Would Gaming and the Gaming Industry As a whole Exist without Japan?

[Abu_Senpai]

Lets says WW2 went down another path and Japan no longer existed. So we diddnt have Sony,Sega,Nintendo and Square Enix as well as the other hundreds of Japanese based gaming companies(publishers and developers)

What would the gaming market or industry be like today??

Would Microsoft own majority of the market?
Would gaming or games even exist?
If it did exist how developed would it be with a 2016 without Japan? would we be in the PS2 haydays? or would we still have V.R like we do right now?

Thoughts? Opinions? Feelingz?

Lets discuss this!

 

[Hungry Friend]

It probably would but it wouldn't have the "soul" and super weird, unique aesthetic that so many classic Japanese games and some modern ones have. I'm biased but I'm more into Japanese games than western ones, but yeah man surely games would exist in some form though they would probably be unrecognizable due to how much Japan has influenced the industry with all kinds of weird art styles, mechanics etc.

The tech would still be here but the artform would be completely different imo.

 

[StackMasher]

Well the gaming industry probably wouldn't be as big because of the video game crash thingy, though I think it would have recovered to some extent

 

[Imacaredformy2ds]

I wouldn't be alive. Gaming wouldn't exist if the original developers didn't have a reason TO develop a game. Who knows? I have nothing to add to this conversations except that.

 

[Veho]

Are we pretending that PCs don't exist or what?

 

[gamefan5]

It would. Not in the form as we know today, but it would.
If one doesn't make it, someone else will.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Are we pretending that PCs don't exist or what?

I know right? Hahaha

 

[Depravo]

Nolan Bushnell would be king of the world and force us all to eat ET cartridges.

 

[Flame]

i too embrace our Japanese overlords... with hot sound making and school uniforms..

 

[Taleweaver]

This is a pretty weird discussion. Almost as if this is about a yes/no question...

First off: no more Japan in 1945 is a pretty big alteration of history. Going on how the proverbial butterfly flapping or not flapping his wings may differ in wether or not a hurricane will take place, this would change things well... Incredible.

Still... These things are bound to happen. Assuming the US and Russia would still have a cold war (which caused the us army to come up with a technology to link PC s together... Which would lead to the internet later) and a race to the moon (which really pushed computer hardware)... Then sure. It wasn't until the eighties that Japan came to the market of consoles, so there would have been a market. Assuming there would be a video game crash in 1983 is a big speculation (i don't know how much Japan helped push that market before that point), but i think there would still be competition afterwards. It might not be as fast as in the current reality, though (more competition usually means faster progress).

The JRPG games certainly would not or barely exist, though. That genre isn't just named after the region but primarily means the way of telling a story (more group oriented, to name an obvious one). The genre developed roughly independent of the western rpg', so without Japan, those would just dominate the market. More than they currently do, that is.

At least... That's how i think about it.

 

[Imacaredformy2ds]

Yes.[/QUOTE]
Fixed it

 

[RevPokemon]

We would have the console wars between Matel, Atari, and Coleco

 

[Imacaredformy2ds]

We would have the console wars between Matel, Atari, and Coleco

I want to kill myself after seeing that

 

[Abu_Senpai]

Are we pretending that PCs don't exist or what?

Pcs DO exist yes since the very first one was made in 1945 by Edward something something

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

This is a pretty weird discussion. Almost as if this is about a yes/no question...

First off: no more Japan in 1945 is a pretty big alteration of history. Going on how the proverbial butterfly flapping or not flapping his wings may differ in wether or not a hurricane will take place, this would change things well... Incredible.

Still... These things are bound to happen. Assuming the US and Russia would still have a cold war (which caused the us army to come up with a technology to link PC s together... Which would lead to the internet later) and a race to the moon (which really pushed computer hardware)... Then sure. It wasn't until the eighties that Japan came to the market of consoles, so there would have been a market. Assuming there would be a video game crash in 1983 is a big speculation (i don't know how much Japan helped push that market before that point), but i think there would still be competition afterwards. It might not be as fast as in the current reality, though (more competition usually means faster progress).

The JRPG games certainly would not or barely exist, though. That genre isn't just named after the region but primarily means the way of telling a story (more group oriented, to name an obvious one). The genre developed roughly independent of the western rpg', so without Japan, those would just dominate the market. More than they currently do, that is.

At least... That's how i think about it.

So may i ask you this without sounding like a complete fool. Would it to be safe to state that the Video Game industry as it is today in 2016 mostly exists because of Japanese developers and publishers? (in regards to its scale and current location as being part of Mainstream Media?)

What im trying to find out is if...

Japanese companies have had a larger effect or impact on the Video game industry OR if Western developer's have?

Furthermore how much do you think or assume the progress of video games would be if Japan DIDDNT exist? (would we have VR? or the X1?) or would we be in the 360 era?

 

[Taleweaver]

So may i ask you this without sounding like a complete fool. Would it to be safe to state that the Video Game industry as it is today in 2016 mostly exists because of Japanese developers and publishers? (in regards to its scale and current location as being part of Mainstream Media?)

What im trying to find out is if...

Japanese companies have had a larger effect or impact on the Video game industry OR if Western developer's have?

Furthermore how much do you think or assume the progress of video games would be if Japan DIDDNT exist? (would we have VR? or the X1?) or would we be in the 360 era?

That really depends on what you consider "the Video Game Industry as it is today". If Belgium was not to exist, there would be less games as well, and as such, strictly speaking, it wouldn't be as it is. Even though we barely had any games that influenced the main industry.

As to the larger effect...I'm inclined to say USA has the most impact. But again: what's the definition? I've got a feeling you don't really read what Veho is really saying: most hardware and software development originated in the West. Japan's main influence is in the consoles, and that is mainly because nintendo, sega and sony were originally BETTER at packaging them and selling it to their audiences than the West. Take them out of the picture, and the competition that didn't survive (yes...coleco and atari) would be in a much better financial situation and be able to expand rather than close up or worse*. And while that reality might seem weird and frightening, it's not like those companies wouldn't sooner or later understand what their audiences really wanted. The best case scenario would be that the gaming industry had a far greater PC branch than currently.





*just take a look at that mobile rollercoaster tycoon game and tell me that it wouldn't be better if atari stopped making games to begin with.

 

[FAST6191]

No amiga in the what if lists? For shame.

Anyway everybody plays games, the eventual commercialisation of computer hardware all but ensuring it. Board games, card games, table games, pinball, parlour games, shooting galleries all exist prior to said 1945 cut off and especially if you go later. Said things also moved with technology (I will have to find it but I once saw a nice presentation detailing how when plastic injection moulding became doable in far smaller runs the it took off in board games and pen and paper) and it is inevitable that with the rise of consumer computers that games would go to.

The crash... kind of did not happen in Europe.

How developed in 2016. That is hard. I am going with as developed, assuming said world war 2 end meant we are not living with nuclear fallout. The economics of cheaper labour and high tech would mean somewhere got a boom going on, probably in Asia/the orient again, and it is not like you can throw a dart and hit land anywhere there without finding somewhere with a rich history.

 

[Veho]

Pcs DO exist yes since the very first one was made in 1945 by Edward something something

Well in that case gaming and the gaming industry as a whole would still very much exist without Japan and the whole question is silly.


Would Microsoft own majority of the market?
Impossible to tell the exact company, but some sort of computer manufacturer / OS developer whoever standardized the platform would be in the lead. Maybe IBM.

Would gaming or games even exist?
Duh.

If it did exist how developed would it be with a 2016 without Japan? would we be in the PS2 haydays? or would we still have V.R like we do right now?
Unlike consoles, computers were not locked into "generations" and cycles of stagnation. Instead of having the platform fixed at a certain level for years and years, we had compatible hardware leapfrogging in terms of power. Hardware would probably be on par with today's PCs.
VR has been in development independent of video games and gaming for over 50 years, and it was always just a matter of time before it was applied to gaming.


We could speculate about various genres that would or wouldn't exist without Japan, but gaming itself would be just fine.

 

[Abu_Senpai]

Well in that case gaming and the gaming industry as a whole would still very much exist without Japan and the whole question is silly.


Would Microsoft own majority of the market?
Impossible to tell the exact company, but some sort of computer manufacturer / OS developer whoever standardized the platform would be in the lead. Maybe IBM.

Would gaming or games even exist?
Duh.

If it did exist how developed would it be with a 2016 without Japan? would we be in the PS2 haydays? or would we still have V.R like we do right now?
Unlike consoles, computers were not locked into "generations" and cycles of stagnation. Instead of having the platform fixed at a certain level for years and years, we had compatible hardware leapfrogging in terms of power. Hardware would probably be on par with today's PCs.
VR has been in development independent of video games and gaming for over 50 years, and it was always just a matter of time before it was applied to gaming.


We could speculate about various genres that would or wouldn't exist without Japan, but gaming itself would be just fine.

Thanks for the detailed information. Yet personally i dont think Gaming would be mainstream in a 2016 without Japan. I mean games like FF7, Shenmue and GTA 3 opened up Video games to the masses ane made the industry what it is today.(ofcourse there were tons of other titles too that opened up gaming to what it is now). But i think without games like ff7 or shenmue we likely would see gaming as a niche type hobbie alltogether.

But then what if PCs diddnt exist in this 2016 without Japan. Where would we be?

 

[Taleweaver]

Thanks for the detailed information. Yet personally i dont think Gaming would be mainstream in a 2016 without Japan. I mean games like FF7, Shenmue and GTA 3 opened up Video games to the masses ane made the industry what it is today.(ofcourse there were tons of other titles too that opened up gaming to what it is now). But i think without games like ff7 or shenmue we likely would see gaming as a niche type hobbie alltogether.

But then what if PCs diddnt exist in this 2016 without Japan. Where would we be?

Erm... Gaming was already pretty mainstream before FF7, the PlayStation or even Nintendo. i don't know why you bring in a niche game like shenmue, and even less gta (hint: rockstar games is American), but games like doom, StarCraft and half life were big titles with huge followings. You don't really think platforms like stream would crumble without Japan, right?

 

[RevPokemon]

Erm... Gaming was already pretty mainstream before FF7, the PlayStation or even Nintendo. i don't know why you bring in a niche game like shenmue, and even less gta (hint: rockstar games is American), but games like doom, StarCraft and half life were big titles with huge followings. You don't really think platforms like stream would crumble without Japan, right?

I think more or less how things would be depends but without Japan you would not have had other things like Motorola which might have had some impact on the way that PCs would have developed.

 

[duffmmann]

Now? Sure. 30 years ago? Probably not.