People and cultures are usually strengthened by outside ideas, as long as they are properly examined. If Inaba can take the best of western game design (innovation) while avoiding the worst(obsessively catering to the lowest common denominator) then he will have a much stronger product for it. I could name some western developers that could really use some Japanese attention to detail as well.

Eastern Devs made Silent Hill 1-4. Each one did something different with the survival-horror genre, and while not everythignt hey tried worked, in general the series is held as the pinnacle of the genre because of the team's creative use of pyschological fears and dream-like symbolism.

The two Western developed games in the series, Origins and Homecoming, are nothing but rehashes of the most popular parts of the original Japanese games. To the point where they are actually completely ignoring the meanings and power inherent in the original uses of the characters/devices just to make a cool impression.

What was that about Western Devs being more creative again?

Creatively, Japanese developers are almost universally bankrupt. All the character designs are completely identical and androgynous, 90% of the games are stale and cliched RPGs, and the control schemes always feel like they were designed by men with unnatural and innumerable appendages. I remember hearing Takashi Murakami speak on how the Japanese people have become intellectually castrated as a culture, and had what he called "a disdain for originality".

I honestly can't remember the last time I was surprised by a Japanese game, with the exception of Hideo Kojima's and Suda 51's apeshit productions. Inaba has a damn good history, and if more Japanese designers were like him, maybe Japan's game industry wouldn't be so stale.

+1 BAYONETTA = SARAH PALIN like whoa. holy shit.

@MotoRobo

But let's be fair, it'd be a serious pain if all anime character designs had to be significantly different from one another when there are so many different works out there. I personally think there is more subtle variation in character design from one series/film to the next, but I definitely get what you're saying.

This is very similar to what the chap from Capcom was saying earlier today. Most of the japanese are flogging so many old ideas and concepts to death (dare I mention FF series).

And this is why I believe a little mixing of east and west may be way of helping japans creativity more. That's why I'm happy with Sega and Capcom for their efforts in doing so, with some western developers.

Its true, the west is influenced by the east and vice versa. I'd like to see more of what the japanese create, when given the likes of PSN, XNA and Wiiware to use. These are cheap methods of trying new fresh ideas out. But when I see Square Enix pushing out more FF on Wiiware, it really annoys me, because we all know they could do something new and original, but choose not to, because its easy money and not much effort.

Now because Square Enix are like large kings in japan, many medium and smaller japanese developers will try to emulate their success in similar product. Bravo to those, that break the cookie cutter.

Western influence will bring its own rewards, that the japanese will learn from, while not compromising the greatness of japanese character design etc. Lets face it, the japanese do have better all round artists, because manga, pop and game art are heavily imbedded in their everyday culture. They have so many good artists to call on with many differing styles.

I'd like to see more mature japanese character designs in japanese games though, like more Toshihiro Kawamoto, Ryuichi Ikegami or Takehiko Inoue (Lost Odyssey). That would be a good step forward.

I'll look forward to playing Platinum's games.