Japan Sales Thread *renamed

[Shifty Geezer]

Thing is, few titles are going to attract 50% of the market. Out of a couple of million consoles, you wouldn't be looking at much by way of average sales for many titles. Sure, a few top titles will do well. BD was funded by MS though, who were willing to risk it. A 3rd party might be more reserved and unwilling to invest. Isn't Eternal Sonata out in Japan but not doing amazingly well, or am I just making that up? I think 3rd parties need to see good enough sales of moderate titles to feel comfortable. Although talk from these Japanese companies is casting the net wider, aiming to reach more in the international markets. Rather than look for good local sales, good international sales might be enough.

 

[Zaphod]

A 3rd party might be more reserved and unwilling to invest. Isn't Eternal Sonata out in Japan but not doing amazingly well, or am I just making that up?

~80K IIRC. It was well known that it was a timed exclusive though, so people may be holding out for the PS3 version next year.

 

[mrcorbo]

Pretty sure it's an exclusive IP from SE for 360...I too could be wrong though

You are probably confusing it with Infinite Undiscovery. That's the exclusive one.

 

[PARANOiA]

Isn't Last Remnant Mulitplatform? I could be mistaken though.

I think you're mistaking it for Infinite Undiscovery, which is 360 exclusive IIRC

 

[scooby_dooby]

Actually I wasn't, I actually thought LR was exclusive. I totally forgot about Infinite Discovery

 

[tuna]

From The Magic-Box:
- Here are the latest Japanese console hardware sales for the week of October 8 - 14, 2007:

1. NDS Lite - 78,746 [5,653,840]
2. PSP - 59,584 [2,007,799]
3. Wii - 20,575 [2,735,733]
4. PlayStation 3 - 12,365 [735,295]
5. PlayStation 2 - 10,181 [617,542]
6. Xbox 360 - 6,161 [158,497]
7. GBA SP - 127 [21,045]
8. GameCube - 79 [9,973]
9. GB Micro - 60 [26,592]

Big increase for 360, was anything released that week. PSP is also looking solid.....

 

[XeRo]

From The Magic-Box:
- Here are the latest Japanese console hardware sales for the week of October 8 - 14, 2007:

1. NDS Lite - 78,746 [5,653,840]
2. PSP - 59,584 [2,007,799]
3. Wii - 20,575 [2,735,733]
4. PlayStation 3 - 12,365 [735,295]
5. PlayStation 2 - 10,181 [617,542]
6. Xbox 360 - 6,161 [158,497]
7. GBA SP - 127 [21,045]
8. GameCube - 79 [9,973]
9. GB Micro - 60 [26,592]

Big increase for 360, was anything released that week. PSP is also looking solid.....

I believe it was the elites.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

PS3 is 8,000 off Wii. When the price drop and 40gGB + white, will they manage to top Wii?! Or is Wii going to have a return to form before that happens? Place your bets, please!

 

[assen]

Is there a price cut at all in Japan? I thought PS3s were much cheaper there in the first place, and the $400/400EUR cuts are for US/EU only?

 

[Deepak]

No, infact Japan was the first to receive price cuts. I believe 40 GB PS3 costs around 350 US $ there.

 

[TheChefO]

Good point. I do believe, though, that they'll need to pay for exclusives catering to that market to get there...

Pretty Sure MS has all but given up on Japan at this point. They are focusing their efforts on a teritory they have a chance at winning:

Europe.

Japan is a lost cause. They will never be a contender as the Japanese gamer will either go Wii or PS3 ... something homebrewed. I find it funny that the reason nobody in Japan wanted an xbox was it was too big and bulky and the design didn't suit their tastes, plus they had no software that Japanese gamers wanted. This gen, MS addresses those issues and they still face rejection. I completely understand MS' stance on that region and I understand their willingness to put it in cruise control there. Japanese developers are coming to the realization that if they want to sell their wares outside of Japan on anything not labelled "Nintendo", they will have to come knocking. Capcom saw the light early ... the rest need to wake up.

The side benefit should place the majority of titles at least multiplat in Japan which should at least give Japanese gamers a choice, but I don't expect it to help their HW sales much for this generation. Next gen should be much better, but still no competition for the home-growns.

 

[Mintmaster]

Japanese developers are coming to the realization that if they want to sell their wares outside of Japan on anything not labelled "Nintendo", they will have to come knocking. Capcom saw the light early ... the rest need to wake up.

You don' t even need that disclaimer. Nintendo isn't the greatest platform for devs to target unless the studio is owned by Nintendo. For third parties, 360 is really the only game in town, so if you develop for PS3, you'd be crazy not to make a port for 360 unless you're getting a fat check from Sony.

However, not that you say "if they want to sell their wares outside of Japan", and I don't think that's the case for many Japanese devs. Only a few blockbusters like Final Fantasy will get more than 20% sales in the rest of the world.

 

[scooby_dooby]

Only a few blockbusters like Final Fantasy will get more than 20% sales in the rest of the world.

Right, but these are the only titles that MS really cares about having on their system.

If they can establish a half decent install base in Japan (2million+), and retain a strong WW presence, it will be very hard for these blockbuster titles to ignore the platform.

 

[PARANOiA]

Right, but these are the only titles that MS really cares about having on their system.

If they can establish a half decent install base in Japan (2million+), and retain a strong WW presence, it will be very hard for these blockbuster titles to ignore the platform.

A 2mm presence at 3-4k / week will take some time

 

[scooby_dooby]

A 2mm presence at 3-4k / week will take some time

Yup, but remember it was 1-2/week this time last year, and they have >500k already.

 

[Johnny Awesome]

Yeah. MS might hit 2 million by 2011 in Japan. It's possible.

 

[AlphaWolf]

Yeah. MS might hit 2 million by 2011 in Japan. It's possible.

Perhaps this pricedrop will help.

I wonder if this is going to come to other markets.

 

[one]

I find it funny that the reason nobody in Japan wanted an xbox was it was too big and bulky and the design didn't suit their tastes

I'd say that's an internet urban legend. Never heard a Japanese person express that as a reason.

Xbox 1 had a definite niche image, it's like what Team Ninja represents. If you believe what they are after are somehow mainstream in Japan, you are an internet addict or something. They are what is called the vocal minority. Then there was a disc scratching problem that deterred retailers, you can imagine RRoD is a rather serious problem.

plus they had no software that Japanese gamers wanted. This gen, MS addresses those issues and they still face rejection.

New IPs hardly work. Also it was a bad timing, the market was already shifting to handheld-oriented. Reportedly Microsoft lowered the royalties for Japanese developers for a year, but what did they produce during that? Developers like Capcom created games meant for the western market. Konami released RRXX, Bandai Namco released Idol Master, both of which are niche titles by the same way as Team Ninja games are.

 

[deathkiller]

PS3 is 8,000 off Wii. When the price drop and 40gGB + white, will they manage to top Wii?! Or is Wii going to have a return to form before that happens? Place your bets, please!

I don't think that the PS3 have any chance of topping the Wii after the Super Mario Galaxy's release (11/01) this year even with the 40GB/White SKU (11/11).

 

[Shifty Geezer]

I don't think that the PS3 have any chance of topping the Wii after the Super Mario Galaxy's release (11/01) this year even with the 40GB/White SKU (11/11).

SMG will be a very interesting release, showing if the install base are just fans of the party game experience or if Mario still has console pushing power. A check of VGChartz says SMS sold 300k on day one for GC, and 870k overall in Japan. So if the inital flurry of Wii sales for SMG pass in the first week, sales might drop down for a PS3 peak to just sneak pass.