From the perspective of someone living in Western Europe, the world seems very 'global'. At least if you don't really think about it, because what seems to be 'global' is just the North American hegemony in most areas of popular culture. Going to the cinema? You've got the choice between… various Hollywood movies. Using the Internet? Chances are you're visiting a US-based and operated website. Wait, that picture is interesting – while the example countries of Western Europe show a clear dominance of US websites, Russia and China are completely different. No sign of globalisation there. Without straying into the area of censorship, it seems the world is not nearly as homogenous as the European view might suggest. It is the same with movies: The largest movie producing community by far is located in India. Just that it's not as visible internationally. What the Russia/China/India of video gaming is, would be an interesting subject for another day. The question for this article is: When, how and why did Western Europe lose its independent gaming industry?