I often write about Japanese culture in video games, so I thought it might be fun to explore how Japanese games represent American culture. I’m a fan of thematically curated lists, which can help draw parallels and comparisons that invite deeper investigation.
Here in February 2025, it’s a weird time in the United States. To say that we’re living through a crisis of national identity feels like an understatement. The piece I wrote for Sidequest isn’t political, but I still found it interesting and meaningful that Japanese fantasies of the United States are incredibly diverse. In fact, I might even say that “diversity” is a major aspect of the appeal of America as a video game setting.
You can check out the piece on Sidequest here:
🍔 https://sidequest.zone/2025/02/10/five-japanese-games-set-in-fantasy-america/
Digital Fantasy Diary 
Ah, Earthbound 🙂 Nostalgia and lighthearted satire done right!
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Earthbound is so good at what it does, and I’ve come to appreciate its satire more as I get older. I was very young when I first time I played the game, and I didn’t understand that its locations are based on real places. I feel like a lot of the traveling I’ve done as an adult has involved going somewhere and realizing, “Oh! This was in Earthbound.”
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Absolutely. I was an adult when I first played it, though I had known about the game for a while. I was still blown away by how well-written the humor is. The city based on the French Riviera is a riot for perfectly capturing the nature of tourist traps.
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