Japanmanship
JC Barnett‘s Japanmanship is our next link from the side-bar. One of the more widely read developer blogs, not just because the content is funny and insightful, but also because it’s one of the few insights that western developers can get into the sometimes impenetrable world that is Japanese games development.
It seems that although a few hardy souls have emigrated to Japan for development jobs, it’s still very hard to get accepted there. Personally I don’t see the appeal, especially given the way that foreigners get treated by the natives, but there’s no denying that Japan has always been a significant centre of gaming. The fact that western developers are generally unable to sell significant numbers of games (or consoles, in Microsoft’s case) is indicative of the culture mismatch between us that even these days of globalisation hasn’t diminished.
Regardless, the blog is a good read, and mixes tales of life of a gaijin in Japan with gaming chat and insight. Particularly funny to read are the tales of passive (and not so passive) combat on the subway.