What Were Japanese Devs Favorite Games of 2010?

Have you ever wondered what your favorite game developers considered to be their favorite games? Well it seems that Dengeki Games is looking out for you, as they’ve recently posted a comprehensive survey that they conducted with some of Japan’s top gaming talent. Basically, they asked them what games from 2010 they loved most, and the results are interesting to look at, to say the least.

While there are plenty of developers who loved games with that famed Japanese flavor (such as Monster Hunter Portable 3rd, Pokemon Black and White, Vanquish and Mario Galaxy 2), it seems that there were just as many or more who preferred some largely Western titles. However, the top two games that most Japanese developers gravitated towards were both Heavy Rain and Red Dead Redemption.

Hit the jump to see the full list.

Katsura Hashino (Atlus — Producer of Catherine) – Restaurant Story

Shouji Meguro (Atlus — Sound Designer on Catherine) – Monster Hunter Portable 3rd, Hatsune Miku Project Diva 2nd and Inazuma Eleven 3

Shigeru Nakagawa (Alchemist — Gal Gun, Umineko) – Xenoblade, Heavy Rain, Reginleiv. He said that Xenoblade most surprised him. Heavy Rain felt like a next generation adventure.

Masato Kimura (Ignition — El Shaddai) – Heavy Rain, Vanquish, God of War III. He said that Heavy Rain can make your mood change.

Hajime Chikami (Experience — Entaku no Seito) – Alan Wake, Kinect, Ni no Kuni. He said that he’s currently making a new type dungeon RPG.

Yoshito Okamura (Gust — Atelier Totori) – Heavy Rain, The Sims 3, Batman Arkham Asylum. He feels that Heavy Rain showed the new possibilities for games.

Yasunori Ichinose (Capcom — Monster Hunter) – Etrian Odyssey 3, Thunderstone, Pokemon Black & White

Yasumi Matsuno (Ogre series) – Red Dead Redemption

Akihiro Hino (Level-5 CEO) – Heavy Rain, Limbo. He was pleased with Heavy Rain’s Japanese sales because he didn’t think it would sell in Japan. It was the first time in a while that he’d played something just because he wanted to see what happens next.

Jiro Ishii (Level-5 — 428 and Time Travelers) – Heavy Rain, Danganronpa. Regarding Time Travelers, he said the road is still long and steep.

Hideyuki Mizutani (Marvelous — Luminous Arc, Fate/Extra) – Nier Replicant/Gestalt, Xenoblade, Danganronpa.

Yoshifumi Hashimoto (Marvelous — Rune Factor, etc.) – Red Dead Redemption, Xenoblade, NieR Replicant

Atsushi Inaba (Platinum Games) – Mario Galaxy 2

Makoto Yoshitsumi (Namco Bandai — Tales) – Tactics Ogre, Monster Hunter Portable 3rd.

Masamichi Yamazaki (Namco Bandai — Director of Ridge Racer 3D) – Heavy Rain, Patchwork Heroes, God of War Trilogy

Katsuhiro Harada (Namco Bandai — Tekken) – Call of Duty Black Ops (PC), Infinity Blade, Borderlands (PC). He said to expect Street Fighter X Tekken details at game shows and other such events.

Hideo Baba (Namco Bandai — Tales of Xillia) – Yakuza 4, God of War 3, Vanquish

Toshihiro Kondo (Falcom CEO) – Social games, God of War III, Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker

Sohei Niikawa (Nippon Ichi CEO) – Narutimate Storm 2, Danganronpa, God of War III

Koichiro Ito (Chunsoft — Director of Love Zombie) – Red Dead Redemption, Heavy Rain, Dead Rising 2. He said his next title will add new play elements to a genre that Chunsoft is good at.

Keiichiro Sotoyama (SCEJ — Siren) – Limbo, Red Dead Redemption, Cut the Rope. He’s working on Gravity Daze for NGP and said that he believes 2011 will be the first time in a while he’ll be able to do stuff that gets shown to people.

Daisaku Ikejiri (SCEJ — Furi Furi! Sarugetchu) – Pokemon Black & White, Monster Hunter Portable 3rd, Limbo. He said he’s working on a variety of NGP titles, but we’ll have to wait a bit for announcement.

Masayoshi Yokoyama (Sega — Yakuza 4 scenario) – Heavy Rain

Satoshi Sakai (Sega — Phantasy Star) – Call of Duty Black Ops, Heavy Rain, Monster Hunter Portable 3rd

Naoki Yoshida (Square Enix — Final Fantasy XIV) – Monster Hunter Portable 3rd

Shinji Hashimoto (Square Enix — Front Mission) – Call of Duty Black Ops, Just Cause 2, Battlefield Bad Company 2

Shinji Tokida (Square Enix — Final Fantasy Legends) – Heavy Rain, NieR Replicant, Infinity Blade

Yoshinori Kitase (Square Enix — Final Fantasy XIII) – Alan Wake, Red Dead Redemption, Fable III

Akitoshi Kawazu (Square Enix) – Halo: Reach, Fallout New Vegas. He said that he hopes for “3DS and NGP (not Neo Geo Pocket) to become hot.” Yes, he said Neo Geo Pocket.

Ryutaro Ichimura (Square Enix — Dragon Quest) – Heavy Rain, Red Dead Redemption, AKB1/48. He said he’s working on a new title that isn’t Dragon Quest.

Hiroshi Matsuyama (CyberConnect2 CEO) – Heavy Rain. He said to expect a number of new announcements in 2011, including some totally new stuff.

Hideo Kojima (Konami — Metal Gear) – Red Dead Redemption]

Akari Uchida (Konami — Love Plus) – Danganronpa, Red Dead Redemption, Scribblenauts. He said that he wants to make a new series.

Yousuke Hayashi (Team Ninja) – Red Dead Redemption, Heavy Rain, Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood

Makoto Asada (Cave — Death Smiles, etc.) – Mario Galaxy 2, Yakuza Black Panther, Sonic Free Riders

Suda 51 (Grasshopper Manufacture) – Red Dead Redemption

Ryozo Tsujimoto (Capcom — Producer of Monster Hunter) – Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker, Ghost Trick, Pokemon Black & White

Jun Takeuchi (Capcom) – Red Dead Redemption, Heavy Rain

I’m not sure if you guys will find this as interesting as I did, but I just love seeing the reasons why they loved the particular games. The most common thing about Heavy Rain is that developers really felt like it showed the future of what gaming and story could be. Who knows if this will influence anything they’re working on in the near future, though.

So what do you guys think about this? Does it surprise you? Go!

Source – AndriaSang