An Industry On Hold For a Cause

As many know (or for those that have been living under a rock), Japan was hit by a massive earthquake at the end of last week.  When I say massive, I mean 9.0 on the Richter Scale; so massive is actually a shortsell.

This earthquake has cost an estimate 200 billion dollars in damage so far, and the earthquake was so large that, despite the best engineering possible, four reactors at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant have been damaged.  Regardless of the merits/dangers of atomic power, this is quite serious.

This has caused serious power issues.  There were shortages on Monday so far that I know of, so assume that there will be more throughout the week.

However, a silicon knight (not a Silicon Knights employee) in neutrally charged armour has come forth:  the Japanese games industry.  In an effort to speed up the restoration of the country, they have stepped up offering money and support.  They have slowed or outright stopped development schedules to help.  I don't know if we would see something this beautiful on our side of the ocean...I mean, do you think Activision or EA would step up, despite their livelihood might be at stake?  That's an open-ended question, by the way.  Not an accusation.

To be honest, I find this inspiring.  This is very selfless, and I don't know if we've ever seen anything like this over here.  While I do realise that video games are actually a big part of Japanese popular culture, this really is an unprecedented event.  To be honest, I'm trying to figure out how I can help from thousands of miles away.  And I'm not one for charity.