Did Nintendo save gaming with the NES?

[DragonRouge]

Doctor_MG said:

The US, and more specifically NA, is the largest territory for video game console sales both right before the crash happened and even to this day. Every single generation North America proves to be the most lucrative when it comes to console sales.  You can bet that a crash in the most lucrative area of video games would have found it's ripples affecting other territories.   

Besides, I wouldn't say that gaming was doing fine outside of NA. Gaming in Europe was very niche in particular, and the Famicom literally created a market surge when many analysts in Japan were wary about the viability of video games after the "Atari Shock". Also, while it hit NA the worst, globally video game sales were at an all time low at the time of the crash. 

The point is that outside the US, gaming was not in need of saving. Did the NES pushed gaming forward in popularity around the world? Yes, of course, but as far as saving goes, that's true only in the US.