Lol, good thing this thread is a discussion on an article by a gaming outlet. Like what are you even saying? the article is very clear as to what it is basing its editorial on. 26 weeks, launch aligned. You don´t like it or this discussion hurts your feelings? dont click.
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Kotaku: Switch keeps dominating PS4 sales in Japan (first 26 weeks sales data)
- Thread starter Naked Snake
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Lol, good thing this thread is a discussion on an article by a gaming outlet. Like what are you even saying? the article is very clear as to what it is basing its editorial on. 26 weeks, launch aligned. You don´t like it or this discussion hurts your feelings? dont click.
Canklestank
Neo Member
This is only comparing the first 26 weeks. The first year was pretty rough in terms of software aimed at the Japanese market on PS4. Even I remember this and I don't usually play those games.
Is this really true? Is Japan larger than Europe? Surprising, if so.
Hockeymac18
Member
I know handheld (or consoles that can be used as handhelds) are more popular in Japan - I just didn't realize the gap was that large. I thought PS4 was a bit more popular than a few thousand a week. Some weeks are ~10x differentials, which feels quite significant.
Don't think so, I'm pretty sure the EU is a bigger market.
Sorry- bad wording. 2nd largest single territory. I think Europe is cumulatively bigger.
wumster3000
Member
What are you talking about?
Edit:
When the PS4 was stomping a hole in the Xbox One, I didn't hear or see complaining or so called marketing insinuation when sell threads were posted.
I am an OG PS4 and Pro owner.
Spiritreaver
Member
Oh so now the Switch is a portable. Funny, I remember several threads around the Switch launch suggesting it would sell poorly because it was a console first and handheld second. Heck we still have threads where we equate the technological prowess of the system to its console counterparts rather than its mobile/handheld counterparts.
The idea of a hybrid console is still really hard for people to grasp, even now.
The idea of a hybrid console is still really hard for people to grasp, even now.
That's the scary part. When Pokemon hits (next year?) then everything is just going to go nuts all at once.
LordOcidax
Member
C'mon... this thread is too basic for Meltdowns, you can do better.
Not to mention the discussion on its battery duration on handheld mode and how people where saying it would basically negate it being a PROPER handheld.. Im rolling my eyes sooooo hard right now. Some people just HATE to see Nintendo do well.
One number is higher than the other number. That's all OP says. Seems like you're the one who wants to add drama to the facts.
the switch is truly magical, capable of giving excuses to both fanboys and haters, everybody can claim whatever they want about the thing and be "technically" correct
its truly magical i repeat
Don't forget the "lol how is Switch a portable if I can't even fit in my pocket?" and "lol a portable with $60 games?" posts.
Edit:
Oh yeah, and the battery posts, of course.
deltatheta
Member
Shocking news! A console that no one expected to be a success is doing even better in Japan than a console that everyone expected to be successful.
Wait am I doing this right?
Wait am I doing this right?
I mean no one is arguing that there are reasons why Switch is performing much better than the PS4 in its first year in Japan.
Switch is the Azor Ahaiof gaming systems...the Song of console and handhelds. Uniting the market against the white whales.
It's not really that hard to understand, on average people who prefer consoles will view it as a console and people who prefer handhelds will view it and compare it to handhelds.
I think there is also a distinction between people who largely prefer Japanese games vs people who want western developed games.
geordiemp
Member
1.5 million.
I guess thats good for japan given its mobile orientated, and Switch aporaching 5 million WW is good.
I doubt Sony see it as a competitor to Ps4 WW, different beasts.
Japan market not exactly setting the world on fire console wise, it is mobile / handheld market so no surprises.
I guess thats good for japan given its mobile orientated, and Switch aporaching 5 million WW is good.
I doubt Sony see it as a competitor to Ps4 WW, different beasts.
Japan market not exactly setting the world on fire console wise, it is mobile / handheld market so no surprises.
KillerMan91
Member
Europe is not a country. Japan is second biggest single country market. Overall Europe is of course way way bigger.
MatrixMan.EXE
Member
This has been known for...weeks. And it comes to no surprise. The traditional home console market is dying in Japan and Switch being a hybrid is it's only hope of staying relevant. How Switch does long term remains to be seen, and I feel a lot of Nintendo fans are being hyperbolic in already claiming that Switch will be a massive seller for the coming years as we don't really have a good sense of what a sales of a Switch that isn't have severe supply issues look like. Having said that, it's doing really well so instead of turning this into console wars, let's just be happy that there is at least some hope for traditional gaming in Japan.
Yeah, they serve slightly different markets at their core and the Switch, as well as it's selling, isn't anywhere close to outpacing the PS4's worldwide sales within the same time frame, which is another reason why I said what I did in my above comment.
Yeah, they serve slightly different markets at their core and the Switch, as well as it's selling, isn't anywhere close to outpacing the PS4's worldwide sales within the same time frame, which is another reason why I said what I did in my above comment.
Council Pop
Member
Just as an aside, the GAF use of the word 'revisionist' is one of the weirdest things I've ever seen on the internet. It's a word usually used to refer to changes in political doctrines (sometimes religious too). It's just funny that it's used so much in video game culture when in a modern context it's a word associated almost exclusively with far left politics.
Waluigilicious
Member
Don't really understand these posts. If the switch was a handheld then it would fail at that price. Were you guys not around for the 3DS launch?
thestopsign
Member
Sorry. I meant not a good comparison in context of the Japanese market. The Switch would be better served being compared to the 3DS or other Nintendo handhelds.
I guess this article makes more sense as a notice for people who don't follow the Media Create thread weekly, but it's been pretty obvious over the last 6 months.
KillerMan91
Member
I mean 3DS was failing by Nintendo handheld standards in Japan. Align it with PS4 and even its pre-price cut sales would crush those PS4 sales.
Then here you go, from Hiska-kun in the week 34 Media Create thread.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=247376984&postcount=211
Eh, not really. It's doing very well, but Wii and DS were the true beasts.
MatrixMan.EXE
Member
I'm getting lost now. Are we going to pretend that the portability of the Switch isn't a massive contributing factor to it's success in Japan? The narrative for months in Media Create threads has been that home consoles are a dying breed in Japan and across GAF, I keep seeing people refer to the Switch as the 3DS successor.
The Switch is a handheld and it is also a home console. The price is ludicrous for a home console with those specifications as well, but it sells well because it's a desirable product. The 3DS didn't sell well at the price it launched at because it didn't have a hook like that. Technology wise, compared to the Wii and DS, it was an incredibly iterative and boring console that with price correction and fantastic software support, managed to end up selling a respectable number of units.
This is a useless statement. It's not above the 3DS. That's all there is to it.
Lyon N. Laap
Member
I really don't see the point of this distinction here. It's still being marketed as a home console with the added benefit of portable play, not the other way around. It's the price of a home console, and the games you buy for it are home console prices. The games themselves, such as 3D Zelda and Splatoon, are historically home console games.
So it's got the price, the games, and the functionality of a home console, and is no doubt competing with the PS4 for Japanese wallets. It just has an additional function that gives it a unique niche between other consoles in that you can bring it around with you. Like, would you not compare the PS2 to the GameCube because the former was also a DVD player?
And like it's been said, there's some serious revisionism going on in this thread. The success of the Switch was certainly far from a certain conclusion, especially on forums like this one following the show in January. If my math is right, a little over half of the members that took the poll in that thread expected a GameCube level of success at best (~44% if you take the theme park option as a joke only). Nothing was "obvious", especially considering the price, launch games, and the marketing direction as a home console.
At the price it has, it's still racing to keep within distance of the 3DS post launch, while staying above the original launch price of the latter with more expensive games.
Nintendo went with an idea that it felt would appeal to both Western and Japanese interests, and clearly succeeded. Sony has so far failed to curry the same fervor in the Japanese market, but that's ok. Their western sales more than make up for it. So there's no need for the narrative that because the Switch can be a portable it was destined to succeed in a market where mobile phone games have long been portended to signal the doom of portable consoles.
Really? I don't find it that strange, especially since revisionism is also a relatively common term in the field of history, where revisionism can be a (not necessarily fairly) negatively label applied to people attempting to distort views of the past. Which would work here.
Switch is also severely supply constrained. It would clearly be well above the 3DS if it wasn't.
Jawbreaker
Member
No surprises there. I'd be absolutely shocked if a Nintendo handheld wasn't selling better than a home console in Japan. That's not to take away from the success of the Switch it is indeed selling all the units Nintendo can make currently.
Jaded Alyx
Member
Not really. Switch is not far off 3DS, even after the deep price cut despite a huge shortage of stock.
Switch will outsell Wii in Japan with ease.
We are supposed to act like these threads are somehow abnormal for gaf and act like we didn't do the exact same things for PS4 when it sold well shortly after release.
Good. Here's hoping we'll hear about those soon enough.
how is that a usesles statement?? what the hell
Fair. English is not my native tongue so I usually derive my vocabulary from ways in which I have seen words used, sometimes in this very forum. Point taken ;P
It's a reality and a fact that home consoles are dead and Japan prefers handhelds/mobile.
Switch's portability will always be a huge factor in it's success and domination in Japan.
he is not saying that you are using it wrong, i think that he is saying that is funny that a word practically reserved for political matters is widely used in gaming matters
Japan is a handheld dominant country. The Switch is a hybrid console. It's replacing the WiiU and the 3DS's combined user base and some how people are shocked that combining two user bases means it's outselling the PS4 in Japan for the first 26 weeks? I'm shocked at this occurrence. /Sarcasm
Boy Wander
Member
I've been in Japan for 2 weeks and I haven't seen a single DS or Switch in the wild. I've used public transport extensively and everyone is on their phones. I'm wondering if this portability thing is overplayed a little and people are actually using it at home.
Jawbreaker
Member
That's why I made the distinction in my post. NINTENDO handheld, hah.
MatrixMan.EXE
Member
"If X product wasn't supply constrained it could be selling better than Y". Well yeah, it could be selling better than the PS2 for all we know, but we have no way of knowing because...well, it isn't.
All that statement says is that the console would be selling better if Nintendo sorted out the manufacturing issues, which is just common sense. How much better is anyone's guess though.
It's a NINTENDO handheld that in it's first few months on the market has already had a Mario Kart game, Monster Hunter and Splatoon 2. Compare that to the conditions in which the PS4 launched and it's not really surprising that the Switch is doing better. It was to be expected. The bigger story would be if it wasn't failing to outpace the PS4, especially with it's USP and such a good first year software line up. I stand by my opinion that this is the best first year a console I've ever owned has had. Nothing comes close.
DeuceGamer
Member
It would be very interesting to see the Switch numbers if Nintendo could produce as many units as they could to meet demand.
It's not a useless statement. A lot of people seem to forget how supply constrained it is and I think it's a very fair point to mention that. Despite it being heavily supply constrained it's still close to the 3DS which merits a mention.
Actually we had a prediction league at the start of the year for Hardware and Software and the current results are surprising to a lot of people who regularly take part in the Japan Sales threads:
MCGAF PREDICTION LEAGUE YEAR 2017(Switch and Splatoon 2 Edition)
11 predictions for Switch doing less than 2.1 million in 2017
5 predictions for Switch doing more than 3.5 million in 2017
20 predictions for Splatoon 2 doing less than 1.6 million in 2017
3 predictions for Splatoon 2 doing more than 2.4 million in 2017
The Average among the 32 is 2.75 million for the Switch
The Average among the 32 is 1.47 million for the Splatoon 2
Pretty much people expecting an attach rate of around 50% for the biggest game coming out on the Switch during it's first year on the market.
More people were expecting Switch to perform like a console and only a few expected it to perform like a succesful handheld.
The arbitrary boundary below 2.1 million is simply a figure under which Switch sales would be closer to an unsuccessful Nintendo device, while 3.5 million and above is closer to a successful Nintendo device.
Which speaks to around half of the users thinking it would perform somewhere in the middle and making a safe prediction.
I highlight Splatoon 2 since it's the major driver behind the Switch sales in Japan with it's absurd 65% attach rate when counting only physical sales. Majority of people underestimated it's impact - even as I said many times that if 3DS had a game with a similar caliber launching in it's first 6 months it would have never needed a price cut.
Right now it's pretty much guaranteed that the Switch will sell over 3.5 million in Japan which is barely 15% of predictions in the Media Create annual prediction league.
SanguineShark
Member
So many butthurt Sony fans in this thread, yeesh.
Good for Nintendo. PS4 being a success everywhere else and the Switch being the new hotness is really doing great things for the industry.
Good for Nintendo. PS4 being a success everywhere else and the Switch being the new hotness is really doing great things for the industry.
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