America

Big explosions, flashy manoeuvres and a careless disregard for human life may well typify the US military's involvement in the recent NATO liberation of Kosovo, but it's also an apt description of the typical US-developed videogame. They love their first-person shoot 'em ups, do the Americans. Developer and consumer alike, the bigger the guns, the louder the bombs, the more extreme the violence and over-the-top the set pieces the better. Japan may have invented Sonic The Hedgehog, but from Sonic 2 onwards, it was an American developer who stripped away all depth from the series and replaced it with surface gloss and a more immediate 'wow' factor.

To the Americans, presentation is everything. What does it matter if a game only lasts for 20 minutes, so long as it impresses the pants off Bud next door? You can also blame the Americans for the proliferation of online gaming and the forthcoming wave of online-only multiplayer titles. It's all well and good for them, with their cheap local calls and Professional Gamers' League: what about the rest of us who'll forever be deprived of a really good, story-based Quake 3?

After online games and shoot 'em ups, the Americans adore their sport. The success of the Mega Drive can be pretty much attributed to the format's huge catalogue of sports titles, chiefly those from EA. When Sega neglected to release any decent sports sims for the Saturn, the console died. Recently, America has developed a taste for blood sports. Quake-style shooters in which the player picks off innocent rabbits, deer and bears via a sniper scope regularly top the US charts. Which is probably all you need to know...