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Sony admits PS4 is a tougher sell in Japan
- Thread starter Bundy
- Start date
Hmm in thinking about it it really should have been light blue or whatever colour Elsa's dress is.
Well not yet, but they are making plans to localize Youkai Watch internationally.
Nightengale
Member
Because Vita actually has... gasp! Japanese games.
Hardware sells when there's a consistent availability of desirable software on the platform.
Why you gotta be like this, meng
Psycho_Mantis
Banned
Cross gen or not it will still help PS4 in the transition period. Simply having games is better than having none especially when said games are as big as MGSV. I'm sure there will be a bundle as well.
The FF audience seems to be much bigger on consoles so in that regard I think a FF Type 0 HD will do quite well.
Exclusive? Bloodborne.
Ni No Kuni was very successful for them so its definitely possible. Dark Cloud 3 would be amazing but I'm torn between that or another Ghibli jrpg.
spatenfloot
Member
Is there a release date for the GTA V & TLoU remasters in Japan?
Well, you'd know better about their western sales than me and any decline or not there. Yokai Watch is earmarked for the west though and could be huge here too. I think Fantasy Life might do well in the west too.
Honestly if you're not targeting the West, why would you make a console game?
The Japanese console market is largely dead and the portable market is condensing notably as more and more players shift to mobile so it's kind if ludicrous to target consoles unless nothing else makes sense for the product.
HomerSimpson-Man
Member
Man, I guess I should be grateful for my changing tastes towards western games during the long PS360 generation because Japan titles used to dominate my collection going in and in the beginning and seeing Japan's console market just tank lower and lower is depressing. :|
Aquamarine
Member
sörine;120523966 said:
The original Professor Layton is one of the top-selling third-party Nintendo DS games in the USA. Not in the Top 10, but its sales are quite respectable.
You're lucky. I made a slight effort in getting into western games in the early 360 era but... just couldn't. Even on the 360/PS3 most of my lineup is still Japanese. Oh well, there's always the WiiU and a really large backlog of PS2/3/PSP/DS games to keep me occupied for now until the PS4 gets some more interesting stuff.
Cutting the price in Japan won't do anything more than a week's bump in sales.
Psycho_Mantis
Banned
Do you have figures?
I'm curious on what is L5's best selling game and how much it sold?
D
Deleted member 17706
Unconfirmed Member
PS4 software is a wasteland in Japan... Just a really sad state of affairs, but I can see why publishers wouldn't be interested in creating new content for the platform considering the market.
Dragonborn
Member
Even with Software, I don't see the PS4 doing that well. Consoles are dead in Japan, it'll be lucky to do half what the Ps3 did.
D
Deleted member 17706
Unconfirmed Member
I do think there is a place for consoles if they have good content.
The PS3 generation's Japanese output was shit compared to the PS2 and it still managed to push 10 million units or so.
Layton was 1st party in the US but I get what you're saying.
I figured the Layton games likely dropped dramatically in the west with the loss of the Touch Generations audience. Inazuma seems pretty stable going by the PAL charts and may even be growing.
Dragonborn
Member
I honestly don't think so. Even with KH3, MGS5, FFXV, I don't see the PS4 doing well. They'll provide boosts but I think at this point we should just accept that the market in Japan is gone. It's why I just stopped caring about Media Crate threads, there's no point for hope anymore. Most devs are too stubborn (Persona 5, for example, should also be on PS4).
Its a chicken and egg kind of problem, but doing nothing is not going to fix it.
Its almost like the goal of all the platform holders is to sell hardware with as little software support as possible, and the publishers will only fund games on platforms with a large install base.
Dark Cloud: 1.23 million
Dark Cloud 2: 900k
Dragon Quest VIII: 4.88 million
Rogue Galaxy: 760k
Jeanne D'arc: 220k
Professor Layton series: 15 million
Inazuma Eleven series: 6.5 million
Guild series: 400k
Ni no Kuni series: 1.7 million
I imagine their best selling non-Dragon Quest game is the first Professor Layton. That sold over a million units in Japan and was a big hit internationally. IIRC the series contracted with each entry.
22.5 million on Nintendo systems, just from 4 franchises. Even with DQVIII Sony isn't even close. And that is balanced out by DQIX too.
Neff
Member
Many Western games over the last 30 years or so have suffered from weak design, bugs, and lack of polish compared to Japan's, and the stigma remains despite modern Western software being of a very high quality. Japan resurrected and dominated the games industry after the '83 crash, designing console games around their arcade heritage at the time, a preferred approach which remains to this day and is something the West has a hard time duplicating. They also generally dislike the desaturated, excessively-detailed aesthetic of Western graphics. And, a lot of Western games have you playing the part of the (usually first person) protagonist yourself, whereas Japan has always preferred to play a specific character they can look at and aspire to.
Western games do better in Japan now more than ever, but they can still be a tough sell.
KillerMan91
Member
Most of those Ni no kuni sales are from PS3 version.
Edit. Oh. you had it already calculated in that number. Sorry.
Psycho_Mantis
Banned
I was trying to get sales of the individual game out of Aquamarine lol. It sounded like she knew. I doubt its something that you can just share though.
The reason P5 is not on PS4 is that they've been working on it for such a long time and they need to maximize their profits. I wouldn't be surprised if we see a re-release for ps4 in the future.
test_account
XP-39C²
How many games excist on Nintendo platforms and how many excist on Sony platforms out of those games?
Some are really quick in making excuses just because the new consoles and especially PS4 are selling bad, there´s still potential in the console market in Japan and you simply can´t call a market with potential dead. The current situation has been a result of incredibly bad planned release schedule and investments.
There is a severe lack of appealing games and there is no consistent stream of releases, something which falls into the responsbility of console manufacturers like Sony. Right now the situation is as follows, PS4 got cross-gen titles, mostly of mid-tier to low-tier franchises, while WiiU is basically supported by just one publisher with some exceptions. Basically a severe lack of content for the new consoles is responsible for the current state of the "console market" and not the excuses of a sudden fall off a cliff into irrelevance and interest in consoles in general.
There is a severe lack of appealing games and there is no consistent stream of releases, something which falls into the responsbility of console manufacturers like Sony. Right now the situation is as follows, PS4 got cross-gen titles, mostly of mid-tier to low-tier franchises, while WiiU is basically supported by just one publisher with some exceptions. Basically a severe lack of content for the new consoles is responsible for the current state of the "console market" and not the excuses of a sudden fall off a cliff into irrelevance and interest in consoles in general.
Psycho_Mantis
Banned
test_account
XP-39C²
I dont think that plays any noticeable factor into things. Several of games have 4 in the title in Japan and they have still sold very well (for example Final Fantasy 4, Dragon Quest 4, Resident Evil 4 and Monster Hunter 4).
how well did the ps3 and wii do last gen? if it didn't do so great what makes you think the reason why the ps4 isn't doin well is because of a generational transition and not just the way the japanese gamers are moving away from consoles?
If one of the big three has 0 chance of "reenergise the japan console market" ..... it's Microsoft.
DR2K
Banned
Well here's to another 7k week for PS4.
I'm not japanese and I buy most of my games (something like 80% ?) from japanese developpers. I just prefer those... It's simply a matter of taste, the games are really different. Noone will argue that JRPG and WRPG are not similar. It's the same for most, if not all, genres.
dont ask for support from other developers if you arent going to support it yourself.
PS4 hasnt taken off in japan because sony hasnt made any games for it themselves to grow a base to get other people on board.
Passing the blame onto others instead of saying they need to get the games out just makes the future for it look worse.
PS4 hasnt taken off in japan because sony hasnt made any games for it themselves to grow a base to get other people on board.
Passing the blame onto others instead of saying they need to get the games out just makes the future for it look worse.
Psycho_Mantis
Banned
Don't see how this relates to you being wrong on how Japan does not like western shooters when it evidently does.
Now do western shooters sell consoles especially when they are also available on the PS3.......obviously not.
There are more on Nintendo platforms but that's for a reason. The average sales per game title seem to be higher as well.
Nintendo publishes those numbers officially you know. Layton 1 sold 3.17 million overseas:
http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2010/100507e.pdf#page=6
Probably more by now. With the Japanese sales it's well over 4 million.
US only numbers might be available somewhere too, they should be less than half because the game was more popular in Europe.
test_account
XP-39C²
It doesnt seem to me that they're blaming anyone. Its also in 3rd parties best interest to make sure that hardware sales are successful, because 3rd party only sell software and they need a place to sell it.
Mauricio_Magus
Banned
There's no games for the Japanese audience and everyone acts surprised.
I play mostly Japanese games and there's nothing out till 2015 that would get me to buy a PS4, I think it's pretty natural that Japanese gamers don't care about it too.
I play mostly Japanese games and there's nothing out till 2015 that would get me to buy a PS4, I think it's pretty natural that Japanese gamers don't care about it too.
test_account
XP-39C²
I did some quick search on Google and came to the number of 17 SKUs on Nintendo platforms (Layton/Inazuma Eleven/Guild/Ni No Kuni) and 2 SKUs on Sony platforms (Dragon Quest 8 and Ni No Kuni). The average sales on Nintendo platforms is then about 1.32 million units, and on Sony platforms the average is 2.99 million (then i caluclated that Ni No Kuni sold 1.1 million on PS3).
EDIT: Or an average of 1.51 million on Sony platforms including Dark Cloud 1 and 2, Rouge Galaxy and Jeanne D'arc that was also listed earlier. Unless i have calculated something wrong.
vinnygambini
Why are strippers at the U.N. bad when they're great at strip clubs???
Without any tent-pole franchises on the PS4, it will continue to be a hard sell in the immediate future.
Gundam and Final Fantasy Type-O HD will most likely appear in Holiday 2015; until then, it will continue posting unfavorable results.
Gundam and Final Fantasy Type-O HD will most likely appear in Holiday 2015; until then, it will continue posting unfavorable results.
funkystudent
Member
Why isnt Sony moving heaven and earth to get Persona 5 on PS4?
It has the potential to be the biggest Japanese developed game for the next year on PlayStation platforms.
It has the potential to be the biggest Japanese developed game for the next year on PlayStation platforms.
Bruno MB
Member
I have some shipment numbers for Professor Layton.
These figures are taken from the PDF of a Japanese security company and they look legit. Nintendo didn't publish Layton series in Japan so those sales aren't included. That PDF only lists those Nintendo published titles that have shipped over 1 million units.
Global shipments: (US + Europe)
Professor Layton and the Curious Village - 3,460,000
Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box - 2,890,000
Professor Layton and the Unwound Future - 2,130,000
Professor Layton and the Last Specter - 1,340,000