The Impact of Final Fantasy 7's CGI on Western Success, According to Creators

Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi believes that the decline of unique console hardware, exclusives, and cultural differences is the likely cause of the brief drop in quality of Japanese games during the 2000s and 2010s. He suggests that specific hardware configurations produced by Japanese manufacturers made it easier for Japanese developers to master the hardware, resulting in higher quality games. However, the rise of Western-made games and the shift towards multi-platform releases shattered the trend of focusing on a specific set of hardware constraints. Sakaguchi also believes that cultural differences between Japan and the West make meaningful differences in what kinds of games are made.