america's importance in the gaming industry

[StBishop]

If I made a game, I'd release it where I live first.

This is all you need to know.

Everything else is true, but also not the real reason.

 

[J_Monsterface]

What's more even if we suffer economically we're liable to remain a massive military power given that we have the firepower to destroy the whole world ten times over as it is, and that's only what we tell people about (the US is infamous for always having a lot more militarily and much higher capabilities than it lets on or anyone expects).

whaaaaaaaaaaaat?


and you mean higher capabilities than anyone BUT YOU expects


theres a strange shooting sensation in my left arm

 

[kiwi_poo]

Well, all I know is that here in New Zealand we always get the game releases last (usually a week or so after US). But then again, that's probably more to their being developed there than anything else.

But still, we are the leading CGI creators in the world...if that amounts to something. We don't make games, but still.

I thought from the title of the thread that you were wondering why America is the home of a lot of plotlines in games - such as in movies, if there ever is a worldwide disaster (apocalypse, alien invasion, etc) it only ever seems to happen in America (presumably the rest of the world is safe, then. )

well, as yahtzee once said: "Americans have trouble relating with anyone but other americans"

 

[Voulan]

What's more even if we suffer economically we're liable to remain a massive military power given that we have the firepower to destroy the whole world ten times over as it is, and that's only what we tell people about (the US is infamous for always having a lot more militarily and much higher capabilities than it lets on or anyone expects).

whaaaaaaaaaaaat?


and you mean higher capabilities than anyone BUT YOU expects


theres a strange shooting sensation in my left arm

What on earth are you on about? Are you purposefully misquoting me as a trolling joke or something? You do know I'm not from the US, right?

 

[aba1]

There is actually ALOT of gaming studios in Canada aswell people just don't really realize I suppose

 

[ChupathingyX]

It's like this, what defines New Zealand to the world? Pretty much nothing.

What are you talking about? Middle Earth is located in New Zealand!

Seriously: Well I'm Australian so I acknowledge New Zealand's existence and when I think about New Zealnd I think "Maori", "Beautiful landscape", "Kiwi" and of course "Middle earth". But yes I agree mostly with what you were saying, America is the most significant and well know country in the world; almost everyone you ask will know what the Statue of Liberty is or have heard of New York.

They have a massive video games industry and some of my all time favourite game shave come from there, however, Japan has also created some of my all time favourites, here in my native Australia most of Destroy All Humans! 2 was made (another one of my favourites) and then you have countries like Canada, Poland and France that also make some great games.

So I guess yes, America and Japan are a big part, but we can't ignore the rest of the world and the rest of the world (I don't really like calling it that but for conveniences sake) have made some great games and could potentially become much bigger.

 

[TrevHead]

There is actually ALOT of gaming studios in Canada aswell people just don't really realize I suppose

This console gen hasnt been kind to the UK with the biggest publishers buying out smaller companies much of the UKs game studios (inc Eidos) have been bought up by US and to a larger extent Japanese companies like Sega, Square and Capcom using UK studios as a hub to make games for the western market. Many of the studios owned by western publishers (Ubi, EA, Acti) has moved their development to Canada as they give very favorable tax breaks to the industry. The UK government pulled out on its promise to do the same with their Tax rate, which might have saved UK studios. (UK governments have a habit of not giving a fuck about UKs industries that isnt part of the banking sector)

Anyway on to the OPs topic. Personally I think the only thing that is keeping the NA region on top of other regions is due to the large population of English speakers. And also that most of the biggest websites are US with english speakers from outside NA using the same sites as well.

Considering US gamers pay very little for their games compared to most other places (Jap & AUS pay way Way WAY more) Add in the US' low currency rates and im not too sure that the NA is the region that makes the most money for much of the industry.

 

[ImmortalDrifter]

Considering US gamers pay very little for their games compared to most other places (Jap & AUS pay way Way WAY more) Add in the US' low currency rates and im not too sure that the NA is the region that makes the most money for much of the industry.

Well you have to realize the amount of games bought in the U.S. in comparison to other countries with higher currency rates.The U.S. (almost) always tops the charts in the amount of games/hardware bought; usually by quite a lot. The entire continent of Europe often times doesn't outbuy us in this regard. (that isn't a good thing mind you.) Games in the U.S. are cheap because most are made here; and the ones that aren't are the same price because people would inevitably ***** and moan about it. (though the same is true for every country)


OT: A lot of the time I wonder the same thing, even though I am American. What I always seem to come back to is this. Most games are combat based, and the first country most people think of when they think war is the United States. People don't need a reason to think of Americans fighting something. If the U.K. or Australia were in some kind of conflict people would expect a good reason. Not America, we'll go invade somewhere and start breaking shit and the world will just say "silly Americans". And again, that really isn't a good thing. But if you want an action game with no plot, America is the first place to look.

Other genres by contrast tend not to focus on the U.S. Most RPGs, racing games, fighting games etc. take place somewhere else; with non-American characters. (though most often it isn't really anywhere in our world)

 

[michael87cn]

Well, all I know is that here in New Zealand we always get the game releases last (usually a week or so after US). But then again, that's probably more to their being developed there than anything else.

But still, we are the leading CGI creators in the world...if that amounts to something. We don't make games, but still.

I thought from the title of the thread that you were wondering why America is the home of a lot of plotlines in games - such as in movies, if there ever is a worldwide disaster (apocalypse, alien invasion, etc) it only ever seems to happen in America (presumably the rest of the world is safe, then. )

well, as yahtzee once said: "Americans have trouble relating with anyone but other americans"

And who is Yahtzee? I mean, he's a funny comedian but I don't think you're supposed to take anything he says in his videos seriously. Half of the time he just pokes fun at a game and doesn't even give a review.

I'd like to meet the person who can with confidence actually foresee the thoughts and likeness of 300 million people in an instant of thought like that.

Oh and if you didn't figure it out yet, I'm American and I don't have trouble relating with "anyone but other americans". I lived with a spanish family for 1 and 1/2 months, I have had japanese and canadian friends, and I often find europeans to be generally awesome and funny people.

 

[ssgt splatter]

Obviously it's because the US has the biggest population of gamers with expendable income than anywhere else in the world (excluding japan).

I mean sure, you can talk about there being 7 billion people in the world, but the vast majority of them can barely afford food and electricity, much less a stable internet connection and a current gen game system.

What he said.

And as proof of this, if you have a copy of Call of Duty Black Ops and you go online to the main MP title screen where you choose to play public, private, wager, etc. you'll see a little world map with all these white dots on it. The majority of those dots are in the USA, most of Europe, and Japan; a few other places are New Zealand, the Bahamas (although they may not be for much longer if Irene knocks out the electricity there), parts of Austrailia, and I think a little of Cuba. Every where else is either limited coverage or nothing at all.

 

[Verlander]

I have never seen a gamestop in my life, nor have I ever spoken about one.

America is where the industry is largely based, and Americans are famously self-centric in terms of business (check out the car industry for example, bar Ford, none of your shitty cars make it abroad, and when they do it's rare).

Similarly, you guys have a big customer base, so foreign developers want a piece of that cake as well.

 

[aescuder]

Obviously it's because the US has the biggest population of gamers with expendable income than anywhere else in the world (excluding japan).

I mean sure, you can talk about there being 7 billion people in the world, but the vast majority of them can barely afford food and electricity, much less a stable internet connection and a current gen game system.

Agreed. That and America is the epicenter of entertainment media, i.e. Hollywood/Mtv. So it makes sense that it harbors a lot of core gamers who wish to be part of the growing industry.

 

[shrekfan246]

Now here's a question which has been bothering me for a while now:
why is the gaming industry (excluding japan) so fixated on America?

everything is gamestop this and US release date that.

it just doesnt make sense to me, i mean there's 312,054,000 people living there, while the world's population is roughly 7 billion.
that's 4 percent. let's assume that one in ten people plays games. that's a massive market that people aren't paying as much attention to.

and yes, I know it's partly because many companys are based there but that doesn't mean they cant release their games in PAL first, does it?

edit: and on that subject, why is it that the europeans have to pay 60 euros and bithish have to pay 50 pounds while that means they are paying more than americans pay?
it's 87 dollars and 82 dollars respectivly... what the f?

I've been incredibly pedantic today, so I'll keep it rolling. 312,054,000 people is not 4% of 7 billion. 4% of 7 billion is 280,000,000, which while it may not sound like too much of a difference, is a difference equal to roughly four times the size of the player-base of World of Warcraft.

As for the rest of your post, everyone else has already answered it pretty much, so I'll just quote this:

Obviously it's because the US has the biggest population of gamers with expendable income than anywhere else in the world (excluding japan).

I mean sure, you can talk about there being 7 billion people in the world, but the vast majority of them can barely afford food and electricity, much less a stable internet connection and a current gen game system.

The US is where the majority of game sales actually occurs. Yes, there are a lot of sales in Europe and Japan, but just to think back to Jim Sterling's rant on Nintendo of America not localizing games for America, the sales of [EDIT:some (don't want people to misunderstand hyperbole):EDIT] Wii games in the US was greater than those of the sales in Europe and Japan combined.

 

[Rex Fallout]

Because in America EVERYONE has the ability to have enough money to get games on a regular basis. The average american has more money than the average of any other country on Earth. Plus freedom of speech. Why waste money on marketing in areas where you will make less money? That's just bad business.

 

[Rex Fallout]

Probably because America has the largest population of Gamers around. And when you think about it, outside of Japan, the US is the perfect place. For the most part it's free of censorship on games, it's a 1st World Country, and it's got a very large population. That's my take on it anyway. It's not a gaming thing either, a lot of movies are US focused as well as Musicians

most european countries dont censor anything and are much more open to accept a gaming life then in america where people are branded nerd at the ideia of them playing games, that mekes it much easier to be an avide gamer in europe, plus the euro's value is far superior to the dollar, wich kinda means europe (most of it) has more disposable income than america, that means its a bigger market for games, damn in my school more than 70% of the peple play games, and not facebook games, real triple A games, i understand why they realease first in america, it produced there, it ships from there, they should have it first, but they also pratically ignore everything else, and that my friends is begining to be annoying

ps: sorry for the english, as you might have guessed its not my native tongue, and the messed up keyboard doesnt help XP

Bullshit. America does not attack its gaming community. What US have you seen? The average American male plays TONS of games. Almost every household has an Xbox, Ps3, and I'd guess even more have Wii's. You're delusional if you think that with this recession people in Europe have more money than the average American. I was in Europe. 2 weeks ago. London to be exact. Yes. LONDON. During the riots. And guess what? I didn't see any advertising for games hardly at all! I remember seeing, lets see one poster in the underground for, damn I don't even remember what game. And from what I saw, the people had less money than the average american where I live. Americans have more money. Period. Just because the dollar is weaker right now means nothing for now. Will that one day change? Maybe. But for now America is the center for video games.

And yeah try and convince me that censorship isn't that bad in Europe. Because censorship isn't bad AT ALL in America. We can literal say whatever the hell we want.

 

[BlumiereBleck]

Because censorship isn't bad AT ALL in America. We can literal say whatever the hell we want.

DAMN STRAIGHT!!!!!



I can't add what has already been said. There was a fellow on the last page who gave several well thought out and written paragraphs who says it best.

 

[Trololo Punk]

Canada is becoming increasingly important in the gaming industry. It will never be as big as The states industry or Japan's but more and more good games are being released and studios being opened.

 

[The-Epicly-Named-Man]

I think it's fair to say that Americans own the internet, which probably helps a lot. Don't get all smug about that though, it's only because your country has a large, unified population, while quite a few of those people happen to live in relative comfort. If Europe had the same political system as you, things would be different.

Edit; Wow, this thread has quickly turned into a collection of patriotic Americans jumping up and down on a table, naked, shoving their genitals in everyone's faces, and citing slightly iffy economic facts, and just mentioning freedom of speech, as though every other nation out there censors all media (clearly forgetting that there's is one of the only countries that has proposed a ban on the sale of violent games to minors).

Edit 2 (I refuse to double post again);

most european countries dont censor anything and are much more open to accept a gaming life then in america where people are branded nerd at the ideia of them playing games, that mekes it much easier to be an avide gamer in europe, plus the euro's value is far superior to the dollar, wich kinda means europe (most of it) has more disposable income than america, that means its a bigger market for games, damn in my school more than 70% of the peple play games, and not facebook games, real triple A games, i understand why they realease first in america, it produced there, it ships from there, they should have it first, but they also pratically ignore everything else, and that my friends is begining to be annoying

ps: sorry for the english, as you might have guessed its not my native tongue, and the messed up keyboard doesnt help XP

Bullshit. America does not attack its gaming community. What US have you seen? The average American male plays TONS of games. Almost every household has an Xbox, Ps3, and I'd guess even more have Wii's. You're delusional if you think that with this recession people in Europe have more money than the average American. I was in Europe. 2 weeks ago. London to be exact. Yes. LONDON. During the riots. And guess what? I didn't see any advertising for games hardly at all! I remember seeing, lets see one poster in the underground for, damn I don't even remember what game. And from what I saw, the people had less money than the average american where I live. Americans have more money. Period. Just because the dollar is weaker right now means nothing for now. Will that one day change? Maybe. But for now America is the center for video games.

And yeah try and convince me that censorship isn't that bad in Europe. Because censorship isn't bad AT ALL in America. We can literal say whatever the hell we want.

I'm sorry if I'm misinterpreting your post, but it seems you seem to be claiming that because you spent a week or so in London, that you know that everyone in Europe is poorer than Americans because you only saw one poster for a video-game (which is bullsh*t)? And that you think European countries have bad censorship laws because America doesn't?

PS: The dollar will always be weaker than the Euro, the same way the Euro will be weaker than the pound, it's was even stronger in the boom, not that it really means anything.