[bitwize]

Ah, yes. Japan's idiosyncratic, parallel personal computer industry. My how times have changed. Strangely enough, these days when shopping in Nipponbashi I saw Dells everywhere. But outside of Dell and Apple, the big computer vendors are still Japanese or at least Asian. Also, the DIY computer market is big, and largely targeted at the same audience (gamers), but the marketing strategy is different. Since Western style FPS games are unpopular in Japan, video card and motherboard manufacturers use marketing campaigns tied in with home-grown MMORPGs like Final Fantasy XIV and the like.