Let's talk about the Japan problem

[Karl.]

Are those decimals or commas?

Seems like the japs are into the mobile gaming shit. Probably got an android device.

 

[funkdocdamc]

I have 51 physical PS3 games and only 4 of them are from Japanese developers...oh well.

The Vita damn near outsold PS4 and PS3 combined and the 3DS is not to far from outselling all 3 of them combined...damn.

 

[BoldChild]

I think console games may have been catering to Western audiences too much, even those made by Japanese companies.

Aside from that, they've always been more into mobile gaming.

 

[Broddie]

Are those decimals or commas?

Decimals but either way it would read the same way. It's in the thousands.

 

[Broddie]

I think console games may have been catering to Western audiences too much, even those made by Japanese companies.

Aside from that, they've always been more into mobile gaming.

Last gen it seemed that way. I'm from the west but the majority of the games I've played the most since NES are japanese. A big reason I never bought a 360 or PS3 is because they didn't have enough japanese games that catered to me. PSP and DS did by comparison so I stuck with those. Then I got a 3DS for the same reason.

Like you said you have Japanese publishers that are catering to the western audience too much and it's eating away at their gaming industry from the inside. One thing I do like about Japanese gamers is if a platform doesn't have enough software that caters to them they fall back and don't buy it in the millions.

If you don't give them enough value for the price you ask for they say fuck you see the early 3DS sales for exaple. You also see that now. When you give them enough software though they reward with great sales and awesome market share for any company to have. This is how DS, GB, SNES, Genesis, PS2, NES, PS1 and Wii enjoyed such a good lifetime in Japan. They have a level of restraint that is admirable and that gamers in the west could actually learn more from in general in that regard.

So hopefully Nintendo and Sony could supplement enough software for the rest of the gen to help turn things around but really the way the ecosystem is out there now where they have smart phones and tablets and competent enough infrastructure to run it? it's going to be difficult winning a lot of the market back.

The japanese console game industry is cannibalizing itself for the most part because they're not sure how to adapt. Like chickens with their heads cut off you see publishers & dev studios go out of business or get bought out and merged with a bigger entity because they're oblivious to survival right now in today's market.

So you have publishers desperately forcing devs to go more western to see if that sticks like Konami did Platinum Games with Metal Gear Rising or you get Japanese IP's transferred to the west and done in that style like what happened with Devil May Cry and Castlevania. It's not that I dislike western games it's that I value having a more diverse library. Gives me more bang out of my buck.

Most of the time Japanese games were better single player experiences and had original stories and challenging difficulty. Very intuitive in design so that appeals to me more than say a multiplayer FPS. Handhelds always did sell better out there than everywhere else. Even with a lower number in sales overall compare to past generations that trend still continues for the most part today. These are lifetime hardware sales in Japan as of last weeks numbers

|3DS|15.562.762 |

|PSV| 2.907.007 |

|PS3| 9.963.395 |

|PS4| 573.639 |

|WIU| 1.736.530 |

|PSP|20.139.593 |

|360| 1.644.654 |

Out of the current portable & home console gen (2011 - present) you have 3DS, Vita, Wii U and PS4 and the former 2 are outpacing the latter 2 almost tenfold with combined sales.

Then when you look at their top 20 software and factor all the games that have sold over100,000 plus in lifetime sales the majority are portable titles

[3DS] Yo-kai Watch (Level 5) {2013.07.11}/ 950.035

[3DS] Mario Party: Island Tour (Nintendo) {2014.03.20}/ 371.184

[PSV] Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment (Bandai Namco Games) {2014.04.24}/ 201.381

[3DS] Pokemon X / Y (Pokemon Co.) {2013.10.12}/ 4.063.466

[3DS] Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call # (Square Enix) {2014.04.24}/ 120.549

[3DS] Kirby Triple Deluxe (Nintendo) {2014.01.11}/ 584.509

[3DS] Monster Hunter 4 (Capcom) {2013.09.14}/ 3.277.125

[PS3] Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (Konami) {2014.03.20}/ 219.568

[3DS] Mario Kart 7 (Nintendo) {2011.12.01}/ 2.318.577

[3DS] Animal Crossing: New Leaf # (Nintendo) {2012.11.08}/ 3.734.701

[PS3] Grand Theft Auto V (Take-Two Interactive Japan) {2013.10.10}/ 775.741

[WIU] Super Mario 3D World (Nintendo) {2013.11.21} (¥5.985) - 2.697 / 544.874

[3DS] Puzzle & Dragons Z (GungHo Online Entertainment) {2013.12.12}/ 1.454.778

[3DS] Attack on Titan: The Last Wings of Mankind (Spike Chunsoft) {2013.12.05}/ 294.700

It's going to be very tricky for everybody in terms of publishers not just Sony and Nintendo to get a read of things in that market. Right now the read tells them to focus on putting out mobile content above all because it's portable. But hopefully this pushes them even more because they all need their home market in the end.

Especially Nintendo and Sony with their hardware business particularly home consoles. They need to really see the trends in that subsection of the market and adapt to them but obviously it hasn't been very easy. They no longer have their finger on the pulse of what gamers really want in their home country. Must be frustrating as hell for everybody in the industry out there right now

 

[Karl.]

Are those decimals or commas?

Decimals but either way it would read the same way. It's in the thousands.

A decimal would indicate that they only sold 23 3DS consoles in the past week.

 

[Karl.]

The jap developers have been way off the ball too.

 

[grumpy_new_yorker]

The main reason handhelds are more popular than consoles in Japan these days is limited space and time constraints. Many people don't have the luxury to buy a console and a big screen tv due to living quarters being much smaller than what the rest of the world is used to. This is also another reason that arcades are still very popular there. Also in Japan, a work day consists of 10-12 hours, 6 days a week so they have much less free time and want something they can take with them to play on the subway, bus or on their lunch break. Which is why we are seeing many of the newer jrpg's and niche titles coming to handhelds now. Look at the library of quality jrpg's on the PSP. Vita and 3ds are following suit.

Why make a big budget AAA japanese game if they aren't gonna recoup the money they spent on it? Japan is merely adapting to their own environment.

Yes I will miss the golden era of japanese gaming from the SNES to PS2 days, but time moves on and nothing lasts forever.

 

[Broddie]

Are those decimals or commas?

Decimals but either way it would read the same way. It's in the thousands.

A decimal would indicate that they only sold 23 3DS consoles in the past week.

They're not supposed to be trailing zeros. The way it's on that chart 3 zeros after a decimal represent the place value of the number that ends at 3 zeros meaning thousands.

 

[Bcotton5]

the arcades are crazy in Japan

 

[earth two superman]

The main reason handhelds are more popular than consoles in Japan these days is limited space and time constraints. Many people don't have the luxury to buy a console and a big screen tv due to living quarters being much smaller than what the rest of the world is used to. This is also another reason that arcades are still very popular there. Also in Japan, a work day consists of 10-12 hours, 6 days a week so they have much less free time and want something they can take with them to play on the subway, bus or on their lunch break. Which is why we are seeing many of the newer jrpg's and niche titles coming to handhelds now. Look at the library of quality jrpg's on the PSP. Vita and 3ds are following suit.

Why make a big budget AAA japanese game if they aren't gonna recoup the money they spent on it? Japan is merely adapting to their own environment.

Yes I will miss the golden era of japanese gaming from the SNES to PS2 days, but time moves on and nothing lasts forever.

jesus christ

 

[focus]

Hopefully China will be the new Japan.

 

[funkdocdamc]

Hopefully China will be the new Japan.

Didn't they just forgo the ban they had on videogames?

 

[grumpy_new_yorker]

Hopefully China will be the new Japan.

Didn't they just forgo the ban they had on videogames?

Yes but each console and game needs to be reviewed and approved by the chinese government.

 

[dontdiedontkillanyon]

When I was in Tokyo last November loads of people had PSPs on the tube/subway. Didn't see anyone with Vitas, can't remember seeing anyone with any DSs.

 

[The Prodigalson]

Find it funny people are still looking at Japan as the standard/mecca for video games. Shit has shifted yo.

 

[dontdiedontkillanyon]

the arcades are crazy in Japan

Thought I was a bad boy with Hwoarang on Tekken... had my arse handed right back to me by some random kid, but yeah, the arcades are buzzing over there still. The likes of Tekken, Street Fighter, Blaz Blue, etc. are all popular in the Shinjuku arcades.

 

[Broddie]

Find it funny people are still looking at Japan as the standard/mecca for video games. Shit has shifted yo.

It's worry some because

1) 2 of the 3 hardware companies in the industry are based out there (Sony and Nintendo).

2) Those 2 companies have had great global market share in the past thanks to their great install base in their home market.

3) The great majority of the software library of their platforms is always made up of games from Japanese devs and publishers conversely a great deal of their software sales comes from there too.

Not only does this market dwindling throw monkey wrenches into the longterm gameplan of Sony and Nintendo which affects all gamers all around the world not just out in the East. It also keeps millions upon millions of console gamers like myself who mostly only play Japanese titles in the dark because we don't have as much options as we used to anymore. Which also kills appeal.

Honestly if things continue this badly for the rest of the gen then this might be the last console game generation as we currently know it today which spells trouble for the industry's future in terms of creativity, innovation and output.

By the same token it could also be a blessing in disguise in the sense that the pressure would get Sony and Nintendo to try extra hard with their level of creativity and innovation with future hardware platforms and software.

Obviously time will tell but right now the future seems pretty grim.

 

[Alkinduz]

Nah the future (hopefully lol) wont be that grim fam, Sony knew what was up, released the ps4 months after North America/Europe, the markets changed and shifted. First time Sony did that.

Its a damn shame though, Im a big Yakuza fan, gonna miss those type of games.

 

[Alkinduz]

I guess now we know when old folk are on that "shit was better in the past" babble lol. Ofcourse console gaming as we know it now, might sees to exist one day, hopefully we still got some generations coming.