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GameCube Outsells PlayStation 2 In Japan
Thanks to Gamesindustry.biz for their article discussing the latest Japanese console hardware sales, in which it's revealed that the GameCube marginally outsold the PlayStation 2 this week, by 35,600 units to 35,300 units, largely "thanks to the release of Namco's RPG Tales of Symphonia", whose success we mentioned a couple of days back. Unfortunately, the third major console fared less well: "The picture was a little less bright for the Xbox, which slipped behind the PSone in the rankings again - selling 650 units to the PSone's 960. In market share terms, it was only one tenth of a percentage point ahead of Bandai's SwanCrystal. Ouch."
It's a tough question. Of course, maybe someone at Microsoft will see this post and say, "Uh oh, this Acidic_Diarrhea guy on Slashdot thinks we're in trouble in Japan! I better call Bill."
Or maybe not...
I hate liberals. If you are a liberal, do not reply.
Another great RPG was released very recently, which quite boosted Nintendo's both living-room and handheld consoles sales : Final Fantasy : Crystal Chronicles
In fact, in the charts I read, the GBA SP was first, followed by the Cube, and then by the PS2, and I just thought FF:CC might be more than a bit responsible for this...
Who needs a
If we were talking about overall sales, that would have been remarkable. But let's face it: Most of the people who want a PS2 already have one. I bet a large number of PS2s sold now actually replace worn-out (played-out?) units.
In contrast, since the Gamecube is much less popular overall, there are many more potential new owners. RPG fans, for example, who must have every major new title, or fans of the "Tales of" series. They might have never seen the "need" to own a cube before.
It's completely possible that the nokia n-gage will outsell the GBA - for the first week or two. It still won't mean the GBA is dethroned.
I'll probably pick up the new 'tales of' title once it arrives here. I loved the way the last title I played in the series (Tales of Eternia) let you save almost AT ANY POINT (unless you're in the middle of a fight or a puzzle). It worked great because when you restored the game, you'd continue at the last save point, but you never had to keep playing until the next save point even when you needed to stop playing, under penalty of losing all of your progress (levels+items+puzzles etc).
Slightly off-topic stupidity:
Tales of Destiny was published in the U.S.
Then Tales of Eternia was published in the U.S. as "Tales of Destiny 2" to capitalize on name recognition.
Now a sequel to Tales of Destiny, called "Tales of Destiny 2" is available in Japan. Is this title going to make it stateside? What will it be called?
You can probably fit 8 of your favorite GameBoy titles on a Flash2Advance 256 and justify the GameCube/GameBoy Player purchase there alone
Buy your video games, goddamn it. Unlike CDs, the good games are worth every penny. Unless you're putting 8 Mary Kate & Ashley games on there, that's ok. But seriously, if you want to play Super Mario Advance 4, buy the fucking game.
You bring up the backlash against American automobiles as if that's intended to SUPPORT your hypothesis surrounding consumer nationalism. If we were talking about American-grown rice, you'd be pretty much right. But rather, since we're talking about electronic luxuries, it points out its flaws.
American car manus. back in the day did not produce cars that suited the Japanese market well. Earlier on, cars were released with LEFT-HAND DRIVE, while Japan is a RIGHT-HAND DRIVE country. American cars were unreliable, unnecesarily expensive, fuel-inefficient, and far too large to suit crowded Japanese streets and parking conditions. Would YOU buy a Japanese car if an American car suited you better, cost less, and were more reliable?
It's easy for Americans to say, "they must have something against us," because it is against American common sense to see flaws in oneself or one's creations. After all, "America is the greatest country in the world," right? Surely we can do no wrong!
I'll leave this for you to ponder. What is more likely, that Japanese consumers look at the box and see that it's made in the U.S.A., then just walk away? Or is it somehow possible the the oh-so-perfect Xbox doesn't suit their tastes? Maybe even the same way Americans reject games that are "too Japanese," eh?
Clue: Western fashions, music, film, cuisine, and cars (well, European cars) are quite en vogue in Japan.
I don't think the numbers suggest that Sony is being dethroned, in Japan or anywhere else.
What I think it does suggest is that the American gamers who seem bent on proclaiming the death of the GameCube seem to think that America is the only place where games are played.
Sure, the N-Gage might outsell the GBA in their first week of release, but this isn't the GameCube's first week of release. It's rising sales are being pushed by a game with high fan interest, just like they thought was going to happen back when Wind Waker was released. Contrary to the belief of the anti-Nintendo crowd, that's a perfectly valid way of demonstrating continuing fan support for a console. Especially a year or two into its release, when hardware specs and whether it looks "modern" or not doesn't matter anymore.
In fact, though it may not be the reality of the industry, I'd venture to say that a console that sells for the sake of a game that a gamer *really* wants to play has more value than a console that is bought for the sake of owning the console. That's just my opinion, though.
It's a bit early to say it will mean nothing for the GameCube worldwide since Japan is the only place where Tales of Symphonia and Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles has been released so far. I don't expect the GameCube to see the same meteoric rise in the US when the games get here, but it might be enough to edge it past the XBox.
And as a secondary benefit of course more japanese support for the console means more games that can be ported to other countries to help it sell better worldwide.
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Nobody would ever purchase a console with the intent of playing only one game, with the possible exception of old bargain bin consoles like the N64 or the Dreamcast. Following the logic to that end is pretty ridiculous. But for those who were kind of interested in a console's lineup of games, but not yet willing to buy it, the killer app is the catalyst. I'd think that if a game came out that a gamer had to have and was willing to buy the hardware for it, s/he would rationalize it by saying to themself, "well, I can also get game X and game Y for it, too, eventually." That's precisely what happened when I bought my GameCube, and my PS2, as well. That's most likely what nearly every non-hardcore gamer does.