The game is credited with allowing console role-playing games to gain mass-market appeal outside of Japan. Role-playing video games were a niche genre in North America up until "Final Fantasy VII" introduced the genre to a mainstream audience there, and it is the first "Final Fantasy" game to have been released in Europe. It popularized Japanese role-playing games outside of Japan, in addition to opening up the game console market for Western computer role-playing game developers such as BioWare. According to Gene Park of "The Washington Post", "FFVII" "single-handedly put role-playing video games on the global map". It was also a killer app for the original PlayStation, and demonstrated the advantages of CD-ROM media over ROM cartridge media. According to Sony Computer Entertainment founder and PlayStation architect Ken Kutaragi, "Final Fantasy VII" was "a driving force that propelled gaming forward" along with the PlayStation, and the game contributed to growing global awareness of Japanese popular culture along with anime.