, and developer PlatinumGames has published a somewhat damning from its president and CEO Tatsuya Minami via its website. Minami bemoans the decline of original titles and the fact that Japanese games companies have "lost their vigor."

"I believe that games exist to offer fresh surprises to those who play them," Minami writes. "As members of the games business, we have always pursued the creation of the new, and we take pride in doing our part to support our industry. However, the current games business is struggling. The 'fresh surprises' I mention are becoming few and far between, especially in our home of Japan."

Minami's sentiments echo those of many gamers who see the increasing domination of the market by triple-A publishers as a threat to originality, creativity and innovation. Call of Duty makes lots of money, even months after its release, so why make anything different?

"Series grow ever-longer; original titles are on the decline," Minami continues. "Japanese games that garner worldwide acclaim are slipping away. This state of affairs deeply saddens us."

Minami aims to relaunch PlatinumGames, a company he believes to be "one of the very few healthy Japanese games companies," as a "Japanese standard bearer in the competitive global video game market." He wishes his company, redubbed "Platinum Next," to be a leading ambassador for Japanese game studios on the worldwide stage -- and to show publishers and developers around the world that "pursuing the creation of the new" is something which is still both viable and desirable.