But it all leads somewhere, or at least that was the idea. Having established that, I wanted to talk about other unique qualities of Japanese games, explore it from all the angles I was seeing it while I was living there. Power-Up was an attempt to answer the question: In an era where, by and large, it was only American popular culture that tended to go global, why was it that Japan’s video games became the most popular and influential all over the world? I wanted to apply what I’d learned about Japan’s centuries of “visual culture,” from woodblock prints to manga to anime to games, to make the argument that Japan was uniquely positioned at that point to embrace an emerging creative medium, for a variety of reasons that I wanted to dive into.
In the following interview, we discussed how the original came together, what prompted this reprint, and what he added to this new edition.
Originally published in 2004, but newly republished with a new chapter, Power-Up: How Japanese Video Games Gave The World An Extra Life ( paperback, digital) by Wired’s Games Editor Chris Kohler - who, full disclosure, is a fellow game writer with whom I’ve shared many a conversation and meal - explores how Japan became such a cultural force in gaming at a time when America and Europe dominated movies, music, and other forms of entertainment. But while they may have lost that prominent position, their influence is still felt, even in Call Of Duty sequels and Halo games. It may seem strange to people who grew up playing Call Of Duty sequels and Halo games, but there was a time when Japan dominated video games.
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