So, are these guys just following the lead of the Forgites/indie crowd in the USA? Have British games companies lost their independence of thought and stuff? Seems to me like they have.
Then again, I might try to get a couple of these games (the cheap ones!) on PDF so I can see what they are like and speak from a position of knowledge. Know thine enemy and all that!
As I mentioned, the Hogshead "New Style" line predates the Forge. The line includes
Puppetland (1999), where you play puppets and every word you say while sitting at the table is in-character -- so rather than "I attack him" you say "I hit you, you nasty brute! Take that!" They also have
The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1998), which is a GMless game about swapping outlandish stories. There was also
Pantheon and Other Games (2000) -- a GMless system with five scenarios including a soap opera setup and gods creating a world out of nothing.
If anything, the Forge has taken a fair bit of influence from these games. It's also true, though, that games like Best Friends have been influenced by the Forge. So it goes both ways.
Then again, the American scene has always had influences back and forth with England on all levels. Mongoose Publishing (based out of Wiltshire) certainly sells well in the U.S. and has a fair bit of influence, for example.