Which country is more relevant to the VG industry today, UK or Japan?

China. :P

Japan gamers just plain lost it years ago.... UK.

Not only did the UK shape the industry in Commodore 64 and Amiga eras, especially in the whole Europe in which they were huge. In some regions, SNES and Genesis didn't matter that much but Amiga was all that was there to 16-bit era. Besides, the UK developers also had a huge part in creating the Nintendo Magic as well, Star Fox was co-developed by a British company, Donkey Kong games? Again, British. Don't even get me started with one of the most successful games of all times like GTA, Tomb Raider and Wipeout. Bulk of Sony's PS1-era success was thanks to their British studios, especially Psygnosis.

And this is not even taking studios like Bullfrog into consideration, which created several masterpieces that forever changed the history of video games, like Syndicate, Magic Carpet, Populous and Dungeon Keeper. There were more developers like these from UK in the 1990s. Far too many to just list them on top of my head.

What is more, and 99,9% of System Warriors probably don't know that because they're too busy riding Japanese cocks, is that England is one of the very few countries in the world in which video games are actually taken seriously in the mainstream or politics world. Veteran video game makers like Molyneux, Oliver Twins (creators of Dizzy, have you even heard of that game, you phillistine???) or guys from Rebellion (have you even played Jaguar's AVP or AVP 1999 PC?) were given Orders of the British Empire. There are dedicated universities which offer video game programming courses.

All of this is without even taking current situation into consideration. One GTA is more relevant than anything Japan could ever muster COMBINED. I think it is also unfair to compare hardware here, as the UK has never had anything of relevance in that field.

Your tangent still wouldn't invalidate that in the grand scheme of things Japan has done way the **** more to the point of being inarguable at this point.

On Nintendo's back alone given how many game design rules have been taught via the likes of Mario, Metroid, or Zelda. Both 2D, and 3D considering how many games have their lineage go all the way back to Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time. Donkey Kong and StarForx are bench warmer franchises in Nintendo's library, there impact is marginal at best in comparison to their other big entries. Unless we're talking OG Donkey Kong, because even then, it's Shigeru Miyamoto mate. When you throw in Capcom, Sega, Konami, Square, how much of the console market is built on Japanese companies like Nintendo, Sony, and at one point Sega, or the laundry list of some of the most influential video game creators from Miyamoto, to Hideki Kamiya, to Shinji Mikami, to Hideo Kojima, to handhelds, to even modern day classics at this point.

The Bulk of PS1's success comes down to the likes of Resident Evil, Final Fantasy, pretty much Square Soft shitting on Nintendo and going full Playstation, back when Japan meant a lot to the gaming industry from a sales standpoint, with their big marketing built around Crash Bandicoot (which was American). It was a Japanese product, killing it in Japan, and winning over a shit load of Japanese third party back when console gaming was mostly built on the backs of Japanese games. Tomb Raider had its impact, but the bulk of the PS1's? more like a small piece of the pie mate.

If we took out any subjectivity, the most we'd get to is that UK software and Japanese software is on an even playing field (which I think is a ridiculous notion, but whatever), but there is no objective measure where Japan doesn't outright annihilate the UK's impact in the hardware department. You'd be arguing against what are wildly the most successful consoles of all time, and the most important in the case of the NES, Snes, Playstation 1, and the handheld scene which lets be real is to this day Nintendo's domain, with some frauds that have tried to come in on their turf only to get clowned.

You are correct that this forum is filled with ignorant morons, but it's an entirely worthless tangent because in the grand history of this medium Japan has simply meant more to this industry than the UK. It is what it is.

As for today? Commercially the UK console market is bigger and their devs make more money on balance it seems like. Quality wise I'd argue it's debateable, because I'd easily put a Platinum Games, From Software, Atlus, or Nintendo up with anything done by Rockstar, Rocksteady, or what have you. **** that, I'd say it's way better on average.

I can agree with most of what you said, but the UK was the face of PS1, no doubt. Both marketing and gaming-wise. And at that time I had been subscribed to Official PlayStation Magazine for far too long not to draw my conclusions. Tomb Raider, Wipeout, Colony Wars, Formula 1, MediEvil - they were all huge hits, gigantic even. That being said, I cannot write for too long because I have a little daughter to attend to atm.

Theres no denying japan are more relevent when it comes to games its embedded in their culture. This coming from someone who is British and grew up enjoying British games.

Except that it wasn't, by any measure.

Sales wise Resident Evil, Final Fantasy, Tekken were all massive sales drivers, ditto for something like Gran Turismo. UK wasn't even close to the face of Playstation, commercials wise sure Lara Croft had her run, but she was sharing the spot light with Crash (which again American). Otherwise that era's biggest sellers were primarily Japanese games.

I still find it laughable that in Japan the genres MOBA, RTS, and CRPG are invisible and unknown while for the rest of the gaming world all genres of video games are present. Their indie scene is pathetic (not talking about the quality but the visibility and infrastructure for the indies) compared to the West's. They have no idea about modding and mods. They suck at FPS tournaments. Do they even have a presence in MOBA and RTS tournaments? DD aside from mobile isn't prevalent. The usage of UE and Unity engine in Japan is fairly recent while the rest of the gaming world have been using these engines for a long time now. Their game engines pale in comparison to the West's. Aside from platformers, fighting games, and action games, what can the Japanese boast? JRPG? lol These lead me to think how overrated Japan is when it comes to its influence in today's gaming world (I'm not talking about the past). Why do you think PS4 was released late in Japan? It makes me chuckle that the Japanese got the console later than the rest of the world. Makes it seem like they're in the backwater.

If you include hardware its not close, Japan by a landslide. They still dominate the console and handheld landscape.

If you're just talking software its alot lot closer but Japan still obviously has much more clout, and really I play almost no Japanese games. I don't think the TC really thought it through. You'd pretty much have to combine Europe to make it a fair fight.

I should have excluded hardware but I'm talking about everything excluding consoles and handhelds not just software. The game engine of GTA trumps any Japanese game engine. The ability to create an indie game and show it to the world is easier and better in the UK than in Japan. I'm not so sure but I think UK has better players in FPS, MOBA, and RTS tournaments. On fighting games though, Japan will probably reign but that's just one. The usage of UE and Unity is more prevalent and has been there longer in UK than in Japan. Since PC gaming exists in UK while in Japan it's just visual novels and hentai, UK people probably know more about modding and mods while the Japanese have no idea what it is. These kinds of things make me think how isolated Japan is. Funny for being a very influential nation to the VG industry.

Japan for sure. Although British devs are coming up quick. In the past few years I'd argue they make better games than US devs.

**** you gamespot. This is attempt #2 and a less thought out and eloquent version.

Showing my age here but ... lol

I grew up in the era of Commodore, BBC, Sinclair Spectrum, Amstrad, etc when the UK not only was producing alot of software but also hardware.

Your argument about the Japanese being left behind on the indie and PC scene is obviously pretty clear, even in mainstream console gaming I think most of their games have lost touch with a more sophisticated western audience who have moved on past where many Japanese developers are at. Having said that, I think games like Bloodborne, Bayonetta 2 and Nintendo (other examples, just naming a few, calm your jets weeaboos :P ) have shown that not only are they capable of matching, but at times surpassing, the best the west in general have to offer. They also show that while the industry at large in Japan is fairly insular, they are more than able to cater to a home and foreign market.

ITT people who think videos games not on consoles are not the video game industry.

Shit I'm not an analogy machine bro. I fucken try :(

I'm sorry but since when does game engines and e sports matter when talking about impact on this industry. We are talking fundamental game design and the likes of Nintendo have shaped this industry and were the first to make games not just about getting high scores and actually have goals. The huge steps were all taken by Japanese developers. Sure, the west is responsible for PC centric titles like MOBA, RTS, and FPS, but that was just a new genre that wether you like it or not, was influenced by Nintendo in some way. Doom has some Metroid elements. A lone space person fighting their way through hidden areas to reach a goal. It might not be direct, but before Metroid, there were Atari 2600/5200 arcade ports on consoles.

Nintendo alone have had more impact on gaming than any other. They didn't just define new genres, they defined game design fundamentally across all genres. For that, gamers should pay their respects. And I don't know where you get the kicks to mock Japanese centric genres like fighting games, hack and slash and platformers for they showcase the best in game design the industry has to offer when done well. See Super Mario Galaxy 2 if you want to see what well designed levels around their mechanics can be.

I'm not convinced you have a clue what you're saying and I'm thinking you live in a neckbeard MOBA player bubble.

How so what? PS4 is winning this gen. Wii won last gen, PS2 won the previous gen, ps1 won the gen before that, and nintendo had sold the most before that... What a stupid question.

This thread isn't about US vs Japan. It's UK vs Japan. Japan is more relevant

This, and it isn't even close.

Game engines don't matter? I'm sorry but how can a video game exist without a game engine? It seems you have no knowledge on game development so I'm not so sure I should take you seriously. Imagine if id tech, UE, Source, CryEngine, etc. didn't exist, the gaming world would have been a very different place. It was because of the British that led to the creation of the FX chip for the SNES. Without the FX chip, would Star Fox have existed on SNES? If RARE didn't partner with Nintendo back in the SNES and N64 era would Nintendo have survived? E sports generate money yes? It isn't a free competition where everybody plays for the sake of playing right? And when it does generate money it's not $5 right?

I fail to see how Nintendo influenced the MOBA, RTS, and FPS genres. Now that's just laughable. Just because the protagonist is alone and is fighting their way through hidden areas, automatically, it means it's influenced by Metroid? Great argument there, kiddo.

Super Meat Boy alone can match SMG2's level design and it's a small indie game. The Japanese have created the metroidvania gameplay but look at Ori and The Blind Forest, does any recent Japanese title match its excellence in art and design? Muramasa's art pales in comparison to the beauty of Ori. This is becoming West vs. Japan though. For platformers, I'll give it to Japan over UK. At least UK has LBP for the platformer genre unlike Japan which has no title for the RTS genre.

Okay, I'll admit I was wrong and say it is more relevant than the UK right now.

But my point to you was, what does the hardware have to do with it. Sony being Japanese means what? It's the American side of Playstation which is the most successful part of the equation now, FAR AND AWAY, it's not even funny. They've had the biggest input in the PS4 hardware and the most of the software that sells is Western. The PS3 was practically identical to the Xbox 360 with software, even a lot of its exclusives were western.

If you say Japan because of PS, then you're essentially saying US and Japan vs the UK.

The UK is more important. Many of the studios that people think are American are actually from the UK. And the UK contributes a massive about towards middleware development as I understand it. Japan on the other hand is becoming less and less important, and from what I can tell, they aren't actively contributing towards bettering the industry as a whole. And that's not even getting into the thriving indie scene which is considerably more active in the UK....

And I say that as a British person who happens to be fluent in Japanese and in the unique position of having access to pre-release Japanese indie titles.

The topic specifically mentions the videogame industry today. Not historic contribution.

That's fine. But now you're ignoring that the the ds line is still the dominant handheld and has mega selling franchises... Hardware still has plenty to do with it

if if you want to use the U.S. to undermine play station then you could do the same for the europes biggest franchise.. More than half of GTAs developers are not even from rockstar north.. They have studios all over the world

I think you're undermining Playstation if you don't use the US.

And all the major publishers have developing studios all over the World.

But this game single game is literally developed by people all over the world. GTA V was made by over 1000 developers and only 300 of them from UK. Not unlike the situation you see with PlayStation.. But now we're getting off track. Point is Japan is still more relevant

I picked Japan on the basis of CDPR being in Poland.

The fact that the UK gives places like the US a run is funny. I would say it's about on par with Japan.

GTA is a juggernaught and the studio still takes risks with releasing stuff like Manhunt because they have free reign on what they do. Japan at the moment is controlled by companies like Konami and Capcom who push out the same old crap usually to random studios and piss of their customers when it turns out shit.

Rockstar and From Software are my two top studios of all time because the make stuff they want to make which shows in the final product.

japan.

@bobrossperm: The Doors, man.