China

China's history is loaded with locales, mythos, and people that cater well to the video game world. If you need armies of thousands and thousands to fight, China has you covered. Dragons? Chinese mythology has exotic forms of most everything from the more common European and Mid-Eastern societies if a game needs to have a distinctive non-Western flavor. China has mountains and forests, marshes, hills, and everything in between you could possibly need for a gaming environment. This significantly contributes to its appeal.

Imperialist ChinaThe China of pre-Medieval times is the most popular of the eras in Chinese history as the world of Samurai warriors and legendary dynasties (elements responsible for the naming conventions of many of the games set in the period) is open for endless conflict and intrigue. Honor and valor meet with swords and weirder magics during this time and most games that use China as a full game backdrop rather than as a passing locale will emphasize these points along the way. Japanese developers more or less always place their games in this era rather than the modern, where as American developers do exactly the opposite to play off the more politically charged nature of today. Regardless of the particulars for choosing Imperial China as a venue, you can expect the body count to rise at a fever pitch should the protagonist have a reason to bust some heads.

Modern ChinaThe China of today is the preferred form for the Western audience because the ideals it stand for are less clean cut and have darker motives than those of the age of the Samurai. Western developers like to meddle in more complex conflicts generally, so the nowadays People's Republic of China opens a multitude of options for covert ops. In the modern era, China represents communism as well as an ominous national entity that has seemingly infinite military and social capabiltiies, a force to be reckoned with should they be provoked. If the angle of dubious politics is not desirable, the Chinese atmosphere can always simply be used for its Asian flavor, such as in the Command and Conquer series, where China is used for its eccentric culture and appearance more than for any realistic global authority it holds.