Why are American-made games so much darker?

Post Reply New Topic

I don't mean, like, thematically. They're literally darker, like the environment's illumination is darker. I noticed they also have more orchestrated pieces that are less catchy. The sound effects are similar too.

Anyone else notice this? There are exceptions, but I notice this a lot.

I hadn't paid much attention, but funny you should mention because my roommate has been playing the new Final Fantasy game and I couldn't help but to notice how the music seemed to cheerful.

Perhaps it isn't so much that American games have a lot of darkness, but that Japanese games have a lot of cuteness.

You're absolutely right! I play a buttload of Final Fantasy and Pokemon games (among many other Japanese games, especially Nintendo), and while you are right that Final Fantasy has a lot of cheery music, at the same time the game can grow very darkened and serious, especially nearing the end. Even the most tooniest one, Final Fantasy IX, has a really scary piece of music that plays somewhere between heaven and hell and it's full of sorrowful violin melodies and... moaning spirits. Ugh.

If Prototype is an American game then I fully agree with the statement made. And Bioshock!! That looks and sounds spooky as all hell.

Aren't European games darker too? (and sometimes realistic...?)

*coughcough* I think the point was missed here. Cap'n seemed to me to be noting that American games are more dimly illuminated. I have noticed this occasionally, but not consistently. Diablo did this, but "light radius" was part of the game. If you maxed it out, things got pretty bright. >.> Drab sound effects and orchestrated pieces are probably around too a lot. I'm not the best person to talk to about it, because I'm all over older games mostly. I'm too stingy to buy the new ones. xP

My take : It's not that the States produces darker games, it's more that the States has a better and bigger entertainment industry, so there's more room for different things, including darker content. In Europe the entertainment industry is comparatively small, and the audiences are also more fickle and demand more vanilla "realism" games like sports. I agree with the comment that Japanese games tend to be "cute". A lot of it comes down to culture, and it's not just games. Why does Europe produce so many sh***y arthouse movies, while the States produces legendary titles like Star Wars and Alien? And Alien is a perfect example because the director and head artist were European, but there is no way Alien would ever have been made by a European studio. European audiences love these things, the games and movies, but Europe produces so little. Why is that?

Other than matching a game theme, I know for a time that the graphics capability of consoles were quite limited and brighter games don't look very good if you're going for realism because the detail becomes more apparent. Splinter Cell: Double Agent illustrates this nicely if you look at the Xbox vs. Xbox 360/PC versions.

Darkness gives room for sloppy artwork to look good. My 2 cents.

Because if a american game is not dark, the game is labeled as "kiddy".

Europe produce a lot of popular movies too. (By popular I mean relatively to a content made for the general population)

Last edited by Tollorin on 17 May 2010, 7:23 am, edited 2 times in total.

Double post, sorry

Probably because they want to look edgey. If there are not many shadows, then you are not edgey enough.

(snark)

Your take is wrong in many ways. Completely wrong for television entertainment, mostly wrong for video games (all else aside, it's worth bearing in mind how many "American" games are really European or are European games that have been bought out, like the Total War series or the GTA series, or are really Canadian or Australian or whatever) and partly correct for films, in that while the money for formulaic blockbusters isn't floating around Europe there are lots and lots of European films made regardless, not all of which are arthouse ("sh***y" or otherwise).

The OP doesn't specify "darker than what." The answer to the question "why are American games darker than games in general?" is that they are not; the question "why are American games darker than Japanese games" needs to be rephrased as "why do Japanese games (as a whole, as the world sees them) appear lighter than other games (as a whole)?"

(/snark)

To which I have no idea of the answer. My guess is that to the rest of the world Japan's video game exports are simplistic console fare for kids and yoof, which tend to be brightly coloured stuff. *shrugs* Anyone know if the sick and unpleasant games that are also popular in Japan use bright colours?

You beat me to it.

If a game has bright colors, some people will not even give it a chance. I have seen that in many forums.

^ This.

Also I would like to argue that the games are not actually "dark" as in "too much pitch blackness", console gaming on televisions has started a trend of washed out videogames =/

They definitely do use too many desaturated grays and browns, though.

Because American Kirby Is Hardcore.
Dim illumination is often used as a visual prop to convey grimness, violence and trouble or fear, whereas bright lights are more common in happy, carefree settings. Trends are subjected to exception and change, but humans have been scared of not seeing what's in the corners of the room for a very long time.

Which is why America churns out so many identical teen horror/slasher movies every year? Endless identical teen comedies? The same angsty close-up shot desert war films every year, which used to be the same self-pitying "make it look like we won that war" Vietnam movies? Formulaic TV series that get cancelled if they diverge from plotlines that generate ratings? Amorphous middle-of-the-road rock bands that sound like each other? Generic R+B singers who are quite literally interchangeable? Remakes of all genres of film? What about the flogging to death of "legendary" films at the expense of plot or content just to generate cash?

America has a bigger budget. This does not automatically create quality or originality in any area.

Diablo 1 and 2 are great examples of dark games. They take place in a gothic/dark fantasy world.

Diablo is great though, it's not without humor!