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Wii Outselling PS3 in Japan
saintory writes "Apparently the Japanese console consumers are sinking their teeth into the modest Wii and are not as interested in the power-packed PS3. In fact, the Wii is outselling Sony's new console by a factor of almost 2:1. The number of PS3s sold into the Japanese market (466,716) falls well short of the million Sony had planned for the end of 2006. 989,118 Wii consoles have been sold in Japan in the same time span. From the article: 'Both Sony and Nintendo are projecting selling 6 million consoles by the end of March. Sony expects to start shipping the PS3 to Europe sometime that month as well. Straggling far behind Sony and Nintendo in the Enterbrain survey was Microsoft's Xbox 360, which had sold 290,467 since its Japan debut in December 2005. Selling machines in large numbers is crucial in the gaming business because it encourages software companies to make more games to play on the machines, which in turn boosts console sales.'"
"According to the report, Sony has yet to officially comment on the figures released by Enterbrain, noting only that there may be a discrepancy between the number of units sold and the number of PlayStation 3 consoles that were shipped within Japan."
Yes Sony, you can't compare "sold" with "shipped" - even though that's what you do every time you try to show the DS isn't beating the PSP globally.
The electronics consumer base in Japan has historically tended towards choosing revolutionary products in lieu of evolutionary alternatives. It's a very welcoming market for novel products.
It is certainly no longer a supply issue as PS3s are sitting on shelves all over Japan.
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k -sluggish-in-japan-225907.php
http://kotaku.com/gaming/top/ps3-sales-look-slugg
http://kotaku.com/gaming/top/those-ps3s-sales-loo
"Net income means jack shit. I don't care if you bring in 2 billion a year if your costs are 4 billion. If my costs are 50,000, and I bring in 75,000, guess what: I have a higher profit margin, which means I have MADE more money than you."
In this case the net income of company A is -$2billion while the net income of company B is $25,000. Net income is very important. In fact, net income is probably more important than profit margin in this case. I think you need to s/Net/Gross/ for your statement to make sense.
The main problem initially, was that the Xbox gained a reputation for being a haven for mostly shooters and sports games (which honestly, isn't far from the truth). What few RPGs that were on the system came from Western developers (Knights of the Old Republic, Fable, Jade Empire, Morrowind, etc.). Unfortunately for MS, Japanese gamers love their "Japanese-style" RPGs (a la Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, etc.) and there were virtually none on the system. So it's pretty obvious why the Xbox brand gets little love in Japan.
... then you might consider if other reasons are at play (nationalist tendencies, etc.).
That's changed a bit with the 360, thanks to MS attracting some big names. Mistwalker Studios, headed by the former Square honcho (and creator of Final Fantasy), has been developing some big exclusive RPGs for the 360. Blue Dragon just came out last month, and Lost Oddysey is on the way. (As a J-RPG fan myself, I keep track of these things)
While Blue Dragon sold a decent number of 360s, it's definately not enough. One game will not suddenly turn the console around, especially one that's brand new IP and from a new studio. Unfortunately for MS, it becomes somewhat of a chicken and egg problem. They'll need more developers to make "Japan-friendly" games, in order to attract more Japanese gamers. However, those developers aren't going to make games on a platform with a low user-base.
To an optimist, things are looking better. There are several more high-profile games coming in 2007 for the 360, including titles from Square-Enix, and another RPG from Mistwalker. Virtual Fighter 5, which is apparently a huge success in Japan, was recently announced to be coming to the 360 as well.
Personally, I see 2007 as a "do or die" year for the 360 in Japan. If even after all the developer-love, Japanese gamers still don't take to the console
-- jchenx
I think you're thinking of Blue Dragon, made by Akira Toriyama, creator of Dragon Quest and Dragon Ball. He's had very little to do with Final Fantasy.
PS3's are not selling out any more.
- ds-and-wii-sales-slow-ps3-sales-226834.phpo n-3-sitting-not-selling/t -no-takers-225271.phpn -bestbuy-com-still/
Evidence:
http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/nikkei/nikkei-on-big
http://www.unscripted360.com/2006/12/28/playstati
http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/ps3/plenty-o-ps3s-bu
http://www.techimo.com/forum/t180097.html
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6162141.html
http://www.joystiq.com/2007/01/06/ps3-available-o