosmo

SF Kosmo

Al Jazeera Special Reporter
I remember hearing a narrower version of this argument that Japanese gamers were more prone to motion sickness from first-person games and that's why FPS were never big there.

Which is a chicken-egg problem because you could see any audience not exposed to these games being more sensitive to them.
 
Last edited:
D

DonkeyPunchJr

World’s Biggest Weeb
LazyParrot said:
The Japanese aren't entirely blameless when it comes to nonsense like this. Blaming differences between Japanese people and foreigners on biology is a national pastime in Japan. Back before first person games caught on in Japan I had multiple Japanese people tell me they weren't popular over there because Japanese were genetically predisposed to motion sickness.
Click to expand...
I heard this shit all the time. I also remember ”Xbox failed because Japanese people have small houses and Xbox is too big”

Pretty much any time I hear some western “expert” on Japanese culture I assume they are full of shit.
 
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Neo_GAF

Neo_GAF

Banned
SF Kosmo said:
I remember hearing a narrower version of this argument that Japanese gamers were more prone to motion sickness from first-person games and that's why FPS were never big there.

Which is a chicken-egg problem because you could see any audience not exposed to these games being more sensitive to them.
Click to expand...
yes, this was also one of the points.
man, i fucking hate this, i would love to take a jump back to those mags, but i have no mags prior 1997.
my friends are no collectors, so they sold all their stuff or threw it away.
would love to read those magazines with all those wild assumptions!
 
March Climber

March Climber

Member
The only thing I remember hearing back then was that the Japanese market had a rough time adapting to a right joystick for camera controls, which is why quite a few of their games all the way until the mid-PS3 gen would have really awkward controls compared to western devs who kind of figured things out after Halo.
 
AGRacing

AGRacing

Member
I guess game journalism has always been full of racists eh?

I do remember the first time I saw Unreal 2003 with an ati 9700 Pro I did need an adjustment period before I was able to really process what I was seeing. Going from the (relatively) simple geometry of Unreal Tournament 1 and that game with the foliage, flashy water effects. rounded edges, more complex structures... it was an enormous jump and it shocked me a bit.
 
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