ABSTRACT
In the Japanese videogame market, games developed in Europe and the United States are called yoge [an abbreviated form of yomono gemu or "Western game"],
which is synonymous among Japanese players for games that are "difficult to play." Exceptions to this rule are the highly rated Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the Dragon, Jak and Daxter, and Ratchet & Clank series released by SCE, all of which have a high usability evaluation and are often mistakenly regarded as games developed in Japan. The original games themselves are excellent, and they were localized especially well for the Japanese market. Compared to many games that are localized during the final stages of development or after a product has already been released, these four series were developed from the planning stage for release in the world market in close cooperation with individuals in charge of localization from various regions. For the PS3 game Ratchet & Clank Future (SCE, 2007), for example, data for fifteen languages was put on one Blue-Ray Disc so that the game could be released to the world simultaneously.
