Government funding and Western developers

It is known that some Western governments do fund the development of video games, but is it one of the reasons why Western developers have an edge over Japanese developers?

Not really,talent is

What governments fund game development?!?

what...?

Western developers have no edge over Japanese developers.

The state of Rhode Island basically funded 38 Studios and Amalur. There are multiple other instances of governments providing subsidies and tax breaks to game developers, not just in the US, but also (and especially) in Europe.

Is government financial support a reason (not the reason) that western developers have an edge over Japanese ones?

I was more confused about the whole government funding, some examples would have been nice. Perhaps if we knew what developers are government funded, we could make some correlation...(maybe?)

but the answer seems to be no

The real question is why are people so obsessed with Japan? Pfft bunch of weebs.

No, western developers are just more talented and don't live in the past like Japanese companies do.

Nope Quebec gives them millions a year to hire new employees and they still haven't' made a half decent game that runs well that is beyond the scope of an indie tittle. That money has made the only in house studio that takes in employees with useful skills after a project, allowing them to work on anything they want till a new position is found. Though I've heard it sounds far better then what it is in practice as most end up quieting do to no direction or advancement options from this place.

Modern western titles do not have an edge over Japanese games, it just appears to be that way to most people since modern western console games are designed to appeal to the mainstream masses while japanese games are designed to appeal to niche audiences and that by itself is not a bad thing. People say japanese developers are living in the past but to be honest I dont see how that is a bad thing, most "modern gameplay mechanics" introduced by western developers these past few years to appeal to the masses are pure trash, like for example cover based third person shooting and health regen. Before anyone calls me a weaboo I will say both western and japanese developers are equally good, they both have released in the past few years some great games and also some really crappy ones.

Back in olden times if you wanted to play a video game and could not afford a personal computer, you had one option: Japanese games. There were different flavors of Japanese game, but it was just about impossible to have a decent library of games that wasn't dominated by Japanese publishers.

The change has nothing to do with being stuck in the past. Previously they were the only people making console games. Now they are a fraction of people making console games. Given that Japan has a population that is a fraction of the United States, the fact that that they produce two out of the three major consoles and most of the most beloved exclusive titles, I would say they seem to be doing pretty well in the game making department.

Do I play a lot of Japanese games these days? No, but the very second they put the Persona Franchise on PC that will change instantaneously.

Severely false. Western developers have edge over the Japanese developers. DX12, new version of C++, Game Engines like UE and Unity, are products of the West that the Japanese aren't up-to-date because of their inability to understand English. They have to wait for translations of the manuals, documents, etc. The English-speaking devs don't have to wait because these technologies are made by Westerners.

Since they don't know English, they have no knowledge of the gaming world outside of their country. They can only go through translated news. They can't fully understand Western culture and be a member of a very wide and international network of English-speaking devs around the world. They have little to no presence in gaming events like GDA Conference, PAX, and Indiecade. You rarely see a Japanese at a Japanese company booth because English-speaking Japanese aren't that many.

See charizard, you really can't comprehend how important knowing English is. Japanese language isn't as influential and relevant as English. It is a language used in only one country. English on the other hand has a very big network. Japanese? Aside from Japan itself, what other country uses that language? None. I'm living in Tokyo right now and I have yet to meet a Japanese who can do normal conversations with me in English and can read. You have no idea how much superior books on game design, graphics programming, etc. are by Westerners over Japanese books. It is why those books from America are translated to Japanese albeit in a later date.

FEZ was funded by the Canadian government. Aside from Canada, Scandinavian governments offer funds for indie devs. LIMBO was funded though not fully by the Danish government. Search for the Nordic Game Program.

Don't forget America's Army