Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing - Kotaku Comments

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

Herodito — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 07:15:24 MST

Hehehe, sorry for being such an ass.

But my line of work makes me jump on small things like this. Is a good advice though :P

Herodito

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

LordChris915 — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 13:12:03 MST

The data really helps
I may convert my fanboy friends!
Currently my 2 Nintendo fanboy friends can be silenced by the words Metal Gear Solid (people have different tastes OK)but they have me at SSBB.
Mutual hatred for Xbox keeps the balence

LordChris915

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

ca$h — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 04:45:40 MST

@charsuipau:
Nintendo has NEVER been a supporter of violent games, and ultra realistic games

The Exception Police would like to remind you of Eternal Darkness. They'll let you off with a warning this time, though, since almost nobody played it.

ca$h

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

charsuipau — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 03:35:22 MST

@PaulHunter:
Nintendo more and more cater to younger crowds... uh maybe its just you grew older and decided you didn't think games you played when you were younger were 'adult enough' to be played by you as you got older?

Nintendo has NEVER been a supporter of violent games, and ultra realistic games, which leaves them with the 'aimed at children' reputation which isn't entirely true.

My pet theory about this adult/kids games view especially in the West,is that its caused by a majority of western kids being actively prevented from watching/reading age restricted materials (usually involving lots of sexual themes, blood, volence and realistic combat) until they are at least 15 or even 18. Which instills in them the idea that unless it involves that kind of content, its not something an adult should play/enjoy... Where as in somewhere like Japan kids are less restricted from content like that, so less of them as they grow older associate playing games like Mario or similar games as 'child-only' since alot of them were probably exposed to violent/graphic comics and cartoons as a child (not necessarily movies).

To this day I still enjoy watching a bugs bunny cartoon as much as I enjoy watching a Exorcist-like movie... but thing is as a child I watched horror movies all the time... the first real horror movie I saw was Exorcist at the age of 7 anyway, and evil dead as well around that age... Evil dead what fun, Hail to the kingggg babyyy.... Oo and all the tales for the darkside episodes, watched all of those before I was even 12....

At the same time as watching loony toon cartoons, disney movies etc...

Probably why it annoys me to hear people with the views that basically infer that unless it has a MINIMUM 15+ age restriction on it its not a game an 'adult' can enjoy... or just targeted at kids...

Suduko has pretty much a E rating, and more adults play that than kids...

My 2 cents anyway...

And probably the reason why Japanese gamers taste are actually more DIVERSE than western gamers tastes... as opposed to Japanese gamers having weird taste( or lack of).

charsuipau

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

unhappymatt1 — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 23:15:02 MST

You must be writing about Japanese sales of software because I'm pretty sure the 360 sold more software than the Wii and the PS3 combined.

unhappymatt1

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

bird1988 — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 22:08:58 MST

Don't forget about PSP :] I bet Sony has some tricks up their sleeve for the portable and probably some title suprises

bird1988

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

zoesch — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 21:58:51 MST

@Witzbold: It is and it'd be great for the industry if they got their act together so Sony and Nintendo would have to compete harder. Unfortunately the thing that makes me wary of MS is their willingness to destroy their competition by any means necessary instead of through better products but that's another story and one I hope MS learned from.

zoesch

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

WestSiide — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 21:27:16 MST

Why OH Why are so many people buying a freaking DS?! As an alarm clock?? And what is SO damn great about the WII? Not a hypothetical question, can someone explain that to me? My 8 yr. old sister has one and yes i have played with it and I quite dont understand its popularity (unless you are a small child or new gamer). Nintendo is exactly what is wrong with the game industry as it has done nothing in the past decade (or since the snes if you asked me) to push the industry forward technology wise. I want to keep seeing games like Uncharted and COD4 pushing the envelope on in terms of physics, realism, graphics, interactivity and of course gameplay. Nintendo from what i see is doing neither of those things. As a matter of fact i believe theyre pushing the game industry backwards. Theyre games dont look better thans a freakin gamecube some even worse than a N64. Think about it. If not for Sony or Microsoft, Nintendo products would be the junk we'd be stuck with.

WestSiide

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

Superstar90 — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 20:20:23 MST

Lol, now if FF7 came to DS... Japan would implode. Seriously, considering the DS has better graphics than the PS1, it could definitely happen.

Superstar90

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

PaulHunter — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 19:05:42 MST

As a long-time gamer it's great to finally see Nintendo back on top. I used to be a huge SNES fan, but my interested started to wane as Nintendo started to cater more and more to the younger crowd. The breaking point for me was when Mortal Kombat (my fav. game at the time) was altered to contain 'sweat' instead of blood. It was at that point that I was motivated to buy a Genesis for the true arcade experience. But after all these years Nintendo has finally got the market right - and I have to admit I'm loving my DS (and to a lesser degree the Wii).

Something about Nintendomination just feels right. :)

PaulHunter

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

baked ham — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 16:58:29 MST

OK, first person to make a line rider that looks exactly like the first picture gets a million dollars. And wherever the line rider first dies ... is evidence of... something...

baked ham

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

SwordandSorcery — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 16:48:12 MST

@SwordandSorcery:
"Sales of PS2 driven up by gamers realizing they can't play there ps2 games on them and are rushing back...

Sales of PS2 driven up by gamers realizing they can't play the PS2 games on the PS3 and are rushing back...

fixed

SwordandSorcery

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

SwordandSorcery — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 16:42:23 MST

Sales of PS2 driven up by gamers realizing they can't play there ps2 games on them and are rushing back since they traded the system in when they upgraded.
In other news all the trolls who called the death of the N with Wii and DS eat their shoes, socks and feet; onlookers applaud.
Also the once paralyzed 360 has shown some life and can move her whole hand now, doc's say full motor function is a strong possibilty!
back at eleven with sports
Stay classy Japan

SwordandSorcery

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

RuneX — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 15:36:19 MST

@Timsobuff74:

Honestly, its hard to say why the PS3 is selling better than the 360 here. I mean, Ive been here for a few years now and own both consoles, have loads of japanese gamer friends and I still dont understand it.

The PS3 has a pretty poor lineup here in japan, we get far fewer games than the US does, and the exclusives we usually do get are usually not big sellers, even here.(Megaopolis(or whatever it was called) for example) In addition to that the games that are released on both are usualy better on the 360. Although its finally changing a little, the library for the 360 is without question, a lot better here than the PS3 library.

The only reasoning I can think of is a combination of namebrand, the PS2 playback(although with the 40GB, that has been eliminated), bluray, and maybe future potential. Even these are all stretches right now, but its about all I can think of. You really cant compare tastes here, as the 360 can match any titles in the PS3 library at the moment. The top sellers all have a counterpart on the 360(aside from maybe minna golf)

Basically, im betting that the analysts at MS are utterly baffled by the way the japaanese are taking hold of the consoles. Even my japanese friends who are die hard Pro PS3 fans dont know why they justified their purchase, just that they though it was the better to purchase.(I get into a lot of debates about it, although usually from a nuetral standpoint)Maybe its just a way of balancing out american sales, which leaves those wonderful euro's to determine the winner.

Anyways, nice charts, although I dont see anything I didnt really know.(ie. wii good, 360 bad)

RuneX

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

damon53 — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 15:35:28 MST

awesome charts

damon53

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

Dudemeister — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 15:24:15 MST

@Witzbold:

Oh well that's good to hear. Hopefully there'll be more Japanese developers hopping on to 360.

Dudemeister

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

Torgen got his apology faceplate but not his fixed GH3 disc — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 15:23:32 MST

@nolifedopestar: Quest 64 and the original Paper Mario?

Torgen got his apology faceplate but not his fixed GH3 disc

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

Michael McWhertor — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:59:07 MST

@Herodito: Advice is appreciated, but I was at the mercy of Google Docs. Forgive me?

Michael McWhertor

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

bangbangblah — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:58:20 MST

I know this is like beating a dead horse, but I can't help but wonder what would happen if Sony released a FFVII remake for PS3. Considering how successful Crisis Core was, and the love affair with the original FFVII, I wouldn't doubt if that game alone pushed a few hundred thousand consoles.

bangbangblah

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

V I |Z U $! — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:52:56 MST

Wow! Great statistics. I only looked @ the pretty pictures..

V I |Z U $!

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

noliferuin (PSN+XBL) — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:52:55 MST

@Avinash_Tyagi: don't be so sure, what RPGs did the N64 have vs. the one's coming to the ps3?

noliferuin (PSN+XBL)

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

Herodito — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:49:32 MST

Great piece of info bro! Excellently done!

One piece of advice, Pie charts always need percentage values ;)

Herodito

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

Witzbold — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:42:28 MST

@Dudemeister: Adds are doing well for now, the usual are showing up in the famitsu mags. Sometimes a few pop on tv. But I think whats helping is the more positive word of mouth its been getting lately.

Although from my pov Im worried again since I think more studios need to announce more games for the 360 to keep the momentum going. Since Im seeing more adds for upcomming foreign games that domestic ones for the 360 asides from like DMC4 and such.

Witzbold

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

7ucky — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:14:46 MST

Wow - the world could've been a different place if Ace Combat 6 had continued it's Sony exclusivity...

Not that much different, though.

7ucky

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

Avinash_Tyagi — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:04:32 MST

@Dp. [PSN: Fallible]:

Yeah but it does indicate that PS3 will be unlikely to beat the N64 lifetime sales in japan

Avinash_Tyagi

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

Avinash_Tyagi — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:03:26 MST

@Ehardergardens:

I think you'd have to calculate that yourself on a weekly basis, i don't think anyone has done a week by week analysis of attach rates

Avinash_Tyagi

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

Saint Anima — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:02:10 MST

2008 shall be an interesting year. I'm hoping if some unannounced titles will pop out of anywhere that may help their system out. They can only go up!

Saint Anima

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

Dudemeister — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:58:03 MST

@Witzbold:

Poor Witz, You must be getting tired of reiterating about Japanese tastes every time we get a Japan sales chart. :/

As much as I understand and believe what you're saying, sometimes, I just feel like strangling them. Also how is Xbox advertisement doing over there? Explain about the system well or just dish out some random game preview and say "jump in"?

Dudemeister

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

VicViper99 — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:43:44 MST

I'm curious if the hi-def format war has anything to do with console sales in Japan. I have heard from several sources that the Blu-Ray player in the PS3 is accounting for a significant amount of sales here in the US (I happen to know 3 non-gamers myself who have bought the PS3 for this reason alone). With Blu Ray as the apparent winner, I wonder if we'll see any surge in PS3 sales in Japan?

VicViper99

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

shiwasu — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:39:43 MST

Holy crap! @ Crisis Core and Ace Combat. lol @ deep red psp.

Now that I've gotten that out..
Really good breakdown. It'll be interesting to see the numbers come next year. I'm curious to see how SSBB, MGS4, GT5 and FF13 do (both software-wise and for their respective consoles) in Japan.

shiwasu

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

Fluffy22 — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:11:59 MST

ps3 started the pick up sales since price drop, problem is Wii suddenly decided to take a huge jump too :P
And seeing what crisis core did to the PSP sales jsut imagine what FFXIII would do for ps3 lol

Fluffy22

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

Reilaos~ — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:10:50 MST

Wouldn't the PS3 be the PS2's little brother?

Reilaos~

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

ca$h — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:09:11 MST

@Tonx:
That's a good theory. I never thought about it like that. That would explain why I love the games on 360 (the more cinematic the better) and find the Wii and it's "type" (bright and colorful) of game completely and utterly unappealing.

ca$h

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

2NinjasTapedTogether — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 13:05:47 MST

@RPGr: You jackass!

You beat me to it!

I'll never be the king of lame jokes around here... :(

2NinjasTapedTogether

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

cheez — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 12:49:37 MST

@Horsefly: How dare a different nation have different gaming preferences, mirite?

cheez

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

Heihachi.vs.Kazuya — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 12:48:34 MST

The appeal of the xbox360 just isn't there for the Japanese. This is something microsoft is going to have to work hard on otherwise they will continue to do poorly. The console appeals more to white american adolescents than any other demographic.

I know people that bought the ps3 at lauch just for the diverse line up and so far the ps3 isn't dissapointing them. I know people that bought a ps3 just because gow, sotc and ico came out on the ps2 and want to see whats next and because of games coming out like mgs4 and the ffXIIIs. The guys at sony just do a better job at appealing to a wider demographic.

Heihachi.vs.Kazuya

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

Hellcom — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 12:45:40 MST

Line Rider = GOTY That game saved me so many times from boredom.

Hellcom

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

rezak — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 12:39:28 MST

Casuals are a great money maker. Look at The Sims. It's not for hardcore. I'm personally glad for the paradigm shift, since (hopefully) production studios can use the proceeds of say a casual game to help with big budget games.
My personal tastes lean to the hardcore. Yet, I do enjoy the choice of casuals.

rezak

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

darkthanatos — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 12:33:31 MST

Many those are some really sexy graphs/charts. I've always wondered just how much system sales can be spurred by certain game releases, would be nice to see the same kind of data for the US market.

On a side note, is it a bad thing that I got a stiffy from looking at those graphs? Man I love me some video game graph porn from Japan ;)

darkthanatos

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

ReyBrujo — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 12:29:25 MST

And "Its weekly sales", not "It's weekly sales" (by the way, the comment system is almost as slow as Digg's one, and I thought that one was the worst!).

ReyBrujo

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

Buttah — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 12:28:11 MST

I still say that Nintendo is putting crack in every DS.

Buttah

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

ReyBrujo — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 12:27:24 MST

Ok, repeat after me: "Its annual sales", not "It's annual sales"... and "Its annual sales", not "It's annual sales". Thanks.

ReyBrujo

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

Hiero Glyph — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 12:25:58 MST

@Tale: Yes, but consider that the same number of Wii units is being distributed to Japan that all of North America is getting and the numbers are not as skewed. Japan's total population accounts for less then 50% of the United States' numbers and that does not include Canada or Mexico. So this is less of a factor in Japan than it is in North America. But yes, there was an increase right at the end of the year due to increased production.

Hiero Glyph

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

Witzbold — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 12:25:28 MST

@Tale: Actually its been in stock for quite some time now. Only for a few months after the launch was it hard to find.

Witzbold

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

pandafresh — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 12:25:06 MST

wait wait, wheres the phantom!?

pandafresh

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

Horsefly — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 12:25:01 MST

@smitty1123: Have you played either?

Horsefly

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

Kotaku - The Happy Clique for Hypocrites! — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 12:21:26 MST

I'm wondering why the writeup refers to the PS3, the #2 console in a 3 console market, as "the lagging console". Wouldn't the 360 be the proper bearer of that epithet in the Japan market?

Kotaku - The Happy Clique for Hypocrites!

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

BPMν — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 12:19:43 MST

The only platform to outperform the DS at any point was Sony's PlayStation Portable, aided by a pair of marquee releases (plus a hardware redesign) in the first and third quarters of 2007.

Actually, I believe the Wii outsold the DS for a week or two early in the year... The first graph seem to show that, too.

BPMν

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

Tale — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 12:19:41 MST

@Hiero Glyph: It's hard to see a spike in sales of the wii when the danged thing is always out of stock.

Tale

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

Hiero Glyph — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 12:18:10 MST

I think this settles it, I have no clue what gamers want in Japan. At least in North America whenever a high profile shooter is released the sales increase, but Japan has some of the most unusual trends it makes me laugh. No wonder the 360 is failing in that market, there is no way to predict what will sell. The fact that Final Fantasy and Wii Fit have seen the largest growth and yet have nothing to do with one another has me dumbfounded. Add to that the fact that a horrible Gundam game and Dynasty Warriors sequel #5,462 are system sellers and I just start to laugh. Then compare those horrid games to Super Mario Galaxy where you barely see an increase in sales. Have Japan's gamers all gone mad?

Hiero Glyph

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

noliferuin (PSN+XBL) — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 12:16:10 MST

@Horsefly: i guess there weren't ridiculous marketing campaigns for it in japan. that or the japanese can just tell a mediocre shooter when they see one.

noliferuin (PSN+XBL)

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

Moh — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 12:15:50 MST

Thanks for the analysis. X360 is doing much better than what the original Xbox did in Japan. Some rumors on the web say that Sony got some 20+ first party un-announced exclusives and 3 of them are coming from Japanese studios. If these exclusives make it on time for 2008 along all the good old money makers (MGS, FF, GT), PS3 will totally get the X360 out of the picture in Japan.

Moh

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

smitty1123 — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 12:14:10 MST

@Horsefly: Eh. I'd rather play Ace Combat 6 than Halo 3.

smitty1123

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

Witzbold — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 12:11:35 MST

@zoesch: And that climb is where MS started to get their shit together. Fucking took them long enough. Since up until then they pretty much deserved that flat rating on the chart with how they were doing things.

Its a rather steep increase I must say though and thats a pretty good sign at least.

Witzbold

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

Michael McWhertor — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 12:10:36 MST

@kingofallcosmos: It should, and was meant to appear in the PSP line chart. I've made a note of it in the explanatory paragraph. Thanks for the reminder!!

Michael McWhertor

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

Horsefly — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 12:04:32 MST

Ugh, seeing the little anthill for Mario Galaxy next to Wii Fit's mountain... What the hell, Japan? And Ace Combat 6 as a system seller over Halo 3? Criminal.

I fully support anyone who wants to press charges against the nation of Japan. They can plead insanity if they want, so long as they're locked away I don't care which.

Horsefly

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

kingofallcosmos — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 12:01:55 MST

Couldn't the Crisis Core spike also be attributed to the simultaneous release of the PSP Slim? I know that I bought my second PSP shortly after the Slim redesign.

The PSP has a lot of great games, second only to the DS in all current gen systems, but I do also use the other features. I like keeping a few video files on my PSP because it has such a beautiful screen.

kingofallcosmos

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

zoesch — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:59:57 MST

@Witzbold: Err, yes and no... basically the graph says the 360 is staying almost flat in Japan with a slight increase in sales in the year's end. However is like the PS2, it's not dying but it isn't growing quickly either.

The casuals have always existed, some became hardcore some stayed casual, but the games catalog of the past 30 years has always catered towards casual gaming.

zoesch

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

frank0127 — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:59:48 MST

proud to be a Nintendo fanboy. :)

frank0127

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

Wargamer234,Sieg Zeon! — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:59:35 MST

@Timsobuff74: Agreed,more Visual Novels and the like,and it could be better
The Fact is,that the Japanese love their Brands,Microsoft have never been famoust like here with then

Wargamer234,Sieg Zeon!

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

Ehardergardens — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:55:59 MST

@Avinash_Tyagi: Do you or anyone have the attachment charts broken down by timeline and console?
I'm really curious if they are what people say they are anecdotally. What are people using their psps and ps3s for? I play games first and use the media features second, but I do use them.
I've never had he problem of either of these devices doing more take away from games, but perhaps it does with others, which would make me sad as i don't want to lose either function and would happily see both areas expand. Although very vocal I suspect that I like many people that modded the xbox into a media server, are probably in the minority,

Ehardergardens

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

-HeyWowItsFelipe- — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:55:53 MST

@RPGr: funny, before i came in here i expected to see that comment as one of the first 3. Im suprised it took that long haha.

Nintendo murdered last year! Perhaps Microsoft lost this gen (and last..) in Japan, but i wouldnt knock it out for the next. I mean seriously, seeing how Nintendo did, anythings possible.

I can see a BIg spike in PS3 sales once Metal Gear Solid comes out. And a big spike for the Wii when Smash Brothers comes out.

-HeyWowItsFelipe-

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

noliferuin (PSN+XBL) — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:52:07 MST

@theespacepope: it has more than 2 good games man, give some a try you'll have a blast

noliferuin (PSN+XBL)

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

Doomstalk — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:50:14 MST

@RPGr: The joke is a cliché.

Doomstalk

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:49:39 MST

I highly thank you for the data. This will be useful for me down the road. :)

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

Witzbold — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:48:39 MST

@Timsobuff74: You do realize the sales are going in an upwards pattern for the 360 right? Or are you just so culturally inept to understand that perhaps the game library on the 360 just does not match up to the competition / tastes of the people, nor does it pull at the heartstrings of the casual market where most of the numbers lie.

Hardcore gamers here are a dying breed. Everyone seems to be switching to the more casual scene. Its not like the old days where riots would go about over games.

So most of the numbers attached to the 360 is those who are more interested in the "foreign" titles and what not. Whats helping the sales is the fact that MS managed to secure J developers to try to bring more of the standard crowd into the fold with market specific games / titles people would feel more comfortable / familiar with.

Witzbold

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

Doomstalk — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:48:13 MST

When put into bar graph form, it becomes hard to not call the 360 irrelevant in Japan. But, at the same time, it seems hard to consider anything but the DS, Wii, or PSP relevant. The "top-tier" consoles just don't appear to be performing there.

Doomstalk

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

RPGr — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:43:45 MST

The pie is a lie!

.... c'mon, someone has to say something like that

RPGr

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

TitillatedOcelot — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:42:53 MST

@theespacepope: In a lot of cases, they spend a good deal more time on public transit, really. Japan's transit system kicks ass.

TitillatedOcelot

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

Candlejack — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:42:47 MST

@theespacepope: Oh my, do you live in early 2006? I can't actually believe people still state the PS3 only has zero to five good games.

Candlejack

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

theespacepope — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:39:27 MST

The Xbox 360 has gotten to the point where people ask whether to buy that or a PS3 and I tell them a 360 but have to give a disclaimer about what to expect with regard to failures and replacement. But since the PS3 has two good games then there is no point in buying it as a game system at this time.

I wish i had as much time as people in Japan to enjoy handhelds.

theespacepope

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

Fallible — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:39:18 MST

@Avinash_Tyagi: Doesn't really mean much to be honest. Most people are waiting for that break out game that really appeals to them ala Final Fantasy or Metal Gear Solid.
I personally bought a DS Lite soon after release and haven't touched it since completing the New Super Mario Bros. Well, other than a brief week or two playing the new Pokemon.

Fallible

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

AlKusanagi — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:37:57 MST

Microsoft either doesn't care about Japan anymore, or they have truly incompetent people working for them here. I don't know how many times Japanese friends have asked why I own a 360 and as soon as I explain Live and all the online co-op, voice chat, ect. they become far more interested in it, yet all I've seen advertised in Japanese gaming media for Live has been the Arcade. If people were more aware of all the other features I think it could do a lot better.

AlKusanagi

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

Tonx — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:35:40 MST

@Timsobuff74: I could propose theories until the cows come home, but I think it comes down to asthetic differences in the film industry. America built their film industry on live film and sound stages, whereas Japan built theirs on cel animation. Japan's appetite for creative design, colourful landscapes, and surrealism is about as strong as America's appetite for photorealism. Each major design choice has a market in each country, but the XBox is a system (and a game library) designed certainly with the American asthetic, based in traditional film, in mind. Japanese audiences are fully capable of enjoying it and reveling in it, but I also remember a time when you couldn't watch anything animated in Japan without going to the one store in a city of a million people that sold it. Now the Japanese asthetic is all over the place. I think that the XBox has a future in Japan, but it's working tremendously hard to achieve it. Maybe next hardware cycle.

Tonx

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

Candlejack — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:34:40 MST

@Timsobuff74: People just don't like unreliable hardware, and it's getting through to the masses by now...everyone in my course even makes fun of it. Interestingly enough, all the people I know who currently own a 360 (and a Wii in some cases) are seriously moving away from it and saving up for a PS3. And not the "yea I'll buy it once" kind of saving. One's getting it by June, the other one when GTAIV launches, and so on and forth.

Candlejack

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

Avinash_Tyagi — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:32:19 MST

@Spoony:

Nope

[vgchartz.com]

Highest selling PS3 game placed 35th on the chart Minna no Golf 5 at 418,685, so PS3 had a dismal software year, in fact its software attach rate is terrible, almost PSP level bad

Avinash_Tyagi

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

Norellicus — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:31:03 MST

lol, Line Rider.

Norellicus

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

Dirty Mongrel — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:30:26 MST

I'm still surprised by the life left in the PS2, and high-profile games are still coming! I mean, Atlus announced Persona 4 for the PS2. High-profile over there, any way.

Dirty Mongrel

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

sascha23 — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:30:12 MST

It will be cool to see where the PS3 is this time next year on the global pie charts.

Way to go PSP...some serious turnaround for the handheld.

sascha23

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

Spoony — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:29:46 MST

An interesting thing to note for the next Year is how many titles from japanese producers coming out on PS3 (exclusive or not) this will a huge year for PS3 in Japan.

Cause you have to remember even though big titles aren't exclusive they might as well be in Japan with as little saturation as the 360 has there.

Spoony

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

Tonx — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:26:39 MST

I'm glad that Nintendo's status as an enduring icon in the world of entertainment, especially in Japan, is alive and well. They are one of the most important Japanese companies in the last 50 or so years, to be fair.

Tonx

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

-EDGE- — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:25:44 MST

Look at that little PSP go, shine on little diamond, shine ON!

-EDGE-

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

scruffy, the janitor — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:25:43 MST

ps2 is doing better than xbox360. FOR SHAME!

scruffy, the janitor

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

Spoony — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:25:32 MST

I'm really interested to see a software sales chart not how it influenced consoles between the Wii and the PS3. Cuase i'm thinking with the exception of Wii Sports, Wii Play, and Wii Fit the PS3 releases sold better.

Spoony

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

Tale — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:24:27 MST

It's kind of sad that this may have been PSP's big year. I'd like to see it grow more. However, this article puts out a very solid argument.

Here's to hoping there's something unexpected on that front. Secret projects, new features with impact, etc.

Tale

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

Timsobuff74 — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:23:49 MST

Why do Americans love the 360 while the Japanese seem to hate it? Too many FPS and not enough dating sims perhaps.

Timsobuff74

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

Irenicus-the one and only — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:22:33 MST

Nice to see the PS3 back on track :P It looked very, very bad for a moment.

The 360 is, well not worth mentioning, and the ps2, will this be the last year? Hmm. I wonder, how big was the differemce in numbers for the PS2 in 2006 compared to 2007 in Japan? I'm curious if anyone has that data.

Also, where is the spike for the PSP slim, like I can see FF and monster hunter and red psp, when was the psp slim released in Japan then?

Irenicus-the one and only

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

smitty1123 — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:19:17 MST

Neat. And I don't care what anyone says, I'm excited for the US version of Dragon Quest Swords. But I'd be even more excited for a sequel to Skies of Arcadia...

smitty1123

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

plantationace — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:18:35 MST

I like pie.

plantationace

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

DigitalHero — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:13:50 MST

All sales charts must have pies from now on! ;)

DigitalHero

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

Witzbold — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:12:35 MST

Thanks for the data, its real nice being able to see a larger picture with all of these graphcs. Interesting stuff!

Witzbold

Japanese Sales Trends In 2007: Line Riding And Analyzing

TOCATL — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:12:22 MST

The yearly 3dbar chart is just obsene...

TOCATL