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GameCube Outsells PlayStation 2 In Japan

Posted by simoniker on from the not-something-you-see-every-day dept.

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."

12 of 52 comments (clear)

  1. Response to marketing tactics? by the+Man+in+Black · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Normally I would applaud any failure on Microsoft's part, but in this case I see it more as a Japanese backlash to and American company attempting to gain a foothold in the historically closed Japanese market. Anyone versed in the auto industries similar attempts over the years will understand where I'm coming from.

    "Buy American" is just a slogan here in the States, whereas the Japanese consumer is much more likely to support the home team, especially in something like consumer electronics. Is this a good/bad thing? Doesn't make a difference, and it's their choiice what they buy and don't buy. I'm just saying this to say that maybe we should pay more attention to sales data here in this country as an idea of how popular the Xbox is.

    --
    El riesgo vive siempre!
    1. Re:Response to marketing tactics? by Dot.Com.CEO · · Score: 3, Interesting
      Insightful???? Yes, that's right, the XBOX's failure in Japan is not because it is too expensive, not because its games are not appealing to the Japanese people, not even because there is no strong third party Japanese software. Not even because it is so HUGE that it doesn't fit in the average Japanese appartment.

      Of all this you chose a nationalistic non-explanation that bears very little relation to the reality of Japanese people. It is not market protectionism that doomed the XBOX in Japan, it is shit marketing.

      --
      Mother is the best bet and don't let Satan draw you too fast.
    2. Re:Response to marketing tactics? by vitaflo · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Normally I would applaud any failure on Microsoft's part, but in this case I see it more as a Japanese backlash to and American company attempting to gain a foothold in the historically closed Japanese market.

      I don't think it helped that Microsoft's code name for the Xbox was "Project Midway", taking a cue from the Battle of Midway in WWII which ultimately let to the Japanese surrender (in this case, Nintendo and Sony). Pretty tasteless if you ask me.

      But hey, MS made the thing as big as a battleship, perhaps it was meant to sink.

    3. Re:Response to marketing tactics? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      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.

  2. Stop the Bleeding!!! by Acidic_Diarrhea · · Score: 5, Insightful
    650 compared to 35,000??? Those are not good numbers. My first reaction to seeing that was to wonder why Microsoft wasn't pulling out of the Japanese market. But I suppose that the Microsoft thinking is that you've got to get the name associated with console hardware so that XBox2 has a better shot. Of course, I think that could really backfire on them. It seems that once you have a console that doesn't do well, you've got a stigma attached. Look at Atari, they reigned supreme but then fell off the face of the planet with the 5600 and that stigma stuck with them as can be seen by the Jaguar. I don't think many consumers took the Jaguar seriously. Likewise with Sega - their SegaCD and 32X hurt sales of the Saturn and subsequent sales of the Dreamcast. Obviously there were more issues involved in these instances but it seems like once a company is seen as a hardware loser, it is very hard to get back in the game on the next go-round. So what can Microsoft do to sell the XBox2 in Japan? Anything?

    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.
  3. Not only Tales of Symphonia... by GrosTuba · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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 .sig anyway ?
    1. Re:Not only Tales of Symphonia... by PainKilleR-CE · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Except that the GBA:SP often does outsell the PS2, and when it doesn't, it's not by much.

      I think the bigger picture is that there aren't many games that are going to be able to cause a significant spike in PS2 sales any more, since so many people already have PS2s. On the other hand, a single (or in this case a couple of) good game can spike the sales on the GameCube, or even the XBox.

      I'd expect to see a spike in the US sales of GBA-SPs next week, as we see the black and red consoles coming out, as well as FF:Tactics Advance. I plan on buying a black GBA-SP and the game myself at the end of next week, assuming I can find either one at that point.

      --
      -PainKilleR-[CE]
  4. Also the GameCube player by Mr.+Darl+McBride · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Not mentioned in the article, but also significant for these numbers, was that this is the second week where the GameCube player is being included for free with all new GameCubes sold in Japan.

    A similar bundle has been available in the US for a couple months now, but they held off on introducing this in Japan, presumably because they didn't have as much inventory to liquidate.

    GameCube production has been stopped a while as warehouses were already full of the units. Rumor on the game boards is that if the volume keeps up at these levels, production will start up again before Christmas, and we'll see a few new GameCube colors AND TEXTURES! I don't know if it's speculation or more, but the models are rumored to include a black case with glow-in-the-dark green details and a limited edition brushed aluminum model, either tied to some contest or sold at a premium price.

  5. Actually the Wonderswan outsold the Xbox.. by stovey · · Score: 3, Informative

    According to this list:
    Nintendojo

    The combined sales of the two wonderswans is 700, where the Xbox is 650. The crystal and color wonderswan is the same except the crystal has better battery life and a nicer screen.

  6. The numbers don't mean much by lightspawn · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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?

  7. Dethroned? by Auburn_Jack · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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.

  8. Fence Sitting by Auburn_Jack · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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.