From a business standpoint that is... why do all the game industry pundits place so much emphasis and significance on whether or not MS is number one in Japan. Why does it matter especially if they say dominate in the States and most of Europe against Sony (and Nintendo). I never quite understood why the Japanese market is such a huge make or break bellweather for consoles and their perceived success. I know Japan has something like 150 million people living there but that's what 35-40% of the US population let alone compared to the world market total population...
http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/11380/Rep ... deo-Games/
What's the big deal about Japan...
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Cowl[CotC]
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What's the big deal about Japan...
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That never made any sense to me either. If you look at total console machines sold, Japan only accounts for about 10% of the global sales. The EU accounted for 30%. And the United States accounted for 40%. (Historically speaking) The remaining percentage covered various areas, with Australia starting to give Japan a run for that 3rd position.
I think where Japan really makes it up is in terms of software titles developed.
Japan makes a large percentage of the top console system titles. And Japanese have that "Island" mentality where they don't look very far past their shore for things like games, cars, gadgets, etc... If you can get a Japanese person to buy your console system, you're going to influence the Japanese developers to write more games for that system. So, if you do well in Japan, you will get more A-list titles. If you have more A-list titles, you're going to probably do well in Global Sales.
I think where Japan really makes it up is in terms of software titles developed.
Japan makes a large percentage of the top console system titles. And Japanese have that "Island" mentality where they don't look very far past their shore for things like games, cars, gadgets, etc... If you can get a Japanese person to buy your console system, you're going to influence the Japanese developers to write more games for that system. So, if you do well in Japan, you will get more A-list titles. If you have more A-list titles, you're going to probably do well in Global Sales.
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D.A.R.K.[CotC]
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It also has to do with the fact that Japan gets a large majority of games before we ever do... and something that plays into that are game reviews. Once the japanese version is out, companies and people will start reviewing those, and then we can read their reviews, and that will pretty much influence what a lot of consumers here will buy. For example:
I don't know how many of you are following those FFVII remakes and whatnot, but there's this one game that came out back in February in Japan called "FFVII: Dirge of Cerberus". When this game was first thought up and told to the public, people were screaming with anxiety b/c it looked so sweet... Until I found a site that had posted a review for the japanese version online... it got a 3.5 out of 10.... I'm scared to buy it now from what that reviewer said about it...
I don't know how many of you are following those FFVII remakes and whatnot, but there's this one game that came out back in February in Japan called "FFVII: Dirge of Cerberus". When this game was first thought up and told to the public, people were screaming with anxiety b/c it looked so sweet... Until I found a site that had posted a review for the japanese version online... it got a 3.5 out of 10.... I'm scared to buy it now from what that reviewer said about it...
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Ender[CotC]
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Well... we can test the theory of gaming acceptability in Japan.
Trip time!!!
I have a relative who lives in Japan. I can ask her about gameplaying acceptability.
Did Japan develope video game consols first? Maybe because they've been at it longer, and probably put more money into it than we do, we rely on them (and Microsoft now) for our games... and consols.
But, I think that Microsoft wants to do well in Japan for one reason. It's like the consol child seeking acceptance from the consol parents. If Microsoft can do as well as, or better than, Sony and Nintendo, they'll feel like thier impromt to break-in to the videogaming market was worth it. Plus, if they do well in Japan, they get to tap another seriously huge gamer pool. Japan, Canada, and the US are the three biggest countries in video game development and consumtion..... right? Oh yeah, and China... kinda.
Trip time!!!
I have a relative who lives in Japan. I can ask her about gameplaying acceptability.
Did Japan develope video game consols first? Maybe because they've been at it longer, and probably put more money into it than we do, we rely on them (and Microsoft now) for our games... and consols.
But, I think that Microsoft wants to do well in Japan for one reason. It's like the consol child seeking acceptance from the consol parents. If Microsoft can do as well as, or better than, Sony and Nintendo, they'll feel like thier impromt to break-in to the videogaming market was worth it. Plus, if they do well in Japan, they get to tap another seriously huge gamer pool. Japan, Canada, and the US are the three biggest countries in video game development and consumtion..... right? Oh yeah, and China... kinda.
"When you get sad, stop being sad and be awesome instead."
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Console systems were started in America. Atari was (is?) an American company. The person who started it has a good history of starting American companies, and then losing interest in them to start another successful company in a whole new industry. So they sort of faded from our minds for a while. Any way, I don't know if you can call "Pong" a console since it was a dedicted system, but they created that first. Then the Atari 2600 is the oldest dedicated console system that I'm aware of. I think it all starts from there.
Nintendo was next to join the console system market, born from Ardace Games. But not before Atari lost a bit of it's fire.
As for game acceptability in Japan, it's a highly niche market. Japanese gamers do not care for American styled games. One of my buddies who came to study in the states had said that Japan had vending machines in the stores where you put in your money and out comes a random game. Like our gumball machines! Other vending machines would program a ROM card for you. Of course, this was when we still used cartridges. But it reflects how early Japanese accepted games.
The stories I've heard is that Japan's land is pretty much consumed. The population all ready owns land where you would want to live. This leaves the children at home with the parents until late in their life. No rent, no mortgage means that you have extra cash to spend on gadgets. I've heard that a child still home at 40 is not unheard of. This leaves the younger generation with a lot of cash for toys... And gadgets over 6 months old are laughed at as "old." So I'm told....
Nintendo was next to join the console system market, born from Ardace Games. But not before Atari lost a bit of it's fire.
As for game acceptability in Japan, it's a highly niche market. Japanese gamers do not care for American styled games. One of my buddies who came to study in the states had said that Japan had vending machines in the stores where you put in your money and out comes a random game. Like our gumball machines! Other vending machines would program a ROM card for you. Of course, this was when we still used cartridges. But it reflects how early Japanese accepted games.
The stories I've heard is that Japan's land is pretty much consumed. The population all ready owns land where you would want to live. This leaves the children at home with the parents until late in their life. No rent, no mortgage means that you have extra cash to spend on gadgets. I've heard that a child still home at 40 is not unheard of. This leaves the younger generation with a lot of cash for toys... And gadgets over 6 months old are laughed at as "old." So I'm told....
Neophyte[CotC]
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