Japan and North American/Europe video game collaborations have been spotty. The only positive example in recent memory I can think of is Dead Rising 2. Here's to hoping that Level 5 will be able to figure out what works when combining east and west.

DCKR

I hate to say it, but if there was ever a case to be made for the U.S's copyright laws in the video game world, it would be the comparison of Level-5 so readily opening a creative studio here and pretty much saying they're never going to China despite the huge population, and 'mobile savvy'market.

Does this increase our chances to get Professor Layton vs. Ace Attorney?

Huh. Good one.
I forget that Retro Studios is an American video game group in the same manner that I forget Nintendo is technically a Japanese video game group.

I think the better example in this case would be Metroid Prime, since Retro took a series that had been made in Japan and infused Western gameplay ideas into it, while with DKCR they stuck with similar (though, I'd argue, superior) ideas to the earlier games, which, incidentally, weren't made in Japan either.

I really like the Japanese approach to videogame design.  I look at my favourite console games and almost all of them are Japanese.

A good Japanese/American combo is to more or less have a Japanese game with American consultants that veto concepts that won't work in North America.  Otherwise it's left entirely the the Japanese devs.  The American consulting is just to make sure that they're not making something with no market value in North America.

Japanese devs don't get Western culture so any attempt to make a specifically Western game for that audience is going to fail.  The games that suceeded were typically Japanese games made for the Japanese market that were localized for the West.  That worked and it had this Japanese style that seemed kind of quirky to us.  If they're just trying to crank out space marine first person shooters, they're toast.  They'll just get it wrong and instead of quirky it will just be embarassing.

I guess a case in point to that would be Quantum Theory?
http://www.giantbomb.com/quick-look-quantum-theory/17-3325/

I used DKCR as an example due to the recent interviews and GDC panel where they have been discussing the difficulties involved with creating the game  in texas and japan, using things like video conferencing and so on.