Nintendo President Satoru Iwata was recently asked about the gaming landscape in Europe. He admitted that it's a very complex situation.

One major issue he touched upon was the stark differences in the acceptance of gaming from country to country.  “In the U.K., the size of the gaming population is comparatively high like in the U.S. Meanwhile, the German gaming population is very small. Social acceptance of video games seems to be very low in Germany, which means that there are still many people taking a hostile view towards video games.”

Iwata then elaborated on Germany's gaming situation, expressing that war games such as Call of Duty, popular in other regions, tend to be rejected there. He also noted that France's gaming landscape lay somewhere between the U.K and Germany, stating that the "production diffusion rate" (i.e. how quickly consumers want new product) is higher in the U.K., while it is the lowest in Germany.

Iwata concluded his statements by explaining that in order to create a bigger impact in these regions they must create games that appeal to the unique characteristics of each, and that this method is what helped Nintendo expand their businesses in Europe.