uIggins 01 would beat us all on the creepy bedside table factor . <| sep |> I played both of them as well . I won ' t venture an opinion on something I haven ' t personally played . You make a good point but from my perspective if you aren ' t getting to play PH ST for free I say don ' t bother . There ' s a ton of other games in the series that are varying degrees of wonderful . Thanks for the civil discussion <| sep |> I say your a moron . <| sep |> I ' d respectfully disagree and here ' s whyI mean of course it wouldn ' t be on the same level of development as Japan or South Korea but that ' s mainly due to the fact that the war only ended in 1975 that ' s a good 3 decades after Japan ' s surrender in WWII and over 2 decades after the Armistice on the Korean Peninsula . Vietnam would still have had to play catchup which is why I doubt that even a Southern victory would ' ve led to the country being as developed as those 2 nations right now . However , in light of that , I don ' t believe that it ' s hard to fathom the united Vietnam being more developed than the Philippines , Indonesia or , frankly , even Thailand . First and foremost the victory would ' ve been a big psychological boon to the RVN , the US and , by extension , their allies . This would ' ve been perpetuated through the media and resonated throughout the world , and likely would ' ve sent a message to the Soviets to back off from the region . I don ' t believe the Soviets would ' ve cared much for Southeast Asian affairs in either of the scenarios . China , on the other hand , that ' s an enigma but China was still underdeveloped at the time and more concerned about its own cultural revolution . Of course the whole Khmer Rouge and ' 79 border war sagas could ' ve taken place but with a much more resolved Vietnam , with the backing and eyes of the international community , it would ' ve likely been downplayed . What eventuated IRL wasn ' t that significant to the overall economic development of the country anyway . In terms of the average civilian no doubt they would have had mixed feelings at first but , assuming any further resistance was futile , over time they would ' ve accepted the government whether willingly or not just as what occurred IRL . The devastation of the war would ' ve triggered the government to harness the people ' s incredible willpower to rebuild the country . Vietnam , like China and most of the other Asian tigers but , unlike the Philippines is a Confucian society which emphasises valuing a good work ethic , education and familial ties . Most of the developed countries in that region of the world are Confucian at heart which is no coincidence . Regardless of what one feels about the fascist nature of the RVN , it was a very procapitalist state and this only reflects the South ' s long cultural view of opening up to international trade . Even the Northerners learnt their lesson and implemented capitalist reforms in 1986 . The major difference between what eventuated and the hypothetical outcome would be that the US and its allies wouldn ' t have severed economic let alone political and strategic ties with the country . Thus , it ' s quite likely that a flood of postwar capital and expertise would ' ve been headed Vietnam ' s way . It would ' ve been no different than to South Korea or Japan . Call it racist if you may but the West would ' ve viewed Vietnam as a tough , diligent and young work force . As aforementioned the RVN was very procapitalist . From 1975 till 1986 little was gained due to the Communist party ' s outdated economic policies . Even so the economy did not start its initial rise until after the crash of 8889 . In other words , Vietnam ' s GDPcapita made a net zero gain from 87 to after the turn of the millennium . Since then , however , the GDP has made a decently big stride going from about $ US 400 capita to over $ 2 , 300 capita . If I had to predict where Vietnam ' s GDP could ' ve been by now I ' d say around $ US 78 , 000 . This is based on applying the average GDPcapita of the two sides at the end of 1975 roughly $ US 75 , assuming earlier growth no stagnation in the 80 s and higher growth thanks to earlier infrastructural upgrades , additions and l iberalisationimprovements thanks to expertise brought onto the table . By the early 80 s say 1980 , 81 there would be a largescale plan for the reconstruction of the two sides . The first several years will be a bit shaky but by 1990 the GDP should hit about $ US 500 . By 1997 it would be around $ 1 , 500 assuming the AFC occurred , Vietnam may have been hit hard or not . If it was largely unaffected like IRL then it should have hit $ 2 , 000 by the turn of the millennium or fallenstagnated to $ 1 , 000 $ 1 , 500 . By 2008 it could ' ve hit $ 5 , 000 $ 33 , 500 if AFC hit hard as a GFC , the country ' s GDP would ' ve still likely dropped by maybe 2 %. TLDR the GDPcapita as of December 2016 could be anywhere between about $ US 612 , 000 depending on how hard it was hit by the AFC and GFCs but I would make a guess of at least $ 78 , 000 . The comment you made about how South Vietnam was nothing more than a rock band with a pretty flag , that ' s a very ignorant thing to say but you have every right to that opinion . A more TLDR version I don ' t think any rational person would claim that a Southernled government would ' ve brought Vietnam as a whole to the level of development Japan and South Korea today have . In saying that , however , I would deem it highly unlikely in the face of all the evidence and logical reasoning that Vietnam would ' ve only been as developed as the Philippines is today . Conflicts with neighbouring Cambodia and China would ' ve likely seen more international attention as Vietnam would be a pivotal ally in the region . Regardless , the economic impact of such conflicts wouldn ' t have been any greater than what eventuated not much in the long run . Vietnam ' s economy showed little to no improvements between 1976 and 1988 . In fact , the CPV toyed with outdated socialist economic policies that saw famine and its eventual annulment by 1986 . That ' s 10 years the country lost out . In fact , the GDPcapita took 17 years or so to recover between 1987 to 2004 . On top of that horrible first decade ' s worth of economic stagnation , the US and its allies who form a large chunk of the world economy imposed economic trade restrictions onto the country . Had the Southern regime won , this would ' ve been nonexistent and furthermore liberalisation , expertise and infrastructural investment would ' ve begun much sooner leading to higher GDP growth , sooner . If I had to predict where Vietnam ' s GDP could ' ve been by now I ' d say around $ US 612 , 000 depending on the financial crises ' impact . That ' s still 24 times the current Filipino GDPcapita , slightly higher to twice Thailand ' s , about 34 to 1 . 5 x China ' s and about on par with Malaysia ' s .