Japan Sales Thread *renamed

[V3]

Fighters and racing games are no longer staples of the Japanese gaming diet. And while I agree wht Wiimote fails to execute satisfactory controls in a number of proven/popular genres (which is partially reflected in the sales of the more competitive western makrets) at the end of the day the Wiimote seems to tap into the gaming genres that Japanese gamers are craving.

Look at the top sellering Wii titles in the Japanese market from the above list: Mario Pary 8, Big Brain Academy, Wii Fit, Wii Sports, Super Mario Galaxy, and Mario & Sonic at Bejing Olympics. I don't see any Fighters, Racers, FPS, or Sports (traditional) games breaking the top 20 last month on a home console.

That's because the traditional market don't keep games anymore, heck some of them don't even keep consoles. They buy used games and trade. That way they saved money and allowed them to play more games. That's why RPGs rarely big seller anymore. Games with replayability will generally have better chance or games that target different market that don't trade on the second hand market.

I wouldn't be suprised if the second hand market make as much money as the new ones from the traditional gamers. Most publishers know about these problem. Heck they even tried to get second hand market outlawed. I guess only Nintendo see that the traditional target market aren't worth their time anymore and expanded the market beyond them. Only time will tell if other publishers will follow.

 

[Archgamer]

There is a big reason why softwares for PS3 titles aren't selling outside of a Gundam, Dynasty Warrior or Hot Shot Golf game. I check their upcomming titles for the next two months in Japan and here they are if they stand.

1/24 Drift Nights: Juiced 2
1/31 Assassin's Creed
Devil May Cry 4
Disgaea 3
Need for Speed ProStreet
Sega Rally Revo
2/07 Transformers: The Game
2/14 WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2008
2/21 Burnout Paradise
Lost Planet: Extreme Conditions
Stuntman: Ignition
3/06 Dark Sector
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
Ryu ga Gotoku Kenzan!
3/13 Winning Post 7 Maximum 2008
3/19 Armored Core: For Answer
Army of Two
Blazing Angels 2: Secret Missions of WWII
Skate
3/27 Battlefield: Bad Company
Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga
Lyra no Bouken: Ougon no Rashinban

A majority of those games are Western related. A few have a cult following in Japan. But the rest will not sell! Even before today the PS3 lineup in Japan was releasing NFL and NHL games for crying out loud. What ever happen to the majong, dating sims and quirky titles that have consistencing been releasing before a big AAA title comes around like it was on the PS2 and the PS1 days? That's your answer to the problem.

It's not as if the Japanese market is shifting to Wii games exclusively. Mario related games have always been strong sellers. It's more about Sony making a shift thinking the Japanese gamers will buy Western cater titles.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

In short the controller is in my eyes an unwelcome gimmick that gets in the way of things, and I'd enjoy the wii games I've played, and want, more without it.

Could it not perhaps be that where you don't get on with the Wiimote, lots of other people with different tastes to you really like it, and that is the reason they buy Wii?

 

[iceberg187]

What ever happen to the majong, dating sims and quirky titles that have consistencing been releasing before a big AAA title comes around like it was on the PS2 and the PS1 days? That's your answer to the problem.

It's not as if the Japanese market is shifting to Wii games exclusively. Mario related games have always been strong sellers. It's more about Sony making a shift thinking the Japanese gamers will buy Western cater titles.

Those games sell to gamers when they buy consoles for under $199 or the yen equivalent or you just place them on the Wii now.

 

[quest55720]

A majority of those games are Western related. A few have a cult following in Japan. But the rest will not sell! Even before today the PS3 lineup in Japan was releasing NFL and NHL games for crying out loud. What ever happen to the majong, dating sims and quirky titles that have consistencing been releasing before a big AAA title comes around like it was on the PS2 and the PS1 days? That's your answer to the problem.


It's not as if the Japanese market is shifting to Wii games exclusively. Mario related games have always been strong sellers. It's more about Sony making a shift thinking the Japanese gamers will buy Western cater titles.

It has been like that since the NDSlight launched. Those quirky games were replaced by NDS games. The top 30 was basically the NDS top 30 with a few PS2 titles mixed in. The gaming market in japan has been moving away from traditional console games for a while. That is why many here predicted the Wii winning japan well before launch. Unless sony was going to include waggle the PS3 was going to have major issues in japan. If the Wii can keep its sales I think those quirky games will start to show up on the Wii. It makes a lot more sense to have those quirky games on the Wii anyways much cheaper to develop for and with the controller it just screams for quirky games.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

It makes a lot more sense to have those quirky games on the Wii anyways much cheaper to develop for and with the controller it just screams for quirky games.

Those same games would cost the same near enough on PS3. PS3 games only cost more because more work goes into them creating better assets etc. Wario Smooth Moves or Wii Sports in the same style would cost about the same to produce. It's not like a few oval bodies and heads is going to cost 5x as much to produce on PS3!

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

Based on the Japanese best sellers Nintendo has the "best games" for that market.

Based on western sales, the 360 clearly has an edge on the PS3 in terms of software in those markets.

I'd change western to united states. European tastes is more of a mixed bag of what sells in Japan and what sells in the US.

 

[....]

Could it not perhaps be that where you don't get on with the Wiimote, lots of other people with different tastes to you really like it, and that is the reason they buy Wii?

It could be, but I don't see how any gamer accustomed to more traditional controllers could prefer it. Maybe it's the appeal to the non-gamer crowd.

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

Well that is your opinion. Personally I think the wii controller is great. Its less suited for some game types like fighters because those games just work alot better with buttons but other genres are as good, or better with the wii remote than with a normal controller. SMG plays great with the wii controller, MP3 controlls a million times better than any analoge stick controller will ever do to give a example. You cant deny that. Also you say accustomed, that doesnt actually mean the wii controller is worse, it could very well be a matter of adjusting because just as with the D-pad and analoge sticks, the wii remote too will take some time to get used to.

But the greatest thing about the wii controller might be that its so comfortable. I always have my hand laying by my side, no more forced cramped hands like with other controllers.

 

[StefanS]

Cough, cough...

Japan Sales Thread, not "Discuss your XP with Wii" thread.

Stay on topic, people.

 

[Dr. Nick]

snip.

You take out the western titles and how many are left on that list? Not much. Sony is doing what Microsoft does when they don't have enough Japanese titles coming out regularly. They are trying to fill the void until Japanese game releases pick up. The difference between the two is that Japanese publishers were betting on the PS3 being very successful and games for the system being their main bread and butter therefore things will eventually pick up for the PS3. Microsoft will need to continue doing this until the next Xbox is released.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Recent numbers show an eye-opening event : PSP outsells DS!

Wii - 81,737
PSP - 75,912
Nintendo DS - 60,464
PlayStation 3 - 23,985
PlayStation 2 - 11,038
Xbox 360 - 3,615

PS3 interest is also down this week. Just goes to show the fickle nature of consumers once again! Anyone got insider info on Japanese interest in PSP? Are these being used as portable media devices are is the games library appealing, or has the all-in-one device concept got real traction there now? Is Wifi readily available and used?

 

[Arwin]

I honestly believe that the DS is just slowing down due to market saturation. It will stay selling significant numbers for replacing broken units, new people who become old enough, and so on, but it will inevitably slow down as everyone has one at some point.

So the PSP is the next best thing out there, and since it was built fairly forward looking and different form the DS, it offers something different (from the DS) both in terms of games and non-games. The PSP Lite is a nice little machine and I think it will continue to sell for a while yet. There were 3 PSP games in the charts this month, so considering the ratio of PSPs sold vs DSs sold, I think there are actually some decent game sales going on in Japan.

 

[Readykilowatt]

*Leaked Famitsu Numbers*

Wii　80000
DSL　59000
PSP　51000
PS3　18000
PS2　10000
360　3000

1.SSBB　165000（1248000）
2.Wii Fit　76000（1451000）
3.Poison Pink　47000
4.Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side 2nd Kiss　35000
5.Kimi Kiss　34000
6.Gihren　26000（135000）
7.Mario Sonic DS　20000（222000）
8.Wii Sports　19000（2750000）
9.Naruto　18000
10.Digimon　18000

Everything seems to be back to normal.

 

[Readykilowatt]

Here are the M-Create hardware sales numbers (2/11 - 2/17)

1. WII - 78,583
2. NDS - 62,362
3. PSP - 59,654
4. PS3 - 17,637
5. PS2 - 11,266
6. 360 - 2,198

 

[Flux]

I'm still not totally comfortable with that logic. The Wii launched at the same time as the PS3 and has had virtually no new software releases aswell and you still see several titles in the top 30. The PS3 not having a single one is shocking for a recently released platform. And I'm sure it's not only us that are alarmed, 3rd party publishers have to be aswell. What is the attach rate of software for the PS3 in japan? At launch it was at 0.8 I believe, has that increased at all?

Nintendo did a better job at marketing and selling its console than Sony did.

 

[dantruon]

to be honest, i see the number for the PSP is far more interesting than the number for the PS3, it has beating the DS a couple of times this year in sales without much top software sales.

Hardware

Hardware - This Week | Last Week | YTD | LTD
1. WII - 94,473 | 74,544 | 542,982 | 5,159,142
2. PSP - 72,528 | 77,933 | 544,777 | 8,146,371
3. NDS - 67,472 | 79,370 | 599,354 | 21,772,405
4. PS3 - 41,796 | 34,363 | 217,366 | 1,859,042
5. PS2 - 12,115 | 11,364 | 83,527 | 21,010,564
6. 360 - 6,060 | 4,296 | 29,361 | 536,702
Xbox 360 - 3,615

Software

01./00. [WII] Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Nintendo) - 819,647 / NEW
02./00. [PS3] Devil May Cry 4 (Capcom) - 205,390 / NEW
03./00. [PS2] Tales of Destiny: Director's Cut (Bandai-Namco) - 116,928 / NEW
04./00. [PS2] Haruhi Suzumiya's Wonderment (Banpresto) - 114,335 / NEW
05./01. [WII] Wii Fit (Nintendo) - 73,325 / 1,356,000
06./00. [PS3] Disgaea 3 (Nippon Ichi Software) - 54,596 / NEW
07./00. [360] Devil May Cry 4 (Capcom) - 40,023 / NEW
08./04. [NDS] Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games (Nintendo) - 34,474 / 175,000
09./00. [PS3] Assassin's Creed (Ubi Soft) - 27,895 / NEW
10./02. [PSP] World Soccer Winning Eleven: Ubiquitous Evolution 2008 (Konami) - 25,523 102,000

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

Arnt this last weeks sales?

PSP selling more hardware than DS isnt that interresting, the DS sold more than 20million times already in japan, more than the ps2 did in 7+ years, the DS needed about half that. There probably are just getting less people to sell a DS to. And as software sales are what brings in most of the money the psp still hasnt got much to offer vs the DS.

 

[cthellis42]

PSP selling more hardware than DS isnt that interresting, the DS sold more than 20million times already in japan, more than the ps2 did in 7+ years, the DS needed about half that. There probably are just getting less people to sell a DS to. And as software sales are what brings in most of the money the psp still hasnt got much to offer vs the DS.

IIRC, the PS2 broke the 20 million barrier in the beginning of 2005, and is still minorly ahead in Japanese sales. (Not that this in any way detracts from the DS getting to that level in half the time.)

The PSP sales are "interesting" precisely because the DS has been such a runaway hit for so long--and continues to top out software sales--that trying to figure out why the PSP has pulled up alongside and even exceeeded DS sales in maintained weeks, rather than just the occasional spike from a recent popular game release. Crisis Core is the last major one I can think of, but it was off the top software list even before the holidays (and the PSP was reasonably close to the DS even then--certainly a lot closer than the Wii or PS3--even with only 2-3 games low down on the Top 30). Winning Eleven couldn't have helped that much either, so...

It's interesting mainly to figure out just why it's selling how it is DESPITE past history, and in spite of current software numbers. It certainly seems like Japan has turned into a much more portable gaming environment in general, but could that possibly be all of the reason?

 

[one]

Monster Hunter series from Capcom and Gundam games from Bandai are other software drivers on PSP. Right now PSP is a gamer's choice format. PS2 is old, but PS3 is expensive. PSP is like a 1.5-gen successor of PS2.