These are just a handful of the games that I could list off the top of my head. To really appriciate what Japan has done for video games, we need to look back to the video game crash of 1983. Shoddy ports of arcade games and an over-saturated console market led to the downfall of Atari, one of the leading home console manufacturer of the time. While this was happening a small Japanese playing card company, called Nintendo had been slowly venturing into the world of electronics. The company had released "Donkey Kong" just a few years prior, and "Mario Brothers" had just started to light up arcades.
Nintendo had tested the waters of the decaying industry with software in the arcades and hardware in the for of the "Game & Watch" series of handhelds that me with success. As The future looked grim for games on shore on the other side of the Pacific Nintendo released the Famicom which became an instant classic in Japan. The system was headed our way, but we wouldn't see it until October 18, 1985 almost two years after it was released in Japan.
No one would have ever guessed that a Italian plumber by the name of Mario would become more well known than Mickey Mouse by American children, but it happened. There was still some distrust from Americans when it came to Japanese products at this time, but at the time all we cared about were the games, and boy did we get games "The "Super Mario Brothers" trilogy alone sold over 68 million units worldwide other best sellers would include "The Legend of Zelda" and "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" which was developed by Konami's Ultra Games label.
Nintendo fever had engulfed America and we were injected with our next dose in 1989 with the Game Boy which had the revolutionary idea of having interchangeable games. And then again in 1991 with the Super Nintendo. We got more of what we wanted and it looked and sounded better, or we could take it with us on the go. Business men could be seen pulling a game boy out of their briefcases and trying to get in a quick round of Tetris before meetings.
We were also given a choice from the Japanese Sega Corporation with the appealing Genesis that had it's fast hedgehog of a mascot, Sonic, and blast processing Sonic and Sega made the claim that they could do what Nintendont. These two Japanese companies now dominated an industry created by Americans. This trend would continue after a business deal between Nintendo and Sony turned sour Sony decided they wanted to get their own slice of the video game market and released the Playstation in 1994 and would create a brand that has become synonymous with video games. Other companies would try to compete, but no one still talks about the Atari Jaguar, Lynx, or Amiga CD32.
Without this series of events the video game industry may not exist as we know it today. I know some people prefer the X-Box these days and yes Microsoft is an American company. But without the foundation and the history of these Japanese company's Master Chief may not exist as home console manufacturing was considered a failed business venture, and without Mario and Nintendo fever gripping the United States in the 80's and 90's gaming may have become a very niche hobby on the PC. Today console gaming is about 90% of the gaming market pie. I don't know about you but I do most of my gaming on PS3, and DS which I wouldn't have if it wasn't for Japan.
The recent Tohoku tsunami and earthquakes that have hit Japan have been tragedies with damage far exceeding with over twelve times as many casualties as Hurricane Katrina. And although we may not feel that this effects us as gamers, be glad that the 3DS was done and had already shipped Sony's NGP is looking like it will be delayed. So the next time you sit down to enjoy some games take a moment to think about where they came from.
There are many ways to donate to the Tsunami relief effort and I've provided the URL of an article that will link you to a variety of charities that are working on the relief effort. Japan you are in my prayers.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_newsroom/20110311/wl_yblog_newsroom/japan-earthquake-and-tsunami-how-to-help
