History
Prior to producing video games, Japanese companies such as Sega, Taito, Namco and Nintendo were producers of electro-mechanical arcade games. Soon after the video game industry began in the early 1970s, many of these companies turned their attention to producing arcade video games. Japan eventually became a major exporter of video games during the golden age of arcade video games, an era that began with the release of Taito's Space Invaders in 1978 and ended around the mid-1980s.
Following the North American video game crash of 1983, Japan went on become the most dominant country within the global video game industry, since the release of the Nintendo Entertainment System and the third-generation of consoles. Japan's dominance within the industry would continue for the next two decades, up until Microsoft's Xbox consoles began challenging Sony and Nintendo in the 2000s.
Although Japanese video games often do sell well in Western markets, the reverse is not so in Japan. However, as is detailed below, Japanese games have been becoming much less successful overseas in recent years.
Read more about this topic: Japanese Video Games
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