Although Japan is a strong gaming nation, gaming is not always the primary hobby for those interested in Japanese pop culture, and many people play non-Japanese games as well. However, gaming can be seen in other areas of hobbies: people may attend cosplay events dressed as their favorite game characters, gaming tournaments are held at conventions, and rhythm games may attract fans due to music familiar to them because of anime. Many who are not interested in anime, manga, or other aspects of Japanese popular culture may still play Japanese games, sometimes without even realizing it.
Japanese games often share a similar visual style and storytelling with anime and manga, and they can be multimedial within their own genre: e.g. card games might be made based on video games, and mobile games might be made based on arcade games. Gaming companies are numerous in Japan, with some primarily acting as developers (e.g., FromSoftware, Cyberconnect 2, Game Freak), with others also serving as publishers (e.g., Square Enix, Sega, Nintendo, Sony, Bandai Namco, Konami).
