Culture shock

                So I do not know if anyone else has noticed a fundamental difference in shooter games that are popular in Japan and shooter games that are popular in America, mainly in that when a game in the  shooter genre is released it is popular either Japan or America but not both. This may be due to a fundamental cultural difference and the way the culture perceives the object and symbol of a gun.

                If one looks at the games that are successful in this genre in Japan such as Metroid, Mega Man, or countless a number of “Mech” warfare games they will see a common denominator, the gun is almost an extension on the protagonists body. If one looks at shooter games that are popular in America such as Halo or Call of Duty, the guns are disposable and replaceable and therefore only a tool of the protagonist.

                So why is there an emphasis on the union of weapon and body in Japanese games? The reason is linked to Japanese samurai’s code of honor Bushido. This code of honor emphasizes that the sword is part of the warrior’s spirit and body, and the samurai treated their swords as if they were part of their bodies. Therefore in Japanese culture for a hero to be considered heroic, he or she must also follow Bushido to an extent.

                Conversely in American culture guns have always been tools of liberation, one only needs to look to history to see that Americans used guns to obtain their freedom in the Revolutionary War. This idea of a gun as a tool of liberation has been romanticized in American culture ever since and is evident in American shooter games.

                For more on this you can check out Extra- Credits episode that goes into way more depth:

http://extra-credits.net/episodes/the-myth-of-the-gun/