East or West, RPGs have always been a niche genre over here. Even when American journalists proclaimed WRPGs had "taken over" you could count on one hand the number of series that truly crossed over.

FFVII just happened to be one of those mega hits that transcend genre because of its level of interaction, use of mini games, and unprecedented art direction. That's a hard achievement to replicate and Square need only look at its competitors to tell which way the wind blows.