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If we want to maintain cultural specificity in video games in Europe we need intervention of the sort applying to other creative audio visual sectors

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Rayman
Conker's Bad Fur Day.

Much of the humour in Conker is distinctly British in flavour, and far more "dirty" and rude than any American developer would dare include. And Rayman is the sort of character you just couldn't see coming from a Japanese or American developer. Then of course theres that forthcoming PC FPS, S.T.A.L.K.E.R, set in Chenobyl (sp?) and developed in Ukraine.

Un fourtunately a lot of European developers are dominated by American publishers. There is no better example than Freedom Fighters. The game was developed in Denmark yet EA, who published it demanded that the game be set in America, as such the game was left with the ridiculous idea that because Russia nuked Berlin they suddenly had enough might to invade mainland USA and of coruse the game follows resistance fighters in New York City. Now being based in Denmark the developers could've and would've given the oppourtuity, set the game in Copenhagen and your fighting Nazi occupation, a far more realistic senario. Prehaps if they had government assistance and not EA's money they could've made that game and the game would've been representative of European culture.

That's what this is about, removing the stranglehold big American publishers have over European developers, forcing them to Americanise or dumb down their products, that is why there aren't many, as you say, "European" games.

In Australia some developers get government funding. It was lol when the immigration minister had a big whinge over a game (that has since mysteriously vanished) in development where the player sought to escape from our immigration detention centres (read: refugee prisons). He was whinging because the Arts Australia Council was funding the games development.

You forgot Beyond Good & Evil, which is often said to have a distinctive french style, Far Cry, Arena Wars and loads of city-building sims. Oh and the Grand Theft Auto series (which are made by R* Leeds, IIRC).

EDIT: And I forgot Factor 5, which was a european developer until 1996.

GTA was done by Rockstar North, who are based in Glasgow.

Actually, Rockstar North (DMA Design) didn't work on GTA until GTA III. Before that they had their resume built up with other multi-vehicled titles like Body Harvest and Space Station Silicon Valley.

Aight, aight, I stand corrected...I knew about Rockstar North, forgot about 'em though. But still, what about these games makes them European? In fact, what about games in general make them specific to a certain area of the world? hmm...Gotta go now, but I'll chew on that one for a while.