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[ProfessorMoran]

I know this was posted in the Sales-Age thread here:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=783213

But there are many that avoid those threads and thus don't see what is going on. I think it is worthy of its own thread. Two weeks ago (week 2 since launch), PS4 sold 66K units in Japan in Media Create. Last week (week 3 since launch), it sold 35K.

It is tracking behind the WiiU when launch-aligned (and the gap is growing larger). Supply is there. Supply isn't a real issue.

Is there anything somebody can do in Japan to revive home consoles? They're dead. WiiU? Gone. The XBox One won't do anything. The PS4 was its only chance this year and is approaching sub-20K levels.

This is going to be a very large generation over generation decline for all involved if this trend holds. 3rd parties are switching to mobile.

I repeat, is there anything somebody can do in Japan to revive home consoles?

Hardware won't sell without games.

There are no games because fucking Japanese developers won't release any games on new consoles. They're slow to get onboard and that impacts the overall userbase when they do eventually release something.

 

[Aizu_Itsuko]

Release games for the system that appeal to japanese gamers?

To be honest, it feels like a lot of developers got caught unprepared for this new gen and everything keeps getting delayed. Maybe Sony/MS should have given devs/publishers some extra prep time. Most of the games we are seeing are cross-gen or seem unfinished/rushed (even more than usual).

 

[Darknight]

I wish I could slap the OP for posting such a goofy thread.

Seriously? Do you live under a rock? The lack of Japanese centric games should be obvious. Also mobile is on the rise on Japan. Like cmon. Everyone knows this.

Lets keep the doom threads away from current gen for atleast another year please.

 

[Sammy Samusu]

Put a dragon quest or monster hunter on the system and watch it start to sell like hot cakes.

I see you tryna act sleek.

 

[SniperHunter]

now it will remain dead until Final Fantasy XV launches. Who didn't see this coming? Honestly

 

[Cow Mengde]

Wait till Japan gets a look at Killzone at 1080p.

 

[SneakyStephan]

Banning cellphones might do the trick.

yeah cos you can take a ps4 on the bus and phone games totally aren't all guttertrash
they totally share the same niche

/s in case it wasn't obvious

 

[Neff]

You can sell better a console on a promise in the west, on one game alone in Japan. My guess.

Pretty much. The West is buying PS4 because 'it has a future'. Japan will buy PS4 when that future happens.

Lets keep the doom threads away from current gen for atleast another year please.

Proclaiming doom for the industry, corporations or hardware is alarmist, futile and extremely remote even in worst case scenarios.

But there's no harm at all in discussing changing trends rationally, as many are doing here.

 

[Terrell]

I'd say the difficulty of developing for Cell and the explosion of AAA budgets is what hurt Japan developers the most. Japan was home to a lot of AA devs and most of them didn't make it.

And who set that tone, as well? Sony wasn't exactly encouraging a mid-tier game lineup with its own output for the first several years, nor by getting gamers whipped into a lather about their systems' difficult-to-achieve graphics output. If you weren't an indie or it wasn't AAA-worthy, Sony and Microsoft didn't seem to care.

 

[Hyunashi]

Square will save Sony. The PS3 is where all the action is still at imo.

 

[braves01]

Is there a chalkboard yet?

 

[Mandoric]

You can sell better a console on a promise in the west, on one game alone in Japan. My guess.

The reason for that, and the trap of tentpoling, is that your $400 console bought for one game will net you $350 in trade-in credit in Japan. If you sell your box on one game, it will be sold after that one game.

Promise is what gets people to -keep- it, and I don't think it's hard to see that the system will show more promise in Japan once more midranged titles either move an existing fanbase there or begin to build a new one.

 

[botty]

Square* will save Sony. The PS3 is where all the action is still at imo.

Nomura and his team*

The only two Square games Japan cares about are under Nomura's eye, and I think it's important that we give specific credit where it will inevitably be due.

 

[Snakeyes]

And who set that tone, as well? Sony wasn't exactly encouraging a mid-tier game lineup with its own output for the first several years, nor by getting gamers whipped into a lather about their systems' difficult-to-achieve graphics output. If you weren't an indie or it wasn't AAA-worthy, Sony and Microsoft didn't seem to care.

Not to mention the PS2 was notoriously difficult to program for when compared to the PS1. By the time most mid-tier-and-lower studios were comfortable with the hardware, Sony were pushing the even worse PS3. It's no wonder a lot of them decided to maximize their hard-earned PS2 assets on PSP or make games for the popular, dev-friendly DS and delay their shift to the last gen.

 

[Rozart]

I'm just crushed because right now I'm looking at a possible future where (insert well-worn established franchise here) would be the /only/ Japanese developed games we'll get. No Folklores or Alundras or Okamis or Bayonettas.There's something tragic when you look at that huge, gaping gulf and absence of Japanese games in the console space. Just ughhh. There's only so much WRPGs, platformers and action-adventure games I can play.

 

[BY2K]

You try launching a console with no games to attract the Japanese audience.

I mean, what did it have, Dynasty Warriors?

 

[Impeccable]

Is there a chalkboard yet?

You don't understand how that works.

 

[Mozz-eyes]

I work at a junior high over here and even the rich kids won't buy a system until it has games they want to play.

Most of the kids who like games have a ps3, I met one kid out of hundreds who has a vita, and the rest is a 60:40 split of 3ds to PSP.

However, every single one has a smartphone of some description and plays puzzle dragons Z.

A surprising amount play Black Ops 2 on PS3 though. Obviously no-one likes doge. Or 犬-e

...

 

[Vane_MagicCity]

I work at a junior high over here and even the rich kids won't buy a system until it has games they want to play.

Smart shoppers. Out of curiosity, do they pre-order alot of games over there?

 

[Snakeyes]

You try launching a console with no games to attract the Japanese audience.

I mean, what did it have, Dynasty Warriors?

Weren't the Musou games some of the PS2's most consistent million sellers though?

 

[Mik2121]

Working at a game company here. The amount of people without a PS4 is astounding... many of them want to wait until some more interesting games are released. So yeah, lack of interesting games is doing a lot.


Oh, and while this isn't all that important, a few of my coworkers said they're waiting for MGS:GZ to release so they at least have that to play. Release date is next week, so let's see what happens.

 

[Road]

Seems like a lot of people completely ignore context. There's a difference between 3 weeks of the holiday season and 3 weeks in February/March.

Ok, let's compare it with systems released in February/March:

PS2		GBA		3DS		PS4
630,552		611,504		371,326		322,083
154,245		323,686		206,087		 52,697
 71,760		197,421		104,412		 30,766

856,557	      1,132,611		681,825		405,546

Why do you think the PS4 has the worst showing of them all?

 

[Mozz-eyes]

Smart shoppers. Out of curiosity, do they pre-order alot of games over there?

The kids don't because, well, they're kids and don't have disposable income.

There's a lot of pre-order slips at my local media store, but another bigger dept store doesn't even stock ps4 yet.

I think a lot of people do pre-order though. But only adults really. The kids seem amazed that I have a ps4 but they don't know about any of the games I play on it. One kid knew killzone but said he preferred call of duty. Battlefield is pretty unpopular too.

 

[Wellscha]

blame Kutaragi.

 

[Principate]

I'm just crushed because right now I'm looking at a possible future where (insert well-worn established franchise here) would be the /only/ Japanese developed games we'll get. No Folklores or Alundras or Okamis or Bayonettas.There's something tragic when you look at that huge, gaping gulf and absence of Japanese games in the console space. Just ughhh. There's only so much WRPGs, platformers and action-adventure games I can play.

Don't worry Korean copy mmo's will fill your void (maybe Chinese too).. yeah....

 

[boyshine]

And yet, Knack outsold 3DW in the UK.

This is from my store, I can't share numbers. One of the largest stores in Europe, both in SW and HW sales.

For the entire month of december SM3DW was #3, only behind GT6 and FIFA14 (PS3).

Where is this Knack>SM3DW info from? SM3DW and Knack released the same day in Europe (29/11). I know UK is very different from the rest of Europe, but it can't be this much different.

 

[Grief.exe]

Maybe the Japanese are just good consumers? There is really no reason to own either of the next-gen consoles right now.

 

[Uncle Rupee]

The Wii U also recently surpassed the LTD sales of the Xbox 360. Think about that.

 

[Omnistalgic]

The WiiU was launched in the holiday.

I'm guessing you have no idea of the existence of a console called a PS3. It had a bad first year and went on to sell 10 million.

...sensationist op...can ps4 at least get the 6 months to a year before we do doom articles...what the heck reason is there for fans to even pick it up? An up res YAkuza?

 

[keltickennedy]

Is it strange for me to say that I'm glad about the sales figures? Because now this may make Sega release Yakuza over in the states again because of the bigger install base? lol.

 

[Fbh]

Honestly this isn't surprising.

The console is lacking games in the west but for the japanese market it truly has almost nothing. Yakuza 5 and ....????
The western market might go buy one for online shooters like Killzone and Battlefield, games like infamous, Watch Dogs, Need for Speed, Destiny, assassins cred, etc.

But japanese gamers tend to like japanese games and the console offers almost nothing in that regard.

Not to mention that every single exclusive the console announced until now seems to be aimed at the western market (infamous, killzone, knack, the order, uncharted 4, etc).


I'm guessing once we see some big JRPG like FFXV and KH comming out there might be boost in sales in japan.



It's a shame really. Now I don't have any hopes of seeing non-square JRPG on ps4 at all

 

[Pikma]

VR? FF15/KH3? Maybe not.

Enjoy your 3DS and App store games I suppose.

And I'm pretty sure the victim is Japan.

Nah they're not missing anything, plus when the day comes the people interested will get one for the games they want and that's it.

 

[Ivory Samoan]

I don't see this as a problem... I don't live in Japan and sales are just fine everywhere else.
Let them have their mobile games and quirky stuff, all good with me.

 

[Augemitbutter]

"victim" is just wrong. probably has been said a thousand times already, but you have to launch japanese exclusives to attract a more mainstream audience. cross-gen stuff and western games won't do.

come back in 2 years and ask again.

 

[Exile20]

Ok, let's compare it with systems released in February/March:

PS2		GBA		3DS		PS4
630,552		611,504		371,326		322,083
154,245		323,686		206,087		 52,697
 71,760		197,421		104,412		 30,766

856,557	      1,132,611		681,825		405,546

Why do you think the PS4 has the worst showing of them all?

Damn this puts thing in perspective. Thanks for the post.

 

[1.21Gigawatts]

I actually don't think the Ps4 is in trouble in japan.
The line up they have is comparable to the Ps4 launching with nothing but japanese dating sims in the west. No wonder nobody buys it. Western games don't do much in japan and there aren't many japanese titles yet.

But they will come and the Ps4 will sell in japan.
That said, I think the home console market will shrink significantly in japan.
Last gen Ps3, Wii and Xbox360 sold nearly 25mil units combined in japan. This gen I hardly see them reaching 15mil.

 

[Maxrunner]

And yet, Knack outsold 3DW in the UK.

Bad taste is bad.

 

[Oersted]

The reason for that, and the trap of tentpoling, is that your $400 console bought for one game will net you $350 in trade-in credit in Japan. If you sell your box on one game, it will be sold after that one game.

Promise is what gets people to -keep- it, and I don't think it's hard to see that the system will show more promise in Japan once more midranged titles either move an existing fanbase there or begin to build a new one.

The potential problem with the promise is of course that neither quality nor quantity is guaranteed. Knack followed The Last of Us.

 

[Kintaro]

I honestly don't think anything outside of launching with Final Fantasy is going to pop PS4 numbers and sustain them. I only say FF because XIII was the PS3's only million+ seller. There's nothing pushing home consoles in that country right now. The only big software sellers are on portable systems. Bringing said games to consoles would only mess up why those games are million sellers in the first place.

For the most part, they have moved on.

 

[keisuke999]

Same issue as with Wii U, actually, only less.

The PS4 doesn't have games that really appeal to most Japanese gamers. I mean, Assassin's Creed and Shooters do alright in Japan, but not the numbers that you see in other places.

When FF15 comes out, though, we'll see numbers rise a fair amount.

I haven't bought a PS4 for that exact reason: Don't care for Resogun, Knack, AC, or really any game available right now.

Give me FF15, KH3, and so on, and now we're talking.

Also, considering that the Vita is starting to really take off in Japan, with more JRPGs and what not being made, people are probably going more towards that than the PS4.

The next tales game - PS3, the next Person - PS3... no reason to switch yet.

 

[L00P]

mobile too stronk pls nerf

 

[Ludicrous Speed]

The Wii U also debuted just before the holiday season in Japan....

Good point. We'll should probably wait a few months to see how bad the PS4 really is doing.

 

[The Silver]

It's time to hit the big red button.

Sony announces Dragon Quest, Monster Hunter, and IdolMaster sequels exclusive to PS4, Japanese console industry saved.

 

[grumble]

No content, no sales. Frankly the quality of te content for japan on the ps3 wasn't exactly spectacular either compared to the ps2.

 

[Anticitizen One]

This thread is way waaayyyy too premature. Let's look at the facts:

Japan has become a soft market for video games

PS4 is being launched at a very odd time of year with an extremely lackluster lineup of games

Many Japanese people probably feel the PS4 is too expensive. Remember the PS2 launched at $300 in a very strong economy. The ps4 is launching at a higher price at a time when Japan's economy is weak.

Despite all that PS4 had a pretty darn good initial launch that will ensure they remain a viable platform in Japan going forward. IMO, we shouldn't be making claims like "Japan claims another" until at least December.

 

[Biker19]

Same issue as with Wii U, actually, only less.

The PS4 doesn't have games that really appeal to most Japanese gamers. I mean, Assassin's Creed and Shooters do alright in Japan, but not the numbers that you see in other places.

When FF15 comes out, though, we'll see numbers rise a fair amount.

I haven't bought a PS4 for that exact reason: Don't care for Resogun, Knack, AC, or really any game available right now.

Give me FF15, KH3, and so on, and now we're talking.

Also, considering that the Vita is starting to really take off in Japan, with more JRPGs and what not being made, people are probably going more towards that than the PS4.

The next tales game - PS3, the next Person - PS3... no reason to switch yet.

I agree. Sony & Japanese 3rd party publishers needs to get on the ball & actually put out games on the system with games that the Japanese audience cares about. Western 3rd party games won't do squat, especially when that audience doesn't care about FPS's, TPS's, or Sports games. Cross Gen titles won't do it, either. There needs to be games mainly for PS4 & not also for PS3 or PS Vita.

 

[benny_a]

Where is this Knack>SM3DW info from? SM3DW and Knack released the same day in Europe (29/11). I know UK is very different from the rest of Europe, but it can't be this much different.

From the weekly UK sales thread over the last few months.

 

[jamiept]

That's because the PS4 has

Spoiler

no games

Spoiler

for Japan

How anyone thought it would sell anything is beyond me.

Ask Sony. They chose to release with very few games (yes, it does have some games). It is not like the XO was a major threat to them.

 

[Gxgear]

Now that the new console hype is over in Japan, the PS4 is going to need a game that appeals to the region. Infamous is probably not going to cut it.

 

[Doran902]

Maybe Japan is just smart and they don't buy systems that have no games they are interested in playing.

I haven't used my ps4 in months. (no interest in online shooters doesnt help)