Weaponry crossovers between East and Western digital games

Drawing from the research taken from other members in the group, the development of weaponry from past games to that of a contemporary market invites designers to establish crossovers in games, particularly in terms of Western and Eastern influences.

For example, 'Muramasa: Demon Blade' (2009) otherwise known as 'Oboromusamusa' in Japan uses traditional Japanese styles of combat such as martial arts and samurai weaponry such as katanas and nodachis and therefore, embraces traditional Japanese culture through adopting these weapons.
In contrast to this, Western games such as Rockstar's 'Grand Theft Auto 2' (1999) allows players to use firearms such as pistols and machine guns.
These examples reflect entrenched divisions between Eastern and Western games to a certain extent, in that they both embrace the cultures of where the game is set, 'Muramasa' being set in Japan and 'GTA 2' being set in the USA.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/85/Muramasa_The_Demon_Blade.jpg/250px-Muramasa_The_Demon_Blade.jpg

http://purenintendo.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/muramasa_demon_blade_2.jpg

http://www.igrandtheftauto.com/downloads/640x0/50_grand-theft-auto-2-title-theme-song.png

http://www.gamer.ru/system/attached_images/images/000/177/418/original/gta2_600.jpg?1272457528

How ever, with the development of video games across the globe, it is apparent how contemporary designers are forming hybrid styles of games, creating crossovers that link Eastern and Western forms of weaponry well.

In contrast to 'GTA2's heavily-influenced American style, a more recent game in the 'GTA' series, namely 'Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars' reflects a development in video games, in terms of crossovers between East and West through cross-linking factors such as narrative, visual style and weaponry choice altogether in order to embrace both cultures.

http://media.rockstargames.com/chinatownwars/US/images/_site/3.0/fob.gif

For example, the studio's choice of focusing on a storyline reflecting Eastern gang culture (the Triads gang) in a Western environment (Liberty City, set in the USA) and entwining this with a range of Eastern and Western-style weapons (rather than focus on solely on Western-style weaponry as before in part games, such as GTA 1 and 2) reflects a new approach to representing culture in games and "great diversity" (Rockstar President, Gordan Hall.)

http://www.igrandtheftauto.com/img/content/2899.jpg

In an interview with Gamespot, Gordan Hall's statement "we've always been big admirers of a lot of the best graphic novels and even manga out there, and this was a way for us to tell the same quality GTA story we always do with the same writing team, but tell it in a way that we just haven't done before." coupled with the release of Manga-inspired stills for the game, described as "Japanese in their style" featuring generic weaponry that would appear in both Eastern and Western parts of the globe, reinforces how digital games are representing worlds that are cross-linking various cultures together into one.
This poses questions about the future of games and whether previously entrenched divisions between East and West will carry on fading into aspects of games such as game content, audio and visuals.

http://media.rockstargames.com/rockstargames/img/global/downloads/wallpapers/games/chinatownwars_huangsniper_1920x1200.jpg

http://media.rockstargames.com/chinatownwars/global/downloads/wallpapers/uncle_kenny/kenny_1920x1200.jpg

http://media.rockstargames.com/chinatownwars/global/downloads/wallpapers/wade/wade_1920x1200.jpg

http://media.rockstargames.com/chinatownwars/global/downloads/wallpapers/kungfufight/kung_fu_fight_1920x1200.jpg

http://media.rockstargames.com/chinatownwars/global/downloads/wallpapers/ling/ling_1920x1200.jpg

Another example of a game that crosses over Eastern and Western influences is 'Final Fantasy'.
This proves an interesting example because of the recurring weapon through the series - the 'gunblade', which is a fusion of a sword and a gun.

http://images.wikia.com/finalfantasy/images/4/4d/Wall_VIIAC_03.jpg

http://www.platsupply.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/empyrean-weapons.jpg

This presents a crossover of Eastern and Western influences because it is flipping traditional traits of Western and Eastern games on it's head by interlinking weaponry, for example it was typical for Eastern games to feature swords whereas Western games such as 'Call Of Duty' commonly featured firearms.

Crossovers leading to convergence?

Through looking at various examples of video games and movies, it can be suggested that companies are converging various styles of weaponry from both media platforms, thus allowing easier recognition of weapon style for audiences.
For example, the nunchakus used in video game 'Vigilante' (1988) have also been popularly used in the 'Bruce Lee' movies - this works well in suggesting that through designers' use of employing realistic forms of weaponry that the public are already familiar with and placing them into games, the boundaries between 'real' and 'virtual' game worlds are disappearing.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSrURl32JMxGSXCGxvbgMp5eLswZEesyuzfviv0mhUEY3Qy4FETO-vSYw9SAg_eXBNdBLFz5x6CrmNgfv0IqytyJ0UMgYhhpN8zfv0K2F_Pr4r8z2vGQNqXgCGThZL5p7teAUWf14sLlg/s320/Vigilante+%5BEUR%5D.jpg

http://www.avforums.com/forums/attachments/retro-gaming/73039d1203163193-classic-amiga-pd-games-remade-freeware-downloads-pc-vigilante1.jpg

http://videogamecritic.net/images/t16/vigilante.gif

http://arcade.svatopluk.com/irem/vigilante/vigilante_04.png

http://www.martialartshop.co.uk/product_images/l/119/Bruce_Lee_Nunchaku_Poster__03633_zoom.jpg

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Kemp, J. (2009). Muramasa: The Demon Blade weapon database. Available: http://media.jamesrskemp.com/xml/MuramasaBlades.xml. Last accessed May 2012.
Unknown. (2012). Okinawan weapon. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okinawan_weapon. Last accessed May 2012.
Unknown. (2012). Katanas. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katanas. Last accessed May 2012.
Unknown. (2012). Nodachi. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nodachi. Last accessed May 2012.
Unknown. (2012). GTA2. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GTA2. Last accessed May 2012.
Unknown. (Unknown). Weapons in GTA 2. Available: http://gta.wikia.com/Weapons_in_GTA_2. Last accessed May 2012.
Unknown. (2012). GTA Chinatown Wars. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GTA_Chinatown_Wars. Last accessed May 2012.
Unknown. (2009). Grand Theft Auto Chinatown Wars Q&A. Available: http://uk.gamespot.com/grand-theft-auto-chinatown-wars/previews/grand-theft-auto-chinatown-wars-qanda-6205684/?page=2. Last accessed May 2012.
Ford, G. (2008). Exclusive Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars Interview. Available: http://www.1up.com/previews/grand-theft-auto-chinatown-wars_2?pager.offset=0. Last accessed May 2012.
Unknown. (2012). Vigilante (game). Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigilante_(game). Last accessed May 2012.