• Light/Dark
  • Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
  • We have made minor adjustments to how the search bar works on ResetEra. You can read about the changes here.

Games are a uniquely international medium

Magog

Magog

Banned
Jan 9, 2021
561
In no other major medium do people from all over the world make and enjoy each other's work as much as in games. Sure a few international movies might break through in America and even songs to a lesser extent but studios worldwide all make games that people the world over enjoy. It's somewhat unique in that way probably because localization and translation is much less obtrusive and easier with games. Perhaps this is becoming less true with services like Netflix seeking out cheap exclusive content but I still feel like in most other media people generally consume things produced in their own country.
 
Xando

Xando

Member
Oct 28, 2017
27,324
And yet they're mostly produced in a handful of countries and feature almost exclusively anglophone perspectives
 
OP
OP
Magog

Magog

Banned
Jan 9, 2021
561
Xando said:
And yet they're mostly produced in a handful of countries and feature almost exclusively anglophone perspectives
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I don't think that's true. Firstly Japanese games are extremely popular worldwide and secondly lots of nations in Europe make games for worldwide audiences and that's before you even start talking about the vibrant indie scene.
 
Xando

Xando

Member
Oct 28, 2017
27,324
Magog said:
I don't think that's true. Firstly Japanese games are extremely popular worldwide and secondly lots of nations in Europe make games for worldwide audiences and that's before you even start talking about the vibrant indie scene.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Outside Nintendo most of the japanese games are niche compared to western games which are heavily influenced by US cultural views.

Where are the games made in Africa? Where are the games made in South America? Where are the games made in the Middle East or Central Asia?
 

Deleted member 80231

Banned
Sep 11, 2020
702
If we're talking about the traditional Western and Japanese industry, I'd say it's the opposite. The AAA model, whether on console and PC, is too much of a first world thing. If we include indies, Asian F2P stuff (which generally requires lower specs on PC or is playable on mobile) then I may agree.

I'd say console gaming was much more accesible for people that lived in countries with lower incomes in the 5th and 6th gen, since consoles prices have never hit such low prices from the 7th gen onwards, and both the PS1 and the PS2 were really easy to pirate. The PS2 sold a lot thanks to that in the first half of the PS3 gen.
 
Redcrayon

Redcrayon

Patient hunter
On Break
Oct 27, 2017
12,713
UK
I don't really think games are unique as an international medium compared to the distribution of music and film.

All three are stronger in the international sense than literature, though. Through a combination of the language barrier when writing long-form, and the dominance of use of english within international distributors and then across the internet. It's way easier to have language options in a film or game than a book, and music (and even films, and games) can be beautiful without words at all.
 
Xando

Xando

Member
Oct 28, 2017
27,324
Magog said:
So Capcom, Sega, Square-Enix, Sony Japan, Koei, Atlus, and From are niche? Tell that to their sales numbers.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Sonys success is almost exclusively from western games these days and a japanese game rivaling sales of big western games like TLOU are the exception, not the rule.

One of the best games about japanese history in the last decade was made by a US studio
 
OP
OP
Magog

Magog

Banned
Jan 9, 2021
561
Redcrayon said:
I don't really think games are unique as an international medium compared to the distribution of music and film.

All three are stronger in the international sense than literature, though. Through a combination of the language barrier when writing long-form, and the dominance of use of english within international distributors and then across the internet. It's way easier to have language options in a film or game than a book, and music (and even films, and games) can be beautiful without words at all.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
How many people listen to Swedish music or watch Swedish movies and yet Valheim sold 2 million copies in a couple weeks.
 

Deleted member 679

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
14,741
This seems to me like an exclusively american perspective. If you live anywhere else, you're consuming international media even if you limit yourself to american stuff.
 
OP
OP
Magog

Magog

Banned
Jan 9, 2021
561
Gbraga said:
This seems to me like an exclusively american perspective. If you live anywhere else, you're consuming international media even if you limit yourself to american stuff.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
That is half of my point though. America doesn't dominate the video game medium in the same way it does other media.
 
Redcrayon

Redcrayon

Patient hunter
On Break
Oct 27, 2017
12,713
UK
The vast majority of the major games Era discusses are from a dichotomy of either the major developers in Japan, or western ones. Sure, there's a lot of big developers across Europe, but there's still constantly the sense of 'western or japanese', which isn't so much international as heavily focused on specific spheres due to the history of the games industry. If there's a truly international gaming scene that puts film and music to shame (and there's a shitload of games development in Asia), it isn't one that gets mainstream coverage in either the gaming press or the front page here.
 
Last edited:
Paper Cheese

Paper Cheese

Member
Oct 9, 2019
553
Xando said:
Sonys success is almost exclusively from western games these days and a japanese game rivaling sales of big western games like TLOU are the exception, not the rule.

One of the best games about japanese history in the last decade was made by a US studio
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Mate, what on earth are you talking about? The sales numbers and stats just don't back up what you're saying at all. I agree with your earlier point, about most big development coming from white european and american backgrounds, but you definitely missed out Japan there and I don't get why you're doubling down. Your point about Africa, South America, Central Asia etc still stands
 
OP
OP
Magog

Magog

Banned
Jan 9, 2021
561
Redcrayon said:
The vast majority of the major games Era discusses are from a dichotomy of either the major developers in Japan, or western ones. Sure, there's a lot of big developers across Europe, but there's still constantly the sense of 'western or japanese', which isn't so much international as heavily focused on specific spheres due to the history of the games industry. If there's a truly international gaming scene that puts film and music to shame (and there's a shitload of other development in Asia), it isn't one that gets mainstream coverage in either the gaming press or the front page here.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
"The West" is still a very large and very diverse amount of cultures. For example Greedfall was made in France and Kingdom Come was made in Czechoslovakia and were my two favorite RPGs last gen. I don't consume any other media from those countries but I loved those games and it wasn't any more difficult for me to understand or engage with them than something produced in the US.
 
DiipuSurotu

DiipuSurotu

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
53,148
Music and film are way more international.

Music is produced in virtually all countries, unlike video games.

Films get subtitled in virtually all markets, and get dubbed in most major countries, unlike video games.
 
Serpens007

Serpens007

Well, Tosca isn't for everyone
Moderator
Oct 31, 2017
8,131
Chile
Xando said:
Outside Nintendo most of the japanese games are niche compared to western games which are heavily influenced by US cultural views.

Where are the games made in Africa? Where are the games made in South America? Where are the games made in the Middle East or Central Asia?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Bingo.

Games are a unique medium, but they are still heavily centered around the most developed countries. There are games coming out of other countries, but they are largely ignored.

Music, on the other hand, is much easier to find, listen, and relate to.
 
TP-DK

TP-DK

Member
Oct 28, 2017
2,048
Denmark
All the movies and tv shows i watch from other countries have Danish subtitles. The amount of games that are translated to Danish is extremely slim.
Books gets translated as well.

I'm actually pretty sure that all mediums are more international than games. And yes music is absolutely one of them as well.
 
Zombine

Zombine

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,231
Magog said:
I don't consume any other media from those countries
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

This sounds like a you problem. You're taking your personal experience and presenting it as fact.

For example, Le Petit Prince is a classic French novella that has been printed in 250 languages and sold over 200 million copies. Other media, especially books, have a reach that far exceeds gaming.
 
Redcrayon

Redcrayon

Patient hunter
On Break
Oct 27, 2017
12,713
UK
Magog said:
"The West" is still a very large and very diverse amount of cultures. For example Greedfall was made in France and Kingdom Come was made in Czechoslovakia and were my two favorite RPGs last gen. I don't consume any other media from those countries but I loved those games and it wasn't any more difficult for me to understand or engage with them than something produced in the US.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
The 'diversity' of the west doesn't equal 'international' to me in the same sense that you framed your OP with 'all over the world'. It sounds like, to you, you see different European countries and think 'a varied international scene'. But to me as a European I just see a pile of western tropes including the whole medieval/mythic europe tropes that informs a lot of fantasy and swords-and-castles games/books etc. Plus the sheer weight of Japan in the games industry, the AAA games industry revolves around both. It feels like a very American perspective to see that as 'all over the world', and I don't mean that as a dig. Same goes for music- I don't really see US dominance here due to the strength of our own scene and constant stuff from Europe too, meaning the charts are always a mixed bag of US/UK/Europe but with very little from outside that. However, in that sense, gaming feels similar, the addition of the heavyweight in the room that is the Japanese games industry doesn't suddenly make what is mainstream in the west 'international' (in the sense of, people from all over the world rather than a handful of specific spheres of influence) to me. Remove Japan, one country, and mainstream gaming (in the west) is suddenly very white and very western.
 
Last edited:
Coop

Coop

Member
Jan 9, 2020
561
Few people in bubble Era knows, but here in Brazil, the most popular game is a vietnamese one called "Free Fire". I think games are a very international medium, specially compared with movies, most blockbusters and big hits are americans(hollywood, and now streaming platforms). Europe and Asia has a lot of success in gaming, look at the best selling games of all time, Minecraft is from Sweden, GTA V is from Scotland, and Tetris is from Soviet Union lol.
 
spman2099

spman2099

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,893
Magog said:
That's one band. Like 40 years ago, lol.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Mamma mia! I don't know where to even begin with this level of disrespect... Abba is an institution, Magog. Take a chance and give them a listen. I used to judge them, too. However, knowing me, and therefor knowing you, I think you may find that they earned their success. Give their Gold album a listen (it is a good place to start). You may just become one of us. Hell, by the end you may even say thank you for the music. I have a dream that we will all one day recognize the greatness of Abba. Don't tread on my dreams, Magog.
 
Redcrayon

Redcrayon

Patient hunter
On Break
Oct 27, 2017
12,713
UK
spman2099 said:
Mamma mia! I don't know where to even begin with this level of disrespect... Abba is an institution, Magog. Take a chance and give them a listen. I used to judge them, too. However, knowing me, and therefor knowing you, I think you may find that they earned their success. Give their Gold album a listen (it is a good place to start). You may just become one of us. Hell, by the end you may even say thank you for the music. I have a dream that we will all one day recognize the greatness of Abba. Don't tread on my dreams, Magog.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I suspect Abba Gold will still be selling long after people have forgotten Valheim :D
 
FrakEarth

FrakEarth

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,277
Liverpool, UK
spman2099 said:
Mamma mia! I don't know where to even begin with this level of disrespect... Abba is an institution, Magog. Take a chance and give them a listen. I used to judge them, too. However, knowing me, and therefor knowing you, I think you may find that they earned their success. Give their Gold album a listen (it is a good place to start). You may just become one of us. Hell, by the end you may even say thank you for the music. I have a dream that we will all one day recognize the greatness of Abba. Don't tread on my dreams, Magog.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I appreciate the various inline references in this post. 👏
 

LostCauseUnite!

Member
Dec 21, 2020
5,066
Would it be better to say "conveniently" international medium? It doesn't have the same meaning, sure, but it fits it more appropriately. Video Games are a conveniently international medium.

Not uniquely, as it isn't the only thing that is an international medium.


Again I know conveniently and uniquely do not have the same meaning.
 
OP
OP
Magog

Magog

Banned
Jan 9, 2021
561
Rimpim said:
This is a very American comment.

A huge amount of American movies and Tv-series are just based on some other version of the same story, and they just label it as American.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

While that's true they aren't generally very true to the source material and with new settings, actors and scripts you can't really call them international.
 
Good4Squat

Good4Squat

Banned
Nov 2, 2017
3,148
Coming from a small european country, enjoying international content is totally second nature to me, and our cinemas are always full of foreign films (not just American ones neither). So I imagine this is more of a thing in large countries.
 
Sanka

Sanka

Banned
Feb 17, 2019
5,778
Eh, it's mostly some european/white majority countries and some east asian ones that produce most of the games that we play and talk about. You can probably count the number of countries that produce like 80% of the most popular content in one or two hands.
It's the US, China, France, Sweden, UK, Japan, South Korea, and maybe Canada.
 
Redcrayon

Redcrayon

Patient hunter
On Break
Oct 27, 2017
12,713
UK
Twinsun said:
Coming from a small european country, enjoying international content is totally second nature to me, and our cinemas are always full of foreign films (not just American ones neither). So I imagine this is more of a thing in large countries.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I think that's a really good point, in that the US is large enough to be self-sufficient in media for many people without any real need to look outside unless you really want to. That's why stuff gets repackaged for American tastes, which happens to British stuff all the time.
 
Finale Fireworker

Finale Fireworker

Love each other or die trying.
Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,713
United States
Redcrayon said:
It sounds like, to you, you see different European countries and think 'a varied international scene'.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Just skimming the thread and this part jumped out at me. I wonder if how one perceives this would depend on whether you live in Europe or not. I do not live in Europe so when I see games from Poland, Ukraine, Sweden, etc I see games made far away from countries whose media exports I almost never knowingly engage with. But because a lot of games launch globally I know about and might play a lot of games made in countries other than my own. And unlike movies or books, I don't usually have to seek them out specifically. They are just a regular part of the gaming landscape.

As an American, I could not name a single Ukrainian film or song off the top of my head. This is unfortunate, but it is reality. I do not know if I have ever watched a Ukrainian movie before. But I could name several Ukrainian game franchisees - Metro, STALKER, those Sherlock Holmes adventure games - and that must count for something, right?

I don't think that video games are necessarily a pillar of diversity and perspective, but I do think there's something to be said about the collective of mainstream games being made from more countries than many people (perhaps mostly Americans) are accustomed to. But it's also possible this has less to do with games being somehow unique and more to do with people who play video games being more aware of their production. Who made a game and where is a very surface level topic of conversation in the medium.
 
Tyaren

Tyaren

Character Artist
Verified
Oct 25, 2017
24,789
I'd say that is music...by far. It really is made everywhere by everyone for millennia already.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.