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PlayStation brand ‘is in decisive decline in Japan’, research firm claims

noshten

Member
That original chart leads me to believe that it isn't the Sony brand but consoles in general that are slowly but surely being replaced by other forms of entertainment with the Japanese. I bet you can find a related chart that shows mobile gaming skyrocketing.

The dream of living room consumer electronics convergence died with the living room itself, folks.

Some of the biggest games on the Switch in Japan like Ring Fit Adventure, Splatoon 2, Momotaro require you to play them in your living room.
Its not about the form factor but rather a combination of the price, size, and most importantly software. Sony has been unable to maintain sales of big 1st Party franchises like Gran Turismo, Hot Shots Golf/Tennis, Ape Escape, Ratchet & Clank, Boku no Natsuyasumi which all sold above 500K on the PS2, while from a first-party perspective the only new IP in recent years likely to sell more than 500K is Ghost of Tsushima. They have also been publishing very few Japanese Exclusives since the PS4 launched.
Overall the PS3 was the last time they were trying on the Japanese market from a 1st and 2nd party perspective.
 
Nintendo: 338,81 m home consoles (353,81 m with color tv game + nes/snes mini)

Color TV Game 6/15 (with Mitsubishi): 2 m
NES: 61,91 m
SNES: 49,1 m
N64: 32,93 m
GC: 21,74 m
Wii: 101, 63 m
WiiU: 13,56 m
NSW (docked): 57,93 m (september 30)
Nes Classic Mini + SNES Classic Mini: more 13 m (december 2018)

Nintendo: 441,29 m portable consoles (484,69 m with G&W)

Game & Watch: 43,4 m
GB + Color: 118,69 m
Virtual Boy: 0,77 m
GBA: 81,51 m
NDS: 154,02 m
3DS: 75,94 m
NSW Lite: 10,36 m (september 30)

TOTAL: 780,1 m (838,5 m with others)
 
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An absolute joke. I am living here in Japan and I tried nearly anything to get my hands on a PS5 and it is just impossible. Once there is stock at Amazon or Rakuten it automatically gets bought by some bots. Shops doing forgeries to decide who will get one, but mostly in these lotteries your chances are 1/50 or even much worse.

The only way for people to get it is to buy it from some scalpers and I can see on the marketplaces that it still sells around 400 USD above the market price.

The reason for the low numbers is that Sony turned their back on their home country (Shame on them) and turn their attention to the other markets. Sure I agree the potential is higher in America and the USA because mobile gaming is so big here, because of the long commuting times in trains, but this is no excuse for Sony to turn their back on Japan.

So this so called analyst has absolutely no idea about anything.
 

Fbh

Member
Is this surprising?

Japan has been moving away from home consoles for years. Mobile and Handheld are king there and Playstation currently has little to no presence in either of those markets.
Sony in general has also been focusing way more on the western market. They'll pay for timed exclusive japanese games like FFXVI and they are still the default home console for third party devs. But almost all their big first party studios are western devs making games for western audiences.
 

Jigsaah

Gold Member

The PlayStation brand has been called “in decisive decline” in Japan, as PS5 reportedly recorded “by far the lowest” launch sales of any Sony home console in the region.

Citing Famitsu sales data in an article published on GamesIndustry.biz Japan, Ace Economic Research Institute analyst Hideki Yasuda said PS5 sold some 240,000 units in Japan in its first six weeks of availability – less than every other PlayStation console during the same timeframe, barring PSP.

Yasuda claimed that the figures showed that “Sony is not taking Japan seriously” and that the PlayStation brand “is in decisive decline” in the company’s home country.

“Total sales of 240,000 are by far the lowest in the history of PlayStation home consoles,” the analyst wrote. “If this were to continue, lifetime sales of PS5 would perhaps end up at less than half of PS4.”

He added: “Based on this graph, can one really sense that Sony (SIE) has plans for success in the Japanese market? ACE Economic Research Institute cannot see it.”

PS4 has sold fewer than 10 million units in Japan, according to Famitsu.

001-1-768x457.jpg
Yea ok, Bob.
 

Jigsaah

Gold Member
Not just gamers, but people in general, the picture below sums up 95% of the japanese population, they are fascinated by three things: BIG BOOBS, SCHOOL GIRLS and UPSKIRTS!!!

vgGjcQQ.jpg
I am not Japanese. I'll admit at least big boobs and upskirts warrant at least some interest. They can keep the school girls...
 
I just can't care anymore about FF. It used to be a top notch game back in the 90's. Nowadays it is just a generic Action RPG.

Yet, FFXVI alone is just to little to say that Sony cares about Japan.
Me too. But this time they have a great director and a good story writer, with a more mature story focus.
 

MagnesG

Banned
Me too. But this time they have a great director and a good story writer, with a more mature story focus.
It's not just about FF15.

The whole FFXIII saga
FFXIV fucking up once.

This is not just one hit disaster like CP2077, it's been a long time coming I'm not sure there's actually much faith they could deliver well. Even the hyped FF7 Remake would fix that.
 
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Kokoloko85

Member
Considering the low stock its hard to say.

I dont think its as bad as it says, but Sony is losing alot of Japanese talent and opportunities in Japan. They need to sort it out.

Saying that I dont think the console sales in Japan are telling the full story, Im sure it would sell well if they had consoles to sell....
 

Kokoloko85

Member
Didn't know you could be the king with 200 million less system sales, not even a fraction of the software sales, or the same universe of critical acclaim and influence, being an almost non-factor in your hometown, and having other companies do all the heavy lifting for you on your own systems!

But you really showed me!

Oh I'll definitely have fun with a company that has a 35+ year legacy of making the greatest and best selling games of all time!

Have fun with Madden 🤣

And them's the facts!

Ps. 2 Portable Systems and only 90 Million Sold? 🤣

I think your celebrating too early About the PS5

PS5 Sold out in Japan and had no other units to sell, havent you seen the news about lack of units worldwide?

And comparing Nintendo and Playstation sales is weird and pretty dumb. What are you trying to prove?

Nintendo has sold a minimum of 12 gaming Devices, 6-7 Consoles ) Nes, Snes, N64, Gamecube, Wii, Wii U, Switch/ and 5-6 handhelds Gameboy, Gameboy Colour, GBA, DS, 3DS and Sony has sold 5 consoles and 2 portables a total of 7 main gaming devices. PS1-5, PSP, PSVita.

One of those portables ( PSP ) sold more than 3DS.... and all the Playstation consoles outsold Nintendn Consoles apart from PS3/Wii.

Nintendo has only outsold 1 Playstation console with the Wii which was the PS3. :messenger_grinning_squinting:

With plenty of console disasters like the Gamecube, Wii U and N64. I mean they didnt even sell 90million all 3 combined??:messenger_grinning_squinting:

Even though I love those consoles ( N64, Gamecube and Wii U ) and the games on there, I really dont see what your bragging about...?

Its really preference of what games you prefer. Yes Nintendo sells alot more games like Mario Kart, Zelda BOTW and Animal Crossing ( I lvoe them all ) but Playstation is no slouch in sales and also releasing many game of the year titles since 2009 like God of War, Uncharted 2, Bloodborne, Last of Us etc. Im not playing Madden lol
 
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assurdum

Banned
The hell we can name playstation decline the (sad and ineluctable) fate of the home consoles in Japan? Even the Wii U failed miserably and we are talking of Nintendo eh.
 
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Perrott

Gold Member
It's not just about FF15.

The whole FFXIII saga
FFXIV fucking up once.


This is not just one hit disaster like CP2077, it's been a long time coming I'm not sure there's actually much faith they could deliver well. Even the hyped FF7 Remake would fix that.
All of them fuckups from a decade ago and perpetuated by other teams/project leads. Those are not solid reasons to not have faith in FFXVI.
 

Woopah

Member
At the moment the issue is Sony providing a very low number of consoles. Low supply will the cause of low sales for the next 2 months and after that the issue will be low demand (at least going by the current release slate).
 

Great Hair

Banned

Data from nintendo

Hardware (12 platforms) since 1983 (37 years)
780 million total
21 million sold units per year
avg. 65 million units per platform

Software (12 platforms) since 1983 (37 years)
5,000 million (5 billion)
135 million titles per year
avg. 416 million titles per platform

Sony data since 1994 (26 years, partially outdated)
Hardware (6* platforms, PS5 excl.) since 1994 (26 years)
545 million total
20.9 million sold units per year
avg. 78 million units per platform
avg. 91* million units per platform (PS5 excl.)

Software (6* platforms, PS5 excl.) since 1994 (26 years)
4,928 million (<5 billion)
189 million titles per year
avg. 821* million titles per platform (prev. 704mln with PS5 incl.)

Software Tie Ratio
Sony avg. 9:1 (across 6 devices)
Nintendo avg. 6.5 to 7:1 (across 12 devices, can not find any data for virtual boy)

In conclusion:
Virtual Boy is not listed on Nintendo, No refreshes like slim, no classics console are incl.

Nintendo
+31% more sold hardware units, due +42% more platforms released
-17% less on avg. sold Nintendo units than Sony (per platform released) old
-28.5% less on avg. sold Nintendo units than Sony (PS5 excl.)
-49% (*error corrected, not 41%) less on avg. sold Nintendo/games than Sony (per platform released)

It took Sony 30% less time, 11 years and close to half the platforms released than Nintendo to achieve Nintendo´s numbers.

EDIT
comparison with data since 1994

Consoles released
Nintendo platforms released 9
Sony platforms released 6 (+1 PS5 but too soon)

Hardware sold
Nintendo sold units 550 million (9 devices), avg. 61 million per platform
Sony sold units 545 million (6 devices), avg. 91 million per platform +33%

Software sold

Nintendo sold software 3,626 million (3.6 bln, 9 devices), avg. 403 million
Sony sold software 4,928 million (<5bln, 6 devices), avg. 821 million +51%
 
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ShirAhava

Plays with kids toys, in the adult gaming world
This 'japan is moving away from home consoles myth' is so stupid it makes my head hurt

Prior generation consoles sales don't support that at all and as for the current situation

Nintendo doesn't have a tradtional home console on the market

XBOX has never been a factor in Japan

and Sony moved HQ to US and has been pushing anti-Japan everything since 2016

Japan isn't moving away from playstation, playstation is moving away from japan

also they never should have killed the vita while it was still popluar there and started censoring for no real reason

From a Japanese gamer or US fan of Japanese games persepective Playstation sucks now and it moving away from what made them great in the first place

The PS5 is basically this dude

c07.png
 
japanese don't want SJWesterners crap

they only want to dress up as their dream 2D anime galfriends and hack'n'slash countless animals with their big, large, empowered katana
 
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MagnesG

Banned
All of them fuckups from a decade ago and perpetuated by other teams/project leads. Those are not solid reasons to not have faith in FFXVI.
Not from a decade ago if FFXV was only released in 2016. We'll see how it goes for FFXVI.
 

uncleslappy

nethack is my favorite dark souls clone
I remember that XBOX had a hard time getting a foothold in that market early on and one of the reasons cited was the size of their console since most Japanese families have much smaller homes/apartments that US/EU consumers. The PS5 is the biggest console in recent years, could definitely have something to do with it.
 

Mabdia

Member
Me too. But this time they have a great director and a good story writer, with a more mature story focus.

If they manage to get a good story and a good direction, that would be really good. But then we still have the battle system. I just want something more like Final Fantasy and Persona. Not a big fan of a hack'n'slash with Final Fantasy legacy monsters.

Played the demo for FFVII Remake and it was boring as a ant Fuck.

That being said, I really hate Dragon Quest, but loved it when I get the demo. If the one with orchestral music and Japanese dubs have a physical copy, gonna try to get it.

Oh, the reason why I hate DQ is the same that makes me bate Persona. The silent protagonist. To me it breaks my immersion in a game and in it's story (Funny enough, I really love Chrono Trigger/Cross).

It's not just about FF15.

The whole FFXIII saga
FFXIV fucking up once.

This is not just one hit disaster like CP2077, it's been a long time coming I'm not sure there's actually much faith they could deliver well. Even the hyped FF7 Remake would fix that.


To me the worst part is that XIII 1, 2 and 3 are better than the PS4 's games. And that is really sad. Because in general, they sucks.
 

x@3f*oo_e!

Member
In other news Toyota making big money in Rest_of_World selling pickups and hybrid vehicles, meanwhile in Japan Kei Cars and Kei Trucks are hugely popular ..

Sony is an exporter, doing god's work for Economy Deficit of Japan
 
Two americans arguing over the succes of 2 Japanese companies, after their jobs have been outsourced to China.

heroes tj dillashaw GIF
1950s-1990s: USA goooooood! Japan baaaaaaaad
Current year: Japan goooooood! China baaaaaaaaad!

Near future : China goooooood
 
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Woman7

Banned
Not just gamers, but people in general, the picture below sums up 95% of the japanese population, they are fascinated by three things: BIG BOOBS, SCHOOL GIRLS and UPSKIRTS!!!

vgGjcQQ.jpg

Are you sure it's 95% though, since a lot of them must be female themselves? Or kids before the age of puberty.
 

Hezekiah

Banned
Probably because EU and US gamers are far more easily pleased. Give them the same tedious old Fifa, COD and GTA and they'll line up and buy it every year.

They have truly, truly awful taste in games.
Looks like the stupidest of the year has already been found ☝️.
 
Who would think a company that has always launched a handheld and home console and is 10 years longer in the gaming market would have more life time total sales. Wow such a surprise, doesn't change the fact Playstation is and has been king since they entered the market. Now nintendo is even losing the handheld crown to smartphones, really sad.

But a mod closed the other thread so time to acknowledge your defeat, the facts won't change friend. Now go have fun with your bing bing wahoo games made for kids

1516231507535.gif

I bet you're one of those people that thinks you know what it's like to be a real soldier because you swore at 12 year old boys when playing Call of Duty.
 
Looks like the stupidest of the year has already been found ☝️.

He's right though. There is a significant portion of the western video game market that just play games like Call of Duty or Fifa. As far as I'm concerned they aren't real gamers in the same way that I am not a real chef because I can wang a couple of chicken nuggets in the oven.
 
Some of these replies man, they crack me up so hard!
"Oh nooos Sony is a western company now western baaaaad"
It's where the real money is made.
"Oh nooooes PlayStation won't get Japanese game anymore!"
PS gets 99.9% of every Japanese game and is the primary platform the games are developed for.
"There are no Japanese support for the PS5!"
Yeah no Japanese devs especially small ones take years to move to next gen, PS3 still had major games released for it in 2016-2017!!
 
He's right though. There is a significant portion of the western video game market that just play games like Call of Duty or Fifa. As far as I'm concerned they aren't real gamers in the same way that I am not a real chef because I can wang a couple of chicken nuggets in the oven.

Wait... They're not real gamers because they don't play the games you like?
 

Hezekiah

Banned
He's right though. There is a significant portion of the western video game market that just play games like Call of Duty or Fifa. As far as I'm concerned they aren't real gamers in the same way that I am not a real chef because I can wang a couple of chicken nuggets in the oven.
It's a sweeping statement, written like it applies to everyone. Lots of people have no interest in FIFA and CoD. GTA comes out once a decade lol. Just look at what games win the major awards and it tells you the games which have the most cultural influence. Just think, this clown is missing out on games like Bloodborne, GoW and The Witcher because he's been blinded by nonsense like that.
 
Wait... They're not real gamers because they don't play the games you like?

Well yes, I can see why it may look that way. But to be fair, can one who only plays such titles as Fifa or Madden be considered actual gamers?

My wife's boyfriend has a guitar and if I were to just pick it up and start playing it (badly I may add) that wouldn't make me a musician now would it?
 
Well yes, I can see why it may look that way. But to be fair, can one who only plays such titles as Fifa or Madden be considered actual gamers?

My wife's boyfriend has a guitar and if I were to just pick it up and start playing it (badly I may add) that wouldn't make me a musician now would it?
Lol, nice trolling attempt friend.
 

EverydayBeast

thinks Halo Infinite is a new graphical benchmark
Too talented of a console to fail in Japan especially when there’s only a handful of consoles to buy from.
 

luffie

Member
Lmao, no shit, everything was sold and in short supply, can't catch up the production rate.... all these while in one of the worst pandemic and economic lockdown.

And this guy will tell you that PS5 is going to die. Maybe he should analyse how Xbox series "S" will destroy Playstation and replace pc gaming.
 

ZywyPL

Banned
Well it's not a secret that A) there are PS5 shortages, and B) Japan is a mobile land, so by taking the two factors into account it's waaay to early to put such a bold claims.


[...] they are fascinated by three things: BIG BOOBS, SCHOOL GIRLS and UPSKIRTS!!!

And who isn't? ;)
 
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