Greg Kasavin Executive Editor	Now Playing: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time / Master Quest (GC) The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GC), Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield (PC), Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell (PS2), Freelancer (PC), Final Fantasy Tactics Advance (GBA), Animal Crossing (GC), Capcom vs. SNK 2 EO (Xbox) Country of Origin: USSR

Point of Origin

Even though I could hardly put two and two together when I first started playing games, I still quickly learned to pay close attention to who exactly was responsible for the games that I liked. This was just common sense. If you play a game you really, really like, chances are you'll be interested in the next game by the same team of developers. Some developers have been well known for years. Back when I was a little kid, I was already very familiar with some of Japan's top game makers, including Nintendo, Sega, Capcom, Konami, and Namco. These companies all did a good job of branding their games with their logos and getting people like me to eagerly await their next offerings. Oh, and they also made really good games, so their track records stayed strong. While I was busy playing their games in arcades and in front of the TV, I was also busy playing computer games from the likes of Origin Systems, Sierra, Interplay, and LucasArts--more companies whose products I came to deeply admire. I knew that some of these companies were American while others were Japanese, and early on I picked up on the fact that the Japanese were closer to the arcade and video game side of things, while Americans mostly stuck to computers, for whatever reason. It was much later that my horizons broadened. Suddenly I became aware that most every European nation, not to mention Canada, China, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, and more, also make many of the games we play. And even more recently, I learned that sometimes a foreign perspective leads to some truly great results.

Shogun: Total War features an authentic re-creation of feudal Japan, but that doesn't mean the game was developed in Japan.

Mafia was made in the Czech Republic, though you wouldn't know it just by playing the game.

There are some awful wealthy game developers in Scotland thanks to GTAIII.

It's easy to get used to having it good. We've got other worries these days, but just a couple of weeks ago we smug Americans here in the Bay Area were sitting around and complaining about gas prices, taking for granted that huge, fully stocked supermarket down the street, that elaborate public transportation system, those health benefits we get from our cushy jobs, the selection of shows on TV, the stations on the radio, the books on the shelf, and so on. And there's that freedom of speech thing, too. I'll say it straight-up: I think most Americans are spoiled brats, and it's very possible that I'm one of them. I've been known to complain about the parking situation in San Francisco. I don't much care for all the Starbucks-drinking, dotcom-working, square-framed-glasses-wearing bastards crawling this city, even though that's probably an apt description of me. But I'll tell you what: I was born in Russia and not a day goes by that I don't thank my lucky starts that I'm here rather than there. Anyway, no wonder it took some people out of Scotland or some people out of the Czech Republic to recognize and appreciate some of the cultural nuances of this nation and to really bring them to light when making their games. We Americans are too caught up in focusing on the bad stuff all the time.

Granted, Mafia and Grand Theft Auto III are games about crime. Crime is bad. These games don't paint a rosy picture of American life. But they're not critical of American life, either. Playing these games, you're filled with the sense that the developers really must love the material. At least I'm filled with that sense. You don't just go and make a game like Mafia or Grand Theft Auto III without having a real, deep-rooted appreciation for the concept you're working with. These games are labors of love. All my favorite games are labors of love. All the best games are labors of love.

Needless to say, Americans make great games, too. That's not the point here. What I'm saying is, I've come to realize that it often takes a foreigner's perspective on something to really get to the heart of what makes it special. Just as Americans love to visit with their psychotherapists to get a third-party perspective on what to make of their lives, so can a foreign perspective on a culture paradoxically capture the essence of what truly defines that culture better than that culture can.

While playing games like Mafia and Grand Theft Auto III, I can't help but constantly remind myself that these games weren't made in the USA. It seems incredible on the one hand, but on the other, it makes all the sense in the world.