Prediction: The road to victory is Europe.

The real reason is that the whole world views Europe as Europe, whereas (just over half) the Brits view Europe as Teh Continent.

 

While Japan was once the Mecca of gaming, nowadays there isn't anything special about it; ditto for its software development.

You do not need Japanese involvement to be successful.

Microsoft is appealing to Japanese consumers, who like most of us, enjoy watching a monopolist fail. But persistence without complaint makes them appear humble, a quality that should pay dividends in the Windows arena.

 

You can live in denial all you want, the sales figures speak for themselves.

 

*sigh* I ... I guess you're right. A stack of sequels -- err, a popular franchise -- will sell. It's just that they do not have to be Made in Japan to do it.

According to the NPD Group, 2005 was a banner year for US gaming. Out of the ten best sellers, only two were Japanese. The others were fashioned in the West. I suspect game sales in the EU and UK are similar.

My point? It's all about content, not authorship.

 

What are you trying to say any game is the same no matter where it comes from? People still want the IPs made developers in Japan, you are still hung up on the fact they are made in Japan. If the 6 major developers all up rooted and moved to the west then you'd have a point.

Taking US sales data to estimate European tastes totally invalidates the point you are trying to make. Expanding that point to try and insinuate that UK consumption patterns are the same as the rest of the EU further invalidates it. The UK is just under 1/3 of the whole EU market, with tastes at times wildly divergent with the rest of the EU. There are many instances where the EU market is more similar to Japan than the US, but most of the time it is a uniquely different market altogether.

You can't win without major Japanese support, just like you can't win without major western support. Goes both ways. One is not superior to the other.

 

one thing about japan who americans/brittons maybe dont get:

- Japanese is a language. Japan if full of non-english speakers. All know THAT, but it also affect gaming.

Simply put: gamers PREFER games in their OWN LANGUAGE. What is more, japanese games take into concideration japanese culture, too, while it barely even is made german games for europe. English is the language used, and most of the countries dont speak it natively, we learn it at chool. For US, it dont matter if games is made in japan or usa, and translated. For JAPANESE, they can choose between games made by native japanese, or games with foregin languages.

 

I say the road to victory is the United States of America Just to be different. Actually, this is clearly the opinion of many of the Japanese companies (Sony and Nintendo both allocate the majority of launch to U.S.). I have heard other Japanese game figures claim that America is much more important market than Japan now (cant remember who, just the statement).

Microsoft can only sell so many places, a lot of Europe doesn't like them, but it's not near as bad as Japan, on the other hand 360 dominates the UK charts. Microsoft can sell to USA, Canada, Britain, Australia (xbox very popular there). The rest of the world is tough sledding.. but that is over 400 million people and I think you can support a business from that..
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VICIOUSDELICIOUS

 

Has there ever been a generation where 3 competitors split the market with each having victories in one of the 3 main markets??

This may be what we see this gen.

 

Call me crazy, but I think the road to victory are new markets never before taken advantage of. Markets such as India, China, Czech, etc. MS is very smart and taking full advantage of this, they are now in over 32 countries and counting. They understand this is a global product and pushing it as such. They may not be successful in all market such as Japan but this will surely attract developers as it will allow for possible bigger sales.

 

Emerging markets will indeed be important in the future, but I don't see them being a determining factor for this generation.

 

I am "hung up" on it because someone continues to make this assertion: To win Europe you will need those Japanese games.

Granted, that may have been true a decade ago when the video game market orbited The Land of the Rising Sun. But today the industry's hotspots are out West -- the US and EU.

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UK Sales - August 2006

1. LEGO Star Wars
2. Just Cause
3. Tiger Woods PGA Tour '07
4. LMA Manager 2007
5. Cars
6. Brain Training
7. Dead Rising
8. Saints Row
9. The Godfather
10. The New Super Mario Bros.

Source: Euro Gamer​

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US Sales - August 2006

1. Madden NFL '07
2. Dead Rising
3. Madden NFL '07: Hall of Fame Edition
4. Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus
5. New Super Mario Bros.
6. NCAA Football '07
7. Gran Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
8. Ninety-Nine Nights
9. Brain Age

Source: NPD Group​

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Like the US, Nippon did not overwhelm UK charts -- not that it's bad or anything. It's just that Western developers seem to have a better handle on Western tastes. And THAT was my point.

 

The playstation has become a household name and moreover it is a Sony product. Also, Sony products, apart from the consoles have always been pricey, so I'm assuming Sony will lose some sales on that respect.

I expect sales from all three parties will be closer, but Sony to still take the edge...

 

Wasn't the sole purpose of EU to fix a lot of that (of course not the languages)?
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Bong bowl

 

No. There's a number of common policies to aid trade and certain uniform rights across Europe but on the whole they're independent countries with independent standards and ways of doing things. And no likelihood of that changing without the concept of a United States of Europe that seems...improbable

 

You might want to try and get hold of data for all of Europe, the UK is very different. You will see DS leads it by a streak on the software front. In any case, I have no doubt western developers may have a better handle on European tastes but the fact remains without a wide selection of games you will not win Europe. If that was indeed the case the original Xbox would have faired much better than the PS2 once it came down in price. It didn't. The network effects in the market much more complicated than any one chart for one given period will show you.

The games that PS2 was hyped for in Europe were GT, GTA, PES, FFX, MGS2, SH series and DMC series. These were prominent from the beginning, they lead the charge. As price points change the type of consumer purchasing the console changes. A lot of PS2 sales these days are based off SingStar, Buzz and EyeToy.

To win you will need SE, Konami, Namco and Capcom's games no matter how you cut it. Look at the top-sellers of this generation for PS2. GT is the highest selling, followed by 3 GTA's, the Final Fantasy series also comes in heavy, as does MGS2, Kingdom Hearts, PES, Tekken etc.

It's pretty extraordinary in this day and ages to suggest that you can win any region by completely ignoring the content by leading studios not based in that region. The 360's performance in Europe to this day lends credence to that argument. It is priced very competitively in Europe, much cheaper than PS2's debut price yet it continues to sell quite poorly outside of the UK.

 

Interesting comment. I presume you know DS leads it by a streak across the EU because you have the data for all of Europe, right? In which case, how's about you link to that data, rather than just say 'go get it'?

As far as I knew, there wasn't any reasonable chart or sales data for Europe.

 

Actually, the hw sales number from Nintendo are very reliable. But since the discussion at hand is about software titles, their sales and different taste in different regions, hw sales numbers don't really matter.

 

Did anyone see this interview with this guy from SCEE on Sony's online stuff yet?

http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3912&Itemid=2

 

Japanese titles aren't the only items on the menu. Once in a while diners may have a taste for something exotic, but for the most part, local cuisine is what quells hunger pangs.

The industry's largest markets -- NTSC and PAL territories -- have more in common with each other than either has with NTSC-J. This is why Western titles tend to fair better in the West than in the East ... and vice versa. As a result, Western consumption is becoming less and less dependant upon Eastern production.