Japanese Gamers' Post-E3 Reversal

Castar writes "Prior to E3, Famitsu readers were interested in the PS3, and Final Fantasy. Post E3, while there's still some excitement over Final Fantasy, they seem to be very interested in the Wii, and concerned about the PS3's high price. It certainly seems that in Japan, at least, Nintendo and Sony's fortunes have reversed. Will this hold through the launch and the succeeding years?" From the article: "Nearly 70% of readers said they are most looking forward to Wii. 21% voted for PlayStation 3, while the others voted for systems already released. 88.4% of readers believe PlayStation 3 is too expensive, while 10% believe it's 'about right'."

Comments

Yes fortunes did reverse

[technoextreme]

Uh, neither product has shipped.
Besides, I think Sony has other irons in the fire.

Yes but I remember someone mentioning on Slashdot that a poll just like this was conducted before the PS3 price announce in Japan and the Playstation 3 came out on top. Now the polls say something else differnt.

I'm wondering at a market skism

[Dark Paladin]

As of yet, the 360 isn't selling that well in Japan, and there's little in the future that indicates that will change (regardless of "Dead or Alive Extra Booby Breast Physics), though it probably won't be a total wash as the Xbox was in Japan.

However, the 360 continues to do well in United States, though my friends in Europe seem to think that it's doing "OK, but not great" out there.

So I wonder if world wide domination will go to the Wii by default. Take the recent "The Wii is a great secondary system" by both Sony and Microsoft execs, and the recent polls that show that most console gamers are planning on buying the Wii.

Now, look at how Japan versus US versus Europe may go. I imagine the PS3 will still do well in Japan (though not as stellar as the PS2) because of the "big names" like "Final Fantasy" and "Dragon Quest". But if the DS versus PSP is any indication with recent polls, Japanese consumers are more willing to give Nintendo another shot at life. So final console sales in Japan (barring handhelds) may be for "first console sales" (aka - the first "next gen" console people buy):

PS3: 50%
Wii: 40%
360: 10%

Granted - the 360 sales maybe be high. Not trying to be mean here - just going by history.

Then the US and Europe may split into this for initial console sales:

360: 40%
PS3: 30%
Wii: 30%

So just off of initial console sales alone, the Wii could win. The situation drastically changes when you consider Wii sales as a secondary console - ie: if a majority of homes with a PS3 buy a second console, it may be a Wii, and the same with the 360.

There are several things that may throw this off, of course - perhaps the majority of 360 owners don't want to buy a Wii because "I'm a 1337 gamer no doesn't like kids games n00b!" or something, but so far, Nintendo has to feel pretty good. As long as they don't screw it up in the next six months, and as long as (unlike Microsoft's launch) they have plenty of units at launch (if anything, they should *overproduce* as much as they can to make sure that everybody who wants a Wii can get one). If the number pan out, then developers might find themselves looking at the Wii for sheer number of sales alone, let alone the unique controller.

Then again, these numbers are all pulled out of my ass anyway, so who knows? The next year should be rather interesting for gamers.

Re:I'm wondering at a market skism

[(A)*(B)!0_-]

"(unlike Microsoft's launch) they have plenty of units at launch (if anything, they should *overproduce* as much as they can to make sure that everybody who wants a Wii can get one)."

You think that Microsoft chose how many 360s to manufacture for the launch and that once that number was reached, factory floors went quiet? Console shortages are caused by the manufacturer not being able to get them out the door fast enough, not manufacturers trying to hedge their bets and only producing a limited number.

Re:I think you are under estimating the WII

[LWATCDR]

Actually I think Nintendo has had the right idea all along. For the life of me I can not understand why the GameCube wasn't a bigger hit. It seems to match the PS/2 in graphics. Games like Resident Evil look pretty good on the GC. My guess is that the Nintendo was still dealing with the fall out from the N64 errors. Nintendo was betting that the faster load time of the cartridge would trump the cinematics and cheaper media of the CD-ROM.
The real truth is, only time will tell. In my office a lot more people are going to buy the Wii than the PS/3. From that data it looks to me as if Nintendo has a winner on it's hands.

Re:I think you are under estimating the WII

[BenjyD]

It's just the games library that meant the GC wasn't as successful. The PS2 was out earlier, had better marketing and better licensing terms (AFAIK). It annoys me that the PS2 did so well, because it is underpowered, forcing games to rely on FMV, has a poor controller and long load times. But if I want to play Guitar Hero, Ico, Katamari, God of War etc I have to own one.
There's no way I'm buying a PS3, though.