Japan still (and probably always) matters but I think it matters less because the the global gaming market is growing faster than the gaming market for Japan is growing.
This is a good thing in my eyes as Japan wont have as much influence in the gaming industry. Japan is a very protectionist country (from cars to consoles) so for economics sake I'm glad to see the market shift more to America and Europe where people tend to buy products for quality or perception instead of nationality reasons. I also prefer Western style games to Japanese style (except for Nintendo classics), so thats more good news for me.
I'd love to see the gaming market in Europe become even stronger. Europe makes the best everything from cars to clothes so I'd like to see them make a serious attempt at the console market (Phillip's horride attempt doesnt count, I think there Belgium off the top of my head). In my dream gaming world there would be Microsoft, Nintendo, and some European gaming console and hopefully by then I'll have enough expendable income to splurge on all three.
America = Best Gaming Console
Europe = Best Game Developers
