Do you even realize that America is the largest market for console right now.

This above.  Agree 100%. 

Though, I will add, I believe that it is the ones that get there first that claim history.  We can never know if the video game industry would have ignited again even if Nintendo wasn't around, but seeing how video games is as natural as TV following radio, and radio following the written language, I would assume that video games would have again re-emerged in the world no matter what.  It's like how when people said that without Thomas Edison we wouldn't have incandescent light today, that's a whole bunch of BS.  Necessity and randomness would have fulfilled aspirations and imaginations of people.  Ever try to get rid of an idea, it's like trying to get rid of roaches.  So yes, I believe nintendo did revive console gaming, but it could have been any other company that would have if they were given the chance. 

I think it was perfect storm for Nintendo reignite the industry when it was a very bad state. Oversaturation of bad games and consoles in general (so many Pong clones), so many copies being buried or placed wherever when there was no interest, lack of control in quality, etc. Whether you agreed or disagreed with Nintendo's policies back in the day, they wanted to control how games were made and utilized the Seal of Quality to ensure consumers of solid titles (even if they didn't always pan out like so many licensed games and arcade-to-console games).

Then you have Mario, a chubby jack-of-all trades Italian plumber from New York who became a cultural icon who is still beloved in gaming and beyond. He became a symbol of the revitalization of the industry with his games illustrating excellence in gameplay execution and charm that millions and millions could flock over no matter the age group. It was not just Nintendo and the NES, but it's characters as well. Samus, Link, and Donkey Kong became household names during this era and they still are endeared today. You said anyone could've done what Nintendo had done, but what about creating characters like Mario and Co.? They played a big part in creating that appeal.

Its like The Beatles and the British Invasion or Pokémon and handheld gaming. Anyone could've replaced them and do a decent job in reigniting their respective media. They weren't even the first at what they did. But they provided unique traits that made them standout amongst the others and created phenomenons that evolved overtime as other bands and games followed their lead. 

Sacrilege! Nintendo is the one and only!!

I'm from Brazil and here both was popular here, Nes had many clone versions  like Top Game, Dynavision, Super Charger and Hi-Top Game  until nintendo coming offcialy here with NES, Nintendo and Sega began to lose their popularity with the arrival of the PSX that dominated the market, but before PSX both had a very disputed fight for the market.

I can see why folks from NA think NES was that important...and that it saved the industry.

But, what many probably don't know is that a lot of 3rd party devs moved to C64 which was, due to agressive pricing, partly responsible for the very crash (in the end C64, along with C128, which was C64 backward compatible, sold some 17-22 millions, depending on the source), and only after NES proved to be success they started moving back to consoles.

So even in NA, video game industry would be just fine....different, but fine.

Now, it would be quite silly to say that NES was not important console...but it was not until PS1 that Europe and "the rest of the world" actually started carring for home consoles as much as their overseas fellow gamers...and that, at least IMO, propels it to top spot.

-The videogame crash only happened in America, not elsewhere

It's not about how people stopped buying games. This is a misconception. The effect of what happened after the crash are much more important. Nintendo basically shaped the console industry into what it is today, because of measures taken after said crash.

-Therefore the impact the NES had was small, it wasn't popular outside Japan and America, the markets outside America were doing well

Japan and America were the biggest markets.

-The Genesis would've saved the American industry 3 years later anyway

This is false, Sega was in competition with Nintendo, which is why the MegaDrive (and previous home console iterations) came to be. Otherwise Sega would have just kept to arcades.

-NES sold only about 3.5 million units in Europe by 1992

Smaller market.

-Europeans had their own consoles and games in the 80s, especially from the UK

Microcomputers. But even then, games like Super Mario Bros. had an influence on many games in the UK.

-Sega was more popular in Europe (and elsewhere like Brazil)

Like I said, NA and Japan were the biggest markets. Maybe it sold more in Europe, but not by that much. Brazil's market is actually pretty small.

The rest is just ignorant nonsense, and actual revisionism. I'm a big Sega fan, but to suggest that Sega would have been the saviour of the biggest market (NA) is just nonsense. Sega would have stuck to arcades. The Sega master system bombed hard in the US, and people seem to forget that.

He has the all-knowing crystal ball!

If the NES didn't happen how would you know Srga would have saved the industry? Considering how big America is for the industry the NES did save it. Also if there was no NES there would be no PlayStation and there would be no Xbox.

In America, video games were such a dirty word that the NES didn't even get a mass release. They had to package it with a Trojan Horse robot and pretend it was a Toy just to get shelf space. Nintendo was the one that put out the (hated) quality control standards. They said "You're only going to make ____ number of games and we're going to have to approve it. Your games can suck but they will not be broken consumer unfriendly garbage".

Would there have been a resurgence? Would some other company rise to the occasion? Maybe. But the one who did it was Nintendo. With their Zapper Gun (Yes, Magnavox did it first...), their unique controller with d-pad, their R.O.B. peripheral, and their full body "Power Pad" (third party pack in peripheral). They were the ones doing all of this extra stuff to convince parents who were burned before that video games were good, again.