History of Japanese Video Games

Abstract

The history of Japanese video games is poorly documented outside of Japan. Writings in English often focus exclusively on console history, specifically with a preference for Nintendo. Despite the Japanese game culture being highly influential on games around the world (and vice versa), there is a scarcity of English-language interviews with Japanese developers. It’s important to document this history now, since developers age and pass away, and the technology they built decays and ceases to function.