I mean to test the market for these kind of games, as I'd doubt they'd stick around if many of these cratered now that there's "exit strageties" unless they're really driven like Experience or they're betting with Sony and Nintendo money.
Kotaku says it's the worst sales since 2001, am I missing something?
http://kotaku.com/the-worst-japanese-sales-week-in-a-long-time-1706242144
Media Create said:例年ゴールデンウィーク後の市場は低調となるが、今年のソフト市場は前週から約4割落ち込んでおり、2001年~2015年で最低の販売本数となった。
The most shocking is that we will continue to see strong levels of denial on a lot ot topics here on Gaf. People refuse to acknowledge that the world is changing.
Oh, so as in a last attempt at reaching out to a dedicated game hardware audience? I guess it can be seen like that. But at the same time, not really, because there are a number of Japanese developed, upcoming games that we can already tell will be a success. Until those predictable successes stop being a thing, it doesn't seem like a "last stand" scenario to me.
If ya looked at Satellite Of Love's link, the reason why Japan is catering to the super weird subculture the rest of Japan tries to ignore is because that super weird subculture is the only one that's actually still spending money in Japan. Of course, Japan would cater to the fanservice, loli-crap, and highschool fetishism crowd if that's the only crowd actually spending money on shit.
Required reading for those who ain't yet.
That lux tax has had its pound of flesh as well.
And it'll grow again 2017!
But those Easter sales!
The only hope is that Japanese developers don't get too hurt because of it.Japan* is changing.
Yes, that is indeed what the Media Create link in the OP says:
Japan* is changing.
And.. And what? And what!?!?There was actually a massive heatwave and
Huh. This doesn't bode well for the industry as a whole, right?
The major developers will turn over to kickstarter and their inception into PC gaming. Its already happening as it is. Mighty No. 9, Bloodstained, Yooka-Laylee...the legends no longer have a place in AAA publishing their home is now in the hands of independent publishing.
The most shocking is that we will continue to see strong levels of denial on a lot ot topics here on Gaf. People refuse to acknowledge that the world is changing.
China and Korea make terrible games that are like Faux-Japanese titles. I have never found a game from those countries that were actually good.
japan has been a pretty good indicator of where the industry goes for pretty much the last three decades.
nes, game boy and snes, game boy color and playstation, game boy advance and playstation 2, ds and wii, and now mobile and some 3ds.
you see they're not crazy. they're just ahead of the curve.
This is not true for DS & Wii, more for 20th century consoles. Hardware doesn't really get released in JPN first anymore. Also, you left out Japan's indication of the PS4 being a runaway success. I know you schtick, just felt like getting drawn in this time.
Just look at fucking Sakaguchi, he's peddling some mobile shit. Japan is slowly dying. It's okay though, you can always go back and play games you missed the first time.
you know all those games are going to be on consoles as well.
The Japanese would have more reason to buy home consoles if the majority of them cared to play Western games, but they don't. Thus the libraries of consoles in Japan look severly lacking in comparison to handhelds. Most of the Japanese who buy Western games or Xbox Ones are either doing it out of curiosity, collection purposes, or because they are legitimate fans of it, which is pretty rare. When I visited Japan, I was surprised to see Call of Duty on the shelf at all, though I only ever saw one copy. Japanese games were much more prominent.
I won't deny that I'm no expert, I was just basing it more off personal experience heh but the trend does continue to lean towards mobile in Japan, and Western devs are not developing mobile games at the same rate as Japanese ones due to the stigma of most mobile games outside of Japan being F2P copycats of each other worth little value. I still don't think these are dark times for the industry, it's not like a full-blown crash has happened.It kind of sounds like you're understating the consumer base for Western games in Japan. Call of Duty sells well over there (Square Enix publishes those games for a reason) and Grand Theft Auto is a popular series in Japan, with GTAV having sold over a million copies.
For the rest, it's just like how the Western market is more inclined towards Western games than Japanese ones. The difference is that the former market is much larger than the one in Japan.
This isn't unit sales like the OP, but the annual revenue chart should generally get at what you're asking:
I disagree. Japan doesn't really make up a significant amount of sales, and consoles are still doing well in other areas. Japan's a weird place.Huh. This doesn't bode well for the industry as a whole, right?
I disagree. Japan doesn't really make up a significant amount of sales, and consoles are still doing well in other areas. Japan's a weird place.
I wish there wasn't so much pressure on games to have amazing graphics/budget. Most Japanse devs just don't have the budget to compete with Western devs and it's killing them. I don't care if a game doesn't push the hardware, as long as it is good. FFXIII was the exact opposite of what I wanted after XII. Better graphics and less interesting everything else.
I like the bold anime style of Persona 5 even more than the hyper realism. FFXV looks great, but I won't care how nice it looks if it is mostly a linear flashy cimematic-fest like XIII (not saying it will be).
Heck I was amazed with how nice KH2.5 still looks which is just upscaled PS2. Why can't they just settle for a lower graphical quality if console gaming is getting too expensive?
holy shit what a read. I wanted to copy paste so many lines because they so perfectly apply to this situation.
Currently, however, the most conspicuous Japanese culture of otaku and yankii represents value sets with little connection to affluent consumers elsewhere. Most men around the world are not wracked by such deep status insecurity that they want to live in a world where chesty two-dimensional 12 year-old girls grovel at their feet and call them big brother.
damn damn damnJapanese companies now face a true crisis: Appealing to the most powerful consumers in Japan will lead them away from tastes and values that can be easily exported overseas.
Hopefully Sony and The last guardian at next E3 will save japanese market.
holy shit what a read. I wanted to copy paste so many lines because they so perfectly apply to this situation.
damn damn damn
Retreating into domestic tastes and betting on the moe pachislot market on GREE and other JP only platforms might be a short term solution for survival, but could spell global irrelevance in the long term.
Japan* is changing.