Japan loves the PS3

[Nicked]

By that barometer the Sega Genesis should have been a flop since the MAster System sold so poorly. Or the Atari 7800 should have had almost 90% market share, or the Sega Saturn should have been huge, or the Sony Playstation1 had no chance. Past performance counts but doesn't guarantee anything. Timing and the G-factor matter the most. The G-factor is Super MArio Bros. It's also Grand Theft Auto and Sonic the Hedge Hog. It's the phenomenon games that make people go out and buy a system. Because its a game thats wasn't possible on previous hardware. Example, Sega Dreamcast was a good system but it didn't have that one game that announced a new generation.

Sega and Nintendo dropped the ball in the 1st 3D-gen. Sony capitalized on their (huge) mistakes.

Obviously a blockbuster game will sell consoles, but when you compare X360 to PS3 lineups, they both have solid lineups, Sony have secured all the top franchises, and really they don't appear to be missing a step.

 

[RancidLunchmeat]

Why do Japanese sales matter?

Why focus on them? Isn't NA the biggest market? Then Europe, then Japan in terms of revenue for the game manufacturers?

If that's the case, why would anybody FOCUS on Japan, especially when they are an American company like MS? It seems to me all these articles about people in Japan preferring Japanese companies smack of two things. 1) Duh, and 2) Who cares?

Now if Japan were the largest market, or the make or break market, I would understand.

But that isn't the case, is it?

And as somebody mentioned: Sony doesn't "focus" on the Japanese market, but they spend a certain amount of time and resources there and the market happens to enjoy their product.

I would actually go so far as to say that most of Sony's NA presence is do to titles that are now cross platform that were not when the PS2 or PS1 were launched. Such as all those "Western" titles that were listed as reasons for Xbox's lack of success in Japan. When the PS2 had Madden, did any other console?

So Sony didn't have to focus on NA titles because they were readily available for them (usually as PC ports). However, with the introduction of the Xbox, things have clearly changed this generation and that makes next generation more sticky for Sony.

After all, how many "western" games does Sony have exclusive rights to this generation? How many will they have next generation? And is MS gaining a bit of market share in Japan (or not) as important or less important than Sony losing a bit of market share in NA (or not)?

 

[Acert93]

I would be curious what genre, outside of RPGs (which, mind you, are not universally popular among gamers) you would classify as "sophisticated" in comparison.

Historical simulation games such as Romance of the Three Kingdoms or (on the PC) games like Europa Universalis or the Total War series. These in my mind are 'sophisticated.' 8)

The question was not for you

I would consider those sophisticated games as well... but I would not say they appeal to adult gamers more than a tactical FPS (or even a twitch FPS like Doom 3).

And the point being, of course, that American and Japanese gaming tastes are quite a bit different. It definately is not fair to say FPS are a "teen" audiance. I have been gaming on the PC since the 80's and it is safe to say a large percentage of PC gamers are adults... and we love our FPS!

That said, the great thing about a FPS (or Sport Sim, or Car game) is that they are not age specific. They can age specific features, themes, or play levels/interactivity, but a game like Battlefield is just as home with an adult as it is a teen. This is one reason they sell so well.

It just is not that simple when trying to get into the Japanese market. And sadly, I would have to say even if MS (or another American company) had games Japanese gamers like I believe it would still be difficult to convince Japanese gamers to totally embrace a foreign company over a native one. Sophisticated games or not, there are issues of culture outside the games.

American consumers are familiar with the fact many foriegn products are just plain better hahaha

What was the game that announced the Playstation 2 though? That system didn't have a 'must have' until FF X I feel; everything else was just 'ok' games; better than last gen, but not edge-of-your-seat stand out.

My guess is to prepare for the same. I have watched the GOW gameplay videos some and I was dissappointed. If PDZ or PGR3 don't hit killer homeruns with some great gameplay, features, and marketing I think we will have to wait for Halo 3 before we get a killer 360 game. The only other title that could get US gamers really excited would be a Madden that looked like their 3D renders... which note: We have not seen ANY gameplay yet

Not enough is known about PS3 games yet... it has a lot of potential killer games from a graphics perspective, but if Killzone plays like PS2 Killzone, well, we will be waiting for a FF title for our first killer app.

Yes, the cynical launch bunny is out in force. Almost every launch dissappoints

 

[Tap In]

What was the game that announced the Playstation 2 though? That system didn't have a 'must have' until FF X I feel; everything else was just 'ok' games; better than last gen, but not edge-of-your-seat stand out.

*broken record*

It played DVD's out of the box for the same price as existing stand alone DVD players.

DC did not.

 

[one]

I'm surprised, aren't quite a few animes based on lots and lots of shooting? Certainly moreso than American cartoons are.

FPS doesn't sell in Japan because
1. It's said that some Japanese gamers tend to get dizzy in playing FPS.
2. In FPS you can't see how cool a protagonist looks in action. You have to modify it like Devil May Cry 3 or Resident Evil 4 or even GTA.
3. Old shmup like Gradius and Ikaruga was once a top genre in Japan but today is in a dead niche for enthusiasts. Now, the essence of FPS is aim & shoot, if you are bored with it it ends there. You have to arrange it like Deus Ex, Thief, or again, GTA.

 

[dukmahsik]

is japan a shrinking market?

 

[one]

is japan a shrinking market?

Until the last year, it'd been said that it's shrinking but apparently there's a sign of a change. Traditional videogame market down, online game market up, and portable market up = Growing in total.

 

[Pozer]

is japan a shrinking market?

It's not that it's shrinking. It just wasn't growing as fast as other markets and they had a recession. They also frown upon the rental and used game markets. They see it as stealing new game sales. So interest in new genres suffers. Also it isn't the center of game developement it once was.

 

[c0_re]

IMO the Japanese being against the 360 and all things not Japanese will be there eventual downfall. There was a tiem when Japan was the worlds 2nd largest economy. Today with Places like China and other parts of Asia with cheap labor they are slowing sinking iniot the background. I mean personally most of the games I actually purchase are european and american made. They don't want to by American and Euro products I have no problem just ripping the game to my HD and maybe never even playing it again. Yes FPS and sports games are 99% of my purchases.

 

[Carl B]

There was a tiem when Japan was the worlds 2nd largest economy.

I find this hilarious because by the measures used to determine it, Japan is still the second largest economy. And if we want to talk about China and India passing it, well the US isn't immune to that either. If Japan has a long term problem it doesn't have anything to do with their not buying American products - I can assure you - it has a whole lot more to do with their aging population.

 

[blakjedi]

What was the game that announced the Playstation 2 though? That system didn't have a 'must have' until FF X I feel; everything else was just 'ok' games; better than last gen, but not edge-of-your-seat stand out.

MGS2

I think it unfair that the the japanese market is so xenophobic even with a good "product." Whats really funny is the the Japanese are fascinated with American culture (music clothes movies etc) but games just dont fall into that category. I would say MS duff of Japan myself and focus on NA and Europe. If you win NA you can most likely win the whole shebang if you just pick up a few points in some other market also.

I think its good to encourage Japanese game production but don't FOCUS on that market. In that vein MS should have invested in Sega (originally a partly American company), reworked their management and pushed their games... instead of buying Rare. Segas back catalog is only trumped by Nintendo... and notwithstanding their console failures is a very respected development house in Japan with cult like followings in the NA and European markets.

 

[one]

IMO the Japanese being against the 360 and all things not Japanese will be there eventual downfall. There was a tiem when Japan was the worlds 2nd largest economy. Today with Places like China and other parts of Asia with cheap labor they are slowing sinking iniot the background. I mean personally most of the games I actually purchase are european and american made. They don't want to by American and Euro products I have no problem just ripping the game to my HD and maybe never even playing it again. Yes FPS and sports games are 99% of my purchases.

iPod is selling like a hot cake in Japan beating Sony players, and Hollywood movies are driving Japanese movie business to the brink of death right now, so blame the execution by Microsoft instead
Anyway it's a matter of taste and Halo's sci-fi is kinda 80's space opera which isn't exactly palatable for Japanese audience so you have to tailor your portfolio to sell in multi-region, which MS failed in Xbox 1. Xbox 360 is a different story as far as I can see.

 

[passby]

is japan a shrinking market?

Until the last year, it'd been said that it's shrinking but apparently there's a sign of a change. Traditional videogame market down, online game market up, and portable market up = Growing in total.

Pretty much that. In addition most studios are in the transition, or already completed the transition to officially include mobile services and gaming in their operations.

 

[Acert93]

iPod is selling like a hot cake in Japan beating Sony players

:cough:

Sony takes bite out of Apple's iPod in Japan



Sony's failure in MP3 players was due to their illfated choice to push their own compression medium over plain jane MP3.

I am not sure it is always an issue of a lack of execution. If a Japanese product competes well it will be favored. Obviously Sony's dropped the ball with their digital music line and was not offering what Japanese consumers wanted. Or consumers anywhere for that matter.

I think it would take something on a similar scale for MS to succeed in Japan: Sony to totally drop the ball with PS3 (including 3rd party support) AND MS starting a cross-culteral fad.

Good luck on either!

Anyway it's a matter of taste and Halo's sci-fi is kinda 80's space opera which isn't exactly palatable for Japanese audience so you have to tailor your portfolio to sell in multi-region, which MS failed in Xbox 1. Xbox 360 is a different story as far as I can see.

It did not help that many big name franchises like FF, MGS, DMC, and so forth were PS2 exclusives.

I think MS will actually sell some units this time around in Japan, but they wont do any serious damage to Sony's Japanese marketshare. I just don't see much software, at this point, that Japanese gamers would be excited over. If the start up MS funded Japanese companies making games like Blue Dragon are really good AND Square-Enix gets an exclusive and/or simutaneous launch of a new FF title we may see some movement, but even that is short lived.

Much link Nintendo overall, I am not sure MS has the software library or 3rd party support to make a sizable dent in the Japanese market.

Just my opinion of course.

 

[one]

:cough:

Sony takes bite out of Apple's iPod in Japan

From TFA:

While Apple remains the top seller of hard drive players in Japan, there has been a decisive momentum swing in the Japanese market, with Sony securing the top position for memory-type players in both May and June, knocking Apple and its iPod shuffle device into second place.

So it's only about iPod Shuffle, and iPod is selling well even without iTunes in Japan...

 

[Acert93]

Thanks for the article one!

According to market research company BCN, Sony’s share of the Japanese market for flash memory players went from just 4 percent in March to 16 percent in April and shot up to 27 percent in May and June. Apple’s share has fallen to under 20 percent.

Sony did not waste any time did they You are right that Sony is lagging against the HDD based iPods but some of that is related to Sony's offering, or lack of:

Sales of the hard drive units have been less impressive, but that is not surprising as Sony’s only players on the market are 20 and 30 gigabyte (GB) models, leaving it without a product to go head-to-head with Apple’s hot-selling iPod mini device.

It would be instructive to know the ratio of HDD players vs. Flash Memory players. You would think flash players would have higher sales due to cost, but I am out of touch with this market (I rarely listen to music and do not even own an MP3 player).

Most interestingly from that article:

Analysts say prospects for gains in market share are much greater since Howard Stringer became Sony’s new chief executive last month promising to break down the “silo walls†around individual business units.

Sony’s problems in the portable audio market have been widely blamed on infighting between music and hardware divisions over anti-piracy issues and a general lack of focus. Both the PC and Walkman units put out their own hard drive players last year.

“Because Stringer comes out of the entertainment business, he understands the ramifications of them losing the digital Walkman market to Apple. And I am convinced that he is obsessed with trying to beat Apple at their own game,†Bajarin said.

 

[Carl B]

For Japan to traditionally view American electronics, cars, etc. as inferior is really no shock - I mean, aren't they?

But seriously, when something becomes popular in Japan, or just 'cool,' that's it - it's on fire. Japanese high fashion is dominated by the likes of Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Tiffany's, etc.. (all to their detriment I might add - the amount of money spent on this crap over there is insane). And as mentioned Apple does have a certain cache in Japan, just as it does elsewhere. The iPod has been doing VERY well. As pointed out, Sony and some other Japanese companies have been mounting a comeback, but iPod still is viewed as the 'the leader' in Japan.

I don't think the Japanese arrogance in their own electronics is unfounded, that's for sure, but as far as it applies to the 360, all Micrsoft needs to achieve is for the 360 to be viewed as 'cool,' or at least not stigmatized, and it should do fine. Whether or not it can reach that point though is what we'll need to watch in the next year or so.

But yes, Japan will not determine the net success or failure of the XBox 360 this gen, and I believe it will do well in the US.

 

[bleon]

I think Xbox360 will do even worse in Japan than Xbox. At launch, Xbox had an unknown potential, a string of Sega exclusives and the most powerful hardware. Xbox 360 has the weakest hardware, one no name Japanese RPG and has to combat Xbox's terrible reputation.

In Japan, Xbox is the leper of the console world. Everyone knows its out there but no one will touch it.

Without a presence in the Japanese market, its much harder to secure franchises like Resident Evil, MGS and Final Fantasy.

 

[Wunderchu]

I think Xbox360 will do even worse in Japan than Xbox. At launch, Xbox had an unknown potential, a string of Sega exclusives and the most powerful hardware. Xbox 360 has the weakest hardware, one no name Japanese RPG and has to combat Xbox's terrible reputation.

In Japan, Xbox is the leper of the console world. Everyone knows its out there but no one will touch it.

Without a presence in the Japanese market, its much harder to secure franchises like Resident Evil, MGS and Final Fantasy.

I don't agree with your prediction that Xbox 360 will do worse than Xbox in Japan.. and we'll have to wait and see whether Xbox 360 ends up with the "weakest hardware"


your last comment though, I do agree with,.. Namco's vice president seems to have stated something along those same lines;

From our past experiences [with consoles], we believe that one winner will take all in the Japanese market, and the publishers will have to go with that winner.

[source: http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/06/28/news_6128306.html ]

 

[Arty]

iPod is selling like a hot cake in Japan beating Sony players, and Hollywood movies are driving Japanese movie business to the brink of death right now, so blame the execution by Microsoft instead
Anyway it's a matter of taste and Halo's sci-fi is kinda 80's space opera which isn't exactly palatable for Japanese audience so you have to tailor your portfolio to sell in multi-region, which MS failed in Xbox 1. Xbox 360 is a different story as far as I can see.

Japs just hate Microsoft and love Apple. Clearly you should have seen the line up for the Apple Store opening.